Deuteronomy 8:15 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Deuteronomy 8:15
Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint;
great (in any sense) · definite article + adjective, masculine singular absolute
terrible
וְהַנּוֹרָ֗אve.ha.no.Ra'
H3372
to fear · conjunction + definite article + verb, niphal active participle, masculine singular absolute
wilderness
בַּמִּדְבָּ֣רba.mid.Bar
H4057
a pasture (i.e. open field · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
fiery
שָׂרָף֙sa.Raf
H8314
burning · noun, common masculine singular absolute
serpents
נָחָ֤שׁna.Chash
H5175
a snake (from its hiss) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
scorpions
וְעַקְרָ֔בve.'ak.Rav
H6137
a scorpion · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
drought
וְצִמָּא֖וֹןve.tzi.ma.'on
H6774
a thirsty place · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
water
מָ֑יִםMa.yim
H4325
water · noun, common masculine plural absolute
forth
הַמּוֹצִ֤יאha.mo.Tzi'
H3318
to go (causatively · definite article + verb, hiphil active participle, masculine singular absolute
water
מַ֔יִםMa.yim
H4325
water · noun, common masculine plural absolute
rock
מִצּ֖וּרmi.Tzur
H6697
properly · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
flint
הַֽחַלָּמִֽישׁHa.cha.la.Mish
H2496
flint · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Numbers 20:11 And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and t…
Numbers 21:6 And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.
Jeremiah 2:6 Neither said they, Where is the LORD that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of dese…
Deuteronomy 1:19 And when we departed from Horeb, we went through all that great and terrible wilderness, which ye saw by the way of the mountain of the Amor…
Psalms 114:8 Which turned the rock into a standing water, the flint into a fountain of waters.
Isaiah 63:12-14 That led them by the right hand of Moses with his glorious arm, dividing the water before them, to make himself an everlasting name?
Hosea 13:5 I did know thee in the wilderness, in the land of great drought.
Psalms 78:15-16 He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the great depths.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Deuteronomy 8:10–end
Moses, having mentioned the great plenty they would find in the land of Canaan, finds it necessary to caution them against the abuse of that plenty, which was a sin they would be the more prone to new that they came into the vineyard of the Lord, immediately out of a barren desert.
I. He directs them to the duty of a prosperous condition, Deu 8:10. They are allowed to eat even to fulness, not to surfeiting no excess; but let them always remember their benefactor, the founder of their feast, and never fail to give thanks after meat: Then thou shalt bless the Lord thy God. 1. They must take heed of eating or drinking so much as to indispose themselves for this duty of blessing God, rather aimi…
Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions--Large and venomous reptiles are found in great numbers there still, particularly in autumn. Travellers must use great caution in arranging their tents and beds at night; even during the day the legs not only of men, but of the animals they ride, are liable to be bitten.
who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint--(See on Deu 9:21).
Next: Deuteronomy Chapter 9
John Gill on Deuteronomy 8:15
Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness,.... The wilderness of Paran, which was great and large, reaching from Sinai to Kadesh, eleven days' journey, and terrible to the sight, nothing being to be seen but dry rocks and barren mountains; see Deuteronomy 1:19, and especially for what follows: wherein were fiery serpents and scorpions; fiery serpents, such as bit the Israelites, of which see Numbers 21:6 and scorpions, a kind of serpents, venomous and mischievous, which have stings in their tails they are continually thrusting out and striking with, as Pliny says (u); and have their name from their great sting; for Aristotle (w) says, this alone of insects has a large sting:
a…
Scorpions — Mentioned along with serpents (Deut. 8:15). Used also figuratively to denote wicked persons (Ezek. 2:6; Luke 10:19); also a particular kind of scourge or whip (1 Kings 12:11). Scorpions were a…
Seraphim — Mentioned in Isa. 6:2, 3, 6, 7. This word means fiery ones, in allusion, as is supposed, to their burning love. They are represented as “standing” above the King as he sat upon his throne, ready at…
Afflictions · Frequently terminate in good — Frequently terminate in good
Afflictions And Adversities · .Results of, good — .Results of, good
Animals · Sent in — Sent in
Desert · An arid region having only sparse vegetation — An arid region having only sparse vegetation
Desert, Journey Of Israel Through The · Difficulty and danger of — Difficulty and danger of
Deserts · Described as: Dry and without water — Described as: Dry and without water
Flint · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Prosperity · Dangers of — Dangers of
Providence Of God, The · Is exercised in: Leading saints — Is exercised in: Leading saints
Reptiles · Mentioned in scripture: Scorpion — Mentioned in scripture: Scorpion
John Calvin on Deuteronomy 8:11-18
Deuteronomy 8:11-18
11. Beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day:
11. Cave tibi ne obliviscaris Jehovae Dei tui, ut non observes praecepta ejus, et judicia ejus, et statuta ejus, quae ego praecipio tibi hodie.
12. Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein;
12. Ne forte comedas et satureris, et domos egregias aedifices, atque habites in illis.
13. And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied;
13. Et boves tui ovesque tuae multiplicentur, argentum quoque et aur…
But if the Israelites were to eat there and be satisfied, i.e., to live in the midst of plenty, they were to beware of forgetting their God; that when their prosperity - their possessions, in the form of lofty houses, cattle, gold and silver, and other good things - increased, their heart might not be lifted up, i.e., they might not become proud, and, forgetting their deliverance from Egypt and their miraculous preservation and guidance in the desert, ascribe the property they had acquired to their own strength and the work of their own hands. To keep the people from this danger of forgetting God, which follows so easily from the pride of wealth, Moses once more enumerates in Deu 8:14-16 the…
Riches · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Rock · Struck by Moses for water — Struck by Moses for water
Rocks · Often composed of Flint — Often composed of Flint
Scorpion · people of Israel journeyed — people of Israel journeyed
Scorpion, The · Abounded in the great desert — Abounded in the great desert
Serpent · Fiery (poi — Fiery (poi
Serpents · Infest: Deserts — Infest: Deserts
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
