John Calvin Commentary Deuteronomy 8:7

"For Jehovah thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing forth in valleys and hills;" — Deuteronomy 8:7 (ASV)

For the Lord thy God. We can briefly summarize the words and the matter. He almost sets before their eyes a dwelling place full of wealth and various advantages, so that they might worship God there more cheerfully and strive to repay such a significant benefit with their gratitude. In chapter 8, he commends the goodness of the land because it is watered by the streams that flow through its valleys and mountains, and because it produces all kinds of fruits to supply them with nourishment. Not only so, but it also contains mines of iron and brass.

In chapter 11, he expresses the same thing more plainly and in greater detail by adding a comparison with the land of Egypt. The fruitfulness of Egypt, although marvelous due to the yearly flooding of the Nile and renowned as an extraordinary miracle, still requires much labor and cultivation, since it is irrigated by means of drains through human labor and effort. But the land of Canaan depends on God’s blessing and waits for rain from heaven.

Moreover, Moses praises in glowing words the unique privilege of the land, saying that it is always watched over by God, so that the Israelites, on their part, might also attentively and constantly look to Him. For this is the meaning of the words, always, from the beginning of the year, even unto the end of the year; as if he had said that they would be ungrateful to God unless they constantly and zealously directed their attention to Him, since He never ceased to look upon them daily.

It is true, indeed, that there is no corner of the earth that does not experience God’s blessing—consider how the Nile fertilizes the whole of Egypt. But because that happens only once a year, and since its waters are conducted here and there by man-made drains, Moses, therefore, rightly makes it the basis of his exhortation that they should constantly devote themselves to meditating on the Law. For not only at a particular season of the year, but at almost every moment, their need would compel them to ask for God’s help when they saw that the land was always requiring from Him the solution for its dryness.

The question arises, however, how Moses could declare in such magnificent terms the richness of the land of Canaan, when nowadays it is hardly counted among fertile lands. And so²⁶² the ungodly wantonly mock him, since all who have gone there for business or any other reason contradict his praises.

Yet I do not doubt that it was always distinguished by the abundance of its various fruits, as we shall soon see in its proper place, where its fertility was proved by the bunch of grapes. But, at the same time, it is to be observed that its abundance was increased in a new and unusual manner by the arrival of the people, so that God might show that He had blessed that country above all others for the generous provision of His children. Therefore, as long as that land was granted as the inheritance of the descendants of Abraham, it was remarkable for the fertility that God had promised through Moses.

But now, far from wondering that it is largely desert and barren, we ought rather to be surprised that some small traces of its ancient fruitfulness still exist, since what God Himself had so often threatened against it must necessarily be fulfilled. The barrenness of the land as it now appears, therefore, instead of detracting from the testimony of Moses, rather gives visible proof of the judgment of God, which, as we shall see elsewhere, was proclaimed against it.

In summary, just as God, for the sake of His people, further enriched a land already fruitful, so also, for the punishment of the sins of this same people, He sowed it with salt, that it might serve as a sad spectacle of His curse.

²⁶² “Des esprits phrenetiques, and profanes.” — Fr. This ancient scoff, repeated by Voltaire and other modern infidels, is well met by Dr. Keith, “Evidences of Prophecy, (Art. Judaea,)” by quotations not only from Tacitus, Ammianus Marcellinus, Florus, and Pliny the Elder, but from Volney and Gibbon themselves, as well as more friendly witnesses.This ancient scoff, repeated by Voltaire and other modern infidels, is well met by Dr. Keith, “Evidences of Prophecy, (Art. Judaea,)” by quotations not only from Tacitus, Ammianus Marcellinus, Florus, and Pliny the Elder, but from Volney and Gibbon themselves, as well as more friendly witnesses.