Deuteronomy 11:24

Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(24) Every place.—Repeated in Joshua 1:3-4, where see Note.

Benson Commentary

Deuteronomy 11:24. Every place — Not absolutely, as the Jewish rabbis fondly imagine, but in the promised land, as the sense is restrained in the following words; either by possession or by dominion, namely, upon condition of your obedience. From the wilderness — Of Sin, on the south of Canaan, and Lebanon — On the north. From Euphrates — On the east. So far the right of dominion extruded, but that their sins cut them short; so far, however, Solomon extended his dominion. Unto the uttermost sea — The Mediterranean, on the west.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

11:18-25 Let all be directed by the three rules here given. 1. Let our hearts be filled with the word of God. There will not be good practices in the life, unless there be good thoughts, good affections, and good principles in the heart. 2. Let our eyes be fixed upon the word of God, having constant regard to it as the guide of our way, as the rule of our work, Ps 119:30. 3. Let our tongues be employed about the word of God. Nor will any thing do more to cause prosperity, and keeping up religion in a nation, than the good education of children.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The sense is: "Keep the covenant faithfully, and so shall your own and your children's days be multiplied as long as the heaven covers the earth." The promise of Canaan to Israel was thus a perpetual promise, but also a conditional one.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

24. Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours—not as if the Jews should be lords of the world, but of every place within the promised land. It should be granted to them and possessed by them, on conditions of obedience:

from the wilderness—the Arabah on the south;

Lebanon—the northern limit;

Euphrates—their boundary on the east. Their grant of dominion extended so far, and the right was fulfilled to Solomon.

even unto the uttermost sea—the Mediterranean.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Every place; not absolutely, as if the Jews should be lords of all the world, as the rabbins fondly conceit; but in the Promised Land, as it is restrained in the following words.

Shall be yours, either by possession, or by dominion, to wit, upon condition of your obedience.

From the wilderness, to wit, of Sin, on the south side.

And Lebanon; and from Lebanon; or, and to Lebanon, which was the northern border.

The river Euphrates on the east. So far their right of dominion extended, but that their sins cut them short; and so far Solomon extended his dominion.

Unto the uttermost sea; the western or midland sea; Heb.

the hindermost sea; for the eastern part of the world being generally esteemed the foremost, and the southern on the right hand, Psalm 89:12, and consequently the northern on the left hand, the western part must needs be behind. Of these bounds of the land see Genesis 10:19 15:18 Exodus 23:31 Joshua 1:3,4.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Every place wherein the soles of your feet shall tread,.... Meaning in the land of Canaan; though the Jews vainly apply this to every land, and country, and place therein, where any of them come; pleasing themselves with this foolish fancy, that all shall be theirs that the foot of any of them have trod upon, or they have dwelt in; but that it respects only the land of Canaan appears by the following description of it and its boundaries:

from the wilderness; the wilderness of Paran, which lay to the south of it, where Kadesh was, from whence the spies were sent, and was the southern border of it:

and Lebanon; which was a range of mountains to the north of it; and was the northern border of the land:

from the river, the river Euphrates; which was the eastern border of it, when it was carried to its utmost extent, as in the days of Solomon, 1 Kings 4:21.

even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be: the Mediterranean sea, which was the western border of the land of Canaan, or "the hinder sea", and so it is called Zechariah 14:8, it lay at the back of them; for if a man stands with his face to the east, the south will be on his right hand, and the north on his left, and the west will be behind him, or at the back of him.

Geneva Study Bible

Every place whereon the soles of {h} your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost {i} sea shall your coast be.

(h) This was accomplished in David and Solomon's time.

(i) The Mediterranean.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Deuteronomy 11:24

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

But if, on the other hand, their heart was foolish to turn away from the Lord and serve other gods, the wrath of the Lord would burn against them, and God would shut up the heaven, that no rain should fall and the earth should yield no produce, and they would speedily perish (cf. Leviticus 26:19-20, and Deuteronomy 28:23-24). Let them therefore impress the words now set before them very deeply upon themselves and their children (Deuteronomy 11:18-21, in which there is in part a verbal repetition of Deuteronomy 6:6-9). The words, "as the days of the heaven above the earth," i.e., as long as the heaven continues above the earth, - in other words, to all eternity (cf. Psalm 89:30; Job. Deu 14:12), - belong to the main sentence, "that your days may be multiplied," etc. (Deuteronomy 11:21). "The promise to give the land to Israel for ever was not made unconditionally; an unconditional promise is precluded by the words, 'that your days may be multiplied'" (Schultz). (For further remarks, see at Deuteronomy 30:3-5.) For (Deuteronomy 11:22-25) if they adhered faithfully to the Lord, He would drive out before them all the nations that dwelt in the land, and would give them the land upon which they trod in all its length and breadth, and so fill the Canaanites with fear and terror before them, that no one should be able to stand against them. (On Deuteronomy 11:23, cf. Deuteronomy 7:1-2; Deuteronomy 9:1, and Deuteronomy 1:28.) The words, "every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours," are defined more precisely, and restricted to the land of Canaan on both sides of the Jordan by the boundaries which follow: "from the desert (of Arabia on the south), and Lebanon (on the north), and from the river Euphrates (on the east) to the hinder sea" (the Mediterranean on the west; see Numbers 34:6). The Euphrates is given as the eastern boundary, as in Deuteronomy 1:7, according to the promise in Genesis 15:18. (On Deuteronomy 11:25, cf. Deuteronomy 7:24; Deuteronomy 2:25, and Exodus 23:27.)