Deuteronomy 2:7

Deu 2:7 For the LORD thy God hath blessed thee in all the works of thy hand: he knoweth thy walking through this great wilderness: these forty years the LORD thy God [hath been] with thee; thou hast lacked nothing.

Ver. 7. For the Lord thy God hath blessed thee,] viz., With money, to fetch thee in other commodities. It is the blessing of God, when all is done, that maketh rich; without this men do but labour in the fire, labour all night and take nothing, trouble themselves to no purpose; all their endeavours are but Arena sine calce, sand without lime, they will not hold together, but, like untempered mortar, fall asunder; there being a curse upon unlawful practices, though men be never so industrious: as you may see in Jehoiachim. {Jer 22:18-19}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Deu 2:7. The Lord hath blessed thee — By God’s blessing thou art able to buy thy conveniences, and therefore thy theft and rapine will be inexcusable, because without any pretence of necessity. He knoweth — Hebrew, He hath known; that is, observed, or regarded with care and kindness, which that word often denotes. Which experience of God’s singular goodness to thee should make thee rely on him still, and not use any unjust practice to procure what thou wantest or desirest.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And given thee means, wherewith thou mayest make recompense: also God will direct thee by his providence, as he hath done.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 7. The Lord - hath blessed thee, c.] God had given them much property, and therefore they had no need of plunder they had gold and silver to buy the provender they needed, and therefore God would not permit them to take any thing by violence.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(7) The Lord thy God hath blessed thee.—There is nothing unreasonable in the view suggested by these words, that the Israelites acquired wealth by trade or by ordinary occupations during their wilderness journey. They had skilled workmen among them.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

7. For the Lord thy God hath blessed thee] Another formula recurrent in D.

in all the work of thy hand] Some Heb. MSS, LXX, Sam., hands: another recurrent phrase.

he hath known thy walking] Rather hath cared for. The Heb. verb to know means frequently, especially in a religious connection, to put the mind to, attend to, regard; cp. Gen_39:6 : Potiphar had no thought or care, about anything in Joseph’s charge, 1Sa_2:12; Pro_9:13; Pro_27:23; Job_35:15. See Book of the Twelve Pr., i. 321 f. But LXX read the verb here as imperative, consider thy walking.

these forty years] So exactly Deu_8:2; Deu_8:4, also in the Sg. address. The tradition that the time of the wandering was 40 years, stated by Amo_2:10; Amo_5:25, is common to D and P (Deu_1:3; Num_14:33; Num_32:13; cp. Num_33:38), also in editorial passages in JE, Jos_5:6; Jos_16:10. The Semites frequently reckoned by multiples of 4 and 40: the latter express many round numbers in O.T. chronology. Forty years seems to have been equivalent to a generation. That Israel was 40 years in the wilderness agrees with the tradition that a generation died out there. For the same equation in Babylonian chronology see Modern Criticism and the Preaching of the O.T., 90 f., n. 1.

This verse is the third in the Sg. address. Note that in harmony with other Sg. passages it affirms the well-being of Israel during the 40 years, while the Pl. passages emphasise their dangers and losses. It is not necessary to the context, and therefore regarded as a later insertion. Yet it would not be unnatural for the same writer to change from Pl. to Sg. when taking a conjunct view of Israel’s experience.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For the Lord thy God hath blessed thee in all the works of thine hands,.... Had increased their cattle and substance, even though in a wilderness:

he knoweth thy walking through this great wilderness; every step they took, and he owned them and prospered them in all things in which they were concerned:

these forty years the Lord thy God hath been with thee: not only to protect and defend them, but to provide all things necessary for them. This number of years was not fully completed, but the round number is given instead of the broken one:

thou hast lacked nothing: and since they had wherewith to pay for their food and drink, they are directed to do it, and not take anything from the Edomites in an unjust way; nor make themselves look poor when they were rich, as Jarchi says.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Knoweth, or approveth, directing by his loving providence, Psalm i. 6., and xxxvi. 18.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

By God’s blessing thou art able to buy thy conveniences, and therefore thy theft and rapine will be inexcusable, because without any pretence of necessity.

He knoweth, Heb. he hath known, i.e. observed, or regarded with care and kindness, which that word oft notes, as Psa 1:6; 31:7; which experience of God’s singular goodness to thee, should make thee trust him still, and not use any indirect and unjust practices to procure. what thou wantest or desirest.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

They were enabled to buy what they requiredFor the Lord thy God hath blessed thee in all the works of thy hand; their flocks and herds had increased during their wanderings; (Num_32:1) and they may have gained wealth by cultivating the soil at places where they had made a lengthened sojourn, or by traffic with the tribes of the desert with whom they came in contact. Jehovah their God had known had noted, observed, had regard to, had cared for. (Gen_39:6; Pro_27:23) their walking their peregrinationsthrough this great wilderness; he had been their Leader, had chosen for them places to rest in, had provided food for them, and had been their Protector and Guardian all through the forty years of their pilgrimage, so that they had wanted for nothing (Deu_1:33 Deu_8:2, Deu_8:3, Deu_8:15, Deu_8:16; Psa_23:1-6) "He sufficiently supplied what was needful for thee when thou walkedst through this great wilderness; for these forty years the Word of Jah thy God hath sustained thee; nor hath anything been wanting to thee" (Chaldee Paraphrase). Forty years. (Num_14:33) "From the fifteenth day of the first month in which their fathers came out of Egypt, (Num_33:3) to the tenth day of the same month in which they went over Jordan into Canaan, (Jos_4:19) there were but five days wanting of complete forty years" (Patrick).

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The Lord hath blessed thee - By God's blessing thou art able to buy thy conveniences, and therefore thy theft and rapine will be inexcusable, because without any pretense of necessity. He knoweth - Hebrew. He hath known, that is, observed, or regarded with care and kindness, which that word often notes. Which experience of God's singular goodness to thee, should make thee rely on him still, and not use any unjust practice to procure what thou wantest or desirest.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

כי ה' אלהיך ברכך FOR THE LORD THY GOD HATH BLESSED THEE — therefore you should not show yourselves ungrateful to Him by behaving as though you were poor, but act as rich people.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

FOR THE ETERNAL THY G-D HATH BLESSED THEE. “Therefore, you should not deny His goodness by behaving as though you were poor; instead deport yourselves like rich people.” This is Rashi’s language. Now, I have not understood what he meant [by the next phrase in the verse, For the Eternal thy G-d hath blessed thee] in all the work of thy hand, since their blessings were heavenly blessings and they did nothing with their hands that it be blessed! Perhaps the expression in all the work of thy hand alludes to the sheep and herds which they brought out from Egypt. They also had riches, herds, and acquisitions from the spoils of the Egyptians and the spoils of Amalek. Everything they possessed was blessed, similar to what is stated, Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions are increased in the land. Moreover, the Eternal hath known thy walking through this vast wilderness and He supplied you there with all your needs — the manna, the quails, and the waters of the well — so that thou hast lacked nothing that is needed by wayfarers. And so it was — they bought food and nourishment from the children of Esau as Moses said [to Sihon], Thou shalt sell me food for money that I may eat, and give me water for money, that I may drink etc.; as the children of Esau did unto me etc.

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.