A land flowing with milk and honey

[tonychanyt]

Exodus 3:

8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.

Ellicott's:

This expression, here used for the first time, was already, it is probable, a proverbial one, denoting generally, richness and fertility.

Benson:

A proverbial expression: abounding with the choicest fruits, both for necessity and delight.

Barnes:

The natural richness of Palestine, the variety and excellence of its productions, are attested by sacred and ancient writers, whose descriptions are strongly in contrast with those of later travelers. The expression "flowing with milk and honey" is used proverbially by Greek poets.

Keil and Delitzsch:

Milk and honey are the simplest and choicest productions of a land abounding in grass and flowers, and were found in Palestine in great abundance even when it was in a desolate condition.

The phrase was used to describe exceptional abundance and blessing. While Canaan was fertile, especially compared to the surrounding desert, the phrase was a metaphor and a hyperbole.

 

[KevinT]

When I look at modern-day Palestine, it seems like all the pictures I see our desert. It is hard to imagine it being considered a land of “milk and honey“. But historians also talk about the fertile crescent, which includes this area. I don’t think it is considered to be a fertile crescent today. Perhaps the climate was different back then and it was in fact a more lush land??

 

[tonychanyt]

When I look at modern-day Palestine, it seems like all the pictures I see our desert.

There is quite a bit of rain in the north.