Ver. 16. Who fed thee—with manna,—that he might humble thee, &c.— God fed the Israelites with manna forty years; 1st, To humble them, by making them continually and experimentally sensible that they owed their subsistence, their life and being, to him, every moment. 2nd, To put their faith and obedience to the proof. 3rdly, To render them more sensible of their happiness in the future enjoyment of the good things of Canaan. God, says Maimonides, was pleased to accustom the Israelites to labour in the wilderness, that he might increase their happiness when they came into the land of Canaan; for this is certain, that a transition from labour to repose is far sweeter than continual rest. Nor could they so easily have subdued the land, and reduced the inhabitants, if they had been trained up to toils and hardships. The following verses, as Grotius remarks, fully explain this. The Vulgate, which Calmet and Houbigant follow, gives another turn to this verse: Who fed thee in the wilderness with mature, unknown to your fathers; and who, after having humbled and proved thee, in fine, or, at the end, hath had pity upon thee.
Related Commentaries of Deuteronomy 8:16
Deuteronomy 8:16
16 Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end;