Flowing with milk and honey— Bochart, Hier. p. ii. lib. iv. c. xii. 520 observes, that this phrase occurs about twenty times in the Scriptures; and that it is an image frequently used in the classics.
The glory of all lands— The construction of this expression may be, "This [circumstance of flowing with milk and honey] is a glory to all lands." But the rendering of Vitringa, "Quae est egregia inter omnes terras," is a probable one, and founded in truth. "That land is the glory." Secker. "Judaea uber solum. Exuberant fruges nostrum ad morem." Tac. Hist. v. sec. 6. Commentators understand fruges of corn, wine, and olives. "Non minor loci ejus apricitatis quam ubertatis admiratio est," says Justin of the valley of Jericho, lib. xxxvi. c. iii. Josephus represents Galilee as wholly under culture, and everywhere fruitful; as throughout abounding in pastures, planted with all kinds of trees, and inciting by the good quality of the land those who are least disposed to the labour of tillage. He describes Perea as for the most part barren and rough, and too churlish for the growth of cultivated fruits: but adds that, where, there is soil, it bears every thing; that the plains are planted with various trees; and that it is chiefly prepared for the produce of the olive, the vine, and the palm-tree. He observes, that the nature of Samaria differs in nothing from that of Judaea, that both have mountains and plains, have soil for agriculture, bear much, are planted with trees, and are full of wild and of cultivated fruits. Bel. Jud. lib. iii. c. iii. Again, B. J. lib. vi. c. i. sec. 1. we find, that when the Romans besieged Jerusalem, they laid bare a country round about that city ninety stadia in circuit, which had been before adorned with trees and gardens. See Numbers 13:27. Deuteronomy 8:7-9. 1 Kings 5:11. 2 Kings 18:32. Pietro della Valle in Shaw's Travels, 4to. p. 337. That the mountains were cultivated is plain. See Psalms 72:16. Isaiah 5:1; Isaiah 7:25.
Juvat Ismara Baccho Conserere, atque olea magnum vestire Taburnum. VIRG. G. ii. 37.
For open Ismarus will Bacchus please; Taburnus loves the shade of olive-trees. DRYDEN.
"We were drawn up the Rhine by horses. The grapes grow on the brant rocks so wonderfully, that ye will marvel how men dare climb up to them; and yet so plentifully, that it is not only a marvel where men be found to labour it, but also where men dwell that drink it." Ascham's Letters, 4E. p. 372. How some of the mountains were cultivated we learn from Maundrell. "Their manner was, to gather up the stones, and place them in several lines along the sides of the hills, in the form of a wall. By such borders they supported the mould from tumbling, or being washed down; and formed many beds of excellent soil, rising gradually one above another, from the bottom to the top of the mountains. Of this form of culture you see evident footsteps, wherever you go in all the mountains of Palestine." P. 65. 8vo. Oxford. 1740.