Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years.
Thy raiment waxed not old ... neither did thy foot swell. What a striking miracle was this! No doubt the Israelites might have brought from Egypt more clothes than they wore at their outset; they might also have obtained supplies of various articles of food and raiment in barter with the neighbouring tribes for the fleeces and skins of their sheep and goats; and in furnishing them with such opportunities care of Providence appeared. But the strong and pointed terms which Moses here uses (see also Deuteronomy 29:5) indicate a special or miraculous interposition of their loving Guardian in preserving them amid the tear and wear of their nomadic life in the desert. This same view, we think, must be taken of the fact that their feet did not swell, or rather were not blistered, by their constant and long journeyings, as is usually the case with people who walk an unusual distance. But Dr. Benisch ('Colenso's Objections Critically Examined,' p. 50) ascribes their exemption from such bodily discomforts to the circumstance of their journeys being always very short, not being perhaps much in excess of five miles a day, owing to the incumbrances of children and cattle. The tenor of the context, however, manifestly points to miraculous aid. Thirdly, Moses expatiated on the goodness of the promised land.