Text -- Deuteronomy 32:13 (NET)

32:13 He enabled him to travel over the high terrain of the land, and he ate of the produce of the fields. He provided honey for him from the cliffs, and olive oil from the hardest of rocks,

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Deu 32:13

¹ tn The form of the suffix on this verbal form indicates that the verb is a preterite, not an imperfect. As such it simply states the action factually. Note as well the preterites with vav (ו) consecutive that follow in the verse.

² tn Heb “he made him suck honey from the rock.”

³ tn Heb “oil,” but this probably refers to olive oil; see note on the word “rock” at the end of this verse.

⁴ tn Heb “flinty.”

⁵ sn Olive oil from rock probably suggests olive trees growing on rocky ledges and yet doing so productively. See E. H. Merrill, Deuteronomy (NAC), 415; cf. TEV “their olive trees flourished in stony ground.”