Deuteronomy 8:4

Deuteronomy 8:4

Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years.

a. NLT: For all these forty years your clothes didn’t wear out, and your feet didn’t blister or swell.

b. NIV: Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years.

c. Amplified Bible: Your clothing did not become old upon you nor did your feet swell these forty years.

d. Septuagint: Thy garments grew not old from off thee, thy shoes were not worn from off thee, thy feet were not [painfully] hardened, lo! these forty years.

e. Stone Edition Torah/ Writings/Prophets: Your garment did not wear out upon you and your feet did not swell, these forty years.

1. “Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee…”

a. raiment [8071 * simlah] [Strong: (through the idea of a cover assuming the shape of the object beneath); a dress, especially a mantle:--apparel, cloth(-es, -ing), garment, raiment.] 

b. waxed old [1086 * balah] [Strong: a primitive root; to fail; by implication to wear out, decay (causatively, consume, spend):--consume, enjoy long, become (make, wax) old, spend, waste.]

2. “…neither did thy foot swell, these forty years.”

a. foot [7272 * regel] [Strong: a foot (as used in walking); by implication, a step; by euphem. the pudenda:--X be able to endure, X according as, X after, X coming, X follow, ((broken-))foot((-ed, -stool)), X great toe, X haunt, X journey, leg, + piss, + possession, time.]

b. swell [1216 * batseq] [Strong: a primitive root; perhaps to swell up, i.e. blister:--swell.]

c. forty [705 * ‘arba’iym] [Strong: forty:---forty.]

d. years [8141 * shaneh] [Strong: a year (as a revolution of time):--+ whole age, X long, + old, year(X -ly).

e. A look at comparative verses here is necessary.

1). Deuteronomy 29:5 And I have led you forty years in the wilderness: your clothes are not waxen old upon you, and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot.

a). For forty years their clothes or their shoes never wore out.

2). Nehemiah 9:21 Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not.

a). swelled [1216 * batseq][Strong: a primitive root; perhaps to swell up, i.e. blister:--swell.

f. Here is a remarkable note found in the Chumash under Deuteronomy 8:4.

“The clothing, too, proved that God was with them, for it is a miracle that clothing could last forty years without deteriorating or wearing out, even without being subjected to perspiration and harsh use (Ramban). How much more so since the Midrash teaches that clothing grew with the children and always remained clean and fresh (Rashi).”

           1). I have no trouble believing the clothing and shoes grew with the people. If I was 5 years old when            the Exodus happened and at the end of the forty years I was 45 and I’m still wearing the same shoes            because they didn’t wear out, that would imply the shoes grew with me.