Thy shoes [shall be] iron and brass
Either they should have such an abundance of these metals, that
they could if they would have made their shoes of them; but that
is not usual; though it is said of Empedocles F7 the
philosopher, that he wore shoes of brass, which was very
singular; and some think that this tribe, because of the
abundance of these metals, used to stick their shoes with iron
and brass nails at the bottom of them, as country people,
soldiers, and travellers in various nations do; but the true
sense seems to be, that the land that fell to this tribe, and on
which they trod, should yield much iron and brass; as in Carmel,
a mountain on the borders of it, brass was taken, as says
Hesychius; and Zidon is by Homer F9 said to abound with brass,
which belonged to this tribe; and Sarepta, another city in it,
had its name from (Pru) ,
which signifies to melt, from the melting of these metals in it;
see ( Deuteronomy
8:9 ) ; though some Jewish writers take the sense to be, that
the land of Asher was so strongly fortified as if it had been
enclosed with walls of brass and iron, or the gates of its cities
were shut up with bolts and bars of iron and brass, as Jarchi,
Kimchi, and Ben Melech observe; so the Arabic:
and as thy days, [so shall] thy strength [be];
the same in old age as in youth; which is the sense of the Latin
Vulgate version, and all the Targums: such were the vigour and
strength of. Moses himself, ( Deuteronomy
34:7 ) ; and so may denote a renewal of youth, like that of
eagles; and, in a spiritual sense, a revival of the graces of the
Spirit of God, as to the exercise of them, and an increase of
spiritual strength, so that the inward man is renewed day by day;
and may also denote such a measure of strength given, as is
proportioned to the events that daily befall, or to the services
and sufferings men are called unto; see ( 1
Corinthians 10:13 ) ( 2
Corinthians 4:16 ) ( 2
Corinthians 12:9 2
Corinthians 12:10 ) .