Joshua 19:23

This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Issachar Then, as it still is, among the richest land in Palestine. "Westward was the famous plain which derived its name from its fertility. On the north is Tabor, which even under the burning sun of the climate is said to retain the glades and dells of an English wood. On the east, behind Jezreel, is the opening which conducts to the plain of the Jordan to the Bethshean, which was proverbially among the Rabbis the Gate of Paradise for its fruitfulness." The soil yielded corn and figs, wine and oil (1 Chronicles 12:40); the stately palm waved over the villages; and the very weeds testify to the extraordinary fertility of the Esdraelon plain. Here Issachar rejoiced in his tents(Deuteronomy 33:18), couched down as the strong he-ass (Genesis 49:14-15), used for burden and field-work, and "seeing that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant, bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute," which various marauders, Canaanites (Judges 4:3; Judges 4:7), Midianites, Amalekites (Judges 6:3-4), Philistines (1 Samuel 29:1), exacted, bursting through his frontier, open both on the east and the west, and tempted by his luxuriant crops. See Porter's Handbook, ii. 352; Stanley's S. and P., p. 348. "Two things strike us forcibly in looking over the plain of Esdraelon, and in wandering through it:

(a) First, its wonderful richness. After the grey hills of Judah, and the rocky mountains of Ephraim, the traveller looks with admiration over this unbroken extent of verdure. The luxuriant grass, and the exuberance of the crops on the few spots where it is cultivated, amply prove the fertility of the soil. It was the frontier of Zebulun. -Rejoice, O Zebulun, in thy goings out" (Deuteronomy 33:18).

(b) Second, its desolation. If we except its eastern branches there is not a single inhabited village on its whole surface, and not more than one-sixth of its soil is cultivated. It is the home of the wandering Bedawy, who can scour its smooth turf on his fleet mare in search of plunder, and when hard pressed can speedily remove his tents and his flocks beyond the Jordan, and beyond the reach of a weak government. In its condition, thus exposed to every hasty incursion, and to every shock of war, we read the fortunes of that tribe which for the sake of its richness consented to sink into a half nomadic state. -Rejoice, O Issachar, in thy tents" (Genesis 49:14-15; Deuteronomy 33:18). Their exposed position and valuable possessions made them eager for the succession of David to the throne, as one under whose sceptre they would enjoy the peace and rest they loved." See 1Ch 12:32; 1 Chronicles 12:40. Porter's Handbook, ii. pp. 352, 353.