Text -- Deuteronomy 33:8 (NET)

Blessing on Levi

33:8 Of Levi he said: Your Thummim and Urim belong to your godly one, whose authority you challenged at Massah, and with whom you argued at the waters of Meribah.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Deu 33:8

¹ sn Thummim and Urim. These terms, whose meaning is uncertain, refer to sacred stones carried in a pouch on the breastplate of the high priest and examined on occasion as a means of ascertaining God’s will or direction. See Exod 28:30; Lev 8:8; Num 27:21; 1 Sam 28:6. See also C. Van Dam, NIDOTTE 1:329-31.

² tn Heb “godly man.” The reference is probably to Moses as representative of the whole tribe of Levi.

³ sn Massah means “testing” in Hebrew; the name is a wordplay on what took place there. Cf. Exod 17:7; Deut 6:16; 9:22; Ps 95:8-9.

⁴ sn Meribah means “contention, argument” in Hebrew; this is another wordplay on the incident that took place there. Cf. Num 20:13, 24; Ps 106:32.