Text -- Deuteronomy 33:3-29 (NET)

33:3 Surely he loves the people; all your holy ones are in your power. And they sit at your feet, each receiving your words. 33:4 Moses delivered to us a law, an inheritance for the assembly of Jacob. 33:5 The Lord was king over Jeshurun, when the leaders of the people assembled, the tribes of Israel together.

Blessing on Reuben

33:6 May Reuben live and not die, and may his people multiply.

Blessing on Judah

33:7 And this is the blessing to Judah. He said, Listen, O Lord, to Judah’s voice, and bring him to his people. May his power be great, and may you help him against his foes.

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. 33:9 He said to his father and mother, “I have not seen him,” and he did not acknowledge his own brothers or know his own children, for they kept your word, and guarded your covenant. 33:10 They will teach Jacob your ordinances and Israel your law; they will offer incense as a pleasant odor, and a whole offering on your altar. 33:11 Bless, O Lord, his goods, and be pleased with his efforts; undercut the legs of any who attack him, and of those who hate him, so that they cannot stand.

Blessing on Benjamin

33:12 Of Benjamin he said: The beloved of the Lord will live safely by him; he protects him all the time, and the Lord places him on his chest.

Blessing on Joseph

33:13 Of Joseph he said: May the Lord bless his land with the harvest produced by the sky, by the dew, and by the depths crouching beneath; 33:14 with the harvest produced by the daylight and by the moonlight; 33:15 with the best of the ancient mountains and the harvest produced by the age-old hills; 33:16 with the harvest of the earth and its fullness and the pleasure of him who resided in the burning bush. May blessing rest on Joseph’s head, and on the top of the head of the one set apart from his brothers. 33:17 May the firstborn of his bull bring him honor, and may his horns be those of a wild ox; with them may he gore all peoples, all the far reaches of the earth. They are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh.

Blessing on Zebulun and Issachar

33:18 Of Zebulun he said: Rejoice, Zebulun, when you go outside, and Issachar, when you are in your tents. 33:19 They will summon peoples to the mountain, there they will sacrifice proper sacrifices; for they will enjoy the abundance of the seas, and the hidden treasures of the shores.

Blessing on Gad

33:20 Of Gad he said: Blessed be the one who enlarges Gad. Like a lioness he will dwell; he will tear at an arm– indeed, a scalp. 33:21 He has selected the best part for himself, for the portion of the ruler is set aside there; he came with the leaders of the people, he obeyed the righteous laws of the Lord and his ordinances with Israel.

Blessing on Dan

33:22 Of Dan he said: Dan is a lion’s cub; he will leap forth from Bashan.

Blessing on Naphtali

33:23 Of Naphtali he said: O Naphtali, overflowing with favor, and full of the Lord’s blessing, possess the west and south.

Blessing on Asher

33:24 Of Asher he said: Asher is blessed with children, may he be favored by his brothers and may he dip his foot in olive oil. 33:25 The bars of your gates will be made of iron and bronze, and may you have lifelong strength.

General Praise and Blessing

33:26 There is no one like God, O Jeshurun, who rides through the sky to help you, on the clouds in majesty. 33:27 The everlasting God is a refuge, and underneath you are his eternal arms; he has driven out enemies before you, and has said, “Destroy!” 33:28 Israel lives in safety, the fountain of Jacob is quite secure, in a land of grain and new wine; indeed, its heavens rain down dew. 33:29 You have joy, Israel! Who is like you? You are a people delivered by the Lord, your protective shield and your exalted sword. May your enemies cringe before you; may you trample on their backs.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Deu 33:3

¹ tc Heb “peoples.” The apparent plural form is probably a misunderstood singular (perhaps with a pronominal suffix) with enclitic mem (ם). See HALOT 838 s.v. עַם B.2.

² tc Heb “his holy ones.” The third person masculine singular suffix of the Hebrew MT is problematic in light of the second person masculine singular suffix on בְּיָדֶךָ (bÿyadekha, “your hands”). The LXX versions by Lucian and Origen read, therefore, “the holy ones.” The LXX version by Theodotion and the Vulgate, however, presuppose third masculine singular suffix on בְּיָדָיו (bÿyadayv, “his hands”), and thus retain “his holy ones.” The efforts to bring pronominal harmony into the line is commendable but unnecessary given the Hebrew tendency to be untroubled by such grammatical inconsistencies. However, the translation harmonizes the first pronoun with the second so that the referent (the Lord) is clear.

³ tn Heb “hands.” For the problem of the pronoun see note on the term “holy ones” earlier in this verse.

⁴ tn The Hebrew term תֻּכּוּ (tuku, probably Pual perfect of תָּכָה, takhah) is otherwise unknown. The present translation is based on the reference to feet and, apparently, receiving instruction in God’s words (cf. KJV, ASV). Other options are as follows: NIV “At your feet they all bow down” (cf. NCV, CEV); NLT “They follow in your steps” (cf. NAB, NASB); NRSV “they marched at your heels.”

⁵ tn The singular verbal form in the Hebrew text (lit. “he lifts up”) is understood in a distributive manner, focusing on the action of each individual within the group.

NET Notes: Deu 33:4

¹ tn The Hebrew term תּוֹרָה (torah) here should be understood more broadly as instruction.

NET Notes: Deu 33:5

¹ tn Heb “he was king.” The present translation avoids the sudden shift in person and the mistaken impression that Moses is the referent by specifying the referent as “the Lord.”

² sn Jeshurun is a term of affection referring to Israel, derived from the Hebrew verb יָשַׁר (yashar, “be upright”). See note on the term in Deut 32:15.

³ sn The following blessing is given to the tribes in order, although the tribe of Simeon is curiously missing from the list.

NET Notes: Deu 33:6

¹ tn Heb “and [not] may his men be few” (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV).

NET Notes: Deu 33:7

¹ tn The words “the blessing” are supplied in the translation for clarity and stylistic reasons.

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.

NET Notes: Deu 33:9

¹ sn This statement no doubt alludes to the Levites’ destruction of their own fellow tribesmen following the golden calf incident (Exod 32:25-29).

NET Notes: Deu 33:11

¹ tn Heb “smash the sinews [or “loins,” so many English versions].” This part of the body was considered to be center of one’s strength (cf. Job 40:16; Ps 69:24; Prov 31:17; Nah 2:2, 11). See J. H. Tigay, Deuteronomy (JPSTC), 325.

NET Notes: Deu 33:12

¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn Heb “between his shoulders.” This suggests the scene in John 13:23 with Jesus and the Beloved Disciple.

NET Notes: Deu 33:13

¹ tn Heb “from the harvest of the heavens.” The referent appears to be good crops produced by the rain that falls from the sky.

NET Notes: Deu 33:14

¹ tn Heb “goings forth of the sun.”

² tn Heb “and from the harvest of the yield of.” This has been simplified in the translation to avoid redundancy.

³ tn Heb “the moon.” Many English versions regard this as a reference to “months” (“moons”) rather than the moon itself (cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT).

NET Notes: Deu 33:15

¹ tn Heb “head” or “top.”

NET Notes: Deu 33:16

¹ tn The expression “him who resided in the bush” is frequently understood as a reference to the appearance of the Lord to Moses at Sinai from a burning bush (so NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT; cf. Exod 2:2-6; 3:2, 4). To make this reference clear the word “burning” is supplied in the translation.

² sn This apparently refers to Joseph’s special status among his brothers as a result of his being chosen by God to save the family from the famine and to lead Egypt.

NET Notes: Deu 33:17

¹ sn Ephraim and Manasseh were the sons of Joseph who became founders of the two tribes into which Joseph’s descendants were split (Gen 48:19-20). Jacob’s blessing granted favored status to Ephraim; this is probably why Ephraim is viewed here as more numerous than Manasseh.

NET Notes: Deu 33:19

¹ tn Or “acceptable”; Heb “righteous” (so NASB).

² tn Heb “suck.”

³ tn Heb “of the sand” (so NRSV, NLT); CEV “the sandy beach.”

NET Notes: Deu 33:20

¹ tn Heb “forehead,” picturing Gad attacking prey.

NET Notes: Deu 33:21

¹ tn The Hebrew term מְחֹקֵק (mÿkhoqeq; Poel participle of חָקַק, khaqaq, “to inscribe”) reflects the idea that the recorder of allotments (the “ruler”) is able to set aside for himself the largest and best. See E. H. Merrill, Deuteronomy (NAC), 444-45.

² tn Heb “covered in” (if from the root סָפַן, safan; cf. HALOT 764-65 s.v. ספן qal).

³ tn Heb “heads” (in the sense of chieftains).

NET Notes: Deu 33:22

¹ sn He will leap forth from Bashan. This may refer to Dan’s conquest of Laish, a region just to the west of Bashan (Judg 18:27-28).

NET Notes: Deu 33:24

¹ sn Dip his foot in olive oil. This is a metaphor for prosperity, one especially apt in light of the abundance of olive groves in the area settled by Asher. The Hebrew term refers to olive oil, which symbolizes blessing in the OT. See R. Way, NIDOTTE 4:171-73.

NET Notes: Deu 33:25

¹ tn The words “of your gates” have been supplied in the translation to clarify the referent of “bars.”

NET Notes: Deu 33:26

¹ sn Jeshurun is a term of affection referring to Israel, derived from the Hebrew verb יָשַׁר (yashar, “be upright”). See note on the term in Deut 32:15.

² tn Or “(who) rides (on) the heavens” (cf. NIV, NRSV, NLT). This title depicts Israel’s God as sovereign over the elements of the storm (cf. Ps 68:33). The use of the phrase here may be polemical; Moses may be asserting that Israel’s God, not Baal (called the “rider of the clouds” in the Ugaritic myths), is the true divine king (cf. v. 5) who controls the elements of the storm, grants agricultural prosperity, and delivers his people from their enemies. See R. B. Chisholm, Jr., “The Polemic against Baalism in Israel’s Early History and Literature,” BSac 151 (1994): 275.

NET Notes: Deu 33:27

¹ tn Heb “and from under, arms of perpetuity.” The words “you” and “his” are supplied in the translation for clarification. Some have perceived this line to be problematic and have offered alternative translations that differ significantly from the present translation: “He spread out the primeval tent; he extended the ancient canopy” (NAB); “He subdues the ancient gods, shatters the forces of old” (NRSV). These are based on alternate meanings or conjectural emendations rather than textual variants in the mss and versions.

NET Notes: Deu 33:28

¹ tn Heb “all alone.” The idea is that such vital resources as water will some day no longer need protection because God will provide security.

² tn Or “skies.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven(s)” or “sky” depending on the context.

³ tn Or perhaps “drizzle, showers.” See note at Deut 32:2.