Deuteronomy 33:2

33:2 He said:

A Historical Review

The Lord came from Sinai

and revealed himself ¹  to Israel ²  from Seir.

He appeared in splendor ³  from Mount Paran,

and came forth with ten thousand holy ones. ⁴ 

With his right hand he gave a fiery law ⁵  to them.

Deuteronomy 33:1

Introduction to the Blessing of Moses

33:1 This is the blessing Moses the man of God pronounced upon the Israelites before his death.

Deuteronomy 22:19

22:19 They will fine him one hundred shekels of silver and give them to the young woman’s father, for the man who made the accusation ⁶  ruined the reputation ⁷  of an Israelite virgin. She will then become his wife and he may never divorce her as long as he lives.

Psalms 68:17

68:17 God has countless chariots;

they number in the thousands. ⁸ 

The Lord comes from Sinai in holy splendor. ⁹ 

Zechariah 14:5

14:5 Then you will escape ¹⁰  through my mountain valley, for the mountains will extend to Azal. ¹¹  Indeed, you will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of King Uzziah ¹²  of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come with all his holy ones with him.

Matthew 25:31

The Judgment

25:31 “When ¹³  the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.

Hebrews 12:22

12:22 But you have come to Mount Zion, the city ¹⁴  of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the assembly

Jude 1:14

1:14 Now Enoch, the seventh in descent beginning with Adam, ¹⁵  even prophesied of them, ¹⁶  saying, “Look! The Lord is coming ¹⁷  with thousands and thousands ¹⁸  of his holy ones,

Revelation 5:11

5:11 Then ¹⁹  I looked and heard the voice of many angels in a circle around the throne, as well as the living creatures and the elders. Their ²⁰  number was ten thousand times ten thousand ²¹  – thousands times thousands –

¹ tn Or “rose like the sun” (NCV, TEV).

² tc Heb “to him.” The LXX reads “to us” (לָנוּ [lanu] for לָמוֹ [lamo]), the reading of the MT is acceptable since it no doubt has in mind Israel as a collective singular.

³ tn Or “he shone forth” (NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

⁴ tc With slight alteration (מִמְרִבַת קָדֵשׁ [mimrivat qadesh] for the MT’s מֵרִבְבֹת קֹדֶשׁ [merivvot qodesh]) the translation would be “from Meribah Kadesh” (cf. NAB, NLT; see Deut 32:51). However, the language of holy war in the immediate context favors the reading of the MT, which views the Lord as accompanied by angelic hosts.

⁵ tc The mispointed Hebrew term אֵשְׁדָּת (’eshdat) should perhaps be construed as אֵשְׁהַת (’eshhat) with Smr.

⁶ tn Heb “for he”; the referent (the man who made the accusation) has been specified in the translation to avoid confusion with the young woman’s father, the last-mentioned male.

⁷ tn Heb “brought forth a bad name.”

⁸ tn Heb “thousands of [?].” The meaning of the word שִׁנְאָן (shin’an), which occurs only here in the OT, is uncertain. Perhaps the form should be emended to שַׁאֲנָן (sha’anan, “at ease”) and be translated here “held in reserve.”

⁹ tc The MT reads, “the Lord [is] among them, Sinai, in holiness,” which is syntactically difficult. The present translation assumes an emendation to אֲדֹנָי בָּא מִסִּינַי (’adonay ba’ missinay; see BHS note b-b and Deut 33:2).

¹⁰ tc For the MT reading נַסְתֶּם (nastem, “you will escape”) the LXX presupposes נִסְתַּם (nistam, “will be stopped up”; this reading is followed by NAB). This appears to derive from a perceived need to eliminate the unexpected “you” as subject. This not only is unnecessary to Hebrew discourse (see “you” in the next clause), but it contradicts the statement in the previous verse that the mountain will be split open, not stopped up.

¹¹ sn Azal is a place otherwise unknown.

¹² sn The earthquake in the days of King Uzziah, also mentioned in Amos 1:1, is apparently the one attested to at Hazor in 760 b.c.

¹³ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

¹⁴ tn Grk “and the city”; the conjunction is omitted in translation since it seems to be functioning epexegetically – that is, explaining further what is meant by “Mount Zion.”

¹⁵ tn Grk “the seventh from Adam.”

¹⁶ tn Grk “against them.” The dative τούτοις (toutois) is a dativus incommodi (dative of disadvantage).

¹⁷ tn Grk “has come,” a proleptic aorist.

¹⁸ tn Grk “ten thousands.” The word μυριάς (muria"), from which the English myriad is derived, means “ten thousand.” In the plural it means “ten thousands.” This would mean, minimally, 20,000 (a multiple of ten thousand). At the same time, the term was often used in apocalyptic literature to represent simply a rather large number, without any attempt to be specific.

¹⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

²⁰ tn Grk “elders, and the number of them was.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

²¹ tn Or “myriads of myriads.” Although μυριάς (murias) literally means “10,000,” the point of the combination here may simply be to indicate an incalculably huge number. See L&N 60.9.