“Two nations 6 are in your womb,
and two peoples will be separated from within you.
One people will be stronger than the other,
and the older will serve the younger.”
20:14 7 Moses 8 sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom: 9 “Thus says your brother Israel: ‘You know all the hardships we have experienced, 10
24:17 ‘I see him, but not now;
I behold him, but not close at hand. 11
A star 12 will march forth 13 out of Jacob,
and a scepter 14 will rise out of Israel.
He will crush the skulls 15 of Moab,
and the heads 16 of all the sons of Sheth. 17
24:18 Edom will be a possession,
Seir, 18 his enemies, will also be a possession;
but Israel will act valiantly.
17:14 When you come to the land the Lord your God is giving you and take it over and live in it and then say, “I will select a king like all the nations surrounding me,” 17:15 you must select without fail 19 a king whom the Lord your God chooses. From among your fellow citizens 20 you must appoint a king – you may not designate a foreigner who is not one of your fellow Israelites. 21 17:16 Moreover, he must not accumulate horses for himself or allow the people to return to Egypt to do so, 22 for the Lord has said you must never again return that way. 17:17 Furthermore, he must not marry many 23 wives lest his affections turn aside, and he must not accumulate much silver and gold. 17:18 When he sits on his royal throne he must make a copy of this law 24 on a scroll 25 given to him by the Levitical priests. 17:19 It must be with him constantly and he must read it as long as he lives, so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and observe all the words of this law and these statutes and carry them out. 17:20 Then he will not exalt himself above his fellow citizens or turn from the commandments to the right or left, and he and his descendants will enjoy many years ruling over his kingdom 26 in Israel.
33:5 The Lord 27 was king over Jeshurun, 28
when the leaders of the people assembled,
the tribes of Israel together. 29
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.
33:1 This is the blessing Moses the man of God pronounced upon the Israelites before his death.
1 tn This verb starts a series of perfect verbal forms with vav (ו) consecutive to express God’s intentions.
2 tn Heb “exceedingly, exceedingly.” The repetition is emphatic.
3 tn Heb “and I will make you into nations, and kings will come out from you.”
4 tn Heb “she will become nations.”
5 tn Heb “peoples.”
6 sn By metonymy the two children in her womb are described as two nations of which the two children, Jacob and Esau, would become the fathers. The language suggests there would be a struggle between these nations, with one being stronger than the other. The oracle reveals that all of Jacob’s scheming was unnecessary in the final analysis. He would have become the dominant nation without using deception to steal his brother’s blessing.
7 sn For this particular section, see W. F. Albright, “From the Patriarchs to Moses: 2. Moses out of Egypt,” BA 36 (1973): 57-58; J. R. Bartlett, “The Land of Seir and the Brotherhood of Edom,” JTS 20 (1969): 1-20, and “The Rise and Fall of the Kingdom of Edom,” PEQ 104 (1972): 22-37, and “The Brotherhood of Edom,” JSOT 4 (1977): 2-7.
8 tn Heb “And Moses sent.”
9 sn Some modern biblical scholars are convinced, largely through arguments from silence, that there were no unified kingdoms in Edom until the 9th century, and no settlements there before the 12th century, and so the story must be late and largely fabricated. The evidence is beginning to point to the contrary. But the cities and residents of the region would largely be Bedouin, and so leave no real remains.
10 tn Heb “found.”
11 tn Heb “near.”
12 sn This is a figure for a king (see also Isa 14:12) not only in the Bible but in the ancient Near Eastern literature as a whole. The immediate reference of the prophecy seems to be to David, but the eschatological theme goes beyond him. There is to be a connection made between this passage and the sighting of a star in its ascendancy by the magi, who then traveled to Bethlehem to see the one born King of the Jews (Matt 2:2). The expression “son of a star” (Aram Bar Kochba) became a title for a later claimant to kingship, but he was doomed by the Romans in
13 tn The verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive; it is equal to the imperfect expressing the future. The verb דָּרַךְ (darakh), related to the noun “way, road,” seems to mean something like tread on, walk, march.”
14 sn The “scepter” is metonymical for a king who will rise to power. NEB strangely rendered this as “comet” to make a parallel with “star.”
15 tn The word is literally “corners,” but may refer to the corners of the head, and so “skull.”
16 tc The MT reads “shatter, devastate.” Smr reads קֹדְקֹד (qodqod, “head; crown; pate”). Smr follows Jer 48:45 which appears to reflect Num 24:17.
17 sn The prophecy begins to be fulfilled when David defeated Moab and Edom and established an empire including them. But the Messianic promise extends far beyond that to the end of the age and the inclusion of these defeated people in the program of the coming King.
18 sn Seir is the chief mountain range of Edom (Deut 33:2), and so the reference here is to the general area of Edom.
19 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, indicated in the translation by the words “without fail.”
20 tn Heb “your brothers,” but not referring to siblings (cf. NIV “your brother Israelites”; NLT “a fellow Israelite”). The same phrase also occurs in v. 20.
21 tn Heb “your brothers.” See the preceding note on “fellow citizens.”
22 tn Heb “in order to multiply horses.” The translation uses “do so” in place of “multiply horses” to avoid redundancy (cf. NAB, NIV).
23 tn Heb “must not multiply” (cf. KJV, NASB); NLT “must not take many.”
24 tn Or “instruction.” The LXX reads here τὸ δευτερονόμιον τοῦτο (to deuteronomion touto, “this second law”). From this Greek phrase the present name of the book, “Deuteronomy” or “second law” (i.e., the second giving of the law), is derived. However, the MT’s expression מִשְׁנֶה הַתּוֹרָה הַזֹּאת (mishneh hattorah hazzo’t) is better rendered “copy of this law.” Here the term תּוֹרָה (torah) probably refers only to the book of Deuteronomy and not to the whole Pentateuch.
25 tn The Hebrew term סֵפֶר (sefer) means a “writing” or “document” and could be translated “book” (so KJV, ASV, TEV). However, since “book” carries the connotation of a modern bound book with pages (an obvious anachronism) it is preferable to render the Hebrew term “scroll” here and elsewhere.
26 tc Heb “upon his kingship.” Smr supplies כִּסֵא (kise’, “throne”) so as to read “upon the throne of his kingship.” This overliteralizes what is a clearly understood figure of speech.
27 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
28 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.
29 sn The following blessing is given to the tribes in order, although the tribe of Simeon is curiously missing from the list.
30 tn Heb “the mouth of the