Deuteronomy 33:8-11

Blessing on Levi

33:8 Of Levi he said:

Your Thummim and Urim ¹  belong to your godly one, ² 

whose authority you challenged at Massah, ³ 

and with whom you argued at the waters of Meribah. ⁴ 

33:9 He said to his father and mother, “I have not seen him,” ⁵ 

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 ⁶  of any who attack him,

and of those who hate him, so that they cannot stand.

Deuteronomy 33:2

33:2 He said:

A Historical Review

The Lord came from Sinai

and revealed himself ⁷  to Israel ⁸  from Seir.

He appeared in splendor ⁹  from Mount Paran,

and came forth with ten thousand holy ones. ¹⁰ 

With his right hand he gave a fiery law ¹¹  to them.

Deuteronomy 6:1

Exhortation to Keep the Covenant Principles

6:1 Now these are the commandments, ¹²  statutes, and ordinances that the Lord your God instructed me to teach you so that you may carry them out in the land where you are headed ¹³ 

Nehemiah 10:39

10:39 The Israelites and the Levites will bring the contribution of the grain, the new wine, and the olive oil to the storerooms where the utensils of the sanctuary are kept, and where the priests who minister stay, along with the gatekeepers and the singers. We will not neglect the temple of our God.”

Psalms 132:9

132:9 May your priests be clothed with integrity! ¹⁴ 

May your loyal followers shout for joy!

Psalms 132:16

132:16 I will protect her priests, ¹⁵ 

and her godly people will shout exuberantly. ¹⁶ 

Isaiah 61:6

61:6 You will be called, ‘the Lord’s priests,

servants of our God.’ ¹⁷ 

You will enjoy ¹⁸  the wealth of nations

and boast about ¹⁹  the riches you receive from them. ²⁰ 

Isaiah 61:1

The Lord Will Rejuvenate His People

61:1 The spirit of the sovereign Lord is upon me,

because the Lord has chosen ²¹  me. ²² 

He has commissioned ²³  me to encourage ²⁴  the poor,

to help ²⁵  the brokenhearted,

to decree the release of captives,

and the freeing of prisoners,

Isaiah 2:9

2:9 Men bow down to them in homage,

they lie flat on the ground in worship. ²⁶ 

Don’t spare them! ²⁷ 

Revelation 5:10

5:10 You have appointed ²⁸  them ²⁹  as a kingdom and priests ³⁰  to serve ³¹  our God, and they will reign ³²  on the earth.”

[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.

[33:8]  ² tn Heb “godly man.” The reference is probably to Moses as representative of the whole tribe of Levi.

[33:8]  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.

[33:8]  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.

[33:9]  ⁵ sn This statement no doubt alludes to the Levites’ destruction of their own fellow tribesmen following the golden calf incident (Exod 32:25-29).

[33:11]  ⁶ 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.

[33:2]  ⁷ tn Or “rose like the sun” (NCV, TEV).

[33:2]  ⁸ 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.

[33:2]  ⁹ tn Or “he shone forth” (NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).

[33:2]  ¹⁰ 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.

[33:2]  ¹¹ tc The mispointed Hebrew term אֵשְׁדָּת (’eshdat) should perhaps be construed as אֵשְׁהַת (’eshhat) with Smr.

[6:1]  ¹² tn Heb “commandment.” The word מִצְוָה (mitsvah) again is in the singular, serving as a comprehensive term for the whole stipulation section of the book. See note on the word “commandments” in 5:31.

[6:1]  ¹³ tn Heb “where you are going over to possess it” (so NASB); NRSV “that you are about to cross into and occupy.”

[132:9]  ¹⁴ tn Or “righteousness.”

[132:16]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and her priests I will clothe [with] deliverance.”

[132:16]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “[with] shouting they will shout.” The infinitive absolute is used to emphasize the verb.

[61:6]  ¹⁷ tn The Hebrew text adds, “it will be said concerning you.”

[61:6]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “eat” (KJV, NAB, NASB); NIV “feed on”; NLT “be fed with.”

[61:6]  ¹⁹ tc The form in the Hebrew text is probably a corruption of יִתְאַמְּרוּ (yit’ammÿru), a Hitpael from אָמַר (’amar), meaning “boast about” (see HALOT 67 s.v. II אמר, HALOT 416 s.v. ימר, and BDB 56 s.v. אָמַר).

[61:6]  ²⁰ tn Heb “their glory” (i.e., riches).

[61:1]  ²¹ tn Heb “anointed,” i.e., designated to carry out an assigned task.

[61:1]  ²² sn The speaker is not identified, but he is distinct from the Lord and from Zion’s suffering people. He possesses the divine spirit, is God’s spokesman, and is sent to release prisoners from bondage. The evidence suggests he is the Lord’s special servant, described earlier in the servant songs (see 42:1-4, 7; 49:2, 9; 50:4; see also 51:16).

[61:1]  ²³ tn Or “sent” (NAB); NCV “has appointed me.”

[61:1]  ²⁴ tn Or “proclaim good news to.”

[61:1]  ²⁵ tn Heb “to bind up [the wounds of].”

[2:9]  ²⁶ tn Heb “men bow down, men are low.” Since the verbs שָׁחָח (shakhakh) and שָׁפַל (shafal) are used later in this discourse to describe how God will humiliate proud men (see vv. 11, 17), some understand v. 9a as a prediction of judgment, “men will be brought down, men will be humiliated.” However, these prefixed verbal forms with vav (ו) consecutive appear to carry on the description that precedes and are better taken with the accusation. They draw attention to the fact that human beings actually bow down and worship before the lifeless products of their own hands.

[2:9]  ²⁷ tn Heb “don’t lift them up.” The idiom “lift up” (נָשָׂא with לְ, nasa’ with preposition lamed) can mean “spare, forgive” (see Gen 18:24, 26). Here the idiom plays on the preceding verbs. The idolaters are bowed low as they worship their false gods; the prophet asks God not to “lift them up.”

[5:10]  ²⁸ tn The verb ἐποίησας (epoihsas) is understood to mean “appointed” here. For an example of this use, see Mark 3:14.

[5:10]  ²⁹ tc The vast majority of witnesses have αὐτούς (autous, “them”) here, while the Textus Receptus reads ἡμᾶς (Jhmas, “us”) with insignificant support (pc gig vg^cl sa Prim Bea). There is no question that the original text read αὐτούς here.

[5:10]  ³⁰ tn The reference to “kingdom and priests” may be a hendiadys: “priestly kingdom.”

[5:10]  ³¹ tn The words “to serve” are not in the Greek text, but are implied by the word “priests.”

[5:10]  ³² tc The textual problem here between the present tense βασιλεύουσιν (basileuousin, “they are reigning”; so A 1006 1611 Ï^K pc) and the future βασιλεύσουσιν (basileusousin, “they will reign”; so א 1854 2053 Ï^A pc lat co) is a difficult one. Both readings have excellent support. On the one hand, the present tense seems to be the harder reading in this context. On the other hand, codex A elsewhere mistakes the future for the present (20:6). Further, the lunar sigma in uncial script could have been overlooked by some scribes, resulting in the present tense. All things considered, there is a slight preference for the future.