Discovery BoxDeuteronomy 33:1-14
Context33:1 This is the blessing Moses the man of God pronounced upon the Israelites before his death. 33:2 He said:
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.
33:3 Surely he loves the people; 6
all your holy ones 7 are in your power. 8
And they sit 9 at your feet,
each receiving 10 your words.
33:4 Moses delivered to us a law, 11
an inheritance for the assembly of Jacob.
33:5 The Lord 12 was king over Jeshurun, 13
when the leaders of the people assembled,
the tribes of Israel together. 14
33:6 May Reuben live and not die,
and may his people multiply. 15
33:7 And this is the blessing 16 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.
33:8 Of Levi he said:
Your Thummim and Urim 17 belong to your godly one, 18
whose authority you challenged at Massah, 19
and with whom you argued at the waters of Meribah. 20
33:9 He said to his father and mother, “I have not seen him,” 21
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 22 of any who attack him,
and of those who hate him, so that they cannot stand.
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 23 places him on his chest. 24
33:13 Of Joseph he said:
May the Lord bless his land
with the harvest produced by the sky, 25 by the dew,
and by the depths crouching beneath;
[33:2] 1 tn Or “rose like the sun” (NCV, TEV).
[33:2] 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.
[33:2] 3 tn Or “he shone forth” (NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
[33:2] 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.
[33:2] 5 tc The mispointed Hebrew term אֵשְׁדָּת (’eshdat) should perhaps be construed as אֵשְׁהַת (’eshhat) with Smr.
[33:3] 6 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.
[33:3] 7 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.
[33:3] 8 tn Heb “hands.” For the problem of the pronoun see note on the term “holy ones” earlier in this verse.
[33:3] 9 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.”
[33:3] 10 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.
[33:4] 11 tn The Hebrew term תּוֹרָה (torah) here should be understood more broadly as instruction.
[33:5] 12 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
[33:5] 13 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.
[33:5] 14 sn The following blessing is given to the tribes in order, although the tribe of Simeon is curiously missing from the list.
[33:6] 15 tn Heb “and [not] may his men be few” (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV).
[33:7] 16 tn The words “the blessing” are supplied in the translation for clarity and stylistic reasons.
[33:8] 17 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] 18 tn Heb “godly man.” The reference is probably to Moses as representative of the whole tribe of Levi.
[33:8] 19 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] 20 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] 21 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] 22 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.
[33:12] 23 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the
[33:12] 24 tn Heb “between his shoulders.” This suggests the scene in John 13:23 with Jesus and the Beloved Disciple.
[33:13] 25 tn Heb “from the harvest of the heavens.” The referent appears to be good crops produced by the rain that falls from the sky.
[33:14] 26 tn Heb “goings forth of the sun.”
[33:14] 27 tn Heb “and from the harvest of the yield of.” This has been simplified in the translation to avoid redundancy.
[33:14] 28 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).
