Deuteronomy 33:26

General Praise and Blessing

33:26 There is no one like God, O Jeshurun, ¹ 

who rides through the sky ²  to help you,

on the clouds in majesty.

Deuteronomy 32:40

32:40 For I raise up my hand to heaven,

and say, ‘As surely as I live forever,

Deuteronomy 33:13

Blessing on Joseph

33:13 Of Joseph he said:

May the Lord bless his land

with the harvest produced by the sky, ³  by the dew,

and by the depths crouching beneath;

[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.

[33:26]  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.

[33:13]  ³ tn Heb “from the harvest of the heavens.” The referent appears to be good crops produced by the rain that falls from the sky.