1And this the blessing which Moses the man of God praised the sons of Israel before his death. 2And he will say, Jehovah came from mount Sinai, and he rose up from Seir to them; he shone forth from mount Peran, he came from ten thousand of Kadesh; from his right hand a fire of law for them. 3Surely, he loved the peoples; all his holy ones in thy hand: they lay down at thy foot; and he will take of thy words. 4Moses commanded a law for us, the inheritance of the gathering of Jacob. 5And he will be king in Jeshurun, in the gathering the heads of the people, he united together the tribes of Israel. 6Reuben shall live and shall not die; and his men shall be of number. 7And this to Judah: and he will say, Hear, Jehovah, the voice of Judah, and thou wilt bring him to his people; his hands a multitude for him, and thou wilt be a help from his aversaries. 8And to Levi he said, Thy Truth and thy Light to the godly man whom they tried in the trial; thou wilt contend with him at the water of contention. 9He saying to his father and to his mother, I saw him not, and his brethren he knew not, and he knew not his sons; for they watched thy sayings and they will keep thy covenant. 10And they shall teach thy judgments to Jacob, and thy law to Israel; they will put incense at thy nose, and whole burnt-offerings upon thine altar. 11Bless, Jehovah, his strength, and thou wilt accept the work of his hands: smite through and through the loins of those rising up against him, and those hating him, lest they shall rise up. 12To Benjamin he said, The beloved of Jehovah shall dwell confidently by him; he covered over him all the day, and he dwelt between his shoulders. 13And to Joseph he said, His land from the blessing of Jehovah, from the most excellent of the heavens, from the dew and from the deep reclining beneath, 14And from the most excellent of the produce of the sun, and from the most excellent thrust forth of the moons, 15And from the head of the mountains of the beginning, and from the most excellent of the perpetual hills, 16And from the most excellent of the earth and its fulness, and the acceptance of him dwelling in the bramble: it shall come to the head of Joseph, and to the crown of the consecrated of his brethren. 17The honor to him the first-born of the bullock, his horns the horns of the unicorn: with them he will thrust the peoples together to the extremity of the earth: these the ten thousands of Ephraim, and these the thousands of Manasseh 18And to Zebulon he said, Rejoice, Zebulon, in thy going forth, and Issachar, in thy tents. 19They shall call the peoples to the mountain; there they shall sacrifice sacrifices of justice, for they shall suck the abundance of the sea, and the bidden things hid in the sand. 20And to Gad he said, Blessed he enlarging Gad: he dwelt as a lion, and he tore up the arm, also the crown. 21And he will see the first-fruits to himself, for there the portion of the ruler he covered: and he will mark out the heads of the people; he did the justice of Jehovah, and his judgments with Israel. 22And to Dan he said, Dan a lion's whelp: he shall spring forth from Bashan. 23And to Naphtali he said, Naphtali satisfied with acceptance, and filled with the blessing of Jehovah, he shall possess the sea and the south. 24And to Asher he said, Asher blessed from sons; he shall be accepted of his brethren, and he dipped his foot in oil. 25Thy bolt, iron and brass; and as thy days, thy rest. 26None as the God of Jeshurun, riding the heavens in thy help and in his lifting up the choirs. 27The God of the beginning testifying, and underneath, the perpetual arms: and he will thrust out the enemy from before thee, and will say, Destroy. 28And Israel shall dwell confidently alone; the eye of Jacob upon a land of grain and new wine, also his heavens shall drop dew. 29Happy, thou, Israel: who like thee, a people saved by Jehovah, the shield of thy help, and who the sword of thy lifting up and thine enemies will lie to thee, and thou wilt tread upon their heights.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 THE MAJESTY OF GOD. (Deu. 33:1-28)
Moses the man of God--This was a common designation of a prophet (
1Sam 2:27;
1Sam 9:6), and it is here applied to Moses, when, like Jacob, he was about to deliver ministerially before his death, a prophetic benediction to Israel.
2 The Lord came--Under a beautiful metaphor, borrowed from the dawn and progressive splendor of the sun, the Majesty of God is sublimely described as a divine light which appeared in Sinai and scattered its beams on all the adjoining region in directing Israel's march to Canaan. In these descriptions of a theophania, God is represented as coming from the south, and the allusion is in general to the thunderings and lightnings of Sinai; but other mountains in the same direction are mentioned with it. The location of Seir was on the east of the Ghor; mount Paran was either the chain on the west of the Ghor, or rather the mountains on the southern border of the desert towards the peninsula [ROBINSON]. (Compare
Judg 5:4-
Judg 5:5;
Ps 68:7-
Ps 68:8;
Hab 3:3).
ten thousands of saints--rendered by some, "with the ten thousand of Kadesh," or perhaps better still, "from Meribah" [EWALD].
a fiery law--so called both because of the thunder and lightning which accompanied its promulgation (
Exod 19:16-
Exod 19:18;
Deut 4:11), and the fierce, unrelenting curse denounced against the violation of its precepts (
2Cor 3:7-9). Notwithstanding those awe-inspiring symbols of Majesty that were displayed on Sinai, the law was really given in kindness and love (
Deut 33:3), as a means of promoting both the temporal and eternal welfare of the people. And it was "the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob," not only from the hereditary obligation under which that people were laid to observe it, but from its being the grand distinction, the peculiar privilege of the nation.
6 Let Reuben live, and not die--Although deprived of the honor and privileges of primogeniture, he was still to hold rank as one of the tribes of Israel. He was more numerous than several other tribes (
Num 1:21;
Num 2:11). Yet gradually he sank into a mere nomadic tribe, which had enough to do merely "to live and not die." Many eminent biblical scholars, resting on the most ancient and approved manuscripts of the Septuagint, consider the latter clause as referring to Simeon; "and Simeon, let his men be few," a reading of the text which is in harmony with other statements of Scripture respecting this tribe (
Num 25:6-
Num 25:14;
Num 1:23;
Num 26:14;
Josh 19:1).
7 this is the blessing of Judah--Its general purport points to the great power and independence of Judah, as well as its taking the lead in all military expeditions.
8 of Levi he said--The burden of this blessing is the appointment of the Levites to the dignified and sacred office of the priesthood (
Lev 10:11;
Deut 22:8;
Deut 17:8-
Deut 17:11), a reward for their zeal in supporting the cause of God, and their unsparing severity in chastising even their nearest and dearest relatives who had participated in the idolatry of the molten calf (
Exod 32:25-
Exod 32:28; compare
Mal 2:4-
Mal 2:6).
12 of Benjamin he said--A distinguishing favor was conferred on this tribe in having its portion assigned near the temple of God.
between his shoulders--that is, on his sides or borders. Mount Zion, on which stood the city of Jerusalem, belonged to Judah; but Mount Moriah, the site of the sacred edifice, lay in the confines of Benjamin.
13 of Joseph he said--The territory of this tribe, diversified by hill and dale, wood and water, would be rich in all the productions--olives, grapes, figs, &c., which are reared in a mountainous region, as well as in the grain and herbs that grow in the level fields. "The firstling of the bullock and the horns of the unicorn" (rhinoceros), indicate glory and strength, and it is supposed that under these emblems were shadowed forth the triumphs of Joshua and the new kingdom of Jeroboam, both of whom were of Ephraim (compare
Gen 48:20).
18 Rejoice, Zebulun, in thy going out--on commercial enterprises and voyages by sea.
and, Issachar in thy tents--preferring to reside in their maritime towns.
19 shall suck of the abundance of the seas, and of treasures hid in the sand--Both tribes should traffic with the Phśnicians in gold and silver, pearl and coral, especially in murex, the shellfish that yielded the famous Tyrian dye, and in glass, which was manufactured from the sand of the river Belus, in their immediate neighborhood.
20 of Gad he said--Its possessions were larger than they would have been had they lain west of Jordan; and this tribe had the honor of being settled by Moses himself in the first portion of land conquered. In the forest region, south of the Jabbok, "he dwelt as a lion" (compare
Gen 30:11;
Gen 49:19). Notwithstanding, they faithfully kept their engagement to join the "heads of the people" [
Deut 33:21] in the invasion of Canaan.
22 Dan is a lion's whelp--His proper settlement in the south of Canaan being too small, he by a sudden and successful irruption, established a colony in the northern extremity of the land. This might well be described as the leap of a young lion from the hills of Bashan.
23 of Naphtali he said--The pleasant and fertile territory of this tribe lay to "the west," on the borders of lakes Merom and Chinnereth, and to "the south" of the northern Danites.
24 of Asher he said--The condition of this tribe is described as combining all the elements of earthly felicity.
dip his foot in oil--These words allude either to the process of extracting the oil by foot presses, or to his district as particularly fertile and adapted to the culture of the olive.
25 shoes of iron and brass--These shoes suited his rocky coast from Carmel to Sidon. Country people as well as ancient warriors had their lower extremities protected by metallic greaves (
1Sam 17:6;
Eph 6:15) and iron-soled shoes.
26 There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun--The chapter concludes with a congratulatory address to Israel on their peculiar happiness and privilege in having Jehovah for their God and protector.
who rideth upon the heaven in thy help--an evident allusion to the pillar of cloud and fire, which was both the guide and shelter of Israel.
28 the fountain of Jacob--The posterity of Israel shall dwell in a blessed and favored land.