Deuteronomy 33:1-29
1 And this is the blessing, wherewith Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death.
2 And he said, The LORD came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fierya law for them.
3 Yea, he loved the people; all his saints are in thy hand: and they sat down at thy feet; every one shall receive of thy words.
4 Moses commanded us a law, even the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob.
5 And he was king in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people and the tribes of Israel were gathered together.
6 Let Reuben live, and not die; and let not his men be few.
7 And this is the blessing of Judah: and he said, Hear, LORD, the voice of Judah, and bring him unto his people: let his hands be sufficient for him; and be thou an help to him from his enemies.
8 And of Levi he said, Let thy Thummim and thy Urim be with thy holy one, whom thou didst prove at Massah, and with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah;
9 Who said unto his father and to his mother, I have not seen him; neither did he acknowledge his brethren, nor knew his own children: for they have observed thy word, and kept thy covenant.
10 They shall teachb Jacob thy judgments, and Israel thy law: they shall put incense before thee, and whole burnt sacrifice upon thine altar.
11 Bless, LORD, his substance, and accept the work of his hands: smite through the loins of them that rise against him, and of them that hate him, that they rise not again.
12 And of Benjamin he said, The beloved of the LORD shall dwell in safety by him; and the LORD shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell between his shoulders.
13 And of Joseph he said, Blessed of the LORD be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that coucheth beneath,
14 And for the precious fruits brought forth by the sun, and for the precious things put forth by the moon,
15 And for the chief things of the ancient mountains, and for the precious things of the lasting hills,
16 And for the precious things of the earth and fulness thereof, and for the good will of him that dwelt in the bush: let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the top of the head of him that was separated from his brethren.
17 His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns:c with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth: and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh.
18 And of Zebulun he said, Rejoice, Zebulun, in thy going out; and, Issachar, in thy tents.
19 They shall call the people unto the mountain; there they shall offer sacrifices of righteousness: for they shall suck of the abundance of the seas, and of treasures hid in the sand.
20 And of Gad he said, Blessed be he that enlargeth Gad: he dwelleth as a lion, and teareth the arm with the crown of the head.
21 And he provided the first part for himself, because there, in a portion of the lawgiver, was he seated;d and he came with the heads of the people, he executed the justice of the LORD, and his judgments with Israel.
22 And of Dan he said, Dan is a lion's whelp: he shall leap from Bashan.
23 And of Naphtali he said, O Naphtali, satisfied with favour, and full with the blessing of the LORD: possess thou the west and the south.
24 And of Asher he said, Let Asher be blessed with children; let him be acceptable to his brethren, and let him dip his foot in oil.
25 Thy shoese shall be iron and brass; and as thy days, so shall thy strength be.
26 There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky.
27 The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them.
28 Israel then shall dwell in safety alone: the fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine; also his heavens shall drop down dew.
29 Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the LORD, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency! and thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places.
Deuteronomy 33:1. Moses blessed Israel. Moses, like Jacob, died distinctly blessing the tribes of Israel, and finished his course in a manner worthy of himself. The tribe of Simeon is here omitted. The rabbins say, because Zimri, a prince of that tribe, had led the people to whoredom with the daughters of Moab.
Deuteronomy 33:2. The Lord came from Sinai. His glory accompanied the patriarchs, which is intimated in Psalms 114. and Zechariah 3:3.
Deuteronomy 33:6. Let Reuben live, and not die. He had fretted at Jacob's words, Genesis 49:4; but here are words of comfort: God will not always visit a father's sins.
Deuteronomy 33:8. Urim. See on Exodus 28:30.
Deuteronomy 33:17. The horns of a unicorn. See on Numbers 23:22.
Deuteronomy 33:23. The west and the south. Several versions read, “the sea and the south;” for Naphtali had his lot by the sea of Galilee.
Deuteronomy 33:25. Thy shoes shall be iron and brass. Some read, “Thy bolts shall be iron and brass.” It imports that mines should be under their feet.
Deuteronomy 33:26. The God of Jeshurun, who rideth on the heaven. The idea of Jehovah's riding in his chariot runs through the writings of all ancient nations, and abounds in the book of Psalms: Psalms 18:10; Psalms 99:1; Psalms 104:3.
Namque Diespiter, Igni corusco nubila dividens, Plerumque per purum tonantes Egit equos volucremque currum; Quo bruta tellus, et vaga flumina, Quo Styx, et invisi horrida Tœnari Sedes, Atlanteusque finis Concutitur.
For lo! that awful heavenly Sire, Who frequent cleaves the clouds with fire, Parent of day, Immortal Jove!
Late through the floating fields of air, The face of heaven, serene and fair, His thund'ring steeds and winged chariot drove; When, at the bursting of his flames The pondrous earth, and vagrant streams, Infernal Styx, the dire abode Of hateful Tœnarus profound, And Atlas to his utmost bound Trembled beneath the terrors of the God. Francis's Horace, bk. 1. ode 34.
So also in the Voluspa, one of the most ancient poems in the world.
3. Ar var alda Thâ Ymir bigthi Var-a sandr, ne saer, Ne svalar unnir; Jörth fanz aeva Ne upp-himin; Gar var ginnuga, En gras hvergi.
4. Athur Bors synir, Bjothom yptho, Their er Mithgarth, Morann Skopo. Sol skein sunnan, A salar steina, Tha var grund groin, Groemim lauki.
5. Sol varp sunnan, Sinni mána, Hendi enni hogri, A himin Jodyr. Sol that ne visst, Hvar hon sali atti, Stjaurnor that ne visso Hvar thar stathi otto, Mani thath ne visse, Havt hann Megins atti. 3. In early times When Ymir lived, Was sand, nor sea, Nor cooling wave, Nor earth was found, Nor heaven above; One chaos all, And no where grass.
4. Until Bors sons Th' expanse did raise, By whom Mithgard The great was made. From south the sun Shone on the rocks; Then did the earth Green herbs produce.
5. The sun warped south, The moon did shine; Her right hand held The horse of heaven. The sun knew not His proper sphere, The stars knew not Their proper place; Nor saw the moon, Her mickle power.
The fable of Bellerophon's flying to heaven on Pegasus, the winged horse, is evidently subsequent to the above allusion of Vola, and of Horace. Yet our Gothic fathers were proud of the fable, because Bellerophon took his flight towards the arctic regions. Strabo, lib. 8. Our kings have put the horse on their arms, as the horse for Hanover; they have cut it also on the chalk-hills, as at Westbury, and at Calne in Wiltshire.
Deuteronomy 33:29. Happy art thou, oh Israel. Moses's full soul here poured out the plenary cup of benediction on his children, the family of God. What nation, to use his own words, was so happy in having God so nigh to them; in having statutes so holy; a ritual so full of mystical glory; an oracle at hand; the Eternal God their refuge; and the full assurance of the promised seed, the great prophet yet to come! Let christians think of this; the blessing of the Saviour on the apostles, when he ascended to heaven, still rests on the church.
REFLECTIONS.
In this chapter of beatitudes Moses marks first, the great and peculiar happiness of Israel in having the pillary cloud for a guide, and the throne of JEHOVAH for a defence in all the desert. When it crowned the summit of Sinai, they sat at his feet and heard his voice. It accompanied them to the land of Edom. “God came from Teman, and the HOLY ONE from mount Paran: he covered the heavens with his glory, and the earth was full of his praise.” The divine presence is every blessing in one; and if he depart, all our comforts droop.
This prophet and patriarch of his people proceeds next to bless the several tribes. He begins by asking life and progeny for Reuben, with all its blessings; which is happy as an indication that the curse of Jacob was now removed from his guilty head. Judah, in whom it would seem, the tribe of Simeon was now included, is promised strength against his enemies. And this promise was most signally realized in a series of wars sustained by the kings of Judah, and afterwards by governors from the time of the captivity to the birth of Christ, which perfectly coincides with Jacob's prediction, that the sceptre should not depart from Judah until Shiloh came. Levi inherited honours and blessings from his father, and he acquired new ones by the impartiality of his justice. After Israel had revolted in adoring the calf, and after the silver trumpet had sounded to call the people to humiliation and repentance, he went forth to slay the rebels who refused to obey the sounds of grace; and in doing this he knew not his father, or his brethren. Spotless justice, however tremendous the stroke, acquires the agents immortal fame. Benjamin, ever beloved, is promised a lot near to the holy place which God should choose: and it is no small blessing to have our dwelling contiguous to the house of God. Joseph, from the peculiar presence of God here solicited his promised increase, as his name implies, a fertile soil and victory over all his foes. But he is reminded that all these blessings proceeded from the good will of him that dwelt in the bush, whose glory Moses had seen eighty years before. From that time Israel began to rise to glory and immortal fame. Let us never forget to trace our mercies back to the day when we were first more peculiarly called by grace into covenant and fellowship with God. The other tribes were all blessed suitably to their moral character, and according to the predictions of Jacob, and the lovingkindness of the Lord. But the more Moses poured blessings on the people, the more his heart overflowed. The fountains of heaven were opened within him. Therefore, once for all, he collects all the efforts of his soul in an apostrophe to the people, inimitably sublime and grand. Happy art thou, oh Israel. Who is like unto thee, oh people, saved of the Lord? What God was like Jeshurun's God, riding on the clouds of heaven, and supporting them by his arm? They had the Urim and Thummim for counsel; they had all evils and curses removed; they had every blessing promised which either men or nations could enjoy; they had all those blessings crowned by promises of the Messiah; and the Shechinah remaining among them was the pledge of every good. Happier still is the christian Israel. The Shechinah became incarnate, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. We only want this grace to prevail in every heart and every nation, to change the earth to paradise, and give it a resemblance of heaven.