1._And this is the blessing. _The bitterness of the Song was seasoned, (304) as it were, by this palliative, wherein Moses left a testimony with respect to God’s future and perpetual grace, as if depositing an inestimable treasure in the hands of the people. For, as God, after the deliverance of His... [ Continue Reading ]
2_And he said, The Lord came from, Sinai. _(305) In these words he reminds them that he is setting before them, a confirmation of the covenant, which God had made with them in this Law_, _and that it is nothing different from it; for this connection was of exceeding efficacy in establishing the cert... [ Continue Reading ]
3._Yea, he loved the people. _(308) If it be preferred to apply this to the Gentiles, the sentence must be thus resolved, “Although He loves all human beings, still His saints are honored with His peculiar favor, in that He watches over their safety;” but it is more correct to expound it as referrin... [ Continue Reading ]
4_Moses commanded us a law. _What he had declared respecting the glory of God, and the excellency of the Law, he now applies to his own person, since it was his purpose, as I have said, to establish the authority of his own ministry. In order, therefore, to prove the certainty of his mission, he boa... [ Continue Reading ]
7._And this is the blessing of Judah. _(312) Jerome has faithfully given the sense, “This is the blessing,” although it is not actually expressed. It might at first sight appear inconsistent that some abatement should be made from the splendid and abundant blessings which had been promised to the tr... [ Continue Reading ]
8_And of Levi he said. _This qualification, or modification of the harsher sentence of Jacob was introduced not only for the sake of the tribe of Levi, but rather of the whole people. Jacob had said, “Simeon and Levi are brethren: instruments of cruelty are in their habitations. O my soul, come not... [ Continue Reading ]
9._Who said unto his father and his mother. _In the person of Aaron an example is set before all the Levites for their imitation. And, first, he is said to have renounced his own flesh and blood, in order that he might be more disencumbered for obeying God; and in fact it is necessary that all the p... [ Continue Reading ]
11._Bless, Lord, his substance. _This supplication appears to have been intended tacitly to provide against the poverty which awaited the Levites, if God had not supplied them with food from some other source besides the produce of the soil; for they were deprived of a share in the general inheritan... [ Continue Reading ]
12._And of Benjamin he said. _It is probable that Moses alludes to the inheritance which fell to the lot of the children of Benjamin; for the part of Jerusalem in which the temple stood was contained in it. Since, therefore, God assigned them a dwelling-place, in which He in a manner protected them,... [ Continue Reading ]
13._And of Joseph he said. _Moses repeats some portions of the blessing of Jacob; nor with respect to any other tribe does he approach so closely to the words of the Patriarch. And, although the family of Joseph was already divided into two tribes or nations, still he begins by the head itself, and... [ Continue Reading ]
15._And for the chief things of the ancient mountains. _In these words he shows that no part of the land would be barren. We know that the tops of mountains are generally and uncultivated, or at any rate bear nothing but trees that have no fruit. But Moses affirms that even there also there shall be... [ Continue Reading ]
17_His glory is like the firstling. _Translators obscure the meaning by translating the word _firstling _in the nominative case. I have no doubt, however, but that he compares the glory of Joseph to the size of a very fine bullock, as if He had said, “His beauty is as of the most choice bullocks in... [ Continue Reading ]
18._And of Zebulun he said. _He compares two tribes with each other, which, although neighbors in position, were still very dissimilar; for the one being devoted to mercantile pursuits, went forth frequently in various directions; the other took more delight in quietude and repose; and this their gr... [ Continue Reading ]
20._And of Gad he said. _In the blessing of the tribe of Gad, mention is only made of the hereditary portion, which it had obtained without casting of lots. He therefore celebrates the blessing of God, because He had accorded to the Gadites an ample dwelling-place; for the word “enlargeth” refers to... [ Continue Reading ]
21._And he provided the first part for himself. _(322) Others translate it not badly, _the first-fruits. _Jerome’s rendering, _pre-eminence _(_principatum_,) however, is quite out of the question. The word _beginning _(_principium_, _) _however, is very suitable, for Moses thus signifies that the Ga... [ Continue Reading ]
22._And of Dan he said. _He foretells that the tribe of Dan, like that of Gad, should be warlike, not so much from voluntary disposition, as from necessity; for their love of war was not to be deemed praiseworthy, inasmuch as it is altogether contrary to humanity; but because the unscrupulousness of... [ Continue Reading ]
23._And of Naphtali he said. _He predicts that God would deal bountifully towards these two tribes; for to the first a fertile district would be allotted towards “the west and the south.” What he declares respecting the tribe of Asher is not free from ambiguity; for he is said to be blessed, מבנים,... [ Continue Reading ]
26._There is none like unto the God. _Moses proceeds from the parts to the whole, and now comes to speak of the whole body, which consisted of the twelve families. All that he says tends to the same end, viz., that the people of Israel were happy as being taken by God under this faithful guardianshi... [ Continue Reading ]
27._The eternal God is thy refuge. _This is just as if he had said that the Israelites were protected from above by the help of God, and also based, as it were, upon Him. The beginning of the prayer corresponds with that other in Psalms 90:1, “Lord_, _thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generat... [ Continue Reading ]
28._Israel then shall dwell in safety alone. _(328) The beginning of the verse is by no means obscure, for Moses promises in it to the elect people what all have naturally a great desire for, viz., peace or tranquillity; for he is said to _dwell _confidently_alone, _who: fears no danger, whom no car... [ Continue Reading ]
29_Happy art thou, O Israel. _He again exclaims that happy is the people, whose salvation is in God; and surely this is the only true happiness; for unless we ascend to the first cause of Salvation, all salvations, so to speak, are but transitory. And, since God had honored the Israelites alone with... [ Continue Reading ]