Deuteronomy 33:1

And this is the blessing wherewith Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death.

And this is the blessing, wherewith Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death. This is the blessing, wherewith Moses ... blessed the children of Israel.

CHAPTER 33 The majesty of God, . Blessings prophesied of the twelve tribes, . The excellency of Israel, . He is said to bless them ministerially, partly by praying to God with faith for his blessing upon them; partly by foretelling the blessings which God would confer upon them, for the prophets are oft said to do what they foretell should be done, as . And Moses calls himself here the man of God, i.e. the servant, or prophet, or minister of God, as this phrase signifies, ,7 , to acquaint them that the following prophecies were not his own inventions, but Divine inspirations. The children of Israel, i.e. the several tribes; only Simeon is omitted, either, 1. In detestation of their parent Simeon’ s bloody and wicked carriage, for which Jacob also gives that tribe a curse rather than a blessing, in Genesis 49. But as for Levi, who is joined with him in that censure and curse, , he is here separated from him, and exempted from that curse, and blessed with an eminent blessing for a singular and valuable reason expressed here, ,9; whereas Simeon’ s tribe had been so far from expiating their father’ s crime, that they added new ones, their prince being guilty of another notorious crime, ,14, and his tribe too much concurring with him in such actions, as interpreters gather from the great diminution of the numbers of that tribe, which were 59,300 in , and but 22,200 in , which was near forty years after. Or, 2. Because that tribe had no distinct inheritance, but was to have his portion in the tribe of Judah, as he had, , and therefore must needs partake with them in their blessing.

Deuteronomy 33:1 And this [is] the blessing, wherewith Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death.Ver. 1. Before his death.] The words of dying men are living oracles, they should therefore be pious and ponderous.

XXXIII. MOSES’ LAST .(1) Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel.—The title man of God is here used for the first time. Its counterpart is to be found in Deuteronomy 34:5 : “Moses the servant of Jehovah died.” The more any man is a “servant to Jehovah,” the more is he a “man of Elohim” to his fellow-men. After Moses, Elijah and Elisha are more especially described by this title (“man of God “) in the Old Testament. Blessed . . . Israel before his death.—“And if not then, when should he?” (Rashi.)

CHAPTER XXXIII Moses delivers a prophetical blessing to the children of Israel, 1. The introduction, 2-5. Prophetic declarations concerning Reuben, 6; concerning Judah, 7; concerning Levi, 8-11; concerning Benjamin, 12; concerning Joseph, 13-17; concerning Zebulun, 18, 19; concerning Gad, 20, 21; concerning Dan, 22; concerning Naphtali, 23; concerning Asher, 24, 25. The glory of the God of Jeshurun, and the glorious privileges of his true followers, 26-29. NOTES ON CHAP. XXXIII Verse 1. And this is the blessing wherewith Moses - blessed, c.] The general nature of this solemn introduction, says Dr. Kennicott, is to show the foundation which Moses had for blessing his brethren, viz., because God had frequently manifested his glory in their behalf and the several parts of this introduction are disposed in the following order: - 1. The manifestation of the Divine glory on Sinai, as it was prior in time and more magnificent in splendour, is mentioned first. 2. That God manifested his glory at Seir is evident from Judges 5:4: Lord, when thou wentest out of Seir, when thou marchedst out of the fields of Edom, the earth trembled and the heavens dropped, c. 3. The next place is Paran, where the glory of the Lord appeared before all the children of Israel, Numbers 14:10. Instead of he came with ten thousand saints, by which our translators have rendered מרבבת קדש meribeboth kodesh, Dr. Kennicott reads Meribah-Kadesh, the name of a place: for we find that, towards the end of forty years, the Israelites came to Kadesh, Numbers 20:1, which was also called Meribah, on account of their contentious opposition to the determinations of God in their favour, Numbers 20:13 and there the glory of the Lord again appeared, as we are informed Numbers 20:6. These four places, Sinai, Seir, Paran, and Meribah-Kadesh, mentioned by Moses in the text, are the identical places where God manifested his glory in a fiery appearance, the more illustriously to proclaim his special providence over and care of Israel.

(2–9). Four Laws: Of Right to Enter the Congregation There shall not enter any eunuch (Deuteronomy 33:1); nor the son of an unlawful marriage, nor descendants (Deuteronomy 33:2); nor Ammonite, nor Moabite, nor descendants (Deuteronomy 33:3-6); but the third generation of Edomite or Egyptian may enter (Deuteronomy 33:7 f.).—These laws have negative openings like the preceding and like the series which follow in Deuteronomy 33:15-20 (Deuteronomy 33:16-21) after the interrupting law, Deuteronomy 33:9-14 (Deuteronomy 33:10-15); hence possibly their position just here. The form of address to Israel does not appear till Deuteronomy 33:4 a (Deuteronomy 33:5 a) where it is Pl., but in Deuteronomy 33:4-7 Sg. Other features are the use of ḳ ?ahal, congregation, for the commonwealth of Israel, not elsewhere in D, the difference of Deu 33:4 a (Deuteronomy 33:5 a) from Deuteronomy 2:29, the introduction of Balaam not mentioned in chs. 1–3, and the favourable treatment of Egyptians. Such data raise questions of the origin and structure of these laws as difficult as any we have met, and perhaps incapable of solution. Some take Deuteronomy 33:4-6 (Deuteronomy 33:5-7) as secondary, and the rest as original to D. But it is nearly as plausible to reckon part or all of Deu 33:4-6 as D’s addition to earlier laws and to argue for the primitive origin of these (see below). Berth. holds that all Deuteronomy 33:1-8 (Deuteronomy 33:2-9) is secondary, Deuteronomy 33:1-6 being from the time of Ezra and perhaps inserted by Ezra himself to correct the religious confusions which he found in Jerusalem. As there is nothing at that time to explain Deuteronomy 33:7 f. (Deuteronomy 33:8 f.) he boldly suggests the origin of this in the Maccabean period (Stellung d. Isr. zu d. Fremden, 142 ff., and his note on this passage). For answers to him see below.

The title “the man of God” in the Old Testament is one who is favored with direct revelations, but not necessarily an official prophet.

1. This is the blessing — This farewell benediction is to be connected with the song in the preceding chapter.