Deuteronomy 33 – Commentary

¹And 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 fiery law for them.

Commentary Verses 1 – 2

As Moses blesses the children of Israel, we see the very first reference to The Most High coming with “ten thousands of his saints.” This is mentioned again in Jude 1:14, in reference to Enoch preaching the same message prior to Noah’s flood.

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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.

Commentary Verses 3 – 5

A majority of the time, blessings in the Bible turn out to be prophetic. Some believers point out that in verse 5, Moses is referred to as a “king”, but many believers regard Saul as the first official king of Israel, even though Moses was their first official leader after their exodus from Egypt.

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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.

Commentary Verses 6 – 7

Reuben is blessed with life and offspring. Moses asks The Most High to hear Judah and help him from his enemies. Some people believe that this blessing may be prophetic and tied to Judah being scattered into the nations and then brought back to their own land after they repent (Zechariah 1:21).

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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 teach 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.

Commentary Verses 8 – 11

Levi’s blessing is one of the longest blessings next to Joseph’s. His descendants are appointed as the teachers of The Law, managers of the sacrifice, and attendants of the tabernacle. Their role was vitally important in Israel keeping the law and their culture for generations.

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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: 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.

Commentary Verses 12 – 17

Benjamin and Joseph’s blessings are grouped together, perhaps because they were the sons of Rachel. Joseph’s blessing is only slightly longer that Levi’s. This may have been the case because it included the tribes of his sons Ephraim and Manasseh. Joseph’s entire land was blessed and his tribe was prophesied to use their proverbial horns to push people together.

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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.

Commentary Verses 18 – 19

Zebulun and Issachar are the only two tribes of Israel that share the exact same blessing. Their destinies are intertwined and inseparable. These two verses seem to indicate that they will be tribes of righteous sea faring people.

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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; and he came with the heads of the people, he executed the justice of the Lord, and his judgments with Israel.

Commentary Verses 20 – 21

Gad is blessed because he is presented as doing the “dirty work” of executing The Most High’s judgement, which usually meant executing serious offenders of the law.

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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 shoes shall be iron and brass; and as thy days, so shall thy strength be.

Commentary Verses 22 – 25

Dan’s blessing is short and unclear as to the meaning behind it. Naphtali is blessed with possession of the west and south of Israel’s territory. Asher is blessed with offspring and strength for as long as they live.  

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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.

Commentary 26 – 29

The chapter ends with the admonishment and praising of The Most High. It reaffirms that The Most High will always be a refuge to Israel, no matter who is against them. This promise is not presented as conditional, but more of a matter of time until it comes to pass. Those that adhere to Replacement Theology / Suppressionism often dismiss verses like these in order to replace Israel with the Church. Even though Israel’s enemies think The Most High has abandoned them, he will prove them to be liars.