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Deuteronomy

About this book
Chapter 33

1 This is the blessing Moses the man of God⁠ pronounced upon the Israelites before his death.⁠ 2 He said: “The Lord came from Sinai and revealed himself to Israel from Seir.⁠ He appeared in splendor from Mount Paran,⁠ and came forth with ten thousand holy ones.⁠ With his right hand he gave a fiery law to them.⁠ 3 Surely he loves the people; all your holy ones are in your hand8.⁠ And they sit at your feet, each receiving your words.⁠ 4 Moses delivered to us a law, an inheritance for the assembly of Jacob. 5 The Lord was king over Jeshurun, when the leaders of the people assembled, the tribes of Israel together. 6 “May Reuben live and not die, and may his people multiply.”⁠ 7 And this is the blessing to Judah. He said, “Listen, O Lord, to Judah’s voice, and bring him to his people. May his power be great, and may you help him against his foes.” 8 Of Levi he said:⁠ “Your Thummim and Urim belong to your godly one,⁠ whose authority you challenged at Massah, and with whom you argued at the waters of Meribah. 9 He said to his father and mother, ‘I have not seen him,’ and he did not acknowledge his own brothers or know his own children, for they kept your word, and guarded your covenant. 10 They will teach Jacob your ordinances and Israel your law;⁠ they will offer incense as a pleasant odor, and a whole offering on your altar. 11 Bless, O Lord, his goods, and be pleased with his efforts; undercut the legs of any who attack him, and of those who hate him, so that they cannot stand.”⁠ 12 Of Benjamin he said: “The beloved of the Lord will live safely by him; he protects him all the time, and the Lord places him on his chest.” 13 Of Joseph he said: “May the Lord bless his land with the harvest produced by the sky, by the dew, and by the depths crouching beneath;⁠ 14 with the harvest produced by the daylight and by the moonlight; 15 with the best of the ancient mountains and the harvest produced by the age-old hills; 16 with the harvest of the earth and its fullness and the pleasure of him who resided in the burning bush.⁠ May blessing rest on Joseph’s head, and on the top of the head of the one set apart from his brothers.⁠ 17 May the firstborn of his bull bring him honor, and may his horns be those of a wild ox; with them may he gore all peoples, all the far reaches of the earth. They are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh.”⁠ 18 Of Zebulun he said: “Rejoice, Zebulun, when you go outside, and Issachar, when you are in your tents. 19 They will summon peoples to the mountain, there they will sacrifice proper sacrifices; for they will enjoy the abundance of the seas, and the hidden treasures of the shores.” 20 Of Gad he said: “Blessed be the one who enlarges Gad. Like a lioness he will dwell; he will tear at an arm—indeed, a scalp. 21 He has selected the best part for himself, for the portion of the ruler is set aside there; he came with the leaders of the people, he obeyed the righteous laws of the Lord and his ordinances with Israel.” 22 Of Dan he said: “Dan is a lion’s cub; he will leap forth from Bashan.” 23 Of Naphtali he said: “O Naphtali, overflowing with favor, and full of the Lord’s blessing, possess the west and south.” 24 Of Asher he said: “Asher is blessed with children; may he be favored by his brothers, and may he dip his foot in olive oil. 25 The bars of your gates will be made of iron and bronze, and may you have lifelong strength.” 26 “There is no one like God, O Jeshurun, who rides through the sky to help you, on the clouds in majesty.⁠ 27 The everlasting God is a refuge, and underneath you are his eternal arms;⁠ he has driven out enemies before you, and has said, ‘Destroy!’ 28 Israel lives in safety, the fountain of Jacob is quite secure, in a land of grain and new wine; indeed, its heavens rain down dew. 29 You have joy, Israel! Who is like you?⁠ You are a people delivered by the Lord, your protective shield and your exalted sword. May your enemies cringe before you; may you trample on their backs.”

Texts in conversation

Compare Deuteronomy 33:2 and 1 Enoch 1:9

Hebrew Bible · Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses

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Summary

1 Enoch uses imagery from Deuteronomy 33, where God appears with an army of holy ones. It reshapes it into a future eschatological judgment, and shows how Jewish authors incorporated and adapted Hebrew Bible traditions.

Passages

Deuteronomy 33:2

Hebrew Bible
1 This is the blessing Moses the man of God pronounced upon the Israelites before his death. 2 He said: “The Lord came from Sinai and revealed himself to Israel from Seir. He appeared in splendor from Mount Paran, and came forth with ten thousand holy ones. With his right hand he gave a fiery law to them. 3 Surely he loves the people; all your holy ones are in your hand8. And they sit at your feet, each receiving your words. 4 Moses delivered to us a law, an inheritance for the assembly of Jacob.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Deuteronomy

1 Enoch 1:9

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
7 The earth will be completely torn apart, and everything on it will perish, and there will be judgment upon all people. 8 But with the righteous, He will establish peace. He will protect the chosen, and mercy will be upon them. They will all belong to God, prosper, and be blessed. He will aid them, and light will shine for them, and He will make peace with them. 9 Look! He comes with tens of thousands of His holy ones to pass judgment upon all, to annihilate all the wicked, to convict every soul of all the godless deeds they have committed, and of all the harsh words that godless sinners have spoken against Him.
300 BCE – 100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Enoch

References

"... 1 Enoch 1:3-7, 9, according to Bauckham, represents a “kind of anthology of phrases and themes from Old Testament ‘day of the Lord’ theophany passages.” Bauckham has discovered five such texts to which he believes the writer of 1 Enoch is alluding: Deuteronomy 33:2; Isaiah 40:4, 10; Jeremiah 25:31; Micah 1:3-4; Habakkuk 3:3-9. All of these texts specifically refer to the eschatological “coming of Yahweh” in judgment. These passages speak of the coming of YHWH, therefore Jude’s insertion of kurios into his quotation of 1 Enoch 1:9 probably has as it referent the tetragrammaton. The question now remains as to where Jesus fits into the equation. At this point a phenomenon takes place known as the “referential shift of ‘Lord’ from God to Christ” specifically in regards to texts relating an eschatological theophany. The issue becomes one of ontology vs. functionality. That is, according to Bauckham, Jesus’s title as kurios represented his status as messiah rather than his status as God. Therefore, kurios is not so much an ontological designation of Jesus as God, but a functional designation of Jesus as God’s agent ..."
Joel Beckham, “The Apocalyptic Hermeneutic of the Primitive Church: How 1 Enoch Shaped Jude's Christology and Its Implications for the Church” (ThM diss., Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2015), 60.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Deuteronomy 33:2 and 1 Enoch 1:9

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