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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 Baruch 4:24

Hebrew Bible · Deuterocanon

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Summary

Baruch echoes the language of Deuteronomy by describing God's presence with imagery of rising light and splendor, drawing on the same solar and cosmological language, based on melammu, used to describe God’s approach from the south.

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

Baruch 4:24

Deuterocanon
22 For I have trusted in the Everlasting, that he will save you; and joy has come to me from the Holy One, because of the mercy that will soon come to you from your Everlasting Savior. 23 For I sent you out with mourning and weeping, but God will give you to me again with joy and gladness forever. 24 For as now those who dwell near Zion have seen your captivity, so they will shortly see your salvation from our God which will come upon you with great glory and brightness of the Everlasting. 25 My children, suffer patiently the wrath that has come upon you from God, for your enemy has persecuted you; but shortly you will see his destruction and will tread upon their necks. 26 My delicate ones have traveled rough roads. They were taken away like a flock carried off by enemies.
200–50 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Baruch

References

"... The eastern orientation of the Jerusalem temple has led to speculative theories regarding the solarized character of Yahweh. Psalms of vigil, such as Psalms 17, 27, and 63, and Ezekiel 8:16 similarly suggest that the sun evoked at least the luminescent dimension of the divine presence, perhaps in keeping with a solar interpretation of Yahweh (compare Zephaniah 1:3; Sirach 49:7; Baruch 4:24). It might be argued that the simile for the appearance of the high priest in Ben Sira 50:7, “like the sun shining on the temple of the King”, derived from solar theophanic language in the context of the temple. Other passages, such as Joshua 10:12-13, suggest the sun (and the moon) as deities ultimately subservient to Yahweh. There are other instances of solar metaphor for Yahweh. These include describing Yahweh with the verbal root “rise,” in Deuteronomy 33:2, Isaiah 60:1, Hosea 6:3, and once in the Kuntillet ‘Ajrûd inscriptions. This word is the normal verb for the rising of the sun ..."
Mark S. Smith, The Early History of God: Yahweh and the Other Deities in Ancient Israel, 2nd ed., The Biblical Resource Series (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2002), 149.

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 Baruch 4:24

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