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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 Psalm 80:3

Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Deuteronomy 33 and Psalm 80 describe divine radiance using imagery of light and shining, drawing on language used for the sun, moon, and stars. These parallels suggest a literary connection associating God's appearance with the brightness of the sun.

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.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Deuteronomy

Psalm 80:3

Hebrew Bible
1 For the music director, according to the shushan-eduth style; a psalm of Asaph. O Shepherd of Israel, pay attention, you who lead Joseph like a flock of sheep. You who sit enthroned above the cherubim, reveal your splendor. 2 In the sight of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh reveal your power. Come and deliver us. 3 O God, restore us. Shine your face on us7. Then we will be delivered. 4 O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies, how long will you remain angry at your people while they pray to you?
600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Psalms

References

"... Astral deities were not an unfamiliar phenomenon for the ancient Israelites. A number of references in the Hebrew Bible indicate that Yahweh is Lord of the sun, moon and stars. The Babylonian creation epic – the Enuma Elish – describes that Marduk was the one who set the heavenly bodies in order and divided the constellations of the zodiac and months of the year among the great gods. The Babylonians recorded the positions of the sun, the moon and the planets Jupiter, Venus, Mercury, Saturn and Mars to the date of a birth. The constellations became the objects of a religious cult. The term 'mazzalot' appears only in 2 Kings 23:5 in the Hebrew Bible, referring to prohibited astral cults. The Masoretic Text furnishes scant information on specific constellations. 'Once the threat of idolatry had faded away' the zodiacal constellations were widely promoted within the Judaic culture. The zodiac was set into the background of rabbinical literature. Zodiac symbols are portrayed on the mosaic floors of several synagogues of the Roman and Byzantine periods. On the mosaic floor of the sixth century Beth Alpha synagogue – in Israel's Jezreel Valley – the Greek solar god Helios rides his four-horse chariot. Around him is the light of the moon and the night sky is sprinkled with stars. This, and other zodiacs on synagogue floors, 'illustrate an ancient Israelite tradition of retaining elements of pagan sun worship in their own worship'. The identification of Yahweh with the sun is supported in a number of biblical passages. (Passages such as Deuteronomy 33:2 'The Lord came from Sinai and dawned from Seir upon us; he shone forth from Mount Paran'; Psalm 80:3 'Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved') The epithet "Lord of Hosts" could intimate that Yahweh was in command of all the stars, and therefore also associated with the sun ..."
Marlene Elizabeth Mondriaan, “The Rise of Yahwism: Role of Marginalised Groups” (PhD diss., University of Pretoria, 2010), 165.

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 Psalm 80:3

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