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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 33:27 and Onkelos Deuteronomy 33:27 and John 1:3

Hebrew Bible · Targum · New Testament

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Summary

Deuteronomy 33 says God's eternal arms are underneath Israel. The gospel of John opens by saying all things were created through the Word, similar to the Aramaic translation of Deuteronomy in Targum Onkelos, which says the world was made by his Memra.

Passages

Deuteronomy 33:27

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

Onkelos Deuteronomy 33:27

Targum
26 There is no God like the God of Israel, whose Shekinah in the skies is your help, and whose power is in the heaven of heavens. 27 The habitation of Eloha is from eternity, and the world was made by His Memra; and He will drive out your enemies from before you, and will say, Destroy. 28 And Israel shall dwell securely by themselves, according to the blessing with which Jacob their father blessed them in the land producing grain and wine; the heavens also above them shall drop down with dew. 29 Happy are you, Israel; no one is like you, a people whose salvation is from the Lord, who is the strength of your help, and from whom is the might of your victory: your enemies shall lie to you, and you shall tread upon the necks of their kings.
50–500 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Onkelos Deuteronomy

John 1:3

New Testament
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was fully God. 2 The Word was with God in the beginning. 3 All things were created by him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of mankind. 5 And the light shines on in the darkness, but the darkness has not mastered it.
90–110 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in John

References

“... apposition to the last word of verse 26 and translates verse 26 and 27 as follows: “There is no God like the God of Israel, whose Shekinah (divine presence) in heaven is for your help, and whose power is in the heaven of the heavens, the dwelling place of God, who has been since eternity, through whose word bmymrh the world was made.”—Targum Onkelos understood mittachath (from below) as a contrast to the God’s heavenly residence and accordingly interpreted umittachath zero’oth olam = “and below the world by (God’s creative) arms.” In order to avoid anthropomorphism, he then replaced the “arms of God” with “the word of God” and thus translated the final words, “Through his word the world was made.” [...] It has already been pointed out above (#2, n. b) that in the Tg. Isa. 44:24 and in the other passages just mentioned that deal with the creation of the world, that the thought of a Memra hypostasis as the mediator of the world’s creation is entirely remote. The appellative wording meimar = “word” is not only demanded by the parallel gevuretta (force), but above all by the further parallel passage in Ps 33:6, in which the targum uses milla “word” instead of mymr: By the word of Yahweh bemilla dayai, the heavens were made and by the breath of his mouth, all their hosts. ...”
Hermann L. Strack and Paul Billerbeck, A Commentary on the New Testament from the Talmud and Midrash, Volume 2: Mark through Acts (Bellingham, WA: Lexham, 2022), 644.

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Deuteronomy 33:27 and Onkelos Deuteronomy 33:27 and John 1:3

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