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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 33:6 and Pseudo Jonathan Deuteronomy 33:6

Hebrew Bible · Targum

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Summary

Deuteronomy 33 offers an unexplained blessing for Reuben to live and not die. The Aramaic translation in Targum Pseudo-Jonathan interprets this as an eschatological prayer for Reuben to live in this world and not die a second death in the world to come.

Passages

Deuteronomy 33:6

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

Pseudo Jonathan Deuteronomy 33:6

Targum
4 The sons of Israel said, Mosheh commanded us the law, and gave it for an heritage to the tribes of Jakob. 5 And he was king in Israel: when the chiefs of the people were gathered together, the tribes of Israel were obedient to him. 6 Let Reuben live in this world, nor die the second death which the wicked die in the world to come; and let his youths be numbered with the young men of his brethren of Beth Israel. 7 And this is the benediction of the tribe of Jehudah, conjoined with the portion and benediction of his brother Shemeon; and thus he spake: Receive, O Lord, the prayer of Jehudah when he goeth forth unto war, and bring Thou him back from war unto his people in peace. Let his hand take vengeance on his enemies, and be Thou his help and support against his foes.
300–1200 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Pseudo Jonathan Deuteronomy

References

"... The text of Deuteronomy 33:6 is the only occurrence of the phrase in the entire Pentateuch. It is noteworthy that all targum texts carry the phrase. This may be because the biblical text was a classical one in rabbinic Judaism for 'proving' the 'resurrection' ('vivification') of the dead from the Pentateuch. The Hebrew Text (NRSV) reads: 'May Reuben live and not die, even though his numbers are few.' As already noted, this is a classic locus theologicus in rabbinic Judaism for proving the resurrection (or in rabbinic terminology, 'vivification') of the dead. In the Talmud (b. Sanh. 92a) we read: Rabba said: How do we prove the vivification of the dead from the Torah? He said: May Reuben live and not die (Deuteronomy 33:6). Let Reuben live — in this world; and not die — in the world to come. Targum Onqelos paraphrases this text as: 'May Reuben live an everlasting life and not die a second death.' Neofiti is more explicit: 'May Reuben live in this world, and not die in the second death (bmwtnh) in which the wicked die in the world to come!' Similarly in all the other texts of the Palestinian Targum, and in Pseudo-Jonathan [it] means 'plague, pestilence,' rather than 'death,' but may also mean 'death,' a sense in which it is to be taken in the Neofiti text ..."
Martin McNamara, Targum and Testament Revisited: Aramaic Paraphrases of the Hebrew Bible: A Light on the New Testament, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2010), 225.

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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