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.

Pseudo Jonathan Deuteronomy 33:6

Targum

The sons of Israel said, Mosheh commanded us the law, and gave it for an heritage to the tribes of Jakob. And he was king in Israel: when the chiefs of the people were gathered together, the tribes of Israel were obedient to him. 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. 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.

 Notes and 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 ..."

McNamara, Martin Targum and Testament Revisited Aramaic Paraphrases of the Hebrew Bible: A Light on the New Testament (p. 225) William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2010

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