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 power. And they sit at your feet, each receiving your words. 4 Moses delivered to us a law, an inheritance for the assembly of Jacob.

Judges 5:4

Hebrew Bible

2 “When the leaders took the lead in Israel, When the people answered the call to war—Praise the Lord! 3 Hear, O kings! Pay attention, O rulers! I will sing to the Lord! I will sing to the Lord God of Israel! 4O Lord, when you departed from Seir, when you marched from Edom’s plains, the earth shook, the heavens poured down, the clouds poured down rain. 5 The mountains trembled before the Lord, the God of Sinai; before the Lord God of Israel. 6 “In the days of Shamgar son of Anath, in the days of Jael caravans disappeared; travelers had to go on winding side roads.

 Notes and References

"... The expression š3sw sʿrr has served as the linchpin connecting these texts with the biblical tradition. Many scholars have interpreted sʿrr as Seir and noted that Yahweh marching from Seir (śēʿîr) is featured in archaic biblical poetry (Judges 5:4; Deuteronomy 33:2) along with other southeastern locales such as Edom, Teman, Mt. Paran, and Midian. Several dissenting voices, such as Manfred Weippert (1972: 491 n. 144), Michael Astour (1979), Gösta Ahlström (1986: 59–60), and Johannes de Moor (1990: 111), have argued that sʿrr is not to be equated with Seir. In addition, some of these critics argue that the toponym Yhw is to be located in Lebanon and Syria, in the Beqaʿ-Orontes districts. Redford calls such skepticism “wholly unwarranted.” He argues that the doubled r of sʿrr does indeed designate Seir and “is thoroughly in keeping with Late Egyptian orthography.” In addition, the Shasu and Seirites are mentioned together in Papyrus Harris I (as objects of Ramses III’s destruction), and Papyrus Anastasi VI speaks of the Shasu from Edom. In this light, compare Judges 5:4, which uses Seir and Edom as parallel terms designating the place from which Yahweh marches as a divine warrior ..."

Lewis, Theodore J. The Origin and Character of God: Ancient Israelite Religion through the Lens of Divinity (p. 232) Oxford University Press, 2020

 User Comments

Do you have questions or comments about these texts? Please submit them here.