The Lord came from Sinai
and revealed himself 55 to Israel 56 from Seir.
He appeared in splendor 57 from Mount Paran,
and came forth with ten thousand holy ones. 58
With his right hand he gave a fiery law 59 to them.
33:16 with the harvest of the earth and its fullness
and the pleasure of him who resided in the burning bush. 60
May blessing rest on Joseph’s head,
and on the top of the head of the one set apart 61 from his brothers.
1 tn Heb “Behold” (הִנֵּה, hinneh).
2 tn The Hebrew term עֶרֶשׂ (’eres), traditionally translated “bed” (cf. NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT) is likely a basaltic (volcanic) stone sarcophagus of suitable size to contain the coffin of the giant Rephaite king. Its iron-like color and texture caused it to be described as an iron container. See A. Millard, “King Og’s Iron Bed: Fact or Fancy?” BR 6 (1990): 16-21, 44; cf. also NEB “his sarcophagus of basalt”; TEV, CEV “his coffin.”
3 tn Or “of iron-colored basalt.” See note on the word “sarcophagus” earlier in this verse.
4 sn Rabbath. This place name (usually occurring as Rabbah; 2 Sam 11:11; 12:27; Jer 49:3) refers to the ancient capital of the Ammonite kingdom, now the modern city of Amman, Jordan. The word means “great [one],” probably because of its political importance. The fact that the sarcophagus “still remain[ed]” there suggests this part of the verse is post-Mosaic, having been added as a matter of explanation for the existence of the artifact and also to verify the claim as to its size.
5 tn Heb “nine cubits.” Assuming a length of 18 in (45 cm) for the standard cubit, this would be 13.5 ft (4.1 m) long.
6 tn Heb “four cubits.” This would be 6 ft (1.8 m) wide.
7 tn Heb “by the cubit of man.” This probably refers to the “short” or “regular” cubit of approximately 18 in (45 cm).
8 tn The words “you must fight” are not present in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarity.
9 tn Heb “gives your brothers rest.”
10 tn Heb “commanding” (so NRSV).
11 tn Heb “his glory and his greatness.”
12 tn Heb “this day we have seen.”
13 tc Smr and Lucian add “Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,” the standard way of rendering this almost stereotypical formula (cf. Deut 1:8; 6:10; 9:5, 27; 29:13; 30:20; 34:4). The MT’s harder reading presumptively argues for its originality, however.
14 tc The MT reads only “the land.” Smr supplies עַם (’am, “people”) and LXX and its dependents supply “the inhabitants of the land.” The truncated form found in the MT is adequate to communicate the intended meaning; the words “the people of” are supplied in the translation for clarity.
15 tn Or “wilderness” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV, NLT).
16 sn The
17 sn To formulate blessings. The most famous example of this is the priestly “blessing formula” of Num 6:24-26.
18 tn Heb “and it will be (to) the place where the Lord your God chooses to cause his name to dwell you will bring.”
19 tn Heb “heave offerings of your hand.”
20 tn Heb “the
21 tn Heb “the
22 tn Heb “the
23 tn Heb “gates” (so KJV, NASB); NAB “in your own community.”
24 tn This refers to wine in the early stages of fermentation. In its later stages it becomes wine (יַיִן, yayin) in its mature sense.
25 tn Heb “his neighbor,” used idiomatically to refer to another person.
26 tn Heb “his neighbor and his brother.” The words “his brother” may be a scribal gloss identifying “his neighbor” (on this idiom, see the preceding note) as a fellow Israelite (cf. v. 3). In this case the conjunction before “his brother” does not introduce a second category, but rather has the force of “that is.”
27 tn Heb “the
28 tn Heb “gates.”
29 tn Heb “his neighbor” (so NAB, NIV); NASB “his friend.”
30 tn Heb “and he raises his hand with the iron.”
31 tn Heb “the iron slips off.”
32 tn Heb “finds.”
33 tn Heb “his neighbor.”
34 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the person responsible for his friend’s death) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
35 tn Heb “and live.”
36 tn See note on the word “other” in v. 15.
37 tn Heb “measure of two.” The Hebrew expression פִּי שְׁנַיִם (piy shÿnayim) suggests a two-thirds split; that is, the elder gets two parts and the younger one part. Cf. 2 Kgs 2:9; Zech 13:8. The practice is implicit in Isaac’s blessing of Jacob (Gen 25:31-34) and Jacob’s blessing of Ephraim (Gen 48:8-22).
38 tn Heb “his generative power” (אוֹן, ’on; cf. HALOT 22 s.v.). Cf. NAB “the first fruits of his manhood”; NRSV “the first issue of his virility.”
39 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates by “make certain.”
40 tn Heb “hung,” but this could convey the wrong image in English (hanging with a rope as a means of execution). Cf. NCV “anyone whose body is displayed on a tree.”
41 sn The idea behind the phrase cursed by God seems to be not that the person was impaled because he was cursed but that to leave him exposed there was to invite the curse of God upon the whole land. Why this would be so is not clear, though the rabbinic idea that even a criminal is created in the image of God may give some clue (thus J. H. Tigay, Deuteronomy [JPSTC], 198). Paul cites this text (see Gal 3:13) to make the point that Christ, suspended from a cross, thereby took upon himself the curse associated with such a display of divine wrath and judgment (T. George, Galatians [NAC], 238-39).
42 tn Heb “for he”; the referent (the man who made the accusation) has been specified in the translation to avoid confusion with the young woman’s father, the last-mentioned male.
43 tn Heb “brought forth a bad name.”
44 tn Heb “humbled.”
45 tn Heb “wife.”
46 tn Heb “burn.” See note on the phrase “purge out” in Deut 21:21.
47 tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation seeks to reflect with “by all means.”
48 tn Or “righteous” (so NIV, NLT).
49 tn Heb “the
50 sn The place where he chooses to locate his name. This is a circumlocution for the central sanctuary, first the tabernacle and later the Jerusalem temple. See Deut 12:1-14 and especially the note on the word “you” in v. 14.
51 tn Heb “all the work of your hands.”
52 tn Heb “the
53 tn Heb “commanding” (so NRSV); NASB “which I charge you today.”
54 tn Heb “the anger and the wrath.” This construction is a hendiadys intended to intensify the emotion.
55 tn Or “rose like the sun” (NCV, TEV).
56 tc Heb “to him.” The LXX reads “to us” (לָנוּ [lanu] for לָמוֹ [lamo]), the reading of the MT is acceptable since it no doubt has in mind Israel as a collective singular.
tn Heb “him”; the referent (Israel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
57 tn Or “he shone forth” (NAB, NIV, NRSV, NLT).
58 tc With slight alteration (מִמְרִבַת קָדֵשׁ [mimrivat qadesh] for the MT’s מֵרִבְבֹת קֹדֶשׁ [merivvot qodesh]) the translation would be “from Meribah Kadesh” (cf. NAB, NLT; see Deut 32:51). However, the language of holy war in the immediate context favors the reading of the MT, which views the Lord as accompanied by angelic hosts.
59 tc The mispointed Hebrew term אֵשְׁדָּת (’eshdat) should perhaps be construed as אֵשְׁהַת (’eshhat) with Smr.
60 tn The expression “him who resided in the bush” is frequently understood as a reference to the appearance of the Lord to Moses at Sinai from a burning bush (so NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT; cf. Exod 2:2-6; 3:2, 4). To make this reference clear the word “burning” is supplied in the translation.
61 sn This apparently refers to Joseph’s special status among his brothers as a result of his being chosen by God to save the family from the famine and to lead Egypt.