Discovery BoxDeuteronomy 33:6-17 
Context33:6 May Reuben live and not die,
and may his people multiply. 1
33:7 And this is the blessing 2 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.
33:8 Of Levi he said:
Your Thummim and Urim 3 belong to your godly one, 4
whose authority you challenged at Massah, 5
and with whom you argued at the waters of Meribah. 6
33:9 He said to his father and mother, “I have not seen him,” 7
and he did not acknowledge his own brothers
or know his own children,
for they kept your word,
and guarded your covenant.
33:10 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.
33:11 Bless, O Lord, his goods,
and be pleased with his efforts;
undercut the legs 8 of any who attack him,
and of those who hate him, so that they cannot stand.
33:12 Of Benjamin he said:
The beloved of the Lord will live safely by him;
he protects him all the time,
and the Lord 9 places him on his chest. 10
33:13 Of Joseph he said:
May the Lord bless his land
with the harvest produced by the sky, 11 by the dew,
and by the depths crouching beneath;
33:14 with the harvest produced by the daylight 12
33:15 with the best 15 of the ancient mountains
and the harvest produced by the age-old hills;
33:16 with the harvest of the earth and its fullness
and the pleasure of him who resided in the burning bush. 16
May blessing rest on Joseph’s head,
and on the top of the head of the one set apart 17 from his brothers.
33:17 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, 18
and they are the thousands of Manasseh.
1 tn Heb “and [not] may his men be few” (cf. KJV, NASB, NIV).
2 tn The words “the blessing” are supplied in the translation for clarity and stylistic reasons.
3 sn Thummim and Urim. These terms, whose meaning is uncertain, refer to sacred stones carried in a pouch on the breastplate of the high priest and examined on occasion as a means of ascertaining God’s will or direction. See Exod 28:30; Lev 8:8; Num 27:21; 1 Sam 28:6. See also C. Van Dam, NIDOTTE 1:329-31.
4 tn Heb “godly man.” The reference is probably to Moses as representative of the whole tribe of Levi.
5 sn Massah means “testing” in Hebrew; the name is a wordplay on what took place there. Cf. Exod 17:7; Deut 6:16; 9:22; Ps 95:8-9.
6 sn Meribah means “contention, argument” in Hebrew; this is another wordplay on the incident that took place there. Cf. Num 20:13, 24; Ps 106:32.
7 sn This statement no doubt alludes to the Levites’ destruction of their own fellow tribesmen following the golden calf incident (Exod 32:25-29).
8 tn Heb “smash the sinews [or “loins,” so many English versions].” This part of the body was considered to be center of one’s strength (cf. Job 40:16; Ps 69:24; Prov 31:17; Nah 2:2, 11). See J. H. Tigay, Deuteronomy (JPSTC), 325.
9 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the
10 tn Heb “between his shoulders.” This suggests the scene in John 13:23 with Jesus and the Beloved Disciple.
11 tn Heb “from the harvest of the heavens.” The referent appears to be good crops produced by the rain that falls from the sky.
12 tn Heb “goings forth of the sun.”
13 tn Heb “and from the harvest of the yield of.” This has been simplified in the translation to avoid redundancy.
14 tn Heb “the moon.” Many English versions regard this as a reference to “months” (“moons”) rather than the moon itself (cf. NAB, NASB, NRSV, NLT).
15 tn Heb “head” or “top.”
16 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.
17 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.
18 sn Ephraim and Manasseh were the sons of Joseph who became founders of the two tribes into which Joseph’s descendants were split (Gen 48:19-20). Jacob’s blessing granted favored status to Ephraim; this is probably why Ephraim is viewed here as more numerous than Manasseh.
