Deuteronomy 33:1

Critical commentators remain a mystery to this writer, despite the fact of our reading their writings for a full quarter of a century! The chapter before us contains the final blessing of Moses upon the Twelve Tribes of the Chosen People, and yet, Wade declared, apparently in all sincerity that, "This poem is quite unconnected with the context!"[1] How amazing that any man could fail to see the "connection" between the death of a mighty world leader and the last words of the man! The Book of Deuteronomy could not have been complete without this. "In the ancient Near East the parting blessings of tribal and family heads were irrevocable last wills and testaments, as is evident from the story of Isaac's blessing of Esau and Jacob (Genesis 27), as well as from extra-Biblical accounts from the fifteenth and fourteenth centuries B.C."[2] Such final blessings by important men were treasured, honored, and considered to be power-laden documents affecting the destiny of those mentioned therein. The very fact of our having this one from Moses is proof enough of its being authentic. The proposition advanced by Wade and other critics that, "This was written during the prosperous reign of Jeroboam II (786-746 B.C),"[3] is ridiculous! If it had been written then, who would have preserved it? Can it be supposed that any of the Twelve Tribes did not know what Moses had said of them on the day of his death, and then that all of those tribes would have accepted a forgery of an "alleged last testament of Moses" in the eighth century B.C., and that they then incorporated this new and unheard of work into the archives of their sacred records? A more preposterous fairy tale than that was never invented!

Cousins complained of "the abrupt appearance"[4] of this last will and testament at this particular point, but one wonders where else it would have been less so. As a matter of fact, Moses' death was abrupt, and we can think of no better place for his "last will and testament" than adjacent to the account of his decease.

There is therefore no reason whatever to depart from the plain intimations of the holy text to the effect that: "As a spiritual and theocratic father to the Twelve Tribes, Moses, according to ancient Near East custom, pronounced a blessing upon them just before his death."[5]

INTRODUCTION (Deuteronomy 33:1-5)

"And this is the blessing wherewith Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death. And he said,

Jehovah came from Sinai,

And rose from Seir unto them;

He shined forth from mount Paran,

And he came from the ten thousands of holy ones:

At his right hand was a fiery law for them.

Yea, he loveth the people;

All his saints are in thy hand:

And they sat down at thy feet;

Every one shall receive of thy words.

Moses commanded us a law,

An inheritance for the assembly of Jacob.

And he was king in Jeshurun,

When the heads of the people were gathered,

All the tribes of Israel together."

This paragraph is the introduction to the main body of the blessing which extends from Deuteronomy 33:6 through Deuteronomy 33:25. "Some of the outstanding manifestations of God's power and glory and his goodness toward Israel are reviewed here as a proper introduction to the blessings,"[6] That Moses is called "the man of God" here, contrary to the general usage in Deuteronomy, sends the critics after their favorite adjuster, the editor, or the "redactor," but no such person would have deviated from the usual address. Joshua might have added this as an identification of what follows when he wrote the account of Moses' death. It is not stated here that Moses "said" these first three lines of prose. Adam Clarke gave some beautiful lines on these words: "Sinai, Seir, and Paran ... These are the identical places where God manifested his glory in fiery appearances to proclaim his special providence and care over Israel."[7]

The use of the third person is no problem, such usages being the norm rather than the exception in the sacred writings, as for example, in Jonah. Blair even made this second person reference to Moses as his first and principle reason for denying that Moses said these things.[8] One would think that critical scholars never heard of Julius Caesar, Frederick the Great, and fully half of the Biblical writers, all of whom used the third person in references to themselves and did so extensively. Despite this, even a scholar like Dummelow, stated that, "Moses could hardly have written this himself!"[9]

"And he was king in Jeshurun ..." The subject here is not Moses, but God. Craigie has a most interesting (and we believe) CORRECT explanation of what this rather difficult passage is saying:

"This is a response of the people. The Law received at Sinai was to be the constitution of the new state of Israel, which was to come into existence in the near future: the lawgiver would be the head of the new state. Hence, the people acclaim their leader, namely God (the Lawgiver): Let there be a king in Jeshurun."[10]

This is a most enlightening comment on a passage which has doubtless suffered some damage in its transition through history and which is variously understood. We may be certain that this passage is not a legitimate basis for assuming an eighth century date for this "last will and testament." This, of course, is exactly the erroneous position of critical scholars. Kline also explained the mention of the glories at Sinai, Seir, and Paran, mentioned just ahead of this passage, as heralding, "The appearance of the Lord as King of Kings to proclaim his covenant in radiant, sun-rise like glory over the eastern mountains of the Sinai peninsula."[11]

"And he came from the ten thousands of holy ones ..." Several renditions of this are proposed, but the one here is as reasonable as any. This fits in perfectly with the glorious appearance of the King (God) in the preceding lines, for as Kline interpreted this place, "In attendance upon the King was a heavenly host of holy ones."[12] That this vast multitude of "holy ones" were the angels of God appears certain, for the N.T. repeatedly emphasizes the connection of angels in the giving of the law of Moses (Acts 7:53; Galatians 3:19; and Hebrews 2:2).