Deuteronomy 33 explained: Moses Blesses the Tribes Goodbye

God comes from Sinai (vv. 1-5)

Moses pictures God arriving like a sunrise over the southern mountains where Israel received its law, surrounded by countless holy beings. The Hebrew here is hard to translate, and scholars are unsure whether the "king" in verse 5 means God or Moses; Jeshurun is a poetic name for Israel meaning "the upright one."

Reuben, Judah and Levi (vv. 6-11)

Reuben, once the leading tribe, is wished simple survival, and Judah is asked help in battle; the tribe of Simeon is left out entirely, perhaps because it later merged into Judah. Levi, the priestly tribe, keeps the Urim and Thummim (objects priests used to seek God's answer), and verse 9 likely recalls the Levites killing even their own relatives who worshiped the golden calf (Exodus 32).

Benjamin and Joseph (vv. 12-17)

Benjamin is pictured resting safe with God "between his shoulders," which many read as God dwelling in Benjamin's hill country, near where Jerusalem's temple would stand. Joseph, meaning the tribes of his sons Ephraim and Manasseh, is wished the richest land and the strength of a wild ox's horns, a common image for power.

Zebulun to Asher (vv. 18-25)

Zebulun and Issachar are wished wealth from sea trade, possibly from shellfish dye or glass made from sand, though that is a guess, and Gad is praised for choosing good land east of the Jordan yet still joining the others in war. Dan is a lion leaping out, Naphtali is wished fertile land near the lake later called Galilee, and Asher is wished so many olives that he could bathe his feet in oil, with strong gates to keep him safe.

No one like Israel's God (vv. 26-29)

The poem ends by praising God as a refuge whose "everlasting arms" hold Israel up, promising safety and plenty in the land. It also includes God's command to destroy the peoples already living there, a hard and violent theme that runs through this book.

Key verse: Deuteronomy 33:27

Something to think about

If you knew you were saying goodbye to people you had led or cared for, what would you most want to wish for them, and why?