Deuteronomio 33:17 Commento

Yet Moses has not done with the children of Israel; he seemed to have taken final leave of them in the close of the foregoing chapter, but still he has something more to say. He had preached them a farewell sermon, a very copious and pathetic discourse. After sermon he had given out a psalm, a long psalm; and now nothing remains but to dismiss them with a blessing; that blessing he pronounces in this chapter in the name of the Lord, and so leaves them. I. He pronounces them all blessed in what God had done for them already, especially in giving them his law (Deu 33:2-5). II. He pronounces a blessing upon each tribe, which is both a prayer for and a prophecy of their felicity. 1. Reuben (Deu 33:6). 2. Judah (Deu 33:7). 3. Levi (Deu 33:8-11). 4. Benjamin (Deu 33:12). 5. Joseph (Deu 33:13-17). 6. Zebulun and Issachar (Deu 33:18, Deu 33:19). 7. Gad (Deu 33:20, Deu 33:21). 8. Dan (Deu 33:22). 9. Naphtali (Deu 33:23). 10. Asher (Deu 33:24, Deu 33:25). III. He pronounces them all in general blessed upon the account of what God would be to them, and do for them if they were obedient (Deu 33:26, etc.).

INTRODUCTION TO DEUTERONOMY 33 This chapter relates the blessings Moses pronounced upon the people of Israel a little before his death; first, in general, on account of their having a law given them in so glorious a manner, Deu 33:1; then, in particular, each of the tribes distinctly is blessed, Reuben, Deu 33:6; Judah, Deu 33:7; Levi, Deu 33:8; Benjamin, Deu 33:12; Joseph, Deu 33:13; Zebulun and Issachar, Deu 33:18; Gad, Deu 33:20; Dan, Deu 33:22; Naphtali, Deu 33:23; Asher, Deu 33:24; and the chapter is concluded with some strong intimations of what God was unto the people of Israel in general, and of what he had done and would do for them; all which are expressive of their great happiness, Deu 33:26.

And of Zebulun he said,.... The tribe of Zebulun, as the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem, with whom Issachar is joined, they being brethren, and of the same mother as well as father; though Zebulun the youngest is set before Issachar the older, as in Jacob's blessing, Gen 49:13, rejoice, Zebulun, in thy going out; in their going out to sea, to merchandise, to traffic in foreign parts, it being a maritime tribe, see Gen 49:13; and so are called upon to rejoice and be thankful for their safe preservation on the seas, and success in trade; and to this sense are the paraphrases of Jonathan and Jerusalem: though Onkelos interprets it of their going out to war against their enemies, and certain it is that they were also a warlike as well as a seafaring tribe; see Jdg 5:18, and Issachar, in thy tents; being a tribe that stayed at home, and attended to husbandry, and dwelt in tents, to take care of and feed their cattle; in doing which they should be prosperous, and have occasion to rejoice, and be thankful to the Lord: though the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem carry it to a different sense, to their schools, in which they dwelt: this tribe being, as supposed, a learned tribe, studious, in the law; which is gathered from Ch1 12:32.

Ten thousand, he said, Ephraim, and thousands of Manasseh (Deut. XXXIII, 17), that is, he should rule over both the Jews and the Gentiles, and acquire for himself the fullness of the Church from both peoples.

THE MAJESTY OF GOD. (Deu. 33:1-28) Moses the man of God--This was a common designation of a prophet (Sa1 2:27; Sa1 9:6), and it is here applied to Moses, when, like Jacob, he was about to deliver ministerially before his death, a prophetic benediction to Israel.

"The first-born of his ox, majesty is to him, and buffalo-horns his horns: with them he thrusts down nations, all at once the ends of the earth. These are the myriads of Ephraim, and these the thousands of Manasseh." The "first-born of his (Joseph's) oxen" (shor, a collective noun, as in Deu 15:19) is not Joshua (Rabb., Schultz); still less is it Joseph (Bleek, Diestel), in which case the pronoun his ox would be quite out of place; nor is it King Jeroboam II, as Graf supposes. It is rather Ephraim, whom the patriarch Jacob raised into the position of the first-born of Joseph (Gen 48:4.). All the sons of Joseph resembled oxen, but Ephraim was the most powerful of them all. He was endowed with majesty; his horns, the strong weapon of oxen, in which all their strength is concentrated, were not the horns of common oxen, but horns of the wild buffalo (reem, Num 23:22), that strong indomitable beast (cf. Job 39:9.; Psa 22:22). With them he would thrust down nations, the ends of the earth, i.e., the most distant nations (vid., Psa 2:8; Psa 7:9; Psa 22:28). "Together," i.e., all at once, belongs rhythmically to "the ends of the earth." Such are the myriads of Ephraim, i.e., in such might will the myriads of Ephraim arise. To the tribe of Ephraim, as the more numerous, the ten thousands are assigned; to the tribe of Manasseh, the thousands.