Deuteronomy 33:1-5

Deuteronomy 33:1-5

[1] And this is the blessing,  wherewith Moses  the man  of God  blessed  the children  of Israel  before  his death.  [2] And he said,  The LORD  came  from Sinai,  and rose up  from Seir  unto them; he shined forth  from mount  Paran,  and he came  with ten thousands  of saints:  from his right hand  went a fiery  for them. [3] Yea,  he loved  the people;  all his saints  are in thy hand:  and they sat down  at thy feet;  every one shall receive  of thy words.  [4] Moses  commanded  us a law,  even the inheritance  of the congregation  of Jacob.  [5] And he was king  in Jeshurun,  when the heads  of the people  and the tribes  of Israel  were gathered  together. 

What does Deuteronomy 33:1-5 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

After a brief introduction to the blessing ( Deuteronomy 33:1), Moses began by presenting God. He pictured Him as the source of all blessing in the figure of the sun rising on His people gathered at Sinai. The sun is the source of physical blessing. Seir ( Deuteronomy 33:2) refers to the mountain range in Edom over which the sun would apparently rise as seen from Sinai. Paran ( Deuteronomy 33:2) refers to the mountains near Kadesh Barnea that separated the Sinai wilderness from Canaan.
"The stylized or formulaic nature of such historical rsums allows them to depart from normal patterns of narration in which strict adherence to chronological and geographical sequence is expected. Thus the Lord could come from Sinai and appear from Seir and Paran at the same time, or at least without reference to actual historical movement which, of course, would necessitate the order Sinai, Paran, and Seir (cf. Numbers 10:12; Numbers 13:3; Numbers 13:26; Deuteronomy 33:2-52; Numbers 21:4; Deuteronomy 1:19; Deuteronomy 2:4). The real point here in Deuteronomy 33:2 is that the Lord manifested himself gloriously to his people from his earthly dwelling places or at least his usual places of self-disclosure, namely, mountaintops." [1]
The "holy ones" ( Deuteronomy 33:2) are probably angels. Moses described God as accompanied by His countless angelic servants as He revealed His law to Israel at Sinai. Some scholars regard 1713621585_40 as ". . . among the most obscure in the entire Hebrew Bible" [2]%3A53">[2]:53). Gaster suggested they glorify Israel rather than Yahweh. Robert Gordis criticized Gaster"s treatment in "The Text and Meaning of Deuteronomy 3327 ," Journal of Biblical Literature67 (1948):69-72.]
"Though it is possible to argue that the "king" in Deuteronomy 33:5 is meant to be understood as the Lord, the immediate context suggests strongly that it is Moses. This is important because the next chapter, Deuteronomy 34 , views Moses as a prototype of the coming prophet who was promised in Deuteronomy 18:15. Thus at the close of the Pentateuch, the two central messianic visions of the book-that of a coming king ( Genesis 49:10; Numbers 24:7-9) and that of a prophet ( Deuteronomy 18:15)-are united in the figure of Moses, the prophet-king. We should note that throughout the Pentateuch Moses also carries out the duties of priest. Thus in the figure of Moses, the Pentateuch is able to bring together the offices of prophet, priest, and king. The author is always careful to note, however, that Moses was not a priest of the house of Aaron. The Aaronic priesthood is of a different order than that pictured in the office of Moses. If we were looking for an analogy to Moses elsewhere in the Pentateuch, we need look no farther [3] than the figure of Melchizedek, the priest-king from Salem. Thus as Melchizedek the priest-king blessed Abraham at the beginning of the patriarchal narratives ... ( Genesis 14:19), so here Moses the priest-king blessed the Israelites at the conclusion ... ( Deuteronomy 33:29)." [4]
The blessing of the tribes follows this introduction.