Deuteronomy 34

Deuteronomy 34:1 Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which faces Jericho, and Yahveh showed him all the land: Gilead as far as Dan,

Deuteronomy 34:2 all of Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Mediterranean Sea,

Deuteronomy 34:3 the Negev, and the plain in the Valley of Jericho, the City of Palms, as far as Zoar.

Deuteronomy 34:4 Yahveh then spoke to him, and this is what he said: “This is the land I promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have let you see it with your own eyes, but you will not cross into it.”

Deuteronomy 34:5 So Moses, the servant of Yahveh, died there in the land of Moab, according to Yahveh’s word.

Deuteronomy 34:6 He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab facing Beth-peor, and no one to this day knows where his grave is.

Deuteronomy 34:7 Moses was one hundred twenty years old when he died; his eyes were not weak, and his vitality had not run away from him.

Deuteronomy 34:8 The Israelites wept for Moses in the plains of Moab for thirty days. Then, the days of weeping and mourning for Moses finished.

Deuteronomy 34:9 Joshua, son of Nun, was filled with the breath of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him. So, the Israelites obeyed him and did as Yahveh had commanded Moses.

Deuteronomy 34:10 No prophet has arisen again in Israel like Moses, whom Yahveh knew face to face.

Deuteronomy 34:11 He was unparalleled for all the signs and wonders Yahveh sent him to do against the land of Egypt – to Pharaoh, to all his officials, and all his land,

Deuteronomy 34:12 and for all the mighty acts of power and terrifying deeds that Moses performed in the sight of all Israel.

Deuteronomy 34 quotes:

“The death of Moses has been awaited since Numbers 27:12–23, and so provides an important frame around the book of Deuteronomy. Within these frame passages Moses is also forbidden to enter the land, which in turn is linked to the succession of Joshua seven times (1:37–38; 3:23–29; 31:2, 14, 16, 27–29; 32:48–52), followed by an eighth in 34:4. Moses must therefore die before God’s plan of salvation history can continue through Joshua. This succession is further linked to the realization of the promise of the land to the Patriarchs also framing the book at 1:8 and 34:4. At the centre of the epilogue (vv. 5–8) is the report of the death of Moses, the servant of the LORD, thus adding further mystery and poignancy to his life and authority as a true prophet, whose word must be listened to and obeyed because of the witness of the many mighty deeds that he performed. Moses will speak even louder in death than in life, as the temptation to revive a cult of the dead gives way to the enduring legacy of his word and obedience to it, which alone gives the promise of life and not death (30:11–20; cf. Isa. 8:18–20).”

Woods, Edward J.. Deuteronomy: An Introduction and Commentary (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries Book 5) . InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.

“The last three verses of the book constitute, as it were, the literary epitaph of Moses; they form a fitting conclusion to the Pentateuch, of which the last four books contain an account of the life and work of Moses in Israel. Moses was a prophet, but in his epitaph it is not his knowledge of God that is stressed, but rather the Lord’s knowledge of him. God had sought him out and appointed him to a particular task; over the years, the relationship had become intimate, so that to those Israelites who knew Moses, it was evident that his highest communion was with God. And so in his epitaph, written in a book because the grave was not known, God’s intimate knowledge of Moses was the most striking memory of the man now departed.”

Craigie, Peter C.. The Book of Deuteronomy (The New International Commentary on the Old Testament) (p. 406). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.. Kindle Edition.

Deuteronomy 34 links:

in retrospect- the end
living long and strong
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Tuesday, June 15, 2021
preview at Pisgah
this extraordinary man

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The DEUTERONOMY shelf in Jeff’s library.

Deuteronomy 33

Deuteronomy 33:1 This is the empowerment that Moses, the man of God, empowered the Israelites with before his death.

Deuteronomy 33:2 He said: Yahveh came from Sinai and appeared to them from Seir; he shone on them from Mount Paran and came with ten thousand holy ones, with lightning from his right hand for them.

Deuteronomy 33:3 Indeed, he cares about the people. All your sacred ones are in your hand, and they assemble at your feet. Each receives your words.

Deuteronomy 33:4 Moses commanded us an instruction, a possession for the assembly of Jacob.

Deuteronomy 33:5 So he became King in Jeshurun when the leaders of the people gathered with the tribes of Israel.

Deuteronomy 33:6 Let Reuben stay alive and not die though his people become few.

Deuteronomy 33:7 He said this about Judah: Yahveh, hear Judah’s cry and bring him to his people. He fights for his cause with his own hands, but may you be a partner[1] against his foes.

Deuteronomy 33:8 He said about Levi: Your Darks and Lights[2] belong to your faithful one; you tested him at Massah and contended with him at the Water of Meribah.

Deuteronomy 33:9 He said about his father and mother, “I do not regard them.” He disregarded his brothers and didn’t acknowledge his sons because they watched your word and maintained your covenant.

Deuteronomy 33:10 They will teach your rules to Jacob and your instruction to Israel; they will place incense before you and whole burnt offerings on your altar.

Deuteronomy 33:11 Yahveh empower his possessions, and accept the work of his hands. Break the back of his adversaries and enemies so that they cannot rise again.

Deuteronomy 33:12 He said about Benjamin: Yahveh’s cared about one rests securely on him. He shields him all day long, and he rests on his shoulders.

Deuteronomy 33:13 He said about Joseph: May his land be empowered by Yahveh with the dew of the sky’s bounty and the watery depths that lie beneath;

Deuteronomy 33:14 with the bountiful harvest from the sun and the abundant yield of the seasons;

Deuteronomy 33:15 with the best products of the primeval mountains and the bounty of the ancient hills;

Deuteronomy 33:16 with the choice gifts of the land and everything in it; and with the favor of him who appeared in the burning bush. May these rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince of his brothers.

Deuteronomy 33:17 His firstborn bull has splendor and horns like those of a wild ox; he gores all the peoples with them to the ends of the land. Such are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and such are the thousands of Manasseh.

Deuteronomy 33:18 He said about Zebulun: Enjoy, Zebulun, your journeys, and Issachar, your tents.

Deuteronomy 33:19 They summon the peoples to a mountain; there, they offer acceptable sacrifices. For they draw from the wealth of the seas and the hidden treasures of the sand.

Deuteronomy 33:20 He said about Gad: The one who enlarges Gad’s territory will be empowered. He lies down like a lion and tears off an arm or even a head.

Deuteronomy 33:21 He chose the first for himself because a ruler’s portion was assigned there for him. He came with the people’s leaders; he carried out Yahveh’s justice and his rules for Israel.

Deuteronomy 33:22 He said about Dan: Dan is a young lion, leaping out of Bashan.

Deuteronomy 33:23 He said about Naphtali: Naphtali, enjoying approval, full of Yahveh’s empowerment, take possession of it west and the south.

Deuteronomy 33:24 He said about Asher: May Asher be the most empowered of the sons; may he be the most favored among his brothers and dip his foot in olive oil.

Deuteronomy 33:25 May the bolts of your gate be iron and bronze, and your strength last as long as you live.

Deuteronomy 33:26 There is none like the God of Jeshurun, who rides the sky as your partner, the clouds in his majesty.

Deuteronomy 33:27 The God of old is your dwelling place, and underneath are the permanent arms. He drives out the enemy before you and commands, “Exterminate!”

Deuteronomy 33:28 So Israel dwells securely; Jacob lives untroubled in a land of grain and new wine; even his skies drip with dew.

Deuteronomy 33:29 How happy you are, Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by Yahveh? He is the shield that partners with you, the sword you boast in. Your enemies will cringe before you, and you will tread on their backs.

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[1] עֵזֶר = partner. Deuteronomy 33:7, 26, 29.

[2] תֻּמִּיםand אוּרִים = Darks and Lights.

Deuteronomy 33 quotes:

The final blessing of Moses (33:1–29) follows the tribal blessings of Jacob just before he died (Gen. 49:1–28), thus replicating the canonical end frame of the first book of the Pentateuch. Here, these blessings are framed by the notice of Moses’ impending death and the Lord’s showing him the Promised Land (32:48–52; 34:1–12). This suggests that Moses’ role in these final blessings is to express God’s approval of the one who was excluded from the land because of Israel’s sin. Also, God’s primary intent is to ‘bless’ Israel rather than bring ‘curse’ upon her (cf. Num. 22– 24). Now Moses can even bless the tribes of Israel in ways that often depart from Jacob’s original words to them, especially in deviating from the original prominence given to Judah, and drawing attention to a fresh importance given to the tribes of Levi and Joseph. The Levites are given the role of teaching the Torah to all Israel (33:8–11), and the tribe of Joseph is pictured as enjoying the most abundant part of the land (33:13–17). This is a way of emphasizing the participation of all of the tribes in the blessing and systematic filling of the land from south to north, including the Levitical priests, who are otherwise excluded from its inheritance. The tribes of Levi and Joseph also symbolize the theological importance for Deuteronomy of Torah obedience, and its connection to the possession and enjoyment of the rich abundance of the land. This is a picture of theological history unfolding, with shifting centres of gravity for all the tribes. But framing this blessing is the Lord, who shines forth from Sinai as king over Jeshurun in giving Israel the law (33:1–5), and finally as warrior king who rides on the clouds of heaven and drives out the enemy from the land, so that Israel might possess it in fulfilment of the Abrahamic promise (33:26–29).”

Woods, Edward J.. Deuteronomy: An Introduction and Commentary (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries Book 5) . InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.

“The Blessing of Moses concludes with, a meditation on the blessed estate of Israel: How blessed you are…! Who is like you?—the answer could only be, “None.” But Israel’s preeminence lay not in its own merit, but because there is none like the God of Jeshurun (v. 26). The power and incomparability of Israel’s God imparted to Israel power and incomparability. Israel would be a victorious army, not through military genius, but because God, a Man in Battle (Exod. 15:3), would be fighting on behalf of Israel (3:22). Israel would be protected in battle by the shield, which was God (see also Exod. 15:2).55 Israel would be granted victory by the sword of God’s presence. Enemies, cringing in terror, would be trampled underfoot by the victorious people of God.”

Craigie, Peter C.. The Book of Deuteronomy (The New International Commentary on the Old Testament) (pp. 403-404). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.. Kindle Edition.

Deuteronomy 33 links:

everywhere, but not everything
exterminate!
God alone is Immortal
God is Different
in retrospect- leaving a legacy
king for a day
The sky above – shamayim, the land beneath – erets
time and chance

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The DEUTERONOMY shelf in Jeff’s library.

Deuteronomy 32

Deuteronomy 32:1 Pay attention, sky, and I will speak; listen, land, to the words from my mouth.

Deuteronomy 32:2 Let my teaching fall like rain and my word settle like dew, like gentle rain on new grass and showers on tender plants.

Deuteronomy 32:3 You see, I will proclaim Yahveh’s name. Declare the greatness of our God!

Deuteronomy 32:4 The Rock – his work is perfect; all his ways are just. A faithful God, without bias, he is righteous and true.

Deuteronomy 32:5 His people have acted corruptly toward him; this is their defect – they are not his children but a devious and crooked generation.

Deuteronomy 32:6 Is this how you repay Yahveh, you foolish and senseless people? Isn’t he your Father and Creator? Didn’t he make you and sustain you?

Deuteronomy 32:7 Remember the ancient days; consider the years of past generations. Ask your father, and he will tell you, your elders, and they will teach you.

Deuteronomy 32:8 When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance and divided the human race, he set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the people of Israel.

Deuteronomy 32:9 But Yahveh’s portion is his people, Jacob, his inheritance.

Deuteronomy 32:10 He found him in a desolate land, in a barren, howling open country; he surrounded him, cared for him, and protected him as the pupil of his eye.

Deuteronomy 32:11 He watches over his nest like an eagle and hovers over his young; he spreads his wings, catches him, and carries him on his feathers.

Deuteronomy 32:12 Yahveh alone led him, with no help from a foreign god.

Deuteronomy 32:13 He made him ride on the heights of the land and eat the produce of the field. He nourished him with honey from the rock and oil from the flinty rock,

Deuteronomy 32:14 curds from the herd and milk from the flock, with the fat of lambs, rams from Bashan, and goats, with the choicest grains of wheat; you drank wine from the finest grapes.

Deuteronomy 32:15 Then Jeshurun became fat and rebelled– you became fat, bloated, and gorged. He abandoned the God who made him and scorned the Rock of his salvation.

Deuteronomy 32:16 They provoked his jealousy with illegitimate gods; they enraged him with repulsive practices.

Deuteronomy 32:17 They sacrificed to demons, not God, to gods they had not known, new gods that had just arrived, which your fathers did not fear.

Deuteronomy 32:18 You ignored the Rock who gave you birth; you forgot the God who gave birth to you.

Deuteronomy 32:19 When Yahveh saw this, he despised them, angered by his sons and daughters.

Deuteronomy 32:20 He said: “I will hide my face from them; I will see what will become of them, for they are a changed generation – unfaithful children.

Deuteronomy 32:21 They have provoked my jealousy with what is not a god; they have enraged me with their worthless idols. So I will provoke their jealousy with what is not a people; I will enrage them with a foolish nation.

Deuteronomy 32:22 For fire has been kindled because of my anger and burns to the depths of Sheol; it devours the land and its produce and scorches the foundations of the mountains.

Deuteronomy 32:23 “I will pile disasters on them; I will use up my arrows against them.

Deuteronomy 32:24 They will be weak from hunger, ravaged by pestilence and bitter plague; I will unleash on them wild beasts with fangs, as well as venomous snakes that slither in the dust.

Deuteronomy 32:25 Outside, the sword will take their children, and inside, there will be terror; the young man and the young woman will be killed, the infant and the gray-haired man.

Deuteronomy 32:26 “I would have said: I will cut them to pieces and blot out the memory of them from humanity,

Deuteronomy 32:27 if I had not been intimidated by provocation from the enemy, or thought that these foes might misunderstand and say: ‘Our hand has prevailed; it wasn’t Yahveh who did all this.'”

Deuteronomy 32:28 Israel is a nation which has lost its sense with no understanding at all.

Deuteronomy 32:29 If only they were wise, they would comprehend this; they would understand their fate.

Deuteronomy 32:30 How could one pursue a thousand, or two cause ten thousand to run away, unless their Rock had sold them unless Yahveh had given them up?

Deuteronomy 32:31 But their “rock” is not like our Rock, as even our enemies concede.

Deuteronomy 32:32 For their vine is from the vine of Sodom and the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are poisonous; their clusters are bitter.

Deuteronomy 32:33 Their wine is serpents’ venom, the deadly poison of cobras.

Deuteronomy 32:34 “Is it not stored up with me, sealed up in my vaults?

Deuteronomy 32:35 Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay. In time their foot will slip, for their day of disaster is near, and their doom is coming quickly.”

Deuteronomy 32:36 Yahveh will indeed vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants when he sees that their strength is gone and no one is left – slave or free.

Deuteronomy 32:37 He will say: “Where are their gods, the ‘rock’ they found refuge in?

Deuteronomy 32:38 Who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offerings? Let them rise and help you; let it be a shelter for you.

Deuteronomy 32:39 See now that I alone am he; there is no God but me. I bring death, and I give life; I wound, and I heal. No one can rescue anyone from my power.

Deuteronomy 32:40 I raise my hand to the sky and declare: As surely as I live permanently,

Deuteronomy 32:41 when I sharpen my flashing sword, and my hand takes hold of judgment, I will take vengeance on my adversaries and repay those who hate me.

Deuteronomy 32:42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood while my sword devours meat – the blood of the slain and the captives, the heads of the enemy leaders.”

Deuteronomy 32:43 Rejoice, you nations, concerning his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants. He will take vengeance on his adversaries; he will absolve his land and his people.

Deuteronomy 32:44 Moses came with Joshua, son of Nun, and recited all the words of this song in the presence of the people.

Deuteronomy 32:45 After Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel,

Deuteronomy 32:46 he said to them, “Place in your heart all these words I am giving as a warning to you today, so that you may command your children to follow all the words of this instruction carefully.

Deuteronomy 32:47 You see, they are not meaningless words to you, but they are your life, and by them, you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of.”

Deuteronomy 32:48 On that same day, Yahveh spoke to Moses, and this is what he said:

Deuteronomy 32:49 “Go up Mount Nebo in the Abarim range in the land of Moab, across from Jericho, and view the land of Canaan I am giving the Israelites as a possession.

Deuteronomy 32:50 Then you will die on the mountain that you go up, and you will be gathered to your people, just as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people.

Deuteronomy 32:51 For both of you betrayed[1] me among the Israelites at the Water of Meribath-Kadesh in the open country of Zin by failing to treat me as sacred in their presence.

Deuteronomy 32:52 Although from a distance you will view the land that I am giving the Israelites, you will not go there.”

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[1]מָעַל = betray.

Deuteronomy 32 quotes:

“A law-book stored beside the ark may be forgotten. What the people needed was something short enough to be committed to (longterm) memory that would make the same point as Moses’ sermons (Wenham 2003: 141). This is what the Song of Moses offers in its highly individual way, especially as a witness to the deep and abiding love of Yahweh for his people (McConville 2002: 461). Best viewed as a song or hymn containing a form of covenant lawsuit against God’s people, it takes up a number of important themes relating to primeval times, including creation leading to the table of nations (vv. 8–9: cf. Gen. 10:1–32). But there is no explicit reference to Israel’s deliverance from Egypt, and the twin covenants of Horeb and Moab are passed over, as are the promises made with the Patriarchs. These are no doubt assumed, making way for exposure of the sin of idolatry. The song moves from the chaotic barren and howling waste of the desert (v. 10), to the contrasting rich fare of the Promised Land, where Jeshurun (‘the upright one’) abandoned the Rock (mentioned seven times in the chapter), his Creator and Saviour (v. 15), in preference to the gods of the land (vv. 16–17, 21). As a result, Yahweh will hide his face from them (v. 20), and Israel will experience the full fury of his fire and wrath by sword and various plagues, as a display of his protecting jealous love (v. 21; cf. 4:23–24). However, lest the enemy should say, Our hand has triumphed; the LORD has not done this (v. 27), the Lord will bring judgment upon the enemy (vv. 34–35) and have compassion upon his servants, when he sees that their strength is gone (v. 36). Israel’s restoration will not come without a final reminder of their apostasy (vv. 37–38), at the same time establishing Yahweh’s uniqueness and incomparability as the only true God, who alone is able to judge his enemies and avenge the blood of his servants, and make atonement for his land and people (vv. 39–43; cf. 4:35).

Woods, Edward J.. Deuteronomy: An Introduction and Commentary (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries Book 5) . InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.

“When Moses had finished his last address to Israel, once again the Lord addressed words personally to Moses. With this passage, compare Num. 27:12–14. The Lord instructed Moses to climb Mount Nebo, a peak in the Abarim range of mountains to the east of the north end of the Dead Sea; from there he would be able to see the promised land which he was not permitted to enter (see also 3:25–27). On the prohibition of Moses’ entering the promised land, see 1:37 and commentary; commentary; in this context (v. 51), however, there is a more explicit allusion to the incident described in Num. 20:10–13. Having seen the promised land, Moses would die; on the death of Moses, see the fuller account in 34:1–8.”

Craigie, Peter C.. The Book of Deuteronomy (The New International Commentary on the Old Testament) (p. 390). Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.. Kindle Edition.

Deuteronomy 32 links:

“To be gathered to his people”
bloom or shrivel
fire from God
forgotten parent
his last summit
his wings
in retrospect- leaving a legacy
in retrospect- no empty word
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Thursday, June 13, 2019
Maranatha Daily Devotional – Thursday, June 15, 2023
monotheon
not meaningless words
poisonous grapes
provider and pretenders
rock contest
Sheol in the Bible- The Old Testament Consensus
swept away
The consequences of separation
the death penalty
The sky above – shamayim, the land beneath – erets
three Solomons
time travel song
vengeance on his adversaries

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The DEUTERONOMY shelf in Jeff’s library.