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Moses’ Final Blessing on Israel

This is the blessing with which Moses, the man of God, blessed the Israelites before his death. ²He said:

The L ord came from Sinai,

and dawned from Seir upon us;

he shone forth from Mount Paran.

With him were myriads of holy ones;

at his right, a host of his own.

Indeed, O favorite among peoples,

all his holy ones were in your charge;

they marched at your heels,

accepted direction from you.

Moses charged us with the law,

as a possession for the assembly of Jacob.

There arose a king in Jeshurun,

when the leaders of the people assembled—

the united tribes of Israel.

May Reuben live, and not die out,

even though his numbers are few.

⁷ And this he said of Judah:

O L ord, give heed to Judah,

and bring him to his people;

strengthen his hands for him,

and be a help against his adversaries.

⁸ And of Levi he said:

Give to Levi your Thummim,

and your Urim to your loyal one,

whom you tested at Massah,

with whom you contended at the waters of Meribah;

who said of his father and mother,

“I regard them not”;

he ignored his kin,

and did not acknowledge his children.

For they observed your word,

and kept your covenant.

They teach Jacob your ordinances,

and Israel your law;

they place incense before you,

and whole burnt offerings on your altar.

Bless, O L ord, his substance,

and accept the work of his hands;

crush the loins of his adversaries,

of those that hate him, so that they do not rise again.

¹² Of Benjamin he said:

The beloved of the L ord rests in safety—

the High God surrounds him all day long—

the beloved rests between his shoulders.

¹³ And of Joseph he said:

Blessed by the L ord be his land,

with the choice gifts of heaven above,

and of the deep that lies beneath;

with the choice fruits of the sun,

and the rich yield of the months;

with the finest produce of the ancient mountains,

and the abundance of the everlasting hills;

with the choice gifts of the earth and its fullness,

and the favor of the one who dwells on Sinai.

Let these come on the head of Joseph,

on the brow of the prince among his brothers.

A firstborn bull—majesty is his!

His horns are the horns of a wild ox;

with them he gores the peoples,

driving them to the ends of the earth;

such are the myriads of Ephraim,

such the thousands of Manasseh.

¹⁸ And of Zebulun he said:

Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out;

and Issachar, in your tents.

They call peoples to the mountain;

there they offer the right sacrifices;

for they suck the affluence of the seas

and the hidden treasures of the sand.

²⁰ And of Gad he said:

Blessed be the enlargement of Gad!

Gad lives like a lion;

he tears at arm and scalp.

He chose the best for himself,

for there a commander’s allotment was reserved;

he came at the head of the people,

he executed the justice of the L ord,

and his ordinances for Israel.

²² And of Dan he said:

Dan is a lion’s whelp

that leaps forth from Bashan.

²³ And of Naphtali he said:

O Naphtali, sated with favor,

full of the blessing of the L ord,

possess the west and the south.

²⁴ And of Asher he said:

Most blessed of sons be Asher;

may he be the favorite of his brothers,

and may he dip his foot in oil.

Your bars are iron and bronze;

and as your days, so is your strength.

There is none like God, O Jeshurun,

who rides through the heavens to your help,

majestic through the skies.

He subdues the ancient gods,

shatters the forces of old;

he drove out the enemy before you,

and said, “Destroy!”

So Israel lives in safety,

untroubled is Jacob’s abode

in a land of grain and wine,

where the heavens drop down dew.

Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you,

a people saved by the L ord,

the shield of your help,

and the sword of your triumph!

Your enemies shall come fawning to you,

and you shall tread on their backs.

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

3. Yea, he loved the people. ³⁰⁸³⁰⁸ Lat., “the peoples.” If it be preferred to apply this to the Gentiles, the sentence must be thus resolved, “Although He loves all human beings, still His saints are honored with His peculiar favor, in that He watches over their safety;” but it is more correct to expound it as referring only to the children of Abraham, whom He calls “peoples,” because, on account of the multitude into which they had grown, in their several tribes, they might be reckoned as so many nations. And since the particle אף, aph, ³⁰⁹³⁰⁹ A. V., “yea.” signifies prolongation of time, like adhuc in Latin, the following sense will be very satisfactory, that, Although the descendants of Abraham were divided into various races, and might therefore seem to be no longer a single family, nevertheless God still continued to regard them all with affection, and their numbers and divisions did not prevent Him from accounting them to be a single body. The sum is, that God’s favor towards them was not extinguished, either by the progress of time, or the increase of the people; but that it was constantly extended to the race of Abraham, however far or widely it might be spread.

It must, however, be observed, that in proof of His love, it is presently added, that they were in the hand of God. Hence we infer that, from the time that God has embraced us with His favor, He is the sure guardian of our safety; whence also arises the firm assurance of eternal life. The change of person, from the third to the second, throws no obscurity on the meaning. Since many hypocrites were mixed up with the faithful — for the Church of God has always been like a threshing-floor ³¹⁰³¹⁰ In the Fr. this expression is thus explained, — “ou les grains de ble sont cachez sous la paille;” where the grains of wheat are hidden beneath the straw. — Moses restricts this special grace of God to those who willingly submit themselves to Him, and with pious teachableness embrace this instruction, by which sign he distinguishes between the true children of God, and those spurious or degenerate ones, who falsely assume the name. Where my translation is, “They cleaved to thy feet,” others render the words, “They were struck at thy feet,” but in my judgment constrainedly. Others extract from it a useful piece of instruction, that “they were subdued by God’s chastisements, so as to render Him obedience;” but the metaphor is rather taken from disciples, who, according to the common usage of the Hebrew language, are said to sit at their master’s feet, in order to attend more diligently. And this is confirmed by the context, for the faithful are said to have attached themselves to God’s feet, that they might receive of this words, i.e., profit by His instruction.

³⁰⁸ Lat., “the peoples.”

³⁰⁹ A. V., “yea.”

³¹⁰ In the Fr. this expression is thus explained, — “ou les grains de ble sont cachez sous la paille;” where the grains of wheat are hidden beneath the straw.