Context No. 151 of 4322 · Deuteronomy
Context · Reflection
Deuteronomy 33:23-29: in context
23About Naphtali he said, “Naphtali, satisfied with favor, full of the LORD’s blessing, Possess the west and the south.” 24About Asher he said, “Asher is blessed with children. Let him be acceptable to his brothers. Let him dip his foot in oil. 25Your bars will be iron and bronze. As your days, so your strength will be. 26“There is no one like God, Jeshurun, who rides on the heavens for your help, in his excellency on the skies. 27The eternal God is your dwelling place. Underneath are the everlasting arms. He thrust out the enemy from before you, and said, ‘Destroy!’ 28Israel dwells in safety, the fountain of Jacob alone, In a land of grain and new wine. Yes, his heavens drop down dew. 29You are happy, Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD, the shield of your help, the sword of your excellency? Your enemies will submit themselves to you. You will tread on their high places.”
Deuteronomy ends with Moses blessing the tribes one by one, just before he climbs the mountain to see the land and die without entering it. This passage is the last of the tribal blessings and the closing lines of the book's poetry.
Naphtali is full of the LORD's favor, Asher is blessed with children and dips his foot in oil, a picture of olive groves so thick you walk in the pressings. Then a line addressed to Asher that reaches past him: as your days, so shall your strength be. Strength issued at the rate the days require, not stockpiled in advance.
Then the poem turns to all Israel. There is none like God, who rides through the heavens to your help. The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms. That is Moses speaking, a man who has spent forty years in a tent in a desert, calling God the dwelling place. He has no house, and the last thing he says about God is that God is where he lives. Whatever I would name as my dwelling place, would I still call it that if the building were taken away?
Sources
- Deuteronomy 33: Moses blessing the tribes before his death on Mount Nebo
- Deuteronomy 33:25: as your days, so shall your strength be
- Deuteronomy 33:27: the eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms