The Blessing of Moses

"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 law for them."

"Let Reuben live, and not die." Judah: "Hear, LORD, the voice of Judah." Levi: "Let thy Thummim and thy Urim be with thy holy one… They shall teach Jacob thy judgments." Benjamin: "The beloved of the LORD shall dwell in safety by him." Joseph: blessed with "the precious things of heaven… and for the good will of him that dwelt in the bush." Zebulun and Issachar, Gad, Dan ("a lion's whelp"), Naphtali and Asher each receive a line.

"There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help… The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms… Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the LORD."

Genesis 49 and Deuteronomy 33

Simeon's absence fits its later absorption into Judah (Joshua 19:1–9). Some Greek manuscripts add Simeon to Reuben's line. Levi's transformation from Genesis 49's curse to Deuteronomy's blessing reflects its role after the golden calf (Exodus 32:26–29).

God from the south

Sinai, Seir and Paran are all southern places. Judges 5:4–5 ("LORD, when thou wentest out of Seir") and Habakkuk 3:3 ("God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran") use the same picture. The Kuntillet Ajrud inscriptions (c. 800 BC) mention "YHWH of Teman." Many scholars see an old tradition associating Israel's God with the southern deserts. This is imagery of a divine warrior's coming, not a route map.

"A fiery law"

The Hebrew of 33:2 is written as one word, eshdat, but read as two, esh dat, "fire of law." Dat is a Persian loanword elsewhere, which complicates the reading. The Samaritan text in our library lacks "esh" ("fire") here, and the Greek reads "his angels with him at his right hand." Translators remain unsure of the original meaning.