Deuteronomy 33:5

_AND HE WAS KING IN JESHURUN, WHEN THE HEADS OF THE PEOPLE AND THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL WERE GATHERED TOGETHER._ And he was king in Jeshurun. On "Jeshurun" as a designation of Israel, see Deuteronomy 32:15. By the grammatical connection of this verse with the preceding, "he" must refer to Moses, who might in a certain restricted sense be called "king," as under God chief ruler (Judges 19:1; Jeremiah 19:3). But the tenor of the context excludes this interpretation; for the general assembly of "the heads of the people and the tribes of Israel" at the promulgation of the law pointed to their public and solemn assent to the national compact, which was ratified by the glorious theophany above described; and

1-5 To all his precepts, warnings, and prophecies, Moses added a solemn blessing. He begins with a description of the glorious appearances of God, in giving the law. His law works like fire. If received, it is melting, warming, purifying, and burns up the dross of corruption; if rejected, it hardens, sears, pains, and destroys. The Holy Spirit came down in cloven tongues, as of fire; for the gospel also is a fiery law. The law of God written in the heart, is a certain proof of the love of God shed abroad there: we must reckon His law one of the gifts of his grace....

HE WAS KING - i. e., not Moses but the Lord became king....

EXPOSITION MOSES' BLESSING. Before ascending Mount Nebo, to take a view of the land he was not permitted to cuter and then to die, Moses took farewell of the people he had so long guided and ruled, by pronouncing on them a blessing in their several tribes. This blessing was probably spoken on the same day as the song recorded in the preceding chapter, and to the same assembly. The one may be regarded as the counterpart of the other. In the song, Moses dwells chiefly on the calamities that were to befall the people because of their apostasy; in the blessing, he depicts the benefits that were to be enjoyed by them through the Divine favor. The tone of the one is somber and minatory; the tone of the other is serene and cheering. The one presents the darker side, the other the brighter side, of Israel's fortunes. Both were fitting utterances for the occasion: the one the farewell warning, t...

AND HE WAS KING IN JESHURUN,.... That is, in Israel, or over the people of Israel, of which name of theirs, Deuteronomy 32:15; either God, as Jarchi; for the government of the Israelites was a theocracy, and their laws were immediately from God, and by him they were guided and directed in all things; wherefore, when they were so importunate for a change in their government, and to have a king over them, they are said to reject the Lord, that he should not reign over them, 1 Samuel 8:7; or Moses, as Aben Ezra on the place, Maimonides f, and others g; who, under God, had the civil government of the Hebrews; both may be received, God was the supreme Governor, and Moses the chief magistrate under him: WHEN THE HEADS OF ISRAEL [AND] THE TRIBES OF THE PEOPLE WERE GATHERED TOGETHER; at Mo

3. THE BLESSING OF MOSES Chapter S 32:44-33:29 _ 1. Introduction (Deuteronomy 32:44)_ 2. Jehovah's manifestation (Deuteronomy 33:1) 3. The blessing of Reuben, Judah and Levi (Deuteronomy 33:6) 4. The blessing of Benjamin and Joseph (Deuteronomy 33:12) 5. The blessing of Zebulon and Issachar (Deuteronomy 33:18) 6. The blessing of Gad, Dan, Nephtali and Asher ...

DEUTERONOMY 33. THE BLESSING OF MOSES. Of this poem (quite unconnected with the context) the following statements may be made: (_a)_ It was composed during the prosperous reign of Jeroboam II (786- 746 B.C.) A date after the disruption is required by Deuteronomy 33:7; a period of prosperity by Deuteronomy 33:13. Prior to 786 B.C. Israel had been ruled by petty kings, and after 746 B.C. the Northern Kingdom had a long and disastrous struggle with Damascus. (_b)_ The writer belonged to the Northern Kingdom, and therefore gives far more prominence to Israel (Joseph) than to Judah. (_c)_ He was a member of the priestly class (Deuteronomy 33:8). Accepting the above conclusions, it follo

HE. Jehovah, from Deuteronomy 33:2. See the Structure, above. JESHURUN. See note on Deuteronomy 32:15. WERE GATHERED TOGETHER. gathered themselves together....

(2 9). Four Laws: Of Right to Enter the Congregation There shall not enter any eunuch (Deuteronomy 33:1); nor the son of an unlawful marriage, nor descendants (Deuteronomy 33:2); nor Ammonite, nor Moabite, nor descendants (Deuteronomy 33:3-6); but the third generation of Edomite or Egyptian may enter (Deuteronomy 33:7 f.). These laws have negative openings like the preceding and like the series which follow in Deuteronomy 33:15 ...

_VER._ 5. _AND HE WAS KING IN JESHURUN,_ &C.— DURELL. Dr. Kennicott endeavours to shew the great inconsistency of making Moses the speaker of the passage as it stands in our version. Aware of this difficulty, Jonathan, and the author of the Jerusalem Targum, put these words in the mouth of the children of Israel. _The children of Israel_ said, Moses _commanded,_ &c. Indeed the word _Moses_ cannot be retained in the text with any propriety, but on the supposition that Moses taught the Israelites this song with a view that they might sing or repeat it in their own person. See Kennicott's first Dissertation, p. 434. As משׁה _Mosheh_ is the last word in the Hebrew line, might it not be rendered very properly, _He enjoined,_ or _delivered_ us, _a law by Moses._ We find it thus rendered in the Arabic. _VER._ 5. _AND HE WAS KING IN JESHURUN_— It is not agreed among critics to whom these words...