A New Word of Encouragement...(1 Part of Covenantalism)...
Chapters / Lessons 31 thru 34
Chapter 31
At the end of this Chapter, there contains 17 study questions for you to answer. There exists no right or wrong answers. Just answer them to your best ability with Yahweh’s guidance and study material presented in front of you. Now, as we open our bibles to Deuteronomy Chapter 31, one must remember to pray first and give S.P.A.C.E.
Do you have a Sin to forsake?
Do you have a Promise to claim?
Do you have an Attitude to change?
Is there a Command to obey?
Is there an Example to follow?
Do you have a Sin to forsake?
Do you have a Promise to claim?
Do you have an Attitude to change?
Is there a Command to obey?
Is there an Example to follow?
As you might have noticed, I have periodically included at the end of particular lessons pictures of some fragments of The Book of Deuteronomy. These fragments are included in The Dead Sea Scrolls. Therefore, I will include a paper here I submitted to The College of Biblical Studies.
New discoveries always remain clouded with uncertainty for they are complex and changing. It is up to us to decipher the ancient writings and inscriptions for which we discover. If this remains impossible, then how else will we understand the origins on how certain people lived and acted two-thousand years ago? The Dead Sea Scrolls remain a prime explain. They exist as the greatest discovery in modern day! When universities, churches, and seminaries hold lectures on Jesus, maybe a handful of people will show. However, if these same places hold lectures on The Dead Sea Scrolls, thousands will flock to hear because it is new and exciting. It makes the imagination run wild with Arabs riding on camels searching for lost treasure. Just like people who have the fascination with scripture as they search out God’s still voice, these scrolls speak from a time long forgotten by many.
In early 1947, a man named Muhammad Ed-Dib had led his sheep to graze when he stumbled across some peculiar caves. With curiosity, he gazed in and could only make out a large dark cavern. Curiosity over taking him, he proceeded to pick up a stone and threw it in―and heard something crack and break. In the cave, there contained pottery for which scrolls of ancient writing where located in that remained from human sight for almost 2000 years. All The Scrolls where given the name Dead Sea Scrolls for they where discovered near The Dead Sea. Carefully, he grabbed seven scrolls and took them to Bethlehem, which he sold to two antiquities dealers. Three of the seven where sold to a man by the name of Faidi Salahi, which Faidi later sold to a Hebrew University Archaeology Professor, named Eleazer Lupa Sukenik. These three scrolls exist as The Thanksgiving Scroll, The War Scroll, and The Isaiah Scroll (fragment). The remaining four scrolls where sold to Khalil Iskander Shahin which he later sold to a Syrian Orthodox Archbishop of Jerusalem by the name of Mar Athanasius Yeshue Samuel. These four where given the names The Isaiah Scroll (complete), Manuel of Discipline Scroll, Commentary on Habakkuk Scroll, and The Genesis Apocryphon Scroll.
After a brief time, they where all given to the American School of Oriental Research in Jerusalem which they where photographed. The photographs where in turn sent to a prominent Biblical Archaeologist by the name of William Foxwell Albright at John Hopkins University. Professor Albright quickly put a date on them of 100 BC, even though others went further back, 250 BC. However, Millar Burrows narrows it down a little and writes...
“...it now seems to be fairly well established that the non-biblical writings in the scrolls and fragments...were all composed within a period of about 135 years, from the accession of Antiochus Epiphanes in 175 BC, or shortly before that, down to about 40 BC.” [1]
Now, there where 11 Caves that where discovered in The Dead Sea area. The discovery of Cave 1 came in the winter or spring of 1947 and excavation did not occur until February 1949 by Gerald Lankester Harding and Roland de Vaux. In addition to The Scrolls that where discovered, Cave 1 also produced jars, bowels, pieces of cloth, along with additional fragments. Cave 2, discovered a few years later in February 1952, yielded 300 fragments from 33 manuscripts, including Jubilees and the Book of Sirach which where in the original Hebrew. Now, Cave 3, discovered in March 1952, yielded 14 manuscripts which including another copy of Jubilees and the curious Copper Scroll. The discovery of Cave 4 came in August 1952. However, it was not excavated until September 1952 by Gerald Lankester Harding, Roland de Vaux, and Józef Milik. Oddly, Cave 4 exists as two, hand-cut caves (an A cave and B caves). Caves 5 and 6 discovered in 1952 produced 25 manuscripts and fragments of about 31 manuscripts consecutively. Roughly about 5 years later, Caves 7 thru 9 where discovered and remain unique because access comes by only passing through Qumran. Archaeologists excavated these caves in 1957. Unfortunately, few fragments where found because of excessive erosion of the caves. Cave 7 yielded less than 20 fragments of Greek documents, including Letter of Jeremiah, Baruch, and a copy of a scroll of Enoch. Cave 8 revealed only 5 fragments along with several tefillin cases, a box of leather objects, lamps, jars, and the sole of a leather shoe. Cave 9 produced a few unidentifiable fragments. Later, Cave 10 produced a single ostracon with some writing on it. Now, Cave 11, discovered in 1956, seems to have revealed a great find for it yielded The Temple Scroll, an eschatological fragment that speaks of a biblical figure named Melchizedek, and yet another copy of Jubilees.
The Dead Sea Scrolls consist of, in parts, over 800 manuscripts; however, less than 12 remain intact. About 200 of them existed as actual books of the Hebrew Bible representing every book of the Old Testament, with the exception of Esther. Most of the Dead Sea Scrolls where written in Hebrew, while others written in Aramaic. Yet other fragments, 19 total, where written in Greek which is the language of early Christians. In addition, versions of the apocryphal works where found along with these fragments such as The Book of Enoch written in Aramaic and a set of scrolls that seem to point towards laws defined in an unknown Jewish Sect.
One of many possible theories behind The Dead Sea Scrolls maybe that they where part of a library of the unknown Jewish Sect brought to Qumran for safe-keeping during First Jewish Revolt (68-70 AD). If this is correct, these scrolls may have actually come from the very library of the Temple of Jerusalem, which represent the very thoughts of mainstream Jews during the time of Christ. What makes this theory possible is that there exist 20 probable parallels between the Writings of Josephus (Jewish Antiquities, and Jewish Wars) and The Dead Sea Scrolls (The Manual of Discipline and Damascus Document). However, the very function of Qumran raises much controversy to the tune of are The Scrolls even connected to this site for they where found outside the site. Qumran was destroyed around 68 AD out of which 1,200 coins where found none of which are dated after 68 AD. With this in mind, all The Scrolls where hidden before 68 AD.
During excavations at Qumran revealed temporary dwellings dating from the second half of the 1st Century to the early 2nd Century. It is believed that these dwellings where built for refugees who had fled Jerusalem in fear of The Romans. Many other dwellings, or campsites, where discovered along a riverbed in The Judean Desert. These refugees may have put The Scrolls in clay pots in order to hide them for random order determined the exact placements. These refugees may have been The Essenes, a Jewish Sect. The Essenes held very strict adherence to The Law.
“In this respect they were even more meticulous than the Pharisees. Thus, they were very strict in their observance of the Sabbath: members were forbidden not only to work on the Sabbath but even to talk about their work, they were forbidden to walk more than a thousand cubits (500 meters) from their homes, also forbidden to prepare any food, or pick up rock or dust in a dwelling place.” [2]
Even though the locations of all the manuscripts, with the exception of The Damascus Document, where near The Dead Sea, there remains indications that the Essenes where not limited to one particular area.
Located within The Scrolls exists many doctrinal views for which Christianity derives. These are as follows: predestination, belief in angels, hell and the devil, and even possibly the belief in a Messiah who would suffer at the hands of his doubters. Even the existences of certain words used in the New Testament are located here in The Scrolls. “Messiah”, “Son”, Sons of Light”, “Day of Judgment”, “Melchizedek”, and “The End Time” are just a few of these words.
One of the many extraordinary aspects of all the Qumran discoveries remains in the existence of a personage called “The Teacher of Righteousness” or “The Right-Teacher” who seems to be a great religious figure of some sort. However, there remains no question to whether this person had any direct contact with Christ or with primitive Christianity for he did not live at the same time. It may be sufficient in acknowledging the hypotheses that he may have existed some where between the pre-Maccabean period and the end of the Hasmonean period (around 180 B C to 60 B C).
There has been found many scrolls and fragments over the years and every one of them deserves their own personal space. Unfortunately, only a handful has made it to center stage. The first scroll to mention is the Great Isaiah Scroll (1QIsaa) discovered in Cave 1. Its very discovery remains the most intriguing for it was made of leather-sewed end-to-end measuring 1’ x 24’, which scribes had copied around 125 BC. It exists as the only Dead Sea Scroll to remain virtually intact and contain a biblical book in its completeness. Even though it predates the oldest complete version of the Hebrew Testament by 1,000 years, the texts has remained very similar throughout consistent copying. However, some places in The Scroll differentiate between The Masoretic Text and The Dead Sea version; but does agree with the Septuagint that remains the Greek translation of the Hebrew Testament favored by early Christians. The Isaiah Scroll remained well preserved over time along with a second partial copy (1QIsab). This was due in part because of the placement of The Scroll in the cave that may signal reverence to Isaiah.
The next scroll in line is The Thanksgiving Psalms Scroll that exist in 4 pieces, when assembled, comprises of 12 columns each 13” high. Within this scroll are roughly 40 unknown Psalms possibly written by two scribes, most of which seem to lean towards the apocalyptic nature. These Psalms speak of the soul-struggles of the author(s) of which Gods’ light illuminated his eyes to see things truthfully so that no defilement may come upon him.
The following scroll has shed much light on how this unknown Jewish Sect lived. The Manual of Discipline Scroll, also known as the Rule of The Community (1QS), exists in two pieces in Cave 1 measuring 9 ½” x 6’ with an additional ten fragmentary pieces found in Cave 4. This scroll raises one question and that is does the text speak of God begetting the Messiah?
“Sadly the leather is badly darkened at the end of the line just where the crucial word occurs and the beginning of the next line where one would expect to find the subject of that verb mentioned is missing.” [3]
Despite everything, this scroll remains significant due to its comparison to the Christian Didache and Apostolic Constitutions. The Manual of Discipline can be broken down into four parts. They are “Entering the Covenant”, “2 Spirits in Man”, “Rules of Order”, and “The Closing Psalm”. This scroll is the book of laws for which this sect used to call itself “The Sons of Light”. In order to be a member of this sect, one had to obligate himself to be one with The Torah and in possession, to hold the very words of the Torah and the Prophets, and to do so in truth, righteousness and justice throughout the land. However, he remained a non-member until a year later when he was tested. Even then he remained a non-member for he would be tested and examined and only then would the decision be submitted to see whether he was worthy of being a member.
What is interesting about this next scroll is that the discovery of it came first in Cairo in its full text of 16 columns and a smaller one of two columns, more specifically a genizah, in 1897 by a man named Solomon Schechter. Then in the 1950’s, The Caves of The Dead Sea revealed fragments of this document which where located in Caves 4 thru 6. This scroll, given the name The Damascus Document (CD for Cairo Document and 4Q266-273, 5Q12, and 6Q15 for the Qumran copies) due to mentioning Damascus 7 times, reveals itself in two distinct parts. One part is history/exhortation and the other is statues/laws. Surprisingly, both discoveries in a genizah of Cairo and The Dead Sea contain the original Hebrew text of the Book of the Proverbs of Ben Sira. It contains a sort of history of the sect, as well as its rules. It speaks of sexual impurity, ill-gotten gain, and Desecration of the Temple.
The two previous scrolls contain one thing that ties them together and that is dualism. Only the one who observes the commands of God and keeps the obligation to follow the commands will remain righteous. [4] [5] Since this community was the only one who knew how to perform said commands, only those who join them can survive while all others where annihilated.
Also found in Cave 1, The Commentary on Habakkuk (1QHab), or Pesher Habakkuk, measured 5 ½” x 5’ and exists amazingly in the same written style and manner as many modern commentaries. This scroll exists as an apocalyptic midrash based on the first two chapters of the Book of Habakkuk, following the order of each verse. This gives the impression that, according to Millar Burrows “that the author was not a highly educated man.”[6]
The mysterious Kittim that are spoken of exist as light and brave in war. They shall come from the islands of the sea, consume all the peoples, while crushing and despoiling the cities of the land. This word Kittim shows itself in various places in The Old Testament and in extra-biblical writings (Genesis 10:4 [7], Numbers 24:24 [8], and The Book of Jubilees 24:29 [9]). Some scholars believe that they are The Romans while others go with The Macedonians. In order to figure out which class of people The Kittim belongs to, a very deep and prolonged examination of the previous texts, along with others, must exist in order to finalize this determination.
Next in line is The Copper Scroll (3Q15) which, discovered in 1953 in Cave 3, exist with two unique oddities about it. One is the fact that its writings where done in a different Hebrew dialect on two small rolls of copper 12” high and secondly it remained stored on a shelf in plain view, not in a clay pot like the other scrolls. This type of storage caused the scroll to oxidize and become brittle. Years later, it was determined it would be cut into 23 segments. Some reports state that only the destruction of a small portion happened while another rendered an even smaller portion illegible. Regardless, both translating and transcripting remained complicated to most scholars.
However, The Copper Scroll remains significant due its mentioning of the possibility of 64 to 65 locations of treasure. Four verses actually illustrate one of many areas of interest...
“In the ruin that is in The Valley of Achor, under the steps, with the entrance at the east a distance of forty cubits: a strongbox of silver and its vessels—seventeen talents by weight (1:1-4; followed by some Greek letters whose meaning is unknown).” [10]
Unfortunately, no one has discovered its locale to this date. However, if this treasure truly did exist, it may have been more than likely discovered years, if not centuries, ago.
This following scroll, found in Cave 4, takes on an interesting name, The MMT-Miqsat Ma’aseh ha-Torah (4QMMT or 4Q394-399). Its name means “some precepts of the torah” or “some works of the law”. Six separate copies where located which each one can be broken down into three individual parts. The first part consists of 21 lines, which appear to be a 364-day calendar. The second contains 20 or 21 laws with a ritual theme running through it. The final part is the epilogue describing separation from those who disagree with their laws (fitting well with the idea of Dead Sea Scrolls are the library of a Jewish Desert Sect called The Essenes). Of all The Scrolls found, this scroll has just recently made publication and much speculation has surfaced due to this delay in publication. However, much excitement has come from many “...scholars, especially...rabbinical legal training,...because the text deals with the legal (religious) differences between The Sect and its opponents...” [11]
The final scroll is The War Scroll (1QM), or The Scroll of The War of The Sons of Light against the Sons of Darkness that was found in Cave 1 along with six copies (4Q491-497) found in Cave 4. Although the existence of some 2nd Century BC writings may be preserved, most of the manuscripts are Herodian in nature. It measured 9’ x 6” in 19 columns and spoke again of the mysterious group called Kittim (also mentioned in The Commentary on Habakkuk). Here, the word Kittim translates to The Greeks. Of all The Scrolls, this one remained preserved through time. Within its contents is the eschatological writing concerning the 40-year war between good, “The Sons of Light”, and evil, “The Sons of Darkness”. The Sect believed that this war would occur before the end of the age of wickedness and the beginning of the age of redemption in turn shaking the very foundations of the universe, which they called “Revenge of God”.
“We have indications of the trust they put in biblical prophecy and of their preference regarding this or that prophet. For instance, we have the remnants of over 10 copies of the book of Isaiah, more than any other prophet. This book obviously must have been important to them. The book of Ezekiel also played an important role and on it they built their own interpretation of history. For example, The War Scroll clearly is based on the story of the battle of Gog [and] Magog (38-39). They included Daniel, not as one of the writings, but as a prophet.” [12]
An obvious exhaustive study needs to be performed on The Dead Sea Scrolls before any real conclusions can be drawn as to who exactly wrote them and when. It will take many more years and scholars to perform such a study, as well as, more archaeological data needs to be brought to light; however, this may only further complicate matters.
(TNIV) Chapter 31
Joshua to Succeed Moses
1 Then Moses went out and spoke these words to all Israel:
2 “I am now a hundred and twenty years old and I am no longer able to lead you. The LORD has said to me, ‘You shall not cross the Jordan.’
3 The LORD your [Yahweh] himself will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy these nations before you, and you will take possession of their land. Joshua also will cross over ahead of you, as the LORD said.
4 And the LORD will do to them what he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, whom he destroyed along with their land.
5 The LORD will deliver them to you, and you must do to them all that I have commanded you.
6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your [Yahweh] goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”
7 Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the LORD swore to their ancestors to give them, and you must divide it among them as their inheritance.
8 The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”
The Reading of the Law
9 So Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to all the elders of Israel.
10 Then Moses commanded them: “At the end of every seven years, in the year for canceling debts, during the Festival of Tabernacles,
11 when all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your [Yahweh] at the place he will choose, you shall read this law before them in their hearing.
12 Assemble the people—men, women and children, and the foreigners residing in your towns—so they can listen and learn to fear the LORD your [Yahweh] and follow carefully all the words of this law.
13 Their children, who do not know this law, must hear it and learn to fear the LORD your [Yahweh] as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”
Israel’s Rebellion Predicted
14 The LORD said to Moses, “Now the day of your death is near. Call Joshua and present yourselves at the tent of meeting, where I will commission him.” So Moses and Joshua came and presented themselves at the tent of meeting.
15 Then the LORD appeared at the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the cloud stood over the entrance to the tent.
16 And the LORD said to Moses: “You are going to rest with your ancestors, and these people will soon prostitute themselves to the foreign [Yahweh]s of the land they are entering. They will forsake me and break the covenant I made with them.
17 And in that day I will become angry with them and forsake them; I will hide my face from them, and they will be destroyed. Many disasters and calamities will come on them, and in that day they will ask, ‘Have not these disasters come on us because our [Yahweh] is not with us?’
18 And I will certainly hide my face in that day because of all their wickedness in turning to other [Yahweh]s.
19 “Now write down this song and teach it to the Israelites and have them sing it, so that it may be a witness for me against them.
20 When I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, the land I promised on oath to their ancestors, and when they eat their fill and thrive, they will turn to other [Yahweh]s and worship them, rejecting me and breaking my covenant.
21 And when many disasters and calamities come on them, this song will testify against them, because it will not be forgotten by their descendants. I know what they are disposed to do, even before I bring them into the land I promised them on oath.”
22 So Moses wrote down this song that day and taught it to the Israelites.
23 The LORD gave this command to Joshua son of Nun: “Be strong and courageous, for you will bring the Israelites into the land I promised them on oath, and I myself will be with you.”
24 After Moses finished writing in a book the words of this law from beginning to end,
25 he gave this command to the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD:
26 “Take this Book of the Law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD your [Yahweh]. There it will remain as a witness against you.
27 For I know how rebellious and stiff-necked you are. If you have been rebellious against the LORD while I am still alive and with you, how much more will you rebel after I die!
28 Assemble before me all the elders of your tribes and all your officials, so that I can speak these words in their hearing and call the heavens and the earth to testify against them.
29 For I know that after my death you are sure to become utterly corrupt and to turn from the way I have commanded you. In days to come, disaster will fall on you because you will do evil in the sight of the LORD and arouse his anger by what your hands have made.”
The Song of Moses
30 And Moses recited the words of this song from beginning to end in the hearing of the whole assembly of Israel:
Footnotes:
[1] Millar Burrows, The Dead Sea Scrolls (New York: The Viking Press, 1956), pg. 223.
[2] Jean Danielou, The Dead Sea Scrolls and Primitive Christianity (Baltimore: Helicon Press, 1958), pg. 35.
[3] George J. Brooke, The Dead Sea Scrolls and The New Testament (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2005), pg. 267.
[4] “All the righteous ones are ruled by The Angel of Light and walk in the ways of the light, while all the wicked ones are ruled by the Angel of Darkness and walk in the ways of darkness...But the God of Israel and His Angel of Truth will help all the sons of light.”, “The Rule of Community”, 1QS 3.20 thru 25.
[5] “And when a man swears to return to The Law of Moses, the angel of persecution will leave him alone, provided that he keeps his obligation. Therefore, Abraham circumcised himself on the day that the law became known to him.”, “Cairo Document”, CD 16:4 thru 6.
[6] Millar Burrows, The Dead Sea Scrolls (New York: The Viking Press, 1956), pg. 124.
[7] “The sons of Javan {were} Elishah and Tarshish, Kittim and Dodanim.” New American Standard Bible, (Anaheim: Foundation Publications, 1997).
[8] “But ships {shall come} from the coast of Kittim, and they shall afflict Asshur and will afflict Eber; so they also {will come} to destruction.”, New American Standard Bible, (Anaheim: Foundation Publications, 1997)
[9] “Gentiles and in the hands of the Kittim. And whoever escapes the sword of the enemy and the Kittim, may the righteous nation root out in judgment from under heaven; for they shall be the enemies and foes of my children throughout their generations upon the earth.”, Book of Jubilees
[10] James Vanderkam and Peter Flint, The Meaning of Dead Sea Scrolls (San Francisco: Harper Collins Publishers, 2002), pg. 238.
[11] Randall Price, Secrets of The Dead Sea Scrolls (Eugene: Harvest House Publishers, 1996), pg. 99.
[12] Ibid., pg. 216.
New discoveries always remain clouded with uncertainty for they are complex and changing. It is up to us to decipher the ancient writings and inscriptions for which we discover. If this remains impossible, then how else will we understand the origins on how certain people lived and acted two-thousand years ago? The Dead Sea Scrolls remain a prime explain. They exist as the greatest discovery in modern day! When universities, churches, and seminaries hold lectures on Jesus, maybe a handful of people will show. However, if these same places hold lectures on The Dead Sea Scrolls, thousands will flock to hear because it is new and exciting. It makes the imagination run wild with Arabs riding on camels searching for lost treasure. Just like people who have the fascination with scripture as they search out God’s still voice, these scrolls speak from a time long forgotten by many.
In early 1947, a man named Muhammad Ed-Dib had led his sheep to graze when he stumbled across some peculiar caves. With curiosity, he gazed in and could only make out a large dark cavern. Curiosity over taking him, he proceeded to pick up a stone and threw it in―and heard something crack and break. In the cave, there contained pottery for which scrolls of ancient writing where located in that remained from human sight for almost 2000 years. All The Scrolls where given the name Dead Sea Scrolls for they where discovered near The Dead Sea. Carefully, he grabbed seven scrolls and took them to Bethlehem, which he sold to two antiquities dealers. Three of the seven where sold to a man by the name of Faidi Salahi, which Faidi later sold to a Hebrew University Archaeology Professor, named Eleazer Lupa Sukenik. These three scrolls exist as The Thanksgiving Scroll, The War Scroll, and The Isaiah Scroll (fragment). The remaining four scrolls where sold to Khalil Iskander Shahin which he later sold to a Syrian Orthodox Archbishop of Jerusalem by the name of Mar Athanasius Yeshue Samuel. These four where given the names The Isaiah Scroll (complete), Manuel of Discipline Scroll, Commentary on Habakkuk Scroll, and The Genesis Apocryphon Scroll.
After a brief time, they where all given to the American School of Oriental Research in Jerusalem which they where photographed. The photographs where in turn sent to a prominent Biblical Archaeologist by the name of William Foxwell Albright at John Hopkins University. Professor Albright quickly put a date on them of 100 BC, even though others went further back, 250 BC. However, Millar Burrows narrows it down a little and writes...
“...it now seems to be fairly well established that the non-biblical writings in the scrolls and fragments...were all composed within a period of about 135 years, from the accession of Antiochus Epiphanes in 175 BC, or shortly before that, down to about 40 BC.” [1]
Now, there where 11 Caves that where discovered in The Dead Sea area. The discovery of Cave 1 came in the winter or spring of 1947 and excavation did not occur until February 1949 by Gerald Lankester Harding and Roland de Vaux. In addition to The Scrolls that where discovered, Cave 1 also produced jars, bowels, pieces of cloth, along with additional fragments. Cave 2, discovered a few years later in February 1952, yielded 300 fragments from 33 manuscripts, including Jubilees and the Book of Sirach which where in the original Hebrew. Now, Cave 3, discovered in March 1952, yielded 14 manuscripts which including another copy of Jubilees and the curious Copper Scroll. The discovery of Cave 4 came in August 1952. However, it was not excavated until September 1952 by Gerald Lankester Harding, Roland de Vaux, and Józef Milik. Oddly, Cave 4 exists as two, hand-cut caves (an A cave and B caves). Caves 5 and 6 discovered in 1952 produced 25 manuscripts and fragments of about 31 manuscripts consecutively. Roughly about 5 years later, Caves 7 thru 9 where discovered and remain unique because access comes by only passing through Qumran. Archaeologists excavated these caves in 1957. Unfortunately, few fragments where found because of excessive erosion of the caves. Cave 7 yielded less than 20 fragments of Greek documents, including Letter of Jeremiah, Baruch, and a copy of a scroll of Enoch. Cave 8 revealed only 5 fragments along with several tefillin cases, a box of leather objects, lamps, jars, and the sole of a leather shoe. Cave 9 produced a few unidentifiable fragments. Later, Cave 10 produced a single ostracon with some writing on it. Now, Cave 11, discovered in 1956, seems to have revealed a great find for it yielded The Temple Scroll, an eschatological fragment that speaks of a biblical figure named Melchizedek, and yet another copy of Jubilees.
The Dead Sea Scrolls consist of, in parts, over 800 manuscripts; however, less than 12 remain intact. About 200 of them existed as actual books of the Hebrew Bible representing every book of the Old Testament, with the exception of Esther. Most of the Dead Sea Scrolls where written in Hebrew, while others written in Aramaic. Yet other fragments, 19 total, where written in Greek which is the language of early Christians. In addition, versions of the apocryphal works where found along with these fragments such as The Book of Enoch written in Aramaic and a set of scrolls that seem to point towards laws defined in an unknown Jewish Sect.
One of many possible theories behind The Dead Sea Scrolls maybe that they where part of a library of the unknown Jewish Sect brought to Qumran for safe-keeping during First Jewish Revolt (68-70 AD). If this is correct, these scrolls may have actually come from the very library of the Temple of Jerusalem, which represent the very thoughts of mainstream Jews during the time of Christ. What makes this theory possible is that there exist 20 probable parallels between the Writings of Josephus (Jewish Antiquities, and Jewish Wars) and The Dead Sea Scrolls (The Manual of Discipline and Damascus Document). However, the very function of Qumran raises much controversy to the tune of are The Scrolls even connected to this site for they where found outside the site. Qumran was destroyed around 68 AD out of which 1,200 coins where found none of which are dated after 68 AD. With this in mind, all The Scrolls where hidden before 68 AD.
During excavations at Qumran revealed temporary dwellings dating from the second half of the 1st Century to the early 2nd Century. It is believed that these dwellings where built for refugees who had fled Jerusalem in fear of The Romans. Many other dwellings, or campsites, where discovered along a riverbed in The Judean Desert. These refugees may have put The Scrolls in clay pots in order to hide them for random order determined the exact placements. These refugees may have been The Essenes, a Jewish Sect. The Essenes held very strict adherence to The Law.
“In this respect they were even more meticulous than the Pharisees. Thus, they were very strict in their observance of the Sabbath: members were forbidden not only to work on the Sabbath but even to talk about their work, they were forbidden to walk more than a thousand cubits (500 meters) from their homes, also forbidden to prepare any food, or pick up rock or dust in a dwelling place.” [2]
Even though the locations of all the manuscripts, with the exception of The Damascus Document, where near The Dead Sea, there remains indications that the Essenes where not limited to one particular area.
Located within The Scrolls exists many doctrinal views for which Christianity derives. These are as follows: predestination, belief in angels, hell and the devil, and even possibly the belief in a Messiah who would suffer at the hands of his doubters. Even the existences of certain words used in the New Testament are located here in The Scrolls. “Messiah”, “Son”, Sons of Light”, “Day of Judgment”, “Melchizedek”, and “The End Time” are just a few of these words.
One of the many extraordinary aspects of all the Qumran discoveries remains in the existence of a personage called “The Teacher of Righteousness” or “The Right-Teacher” who seems to be a great religious figure of some sort. However, there remains no question to whether this person had any direct contact with Christ or with primitive Christianity for he did not live at the same time. It may be sufficient in acknowledging the hypotheses that he may have existed some where between the pre-Maccabean period and the end of the Hasmonean period (around 180 B C to 60 B C).
There has been found many scrolls and fragments over the years and every one of them deserves their own personal space. Unfortunately, only a handful has made it to center stage. The first scroll to mention is the Great Isaiah Scroll (1QIsaa) discovered in Cave 1. Its very discovery remains the most intriguing for it was made of leather-sewed end-to-end measuring 1’ x 24’, which scribes had copied around 125 BC. It exists as the only Dead Sea Scroll to remain virtually intact and contain a biblical book in its completeness. Even though it predates the oldest complete version of the Hebrew Testament by 1,000 years, the texts has remained very similar throughout consistent copying. However, some places in The Scroll differentiate between The Masoretic Text and The Dead Sea version; but does agree with the Septuagint that remains the Greek translation of the Hebrew Testament favored by early Christians. The Isaiah Scroll remained well preserved over time along with a second partial copy (1QIsab). This was due in part because of the placement of The Scroll in the cave that may signal reverence to Isaiah.
The next scroll in line is The Thanksgiving Psalms Scroll that exist in 4 pieces, when assembled, comprises of 12 columns each 13” high. Within this scroll are roughly 40 unknown Psalms possibly written by two scribes, most of which seem to lean towards the apocalyptic nature. These Psalms speak of the soul-struggles of the author(s) of which Gods’ light illuminated his eyes to see things truthfully so that no defilement may come upon him.
The following scroll has shed much light on how this unknown Jewish Sect lived. The Manual of Discipline Scroll, also known as the Rule of The Community (1QS), exists in two pieces in Cave 1 measuring 9 ½” x 6’ with an additional ten fragmentary pieces found in Cave 4. This scroll raises one question and that is does the text speak of God begetting the Messiah?
“Sadly the leather is badly darkened at the end of the line just where the crucial word occurs and the beginning of the next line where one would expect to find the subject of that verb mentioned is missing.” [3]
Despite everything, this scroll remains significant due to its comparison to the Christian Didache and Apostolic Constitutions. The Manual of Discipline can be broken down into four parts. They are “Entering the Covenant”, “2 Spirits in Man”, “Rules of Order”, and “The Closing Psalm”. This scroll is the book of laws for which this sect used to call itself “The Sons of Light”. In order to be a member of this sect, one had to obligate himself to be one with The Torah and in possession, to hold the very words of the Torah and the Prophets, and to do so in truth, righteousness and justice throughout the land. However, he remained a non-member until a year later when he was tested. Even then he remained a non-member for he would be tested and examined and only then would the decision be submitted to see whether he was worthy of being a member.
What is interesting about this next scroll is that the discovery of it came first in Cairo in its full text of 16 columns and a smaller one of two columns, more specifically a genizah, in 1897 by a man named Solomon Schechter. Then in the 1950’s, The Caves of The Dead Sea revealed fragments of this document which where located in Caves 4 thru 6. This scroll, given the name The Damascus Document (CD for Cairo Document and 4Q266-273, 5Q12, and 6Q15 for the Qumran copies) due to mentioning Damascus 7 times, reveals itself in two distinct parts. One part is history/exhortation and the other is statues/laws. Surprisingly, both discoveries in a genizah of Cairo and The Dead Sea contain the original Hebrew text of the Book of the Proverbs of Ben Sira. It contains a sort of history of the sect, as well as its rules. It speaks of sexual impurity, ill-gotten gain, and Desecration of the Temple.
The two previous scrolls contain one thing that ties them together and that is dualism. Only the one who observes the commands of God and keeps the obligation to follow the commands will remain righteous. [4] [5] Since this community was the only one who knew how to perform said commands, only those who join them can survive while all others where annihilated.
Also found in Cave 1, The Commentary on Habakkuk (1QHab), or Pesher Habakkuk, measured 5 ½” x 5’ and exists amazingly in the same written style and manner as many modern commentaries. This scroll exists as an apocalyptic midrash based on the first two chapters of the Book of Habakkuk, following the order of each verse. This gives the impression that, according to Millar Burrows “that the author was not a highly educated man.”[6]
The mysterious Kittim that are spoken of exist as light and brave in war. They shall come from the islands of the sea, consume all the peoples, while crushing and despoiling the cities of the land. This word Kittim shows itself in various places in The Old Testament and in extra-biblical writings (Genesis 10:4 [7], Numbers 24:24 [8], and The Book of Jubilees 24:29 [9]). Some scholars believe that they are The Romans while others go with The Macedonians. In order to figure out which class of people The Kittim belongs to, a very deep and prolonged examination of the previous texts, along with others, must exist in order to finalize this determination.
Next in line is The Copper Scroll (3Q15) which, discovered in 1953 in Cave 3, exist with two unique oddities about it. One is the fact that its writings where done in a different Hebrew dialect on two small rolls of copper 12” high and secondly it remained stored on a shelf in plain view, not in a clay pot like the other scrolls. This type of storage caused the scroll to oxidize and become brittle. Years later, it was determined it would be cut into 23 segments. Some reports state that only the destruction of a small portion happened while another rendered an even smaller portion illegible. Regardless, both translating and transcripting remained complicated to most scholars.
However, The Copper Scroll remains significant due its mentioning of the possibility of 64 to 65 locations of treasure. Four verses actually illustrate one of many areas of interest...
“In the ruin that is in The Valley of Achor, under the steps, with the entrance at the east a distance of forty cubits: a strongbox of silver and its vessels—seventeen talents by weight (1:1-4; followed by some Greek letters whose meaning is unknown).” [10]
Unfortunately, no one has discovered its locale to this date. However, if this treasure truly did exist, it may have been more than likely discovered years, if not centuries, ago.
This following scroll, found in Cave 4, takes on an interesting name, The MMT-Miqsat Ma’aseh ha-Torah (4QMMT or 4Q394-399). Its name means “some precepts of the torah” or “some works of the law”. Six separate copies where located which each one can be broken down into three individual parts. The first part consists of 21 lines, which appear to be a 364-day calendar. The second contains 20 or 21 laws with a ritual theme running through it. The final part is the epilogue describing separation from those who disagree with their laws (fitting well with the idea of Dead Sea Scrolls are the library of a Jewish Desert Sect called The Essenes). Of all The Scrolls found, this scroll has just recently made publication and much speculation has surfaced due to this delay in publication. However, much excitement has come from many “...scholars, especially...rabbinical legal training,...because the text deals with the legal (religious) differences between The Sect and its opponents...” [11]
The final scroll is The War Scroll (1QM), or The Scroll of The War of The Sons of Light against the Sons of Darkness that was found in Cave 1 along with six copies (4Q491-497) found in Cave 4. Although the existence of some 2nd Century BC writings may be preserved, most of the manuscripts are Herodian in nature. It measured 9’ x 6” in 19 columns and spoke again of the mysterious group called Kittim (also mentioned in The Commentary on Habakkuk). Here, the word Kittim translates to The Greeks. Of all The Scrolls, this one remained preserved through time. Within its contents is the eschatological writing concerning the 40-year war between good, “The Sons of Light”, and evil, “The Sons of Darkness”. The Sect believed that this war would occur before the end of the age of wickedness and the beginning of the age of redemption in turn shaking the very foundations of the universe, which they called “Revenge of God”.
“We have indications of the trust they put in biblical prophecy and of their preference regarding this or that prophet. For instance, we have the remnants of over 10 copies of the book of Isaiah, more than any other prophet. This book obviously must have been important to them. The book of Ezekiel also played an important role and on it they built their own interpretation of history. For example, The War Scroll clearly is based on the story of the battle of Gog [and] Magog (38-39). They included Daniel, not as one of the writings, but as a prophet.” [12]
An obvious exhaustive study needs to be performed on The Dead Sea Scrolls before any real conclusions can be drawn as to who exactly wrote them and when. It will take many more years and scholars to perform such a study, as well as, more archaeological data needs to be brought to light; however, this may only further complicate matters.
(TNIV) Chapter 31
Joshua to Succeed Moses
1 Then Moses went out and spoke these words to all Israel:
2 “I am now a hundred and twenty years old and I am no longer able to lead you. The LORD has said to me, ‘You shall not cross the Jordan.’
3 The LORD your [Yahweh] himself will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy these nations before you, and you will take possession of their land. Joshua also will cross over ahead of you, as the LORD said.
4 And the LORD will do to them what he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, whom he destroyed along with their land.
5 The LORD will deliver them to you, and you must do to them all that I have commanded you.
6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your [Yahweh] goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”
7 Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the LORD swore to their ancestors to give them, and you must divide it among them as their inheritance.
8 The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”
The Reading of the Law
9 So Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to all the elders of Israel.
10 Then Moses commanded them: “At the end of every seven years, in the year for canceling debts, during the Festival of Tabernacles,
11 when all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your [Yahweh] at the place he will choose, you shall read this law before them in their hearing.
12 Assemble the people—men, women and children, and the foreigners residing in your towns—so they can listen and learn to fear the LORD your [Yahweh] and follow carefully all the words of this law.
13 Their children, who do not know this law, must hear it and learn to fear the LORD your [Yahweh] as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”
Israel’s Rebellion Predicted
14 The LORD said to Moses, “Now the day of your death is near. Call Joshua and present yourselves at the tent of meeting, where I will commission him.” So Moses and Joshua came and presented themselves at the tent of meeting.
15 Then the LORD appeared at the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the cloud stood over the entrance to the tent.
16 And the LORD said to Moses: “You are going to rest with your ancestors, and these people will soon prostitute themselves to the foreign [Yahweh]s of the land they are entering. They will forsake me and break the covenant I made with them.
17 And in that day I will become angry with them and forsake them; I will hide my face from them, and they will be destroyed. Many disasters and calamities will come on them, and in that day they will ask, ‘Have not these disasters come on us because our [Yahweh] is not with us?’
18 And I will certainly hide my face in that day because of all their wickedness in turning to other [Yahweh]s.
19 “Now write down this song and teach it to the Israelites and have them sing it, so that it may be a witness for me against them.
20 When I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, the land I promised on oath to their ancestors, and when they eat their fill and thrive, they will turn to other [Yahweh]s and worship them, rejecting me and breaking my covenant.
21 And when many disasters and calamities come on them, this song will testify against them, because it will not be forgotten by their descendants. I know what they are disposed to do, even before I bring them into the land I promised them on oath.”
22 So Moses wrote down this song that day and taught it to the Israelites.
23 The LORD gave this command to Joshua son of Nun: “Be strong and courageous, for you will bring the Israelites into the land I promised them on oath, and I myself will be with you.”
24 After Moses finished writing in a book the words of this law from beginning to end,
25 he gave this command to the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD:
26 “Take this Book of the Law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD your [Yahweh]. There it will remain as a witness against you.
27 For I know how rebellious and stiff-necked you are. If you have been rebellious against the LORD while I am still alive and with you, how much more will you rebel after I die!
28 Assemble before me all the elders of your tribes and all your officials, so that I can speak these words in their hearing and call the heavens and the earth to testify against them.
29 For I know that after my death you are sure to become utterly corrupt and to turn from the way I have commanded you. In days to come, disaster will fall on you because you will do evil in the sight of the LORD and arouse his anger by what your hands have made.”
The Song of Moses
30 And Moses recited the words of this song from beginning to end in the hearing of the whole assembly of Israel:
Footnotes:
[1] Millar Burrows, The Dead Sea Scrolls (New York: The Viking Press, 1956), pg. 223.
[2] Jean Danielou, The Dead Sea Scrolls and Primitive Christianity (Baltimore: Helicon Press, 1958), pg. 35.
[3] George J. Brooke, The Dead Sea Scrolls and The New Testament (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2005), pg. 267.
[4] “All the righteous ones are ruled by The Angel of Light and walk in the ways of the light, while all the wicked ones are ruled by the Angel of Darkness and walk in the ways of darkness...But the God of Israel and His Angel of Truth will help all the sons of light.”, “The Rule of Community”, 1QS 3.20 thru 25.
[5] “And when a man swears to return to The Law of Moses, the angel of persecution will leave him alone, provided that he keeps his obligation. Therefore, Abraham circumcised himself on the day that the law became known to him.”, “Cairo Document”, CD 16:4 thru 6.
[6] Millar Burrows, The Dead Sea Scrolls (New York: The Viking Press, 1956), pg. 124.
[7] “The sons of Javan {were} Elishah and Tarshish, Kittim and Dodanim.” New American Standard Bible, (Anaheim: Foundation Publications, 1997).
[8] “But ships {shall come} from the coast of Kittim, and they shall afflict Asshur and will afflict Eber; so they also {will come} to destruction.”, New American Standard Bible, (Anaheim: Foundation Publications, 1997)
[9] “Gentiles and in the hands of the Kittim. And whoever escapes the sword of the enemy and the Kittim, may the righteous nation root out in judgment from under heaven; for they shall be the enemies and foes of my children throughout their generations upon the earth.”, Book of Jubilees
[10] James Vanderkam and Peter Flint, The Meaning of Dead Sea Scrolls (San Francisco: Harper Collins Publishers, 2002), pg. 238.
[11] Randall Price, Secrets of The Dead Sea Scrolls (Eugene: Harvest House Publishers, 1996), pg. 99.
[12] Ibid., pg. 216.
Study Questions on Chapter 31
On a blank piece of paper, try to answer the following questions. Remember, there exists no right or wrong answers.
1.) In spite of the changes in the days ahead, who did Moses assure the Israelites would be with them the same as ever?
2.) Who was the new general to take the place of Moses?
3.) What did Moses tell Joshua?
4.) Why isn't it always good to believe?
5.) Before you believe, what is essential?
6.) What were the Israelites instructed to study and understand?
7.) Why was the Bible important to their belief?
8.) Why is the Bible important to our belief?
9.) Why is it inevitable that some will wander away from [Yahweh]?
10.) What was Moses told to write to keep his people from wandering?
11.) How where the elders instructed to handle wanderers?
12.) What encouragement did Moses give unto Joshua?
13.) What charge was given to the priests?
14.) What prediction was made concerning the nation?
15.) What would prompt the people to such an action?
16.) What did Moses teach the people of Israel?
17.) What was to be done with the “Book of the Law?”
1.) In spite of the changes in the days ahead, who did Moses assure the Israelites would be with them the same as ever?
2.) Who was the new general to take the place of Moses?
3.) What did Moses tell Joshua?
4.) Why isn't it always good to believe?
5.) Before you believe, what is essential?
6.) What were the Israelites instructed to study and understand?
7.) Why was the Bible important to their belief?
8.) Why is the Bible important to our belief?
9.) Why is it inevitable that some will wander away from [Yahweh]?
10.) What was Moses told to write to keep his people from wandering?
11.) How where the elders instructed to handle wanderers?
12.) What encouragement did Moses give unto Joshua?
13.) What charge was given to the priests?
14.) What prediction was made concerning the nation?
15.) What would prompt the people to such an action?
16.) What did Moses teach the people of Israel?
17.) What was to be done with the “Book of the Law?”
Chapter 32
At the end of this Chapter, there contains 17 study questions for you to answer. There exists no right or wrong answers. Just answer them to your best ability with Yahweh’s guidance and study material presented in front of you. Now, as we open our bibles to Deuteronomy Chapter 32, one must remember to pray first and give S.P.A.C.E.
Do you have a Sin to forsake?
Do you have a Promise to claim?
Do you have an Attitude to change?
Is there a Command to obey?
Is there an Example to follow?
Do you have a Sin to forsake?
Do you have a Promise to claim?
Do you have an Attitude to change?
Is there a Command to obey?
Is there an Example to follow?
Section 1 Introduction (v. 1-6)
1 – 3 Introduction Officiator
4 Hymnic Praise Choir
5 – 6 Indictment Summary Officiator
Deuteronomy 32:1 - 6 Listen, you heavens, and I will speak; hear, you earth, the words of my mouth. Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants. I will proclaim the name of the LORD. Oh, praise the greatness of our [Yahweh]! He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful [Yahweh] who does no wrong, upright and just is he. They are corrupt and not his children; to their shame they are a warped and crooked generation. Is this the way you repay the LORD, you foolish and unwise people? Is he not your Father, your Creator, who made you and formed you?
Section 2 Kerygma: Appeal to mighty acts of [Yahweh] (v. 7-14)
7 Hymnic Imparitive Officiator
8 – 14c Yahweh’s Acts Recounted Elders
14d People Addressed in Officiator
Second Person
Deuteronomy 32:7 – 14 Remember the days of old; consider the generations long past. Ask your father and he will tell you, your elders, and they will explain to you. When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when he divided all the human race, he set up boundaries for the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel. For the LORD’s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted inheritance. In a desert land he found him, in a barren and howling waste. He shielded him and cared for him; he guarded him as the apple of his eye, like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them aloft. The LORD alone led him; no foreign [Yahweh] was with him. He made him ride on the heights of the land and fed him with the fruit of the fields. He nourished him with honey from the rock, and with oil from the flinty crag, with curds and milk from herd and flock and with fattened lambs and goats, with choice rams of Bashan and the finest kernels of wheat. You drank the foaming blood of the grape.
Section 3 Indictment (v. 15-18)
15 a – b People Indicted Choir
15c Condemnation of People in Officiator
Second Person
15d - 17b Israel’s Unfaithfulness Recounted Choir
17c-18 Condemnation of People in Officiator
Second Person
Deuteronomy 32:15 – 18 Jeshurun grew fat and kicked; filled with food, he became heavy and sleek. He abandoned the [Yahweh] who made him and rejected the Rock his Savior. They made him jealous with their foreign [Yahweh]s and angered him with their detestable idols. They sacrificed to demons, which are not god — gods they had not known, gods that recently appeared, [Yahweh]s your ancestors did not fear. You deserted the Rock, who bore you; you forgot the [Yahweh] who gave you birth.
Section 4 Sentence or penalty (v. 19-29)
19 – 20a Yahweh Sentences His People Choir
20b – 29 Yahweh’s Speech: Priest or
Judgment and Mitigation Cultic Prophet
Deuteronomy 32:19 – 29 The LORD saw this and rejected them because he was angered by his sons and daughters. “I will hide my face from them,” he said, “and see what their end will be; for they are a perverse generation, children who are unfaithful. They made me jealous by what is no [Yahweh] and angered me with their worthless idols. I will make them envious by those who are not a people; I will make them angry by a nation that has no understanding. For a fire will be kindled by my wrath, one that burns down to the realm of the dead below. It will devour the earth and its harvests and set afire the foundations of the mountains. “I will heap calamities on them and spend my arrows against them. I will send wasting famine against them, consuming pestilence and deadly plague; I will send against them the fangs of wild beasts, the venom of vipers that glide in the dust. In the street the sword will make them childless; in their homes terror will reign. The young men and young women will perish, the infants and those with gray hair. I said I would scatter them and erase their name from human memory, but I dreaded the taunt of the enemy, lest the adversary misunderstand and say, ‘Our hand has triumphed; the LORD has not done all this.’ ” They are a nation without sense, there is no discernment in them. If only they were wise and would understand this and discern what their end will be!
Section 5 Poets assurance of salvation (v. 30-38)
30 Question Asked of Officiator
The Nations
31 – 33 Choral Response Choir
34 – 35 Yahweh’s Second Speech Priest or Cultic Prophet
36 – 37a Proclamation of Salvation Choir
37b – 38b Yahweh’s Third Speech Priest or Cultic Prophet
38c – 38d Confrontation of Israel in Officiator
Second Person
Deuteronomy 32:30 – 38 How could one man chase a thousand, or two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, unless the LORD had given them up? For their rock is not like our Rock, as even our enemies concede. Their vine comes from the vine of Sodom and from the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are filled with poison, and their clusters with bitterness. Their wine is the venom of serpents, the deadly poison of cobras. “Have I not kept this in reserve and sealed it in my vaults? It is mine to avenge; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; their day of disaster is near and their doom rushes upon them.” The LORD will vindicate his people and relent concerning his servants when he sees their strength is gone and no one is left, slave or free. He will say: “Now where are their [Yahweh]s, the rock they took refuge in, the [Yahweh]s who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offerings? Let them rise up to help you! Let them give you shelter!
Section 6 The Word of YHWH confirming poets hope (v. 39-42)
39 – 42 Conclusion of Yahweh’s Third Priest or Speech Cultic Prophet
Deuteronomy 32:39 – 42 “See now that I myself am He! There is no [Yahweh] besides me. I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver out of my hand. I lift my hand to heaven and declare: As surely as I live forever, when I sharpen my flashing sword and my hand grasps it in judgment, I will take vengeance on my adversaries and repay those who hate me. I will make my arrows drunk with blood, while my sword devours flesh: the blood of the slain and the captives, the heads of the enemy leaders.”
Section 7 Poet s final exhortation to praise (v. 43)
43 Second Summons to Praise Officiator
Deuteronomy 32: 43 "Rejoice, you nations, with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants; he will take vengeance on his enemies and make atonement for his land and people. “Within the span of forty-three verses, Israel is referred to in the third person, is directly addressed in the second person, and refers to itself in the first person; and these three ways of referring to the nation are woven together throughout the Song.”[1]
“Since these three factors (shifts in person, changes of speaker, and imperatives/interrogatives) lead one to conclude that in the Song we have evidence of a liturgical work of Israel, it is best to compare the Song of Moses to liturgies of Scripture.”[2]
“Deuteronomy 32 represents a lawsuit in which [Yahweh] summons witnesses to the stand (Deut 32:1), issues a formal indictment (Deut 32:15-18), takes an oath (Deut 32:40), and, finally, pronounces punishment (Deut 32:19-29). For others, Deuteronomy 32 represents a wisdom text that identifies itself as a teaching (Deut 32:2), chastises Israel for its intellectual shortcomings (Deut 32:6, 28), and repeatedly exhorts Israel to remember and understand (Deut 32:7, 29). Thus Deuteronomy 32 seems to have two literary identities: one as an act of indictment drawing on legal language; the other as an act of instruction belonging to the sphere of wisdom.”[3]
(TNIV) Chapter 32
1 Listen, you heavens, and I will speak; hear, you earth, the words of my mouth.
2 Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants.
3 I will proclaim the name of the LORD. Oh, praise the greatness of our God!
4 He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.
5 They are corrupt and not his children; to their shame they are a warped and crooked generation.
6 Is this the way you repay the LORD, you foolish and unwise people? Is he not your Father, your Creator, who made you and formed you?
7 Remember the days of old; consider the generations long past. Ask your father and he will tell you, your elders, and they will explain to you.
8 When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when he divided all the human race, he set up boundaries for the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel.
9 For the LORD’s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted inheritance.
10 In a desert land he found him, in a barren and howling waste. He shielded him and cared for him; he guarded him as the apple of his eye,
11 like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them aloft.
12 The LORD alone led him; no foreign god was with him.
13 He made him ride on the heights of the land and fed him with the fruit of the fields. He nourished him with honey from the rock, and with oil from the flinty crag,
14 with curds and milk from herd and flock and with fattened lambs and goats, with choice rams of Bashan and the finest kernels of wheat. You drank the foaming blood of the grape.
15 Jeshurun grew fat and kicked; filled with food, he became heavy and sleek. He abandoned the God who made him and rejected the Rock his Savior.
16 They made him jealous with their foreign gods and angered him with their detestable idols.
17 They sacrificed to demons, which are not God— gods they had not known, gods that recently appeared, gods your ancestors did not fear.
18 You deserted the Rock, who bore you; you forgot the God who gave you birth.
19 The LORD saw this and rejected them because he was angered by his sons and daughters.
20 “I will hide my face from them,” he said, “and see what their end will be; for they are a perverse generation, children who are unfaithful.
21 They made me jealous by what is no god and angered me with their worthless idols. I will make them envious by those who are not a people; I will make them angry by a nation that has no understanding.
22 For a fire will be kindled by my wrath, one that burns down to the realm of the dead below. It will devour the earth and its harvests and set afire the foundations of the mountains.
23 “I will heap calamities on them and spend my arrows against them.
24 I will send wasting famine against them, consuming pestilence and deadly plague; I will send against them the fangs of wild beasts, the venom of vipers that glide in the dust.
25 In the street the sword will make them childless; in their homes terror will reign. The young men and young women will perish, the infants and those with gray hair.
26 I said I would scatter them and erase their name from human memory,
27 but I dreaded the taunt of the enemy, lest the adversary misunderstand and say, ‘Our hand has triumphed; the LORD has not done all this.’ ”
28 They are a nation without sense, there is no discernment in them.
29 If only they were wise and would understand this and discern what their end will be!
30 How could one man chase a thousand, or two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, unless the LORD had given them up?
31 For their rock is not like our Rock, as even our enemies concede.
32 Their vine comes from the vine of Sodom and from the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are filled with poison, and their clusters with bitterness.
33 Their wine is the venom of serpents, the deadly poison of cobras.
34 “Have I not kept this in reserve and sealed it in my vaults?
35 It is mine to avenge; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; their day of disaster is near and their doom rushes upon them.”
36 The LORD will vindicate his people and relent concerning his servants when he sees their strength is gone and no one is left, slave or free.
37 He will say: “Now where are their gods, the rock they took refuge in,
38 the gods who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offerings? Let them rise up to help you! Let them give you shelter!
39 “See now that I myself am He! There is no god besides me. I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver out of my hand.
40 I lift my hand to heaven and declare: As surely as I live forever,
41 when I sharpen my flashing sword and my hand grasps it in judgment, I will take vengeance on my adversaries and repay those who hate me.
42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood, while my sword devours flesh: the blood of the slain and the captives, the heads of the enemy leaders.”
43 Rejoice, you nations, with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants; he will take vengeance on his enemies and make atonement for his land and people.
44 Moses came with Joshua son of Nun and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people.
45 When Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel,
46 he said to them, “Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law.
47 They are not just idle words for you—they are your life. By them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”
Moses to Die on Mount Nebo
48 On that same day the LORD told Moses,
49 “Go up into the Abarim Range to Mount Nebo in Moab, across from Jericho, and view Canaan, the land I am giving the Israelites as their own possession.
50 There on the mountain that you have climbed you will die and be gathered to your people, just as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people.
51 This is because both of you broke faith with me in the presence of the Israelites at the waters of Meribah Kadesh in the Desert of Zin and because you did not uphold my holiness among the Israelites.
52 Therefore, you will see the land only from a distance; you will not enter the land I am giving to the people of Israel.”
Footnotes:
[1] Matthew Thiessen. "The Form and Function of the Song of Moses (Deuteronomy 32:1 – 43).” Journal of Biblical Literature, 123, 3, (2004); 408.
[2] Ibid. pg. 414 - 415.
[3] Steven Weitzman. "Lessons from the Dying: The Role of Deuteronomy 32 in its Narrative Setting.” Harvard Theological Review, 87, 4, (1994); 377 - 378.
1 – 3 Introduction Officiator
4 Hymnic Praise Choir
5 – 6 Indictment Summary Officiator
Deuteronomy 32:1 - 6 Listen, you heavens, and I will speak; hear, you earth, the words of my mouth. Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants. I will proclaim the name of the LORD. Oh, praise the greatness of our [Yahweh]! He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful [Yahweh] who does no wrong, upright and just is he. They are corrupt and not his children; to their shame they are a warped and crooked generation. Is this the way you repay the LORD, you foolish and unwise people? Is he not your Father, your Creator, who made you and formed you?
Section 2 Kerygma: Appeal to mighty acts of [Yahweh] (v. 7-14)
7 Hymnic Imparitive Officiator
8 – 14c Yahweh’s Acts Recounted Elders
14d People Addressed in Officiator
Second Person
Deuteronomy 32:7 – 14 Remember the days of old; consider the generations long past. Ask your father and he will tell you, your elders, and they will explain to you. When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when he divided all the human race, he set up boundaries for the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel. For the LORD’s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted inheritance. In a desert land he found him, in a barren and howling waste. He shielded him and cared for him; he guarded him as the apple of his eye, like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them aloft. The LORD alone led him; no foreign [Yahweh] was with him. He made him ride on the heights of the land and fed him with the fruit of the fields. He nourished him with honey from the rock, and with oil from the flinty crag, with curds and milk from herd and flock and with fattened lambs and goats, with choice rams of Bashan and the finest kernels of wheat. You drank the foaming blood of the grape.
Section 3 Indictment (v. 15-18)
15 a – b People Indicted Choir
15c Condemnation of People in Officiator
Second Person
15d - 17b Israel’s Unfaithfulness Recounted Choir
17c-18 Condemnation of People in Officiator
Second Person
Deuteronomy 32:15 – 18 Jeshurun grew fat and kicked; filled with food, he became heavy and sleek. He abandoned the [Yahweh] who made him and rejected the Rock his Savior. They made him jealous with their foreign [Yahweh]s and angered him with their detestable idols. They sacrificed to demons, which are not god — gods they had not known, gods that recently appeared, [Yahweh]s your ancestors did not fear. You deserted the Rock, who bore you; you forgot the [Yahweh] who gave you birth.
Section 4 Sentence or penalty (v. 19-29)
19 – 20a Yahweh Sentences His People Choir
20b – 29 Yahweh’s Speech: Priest or
Judgment and Mitigation Cultic Prophet
Deuteronomy 32:19 – 29 The LORD saw this and rejected them because he was angered by his sons and daughters. “I will hide my face from them,” he said, “and see what their end will be; for they are a perverse generation, children who are unfaithful. They made me jealous by what is no [Yahweh] and angered me with their worthless idols. I will make them envious by those who are not a people; I will make them angry by a nation that has no understanding. For a fire will be kindled by my wrath, one that burns down to the realm of the dead below. It will devour the earth and its harvests and set afire the foundations of the mountains. “I will heap calamities on them and spend my arrows against them. I will send wasting famine against them, consuming pestilence and deadly plague; I will send against them the fangs of wild beasts, the venom of vipers that glide in the dust. In the street the sword will make them childless; in their homes terror will reign. The young men and young women will perish, the infants and those with gray hair. I said I would scatter them and erase their name from human memory, but I dreaded the taunt of the enemy, lest the adversary misunderstand and say, ‘Our hand has triumphed; the LORD has not done all this.’ ” They are a nation without sense, there is no discernment in them. If only they were wise and would understand this and discern what their end will be!
Section 5 Poets assurance of salvation (v. 30-38)
30 Question Asked of Officiator
The Nations
31 – 33 Choral Response Choir
34 – 35 Yahweh’s Second Speech Priest or Cultic Prophet
36 – 37a Proclamation of Salvation Choir
37b – 38b Yahweh’s Third Speech Priest or Cultic Prophet
38c – 38d Confrontation of Israel in Officiator
Second Person
Deuteronomy 32:30 – 38 How could one man chase a thousand, or two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, unless the LORD had given them up? For their rock is not like our Rock, as even our enemies concede. Their vine comes from the vine of Sodom and from the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are filled with poison, and their clusters with bitterness. Their wine is the venom of serpents, the deadly poison of cobras. “Have I not kept this in reserve and sealed it in my vaults? It is mine to avenge; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; their day of disaster is near and their doom rushes upon them.” The LORD will vindicate his people and relent concerning his servants when he sees their strength is gone and no one is left, slave or free. He will say: “Now where are their [Yahweh]s, the rock they took refuge in, the [Yahweh]s who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offerings? Let them rise up to help you! Let them give you shelter!
Section 6 The Word of YHWH confirming poets hope (v. 39-42)
39 – 42 Conclusion of Yahweh’s Third Priest or Speech Cultic Prophet
Deuteronomy 32:39 – 42 “See now that I myself am He! There is no [Yahweh] besides me. I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver out of my hand. I lift my hand to heaven and declare: As surely as I live forever, when I sharpen my flashing sword and my hand grasps it in judgment, I will take vengeance on my adversaries and repay those who hate me. I will make my arrows drunk with blood, while my sword devours flesh: the blood of the slain and the captives, the heads of the enemy leaders.”
Section 7 Poet s final exhortation to praise (v. 43)
43 Second Summons to Praise Officiator
Deuteronomy 32: 43 "Rejoice, you nations, with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants; he will take vengeance on his enemies and make atonement for his land and people. “Within the span of forty-three verses, Israel is referred to in the third person, is directly addressed in the second person, and refers to itself in the first person; and these three ways of referring to the nation are woven together throughout the Song.”[1]
“Since these three factors (shifts in person, changes of speaker, and imperatives/interrogatives) lead one to conclude that in the Song we have evidence of a liturgical work of Israel, it is best to compare the Song of Moses to liturgies of Scripture.”[2]
“Deuteronomy 32 represents a lawsuit in which [Yahweh] summons witnesses to the stand (Deut 32:1), issues a formal indictment (Deut 32:15-18), takes an oath (Deut 32:40), and, finally, pronounces punishment (Deut 32:19-29). For others, Deuteronomy 32 represents a wisdom text that identifies itself as a teaching (Deut 32:2), chastises Israel for its intellectual shortcomings (Deut 32:6, 28), and repeatedly exhorts Israel to remember and understand (Deut 32:7, 29). Thus Deuteronomy 32 seems to have two literary identities: one as an act of indictment drawing on legal language; the other as an act of instruction belonging to the sphere of wisdom.”[3]
(TNIV) Chapter 32
1 Listen, you heavens, and I will speak; hear, you earth, the words of my mouth.
2 Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants.
3 I will proclaim the name of the LORD. Oh, praise the greatness of our God!
4 He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.
5 They are corrupt and not his children; to their shame they are a warped and crooked generation.
6 Is this the way you repay the LORD, you foolish and unwise people? Is he not your Father, your Creator, who made you and formed you?
7 Remember the days of old; consider the generations long past. Ask your father and he will tell you, your elders, and they will explain to you.
8 When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when he divided all the human race, he set up boundaries for the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel.
9 For the LORD’s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted inheritance.
10 In a desert land he found him, in a barren and howling waste. He shielded him and cared for him; he guarded him as the apple of his eye,
11 like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them aloft.
12 The LORD alone led him; no foreign god was with him.
13 He made him ride on the heights of the land and fed him with the fruit of the fields. He nourished him with honey from the rock, and with oil from the flinty crag,
14 with curds and milk from herd and flock and with fattened lambs and goats, with choice rams of Bashan and the finest kernels of wheat. You drank the foaming blood of the grape.
15 Jeshurun grew fat and kicked; filled with food, he became heavy and sleek. He abandoned the God who made him and rejected the Rock his Savior.
16 They made him jealous with their foreign gods and angered him with their detestable idols.
17 They sacrificed to demons, which are not God— gods they had not known, gods that recently appeared, gods your ancestors did not fear.
18 You deserted the Rock, who bore you; you forgot the God who gave you birth.
19 The LORD saw this and rejected them because he was angered by his sons and daughters.
20 “I will hide my face from them,” he said, “and see what their end will be; for they are a perverse generation, children who are unfaithful.
21 They made me jealous by what is no god and angered me with their worthless idols. I will make them envious by those who are not a people; I will make them angry by a nation that has no understanding.
22 For a fire will be kindled by my wrath, one that burns down to the realm of the dead below. It will devour the earth and its harvests and set afire the foundations of the mountains.
23 “I will heap calamities on them and spend my arrows against them.
24 I will send wasting famine against them, consuming pestilence and deadly plague; I will send against them the fangs of wild beasts, the venom of vipers that glide in the dust.
25 In the street the sword will make them childless; in their homes terror will reign. The young men and young women will perish, the infants and those with gray hair.
26 I said I would scatter them and erase their name from human memory,
27 but I dreaded the taunt of the enemy, lest the adversary misunderstand and say, ‘Our hand has triumphed; the LORD has not done all this.’ ”
28 They are a nation without sense, there is no discernment in them.
29 If only they were wise and would understand this and discern what their end will be!
30 How could one man chase a thousand, or two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, unless the LORD had given them up?
31 For their rock is not like our Rock, as even our enemies concede.
32 Their vine comes from the vine of Sodom and from the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are filled with poison, and their clusters with bitterness.
33 Their wine is the venom of serpents, the deadly poison of cobras.
34 “Have I not kept this in reserve and sealed it in my vaults?
35 It is mine to avenge; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; their day of disaster is near and their doom rushes upon them.”
36 The LORD will vindicate his people and relent concerning his servants when he sees their strength is gone and no one is left, slave or free.
37 He will say: “Now where are their gods, the rock they took refuge in,
38 the gods who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offerings? Let them rise up to help you! Let them give you shelter!
39 “See now that I myself am He! There is no god besides me. I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver out of my hand.
40 I lift my hand to heaven and declare: As surely as I live forever,
41 when I sharpen my flashing sword and my hand grasps it in judgment, I will take vengeance on my adversaries and repay those who hate me.
42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood, while my sword devours flesh: the blood of the slain and the captives, the heads of the enemy leaders.”
43 Rejoice, you nations, with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants; he will take vengeance on his enemies and make atonement for his land and people.
44 Moses came with Joshua son of Nun and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people.
45 When Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel,
46 he said to them, “Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law.
47 They are not just idle words for you—they are your life. By them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”
Moses to Die on Mount Nebo
48 On that same day the LORD told Moses,
49 “Go up into the Abarim Range to Mount Nebo in Moab, across from Jericho, and view Canaan, the land I am giving the Israelites as their own possession.
50 There on the mountain that you have climbed you will die and be gathered to your people, just as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people.
51 This is because both of you broke faith with me in the presence of the Israelites at the waters of Meribah Kadesh in the Desert of Zin and because you did not uphold my holiness among the Israelites.
52 Therefore, you will see the land only from a distance; you will not enter the land I am giving to the people of Israel.”
Footnotes:
[1] Matthew Thiessen. "The Form and Function of the Song of Moses (Deuteronomy 32:1 – 43).” Journal of Biblical Literature, 123, 3, (2004); 408.
[2] Ibid. pg. 414 - 415.
[3] Steven Weitzman. "Lessons from the Dying: The Role of Deuteronomy 32 in its Narrative Setting.” Harvard Theological Review, 87, 4, (1994); 377 - 378.
Study Questions for Chapter 32
On a blank piece of paper, try to answer the following questions. Remember, there exists no right or wrong answers.
1.) Does the human nature of man change after he becomes a Christian?
2.) In our walk with the Lord, what will keep us from falling?
3.) What does it mean to “lightly esteem” [Yahweh]?
4.) Why was the judgment of [Yahweh] written in the form of a hymn to be sung?
5.) Why did [Yahweh] promise to punish Israel?
6.) What is the purpose of calamity?
7.) When we pray for people, how does [Yahweh] sometimes answer our prayers?
8.) What did Moses predict the Israelites would do after he died?
9.) When it comes to making decisions for [Yahweh], when is the proper time?
10.) What was soon to end for the Israelites?
11.) What were Moses' last words to the Israelites (vs. 46)?
12.) How did [Yahweh] arrange Moses' funeral?
13.) Give a summary of the “Song of Moses”.
14.) What is the “Rock” Moses keep speaking of in this Chapter?
15.) What would cause [Yahweh] to hide His face from the people?
16.) What would cause the Gentiles to rejoice?
17.) What would prolong the days of the people in Canaan?
1.) Does the human nature of man change after he becomes a Christian?
2.) In our walk with the Lord, what will keep us from falling?
3.) What does it mean to “lightly esteem” [Yahweh]?
4.) Why was the judgment of [Yahweh] written in the form of a hymn to be sung?
5.) Why did [Yahweh] promise to punish Israel?
6.) What is the purpose of calamity?
7.) When we pray for people, how does [Yahweh] sometimes answer our prayers?
8.) What did Moses predict the Israelites would do after he died?
9.) When it comes to making decisions for [Yahweh], when is the proper time?
10.) What was soon to end for the Israelites?
11.) What were Moses' last words to the Israelites (vs. 46)?
12.) How did [Yahweh] arrange Moses' funeral?
13.) Give a summary of the “Song of Moses”.
14.) What is the “Rock” Moses keep speaking of in this Chapter?
15.) What would cause [Yahweh] to hide His face from the people?
16.) What would cause the Gentiles to rejoice?
17.) What would prolong the days of the people in Canaan?
Chapters 33 and 34
At the end of this Chapter, there contains 20 study questions for you to answer. There exists no right or wrong answers. Just answer them to your best ability with Yahweh’s guidance and study material presented in front of you. Now, as we open our bibles to Deuteronomy Chapter 33 and 34, one must remember to pray first and give S.P.A.C.E.
Do you have a Sin to forsake?
Do you have a Promise to claim?
Do you have an Attitude to change?
Is there a Command to obey?
Is there an Example to follow?
Do you have a Sin to forsake?
Do you have a Promise to claim?
Do you have an Attitude to change?
Is there a Command to obey?
Is there an Example to follow?
Deuteronomy 33:12 About Benjamin he said: “Let the beloved of the LORD rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long, and the one the LORD loves rests between his shoulders.”
“The change of subject from a reference to Benjamin in clause (a) to a reference to Yahweh in clause (b) and then back to Benjamin in clause (c) has raised a few eyebrows. Some say that the subject of clause (c) is Yahweh, but the problem of the change in subject is not solved in this way. Still unexplained would be the change from Benjamin in clause (a) to Yahweh in clauses (b) and (c).”[1]
“Clause (c) is then seen as parallel to clause (a), producing a chiastic arrangement between the words of the two clauses The chiasm is as follows yiskön/läbetah//üben ketepäyw/säken, "dwells"/"securely"// "between his shoulders"/" dwells " The concept of "dwelling" is clearly a parallelism…”[2]
Deuteronomy 33:24 - 25 About Asher he said: “Most blessed of sons is Asher; let him be favored by his brothers, and let him bathe his feet in oil. The bolts of your gates will be iron and bronze, and your strength will equal your days.
“Virtually all commentators understand the last clause of v. 24 as a hyperbolic description of the fertility of the region occupied by the tribe of Asher, and the first clause of υ. 25 as indicating its need to be well defended against enemy attack. Hence v. 24 could be understood as saying that the territory of Asher is "so fruitful, especially in oil, that he can immerse his feet in oil, instead of simply anointing them", and reference is often made to Job xxix 6 and, for the richness of Asher, to Gen. xlix 20. In v. 25, it is the supposedly exposed position of the tribe, which required it to be defended by border fortresses, which is in view, an understanding of the verse which goes back to Rashi.”[3]
Chapter 34 “Deuteronomy 34 should be divided into three parts: w. 1-6, 7-9, and 10-12. The first part (w. 1-6) is shaped into a narrative unit with five forms in the wayyiqtol-conjugation, concluded by the differing welo* qatal in v. 6b. These verses have at their center divine action: YHWH shows Moses the land and repeats the promise of land to him (w. lb-4). This is framed by two actions of Moses: he climbs the mountain (v. la), dies, and is buried there (w. 5-6). Verse 7 opens disjunctively and introduces a unit (w. 7-9) that focuses on Moses, who is mentioned four times in three verses. In its final verse it emphasizes the role of Joshua as Moses' successor and the obedience of the people—two themes that recur in the first Chapter of Joshua. The last unit (w. 10-12) is not structured as tightly as the previous ones. It concludes the Pentateuch, highlighting Moses' great power as seen by all Israel. It accomplishes this by using the word to, "all," four times in its final two verses.”
(TNIV) Chapters 33 and 34
Moses Blesses the Tribes
1 This is the blessing that Moses the man of [Yahweh] pronounced on the Israelites before his death.
2 He said: “The LORD came from Sinai and dawned over them from Seir; he shone forth from Mount Paran. He came with myriads of holy ones from the south, from his mountain slopes.
3 Surely it is you who love the people; all the holy ones are in your hand. At your feet they all bow down, and from you receive instruction,
4 the law that Moses gave us, the possession of the assembly of Jacob.
5 He was king over Jeshurun when the leaders of the people assembled, along with the tribes of Israel.
6 “Let Reuben live and not die, nor his people be few.”
7 And this he said about Judah: “Hear, LORD, the cry of Judah; bring him to his people. With his own hands he defends his cause. Oh, be his help against his foes!”
8 About Levi he said: “Your Thummim and Urim belong to your faithful servant. You tested him at Massah; you contended with him at the waters of Meribah.
9 He said of his father and mother, ‘I have no regard for them.’ He did not recognize his brothers or acknowledge his own children, but he watched over your word and guarded your covenant.
10 He teaches your precepts to Jacob and your law to Israel. He offers incense before you and whole burnt offerings on your altar.
11 Bless all his skills, LORD, and be pleased with the work of his hands. Strike down those who rise against him, his foes till they rise no more.”
12 About Benjamin he said: “Let the beloved of the LORD rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long, and the one the LORD loves rests between his shoulders.”
13 About Joseph he said: “May the LORD bless his land with the precious dew from heaven above and with the deep waters that lie below;
14 with the best the sun brings forth and the finest the moon can yield;
15 with the choicest gifts of the ancient mountains and the fruitfulness of the everlasting hills;
16 with the best gifts of the earth and its fullness and the favor of him who dwelt in the burning bush. Let all these rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince among his brothers.
17 In majesty he is like a firstborn bull; his horns are the horns of a wild ox. With them he will gore the nations, even those at the ends of the earth. Such are the ten thousands of Ephraim; such are the thousands of Manasseh.”
18 About Zebulun he said: “Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out, and you, Issachar, in your tents.
19 They will summon peoples to the mountain and there offer the sacrifices of the righteous; they will feast on the abundance of the seas, on the treasures hidden in the sand.”
20 About Gad he said: “Blessed is he who enlarges Gad’s domain! Gad lives there like a lion, tearing at arm or head.
21 He chose the best land for himself; the leader’s portion was kept for him. When the heads of the people assembled, he carried out the LORD’s righteous will, and his judgments concerning Israel.”
22 About Dan he said: “Dan is a lion’s cub, springing out of Bashan.”
23 About Naphtali he said: “Naphtali is abounding with the favor of the LORD and is full of his blessing; he will inherit southward to the lake.”
24 About Asher he said: “Most blessed of sons is Asher; let him be favored by his brothers, and let him bathe his feet in oil.
25 The bolts of your gates will be iron and bronze, and your strength will equal your days.
26 “There is no one like the [Yahweh] of Jeshurun, who rides on the heavens to help you and on the clouds in his majesty.
27 The eternal [Yahweh] is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. He will drive out your enemies before you, saying, ‘Destroy them!’
28 So Israel will live in safety; Jacob will dwell secure in a land of grain and new wine, where the heavens drop dew.
29 Blessed are you, Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD? He is your shield and helper and your glorious sword. Your enemies will cower before you, and you will tread on their heights.”
Chapter 34
The Death of Moses
1 Then Moses climbed Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab to the top of Pisgah, across from Jericho. There the LORD showed him the whole land—from Gilead to Dan,
2 all of Naphtali, the territory of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Mediterranean Sea,
3 the Negev and the whole region from the Valley of Jericho, the City of Palms, as far as Zoar.
4 Then the LORD said to him, “This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it.”
5 And Moses the servant of the LORD died there in Moab, as the LORD had said.
6 He buried him in Moab, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, but to this day no one knows where his grave is.
7 Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone.
8 The Israelites grieved for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days, until the time of weeping and mourning was over.
9 Now Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him. So the Israelites listened to him and did what the LORD had commanded Moses.
10 Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face,
11 who did all those signs and wonders the LORD sent him to do in Egypt—to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land.
12 For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.
Footnotes:
[1] Joel D. Heck. “The Missing Sanctuary of Deuteronomy 33:12.” Journal of Biblical Literature, 103, 4, (1984); pg. 524.
[2] Ibid. pg. 526.
[3] J. R. Porter. “The Interpretation of Deuteronomy 33:24 - 25.” Vetus Testamentum, 2, (1994); pg. 267
“The change of subject from a reference to Benjamin in clause (a) to a reference to Yahweh in clause (b) and then back to Benjamin in clause (c) has raised a few eyebrows. Some say that the subject of clause (c) is Yahweh, but the problem of the change in subject is not solved in this way. Still unexplained would be the change from Benjamin in clause (a) to Yahweh in clauses (b) and (c).”[1]
“Clause (c) is then seen as parallel to clause (a), producing a chiastic arrangement between the words of the two clauses The chiasm is as follows yiskön/läbetah//üben ketepäyw/säken, "dwells"/"securely"// "between his shoulders"/" dwells " The concept of "dwelling" is clearly a parallelism…”[2]
Deuteronomy 33:24 - 25 About Asher he said: “Most blessed of sons is Asher; let him be favored by his brothers, and let him bathe his feet in oil. The bolts of your gates will be iron and bronze, and your strength will equal your days.
“Virtually all commentators understand the last clause of v. 24 as a hyperbolic description of the fertility of the region occupied by the tribe of Asher, and the first clause of υ. 25 as indicating its need to be well defended against enemy attack. Hence v. 24 could be understood as saying that the territory of Asher is "so fruitful, especially in oil, that he can immerse his feet in oil, instead of simply anointing them", and reference is often made to Job xxix 6 and, for the richness of Asher, to Gen. xlix 20. In v. 25, it is the supposedly exposed position of the tribe, which required it to be defended by border fortresses, which is in view, an understanding of the verse which goes back to Rashi.”[3]
Chapter 34 “Deuteronomy 34 should be divided into three parts: w. 1-6, 7-9, and 10-12. The first part (w. 1-6) is shaped into a narrative unit with five forms in the wayyiqtol-conjugation, concluded by the differing welo* qatal in v. 6b. These verses have at their center divine action: YHWH shows Moses the land and repeats the promise of land to him (w. lb-4). This is framed by two actions of Moses: he climbs the mountain (v. la), dies, and is buried there (w. 5-6). Verse 7 opens disjunctively and introduces a unit (w. 7-9) that focuses on Moses, who is mentioned four times in three verses. In its final verse it emphasizes the role of Joshua as Moses' successor and the obedience of the people—two themes that recur in the first Chapter of Joshua. The last unit (w. 10-12) is not structured as tightly as the previous ones. It concludes the Pentateuch, highlighting Moses' great power as seen by all Israel. It accomplishes this by using the word to, "all," four times in its final two verses.”
(TNIV) Chapters 33 and 34
Moses Blesses the Tribes
1 This is the blessing that Moses the man of [Yahweh] pronounced on the Israelites before his death.
2 He said: “The LORD came from Sinai and dawned over them from Seir; he shone forth from Mount Paran. He came with myriads of holy ones from the south, from his mountain slopes.
3 Surely it is you who love the people; all the holy ones are in your hand. At your feet they all bow down, and from you receive instruction,
4 the law that Moses gave us, the possession of the assembly of Jacob.
5 He was king over Jeshurun when the leaders of the people assembled, along with the tribes of Israel.
6 “Let Reuben live and not die, nor his people be few.”
7 And this he said about Judah: “Hear, LORD, the cry of Judah; bring him to his people. With his own hands he defends his cause. Oh, be his help against his foes!”
8 About Levi he said: “Your Thummim and Urim belong to your faithful servant. You tested him at Massah; you contended with him at the waters of Meribah.
9 He said of his father and mother, ‘I have no regard for them.’ He did not recognize his brothers or acknowledge his own children, but he watched over your word and guarded your covenant.
10 He teaches your precepts to Jacob and your law to Israel. He offers incense before you and whole burnt offerings on your altar.
11 Bless all his skills, LORD, and be pleased with the work of his hands. Strike down those who rise against him, his foes till they rise no more.”
12 About Benjamin he said: “Let the beloved of the LORD rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long, and the one the LORD loves rests between his shoulders.”
13 About Joseph he said: “May the LORD bless his land with the precious dew from heaven above and with the deep waters that lie below;
14 with the best the sun brings forth and the finest the moon can yield;
15 with the choicest gifts of the ancient mountains and the fruitfulness of the everlasting hills;
16 with the best gifts of the earth and its fullness and the favor of him who dwelt in the burning bush. Let all these rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince among his brothers.
17 In majesty he is like a firstborn bull; his horns are the horns of a wild ox. With them he will gore the nations, even those at the ends of the earth. Such are the ten thousands of Ephraim; such are the thousands of Manasseh.”
18 About Zebulun he said: “Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out, and you, Issachar, in your tents.
19 They will summon peoples to the mountain and there offer the sacrifices of the righteous; they will feast on the abundance of the seas, on the treasures hidden in the sand.”
20 About Gad he said: “Blessed is he who enlarges Gad’s domain! Gad lives there like a lion, tearing at arm or head.
21 He chose the best land for himself; the leader’s portion was kept for him. When the heads of the people assembled, he carried out the LORD’s righteous will, and his judgments concerning Israel.”
22 About Dan he said: “Dan is a lion’s cub, springing out of Bashan.”
23 About Naphtali he said: “Naphtali is abounding with the favor of the LORD and is full of his blessing; he will inherit southward to the lake.”
24 About Asher he said: “Most blessed of sons is Asher; let him be favored by his brothers, and let him bathe his feet in oil.
25 The bolts of your gates will be iron and bronze, and your strength will equal your days.
26 “There is no one like the [Yahweh] of Jeshurun, who rides on the heavens to help you and on the clouds in his majesty.
27 The eternal [Yahweh] is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. He will drive out your enemies before you, saying, ‘Destroy them!’
28 So Israel will live in safety; Jacob will dwell secure in a land of grain and new wine, where the heavens drop dew.
29 Blessed are you, Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD? He is your shield and helper and your glorious sword. Your enemies will cower before you, and you will tread on their heights.”
Chapter 34
The Death of Moses
1 Then Moses climbed Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab to the top of Pisgah, across from Jericho. There the LORD showed him the whole land—from Gilead to Dan,
2 all of Naphtali, the territory of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Mediterranean Sea,
3 the Negev and the whole region from the Valley of Jericho, the City of Palms, as far as Zoar.
4 Then the LORD said to him, “This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it.”
5 And Moses the servant of the LORD died there in Moab, as the LORD had said.
6 He buried him in Moab, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, but to this day no one knows where his grave is.
7 Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone.
8 The Israelites grieved for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days, until the time of weeping and mourning was over.
9 Now Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him. So the Israelites listened to him and did what the LORD had commanded Moses.
10 Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face,
11 who did all those signs and wonders the LORD sent him to do in Egypt—to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land.
12 For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.
Footnotes:
[1] Joel D. Heck. “The Missing Sanctuary of Deuteronomy 33:12.” Journal of Biblical Literature, 103, 4, (1984); pg. 524.
[2] Ibid. pg. 526.
[3] J. R. Porter. “The Interpretation of Deuteronomy 33:24 - 25.” Vetus Testamentum, 2, (1994); pg. 267
Study Questions for Chapters 33 and 34
On a blank piece of paper, try to answer the following questions. Remember, there exists no right or wrong answers.
1.) Who wrote Deuteronomy 34--the account of Moses’ death? If it was not written by Moses, does that mean it is not inspired?
2.) For whom did Abraham intercede with [Yahweh]?
3.) Why was Levi so specially blessed?
4.) What one tribe was omitted from the list?
5.) Why are the “everlasting arms” of comfort to the Christian?
6.) What is included in the term salvation?
7.) Why does a Christian need both a sword and a shield?
8.) Name some of the people on whom you are forced to depend.
9.) Whose servant was Moses?
10.) When in the Bible do we hear of Moses appearing after his death?
11.) With whom did Moses share his own blessing?
12.) What blessings can we share with others?
13.) What is implied in the idea that [Yahweh] “knew” Moses?
14.) What was the secret of Moses' success as a leader of the people?
15.) Where was Moses told to go to prepare for his death?
16.) Why was Moses not allowed into The Promised Land?
17.) Describe the final blessings Moses gave to the people.
18.) What was Moses able to see from the top of Pisgah?
19.) Where was Moses buried?
20.) How is Moses described in the final verses of this book?
1.) Who wrote Deuteronomy 34--the account of Moses’ death? If it was not written by Moses, does that mean it is not inspired?
2.) For whom did Abraham intercede with [Yahweh]?
3.) Why was Levi so specially blessed?
4.) What one tribe was omitted from the list?
5.) Why are the “everlasting arms” of comfort to the Christian?
6.) What is included in the term salvation?
7.) Why does a Christian need both a sword and a shield?
8.) Name some of the people on whom you are forced to depend.
9.) Whose servant was Moses?
10.) When in the Bible do we hear of Moses appearing after his death?
11.) With whom did Moses share his own blessing?
12.) What blessings can we share with others?
13.) What is implied in the idea that [Yahweh] “knew” Moses?
14.) What was the secret of Moses' success as a leader of the people?
15.) Where was Moses told to go to prepare for his death?
16.) Why was Moses not allowed into The Promised Land?
17.) Describe the final blessings Moses gave to the people.
18.) What was Moses able to see from the top of Pisgah?
19.) Where was Moses buried?
20.) How is Moses described in the final verses of this book?