Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Moses, about to die, blesses Israel and each of the tribes, and foretells future things to them.
Vulgate Text: Deuteronomy 33:1-29
1. This is the blessing, with which Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death. 2. And he said: The Lord came from Sinai, and from Seir He rose upon us; He appeared from Mount Pharan, and with Him thousands of saints. In His right hand a fiery law. 3. He loved the peoples, all the saints are in His hand; and those who approach His feet will receive from His teaching. 4. Moses commanded us a law, the inheritance of the multitude of Jacob. 5. There shall be a king among the most upright, when the princes of the people are gathered with the tribes of Israel. 6. Let Reuben live, and let him not die, and let him be small in number. 7. This is the blessing of Judah: Hear, O Lord, the voice of Judah, and bring him to his people; his hands shall fight for him, and his helper against his adversaries shall be. 8. And to Levi he said: Your perfection and your doctrine belong to your holy man whom You proved in temptation, and judged at the Waters of Contradiction. 9. Who said to his father and his mother: I know you not, and to his brothers: I do not know you, and they did not know their own sons; these kept your word, and preserved your covenant. 10. Your judgments, O Jacob, and your law, O Israel, they shall place incense in your anger, and a holocaust upon your altar. 11. Bless, O Lord, his strength, and receive the works of his hands. Strike the backs of his enemies, and let those who hate him not rise. 12. And to Benjamin he said: The most beloved of the Lord shall dwell confidently in Him; as in a bridal chamber he shall abide all the day long, and shall rest between His shoulders. 13. To Joseph also he said: Of the blessing of the Lord be his land, of the fruits of heaven, and of the dew, and of the deep that lies beneath. 14. Of the fruits of the sun and of the moon, 15. of the top of the ancient mountains, of the fruits of the everlasting hills; 16. and of the fruits of the earth, and of its fullness. The blessing of Him who appeared in the bush, come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the crown of the Nazarite among his brothers. 17. As the firstborn of a bull is his beauty, the horns of the rhinoceros are his horns: with them he shall scatter the nations even to the ends of the earth; these are the multitudes of Ephraim, and these the thousands of Manasseh. 18. And to Zebulun he said: Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out, and Issachar in your tents. 19. They shall call peoples to the mountain, there they shall sacrifice victims of justice. They who suck the abundance of the sea as milk, and the hidden treasures of the sands. 20. And to Gad he said: Blessed be he who enlarges Gad; as a lion he has rested, and seized the arm and the head. 21. And he saw his principality, that in his portion a teacher was stored up: who was with the princes of the people and performed the justices of the Lord, and his judgment with Israel. 22. To Dan also he said: Dan is a lion's whelp, he shall flow abundantly from Bashan. 23. And to Naphtali he said: Naphtali shall enjoy abundance, and shall be full of the blessings of the Lord; he shall possess the sea and the south. 24. To Asher also he said: Blessed be Asher in his sons, let him be pleasing to his brothers, and let him dip his foot in oil. 25. Iron and brass shall be his shoe. As the days of your youth, so also shall your old age be. 26. There is no other God like the God of the most upright: the Rider of the heavens is your helper. In His magnificence the clouds run. 27. His dwelling is above, and underneath are the everlasting arms: He shall cast out the enemy from before your face, and shall say: Be crushed. 28. Israel shall dwell in safety, and alone. The eye of Jacob shall be upon a land of grain and wine, and the heavens shall be misty with dew. 29. Blessed are you, O Israel; who is like you, O people, who are saved in the Lord? the shield of your help, and the sword of your glory: your enemies shall deny you, and you shall tread upon their necks.
Verse 1: Moses the Man of God
1. THIS IS THE BLESSING, WITH WHICH MOSES THE MAN OF GOD BLESSED THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL. "Man of God," that is, a friend, prophet, lawgiver, teacher, and prince of God. See what was said at 1 Timothy 6:11.
Verse 2: The Lord Came from Sinai
2. THE LORD CAME FROM SINAI, AND FROM SEIR HE ROSE UPON US: HE APPEARED FROM MOUNT PHARAN. Certain Jews explain it thus, as if to say: God first presented His law to the Edomites, who dwelt in Seir and were of the seed of Isaac; but when God pronounced the Decalogue and came to the fifth commandment, "You shall not kill," the Edomites said: We do not want this law, because it was said to our father, "You shall live by the sword," Genesis 27:39. Then God went to the Ishmaelites, descendants of Abraham, dwelling in Pharan; and when He read to them the sixth commandment, "You shall not commit adultery," they also refused, saying that it had been told to their father that he should greatly multiply, Genesis 21:13. Whence at last God came to the Jews at Sinai, and proposed the Decalogue to them, who eagerly accepted it, and this is what is said here: "From Seir He rose upon us;" who would not laugh at these triflers and fable-makers?
The sense therefore is, as if to say: The Lord came to us from Sinai, when from there He gave us the law and promulgated it, Exodus 19 and 20. Secondly, at Mount Seir, He rose upon us as a kind of sun, when, with many wounded by the bite of fiery serpents, He ordered the bronze serpent to be raised up, which those who looked upon would be healed, Numbers 21. For this happened at that time when the Hebrews were going around Mount Seir, or Edom, as is gathered from Deuteronomy 1:49 and chapter 2:28. Thirdly, at Mount Pharan He appeared to us, giving quails and establishing 70 judges, Numbers 11.
To this Habakkuk alluded, chapter 3, verse 3, when he says: "God shall come from the South (from Edom, which is south of Judea), and the Holy One from Mount Pharan," as if to say: The Son of God, who appeared to the Jews at Mount Pharan and Seir, and was not seen afterward, but as it were lay hidden there, will come to us manifestly, when He assumes our flesh.
Note here: Sinai, on which the old law was given, was a type of Zion, on which the new law was promulgated at Pentecost; at Seir the bronze serpent was a type of the cross of Christ; Pharan, where the 70 judges were filled with the spirit of God, was a type of the mission of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and the seventy disciples of Christ.
Indeed St. Augustine understands these words prophetically and literally of Christ. For Sinai, he says, in Hebrew means the same as temptation (if indeed it is derived by metathesis from the root נשה nasa, that is, he tempted). Therefore the Lord, namely Christ, came from Sinai, that is, from the temptation of His passion and death. Secondly, Seir, that is, hairy, signifies a sinner. Christ therefore shone forth from Seir; because upon those sitting in darkness and the shadow of death, light arose through Christ, or from Seir, that is, from the sinful Gentiles; for among these the preaching and grace of Christ was made illustrious. Thirdly, Christ hastened from Mount Pharan, that is, the fruitful one, which is the Church, with many thousands of Saints, who were sanctified through Christ, with whom He comes, that is, will come, to the Israelites to be gathered and converted at the end of the world. But this sense is rather allegorical than literal.
AND WITH HIM THOUSANDS OF SAINTS, namely thousands of angels, who always stand before God and minister to Him, Daniel 7:10. The Rabbis understand by saints the Prophets and teachers who composed the Talmud; on the ground that these received their Talmud, and those their prophecies, from the Lord; for all their chief men, they say, were already in existence and were with God at Sinai. Thus these fable-makers applaud their own tales with their fables.
IN HIS RIGHT HAND A FIERY LAW. God is said at Sinai to have as it were carried in His right hand and delivered the fiery law, because He gave it with fires and lightnings thundering, and this to strike terror into the Hebrews, Exodus 19:18. Moreover Cajetan explains this so that God Himself did not carry the law, but that for greater pomp it was carried by ministers, namely by angels, near His right hand the book of the law and fire, so that by this it might be signified that God would judge by the law and punish the violators of the law by fire. Hence also for 'Lord,' in Hebrew it is Elohim, that is, judge.
Allegorically, this fiery law signified the new law, which is of love, of which Christ says: "I have come to cast fire upon the earth, and what do I will but that it be kindled?" Luke chapter 12:49. Hence tropologically St. Gregory, Homily 40 on the Gospels: "The right hand of God, he says, designates the elect; in the right hand of God therefore is the fiery law, because the elect will in no way hear the heavenly commandments with a cold heart, but are set ablaze by the torches of intimate love."
Verses 3-5: He Loved the Peoples
3. HE LOVED THE PEOPLES, ALL THE SAINTS ARE IN HIS HAND. "Peoples," that is, the twelve tribes of Israel: for these are called peoples and nations, Genesis 48:19, as if to say: Therefore God gave His law to you who are the people of God, because He loves you; hence also all the saints, that is, those dedicated to His worship, such as you are, are in the hand, that is, the power and governance, of God.
AND THOSE WHO APPROACH (in Hebrew it is un tuecu, that is, who were made middle, or were inserted: for תוך tech signifies middle) HIS FEET (that is, who are His disciples, who hear Him and follow His steps and footprints. For it is the part of disciples to sit at the feet, or between the feet of the master. Thus Paul, Acts 22:3, says he was educated at the feet of Gamaliel); THEY SHALL RECEIVE FROM HIS TEACHING, namely God's.
4. MOSES COMMANDED US A LAW. Moses speaks of himself in the third person, as of another, to show himself, as one of the people, to be bound by this his own, or rather God's, law, as good and humane lawgivers are accustomed to do.
THE INHERITANCE OF THE MULTITUDE OF JACOB; it is an apposition: for he calls the law an inheritance, because it was to be transmitted to posterity just like an inheritance; or because the inheritance of the holy land had been given to the Hebrews on this condition, that they keep the law of God; or finally, because it ought to be as dear to them as an inheritance is dear.
5. THERE SHALL BE A KING AMONG THE MOST UPRIGHT (as if to say: Among Israel, as long as they remain upright and good, the law of God will be king: or rather God ruling them through the law, without another king, and this) WHEN THE PRINCES OF THE PEOPLE ARE GATHERED WITH THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL, that is, as long as the princes are united with the people and will conspire together, and live according to the law of God. So Abulensis, Cajetan, and others. Hence when the Jews departed from this uprightness and asked for a king, not God, but a man, God complains to Samuel and says: "They have not rejected you, but Me, that I should not reign over them," 1 Kings 8:7.
Others think this is a prophecy about King Saul to be created, and David after him; but the word 'most upright' does not agree with this interpretation. Others refer these words to Moses, that he himself was as it were king of the Hebrews; but the word 'shall be' contradicts this, for the leadership of Moses had already passed, and he himself was at the threshold of death.
Verse 6: Let Reuben Live
6. LET REUBEN LIVE, AND LET HIM NOT DIE, AND LET HIM BE SMALL IN NUMBER, as if to say: Let him not perish utterly, nor let the posterity and tribe of Reuben ever fail, namely on account of the sin of incest which he committed against his father: for because of this he deserved to be cut off and destroyed. But in favor of his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, God mitigated this punishment, and brought it about that the tribe would only be small in number; Jacob the father of Reuben predicted the same thing, Genesis 49:4: "You were poured out, he said, like water (through lust and incest), you shall not grow." Note here: the fitting and just punishment for lust, and especially incest, is the diminution, indeed the extinction of the family. On the contrary, Ephraim, who succeeded Reuben in the birthright in this respect, was greatly multiplied, as is clear from Genesis 48:19.
Note: Moses, now about to die, here imitates the custom of the patriarchs, and blesses his people, whose leader and as it were father he had been, and prophetically foretells the future state of each tribe. He omits, however, Simeon, the second-born son of Jacob; for although the Septuagint interjects his name here, translating it as, and let Simeon be many in number, it is altogether likely that the name of Simeon crept in here erroneously; for the Hebrew, Chaldean, and our Vulgate do not have it: indeed neither do St. Ambrose, Procopius, Apollinaris, Diodorus, Epiphanius, and Theodoret, who usually follow the Septuagint: whence the name of Simeon is omitted here in the Roman edition of the Septuagint which Caraffa published.
Moreover, because the Septuagint translates 'let him be many in number,' while our Vulgate translates the opposite, 'let him be small in number,' this arises because the Hebrew has 'and let the number of his men be,' which the Septuagint understood as, 'let their number be great,' while our translator understood the opposite, namely 'small,' following the Hebrew phrase in which 'men of number' means 'few men.'
The Chaldean translates it anagogically thus: let Reuben live in eternal life, and not die the second death, and let his sons receive their inheritance, according to their number.
The reason, however, why Moses omitted Simeon, is that this tribe shortly before had been contaminated by fornication and the idolatry of Baal-Peor, and therefore had been severely punished and slain by God, and this as an example for others, as I said at Numbers 26:12. So Abulensis, Pererius, and others.
Theodoret gives another reason, in his final Question, namely, that Simeon had been the author of the plots which the brothers hatched against Joseph: for which reason Joseph held Simeon bound above his other brothers, Genesis 42:25. But by the same argument, not even Reuben should have been blessed, on account of the incest committed by him.
Verse 7: The Blessing of Judah
7. THIS IS THE BLESSING OF JUDAH: HEAR, O LORD, THE VOICE OF JUDAH, that is, as the Chaldean has it, receive, O Lord, the prayer of Judah, when he goes out to battle, AND BRING HIM TO HIS PEOPLE, that is, give him strength against the enemy, that he may obtain his portion and lot in the holy land as a victor. Therefore Lyranus expounds it less correctly thus, as if to say: Bring Judah after death into Limbo, so that there he may be joined to his fathers and his people: there follows a prophecy about Judah.
HIS HANDS SHALL FIGHT FOR HIM, as if to say: Judah shall fight for the people of Israel, as leader in war and chief of the tribes: that this was indeed so is clear from Judges 1:2. For this reason Moses here places Judah before Levi, who nevertheless was older than Judah. So Abulensis.
AND HIS HELPER AGAINST HIS ADVERSARIES SHALL BE, namely God, as is clear from the Chaldean and the Septuagint, who translate 'You shall be,' namely, O Lord; for Moses addressed Him at the beginning of the verse, saying: "Hear, O Lord," etc.
Verses 8-11: To Levi He Said
8. TO LEVI ALSO HE SAID: YOUR PERFECTION AND YOUR DOCTRINE BELONG TO YOUR HOLY MAN (that is, they belong and are due to him; in Hebrew it is, your Thummim are, your Urim are, of your holy man, namely Aaron), WHOM YOU PROVED IN TEMPTATION (which place in Hebrew is called Massah, Exodus 17:1), AND JUDGED AT THE WATERS OF CONTRADICTION, Numbers 20, as if to say: Yours, O Levi, are, and to you were given, the priestly vestments, and consequently the priesthood itself, the vestments, I say,
the ephod and the breastplate, on which was inscribed Urim and Thummim, that is, illumination or doctrine and integrity or perfection of life, with which the priest ought to shine and give light to the people, about which I spoke at Exodus 28:30; hence the Chaldean clearly translates: with Urim and Thummim, that is, with perfection and doctrine, you clothed the man who was found holy before You.
Moreover, these things were given to Levi, because they were given to Aaron, who was born from the tribe of Levi, who was a pious and holy man, except that he sinned, when You, O Lord, proved and judged him, that is, condemned him, so that he would not enter the promised land: this happened at the Waters of Contradiction, Numbers 20:12.
Abulensis explains these words differently, as if to say: You, O Lord, gave perfection of life and integrity of the law and of doctrine to the holy man, that is, to Moses, who was born from the tribe of Levi, so that he might communicate the same to the people, but especially to his Levites. But from the Hebrew it is clear that the former sense is the genuine one.
9. WHO SAID TO HIS FATHER AND HIS MOTHER: I KNOW YOU NOT; AND TO HIS BROTHERS: I DO NOT KNOW YOU; AND THEY DID NOT KNOW THEIR OWN SONS, as if to say: Levi, that is, the Levites, in the punishment of the idolaters, namely those worshipping the golden calf, Exodus 32:28, did not have pity on their friends and relatives, and brothers and sons; but killed them equally with the rest, as if they had not known them, indeed had not seen or regarded them, as the Hebrew has it.
Abulensis thinks that 'father and mother' is added here by way of exaggeration; for no Levite killed his father or mother, because in no case or crime is it lawful for a son to kill his father or mother, as being the authors of his life, unless God expressly commands it; but they did kill brothers, at least those born from one parent, likewise their own sons: for on account of the crime of idolatry it was lawful to kill sons, as is clear from chapter 13, verses 6 and 10.
But equally, indeed more and primarily, it is said here of father and mother, as well as of brothers and sons, that the Levites in that slaughter of the idolaters did not regard them, nor had pity on them, as the Chaldean translates; whence it seems they killed without distinction all the guilty, even father and mother: for Moses had ordered this by command, Exodus 32:27; for although father and mother are not expressly mentioned there, but only brother, friend, and neighbor, yet from this it is sufficiently gathered that Moses also named father and mother; or certainly that the Levites rightly interpreted out of their zeal the command of God about killing the worshippers of the calf, so that it also embraced father and mother.
THESE KEPT YOUR WORD, AND PRESERVED YOUR COVENANT, namely the covenant entered into with God, Exodus 24:8.
10. YOUR JUDGMENTS, O JACOB, AND YOUR LAW, O ISRAEL. In the Hebrew it is: these shall teach your judgments to Jacob, and your law to Israel. Our Interpreter did not read in the Hebrew the word ioru, that is, they shall teach,
kept, which preceded, certain copies through the keri and ketib, read ioru in the margin, which was afterward added to iintsoru in the text; for without ioru the sense stands. For it is an apposition, as if to say: The Levites kept your covenant, which is nothing other than the judgments, that is, the precepts and your laws.
Secondly, while retaining the word ioru, our Vulgate could rightly be reconciled with the Hebrew, if you take ioru, although it is a future tense, for a past tense, as Vatablus and others have taken it: for past tenses preceded; then the sense would be: The Levites taught your judgments, O Lord, to Jacob, namely by the very fact that they kept the covenant entered into with You, and avenged the violators of this covenant; for then by that very act they showed and taught how strictly the judgments, that is, your laws must be observed.
THEY SHALL PLACE INCENSE IN YOUR ANGER (in Hebrew it is באפיך beappecha, which can secondly be translated 'in your nostrils'), AND A HOLOCAUST UPON YOUR ALTAR. Vatablus again, in place of 'they shall place,' translates 'they placed.' For the sense is: on account of this zeal of the Levites, You, O Lord, chose them as priests, who namely offered to You, offer, and will henceforth always offer incense and holocausts.
See here how highly God esteems, and how He rewards zeal and the zealous. For He Himself is the zealous one and a consuming fire. "Angels also," says St. Ambrose on Psalm 118, "are nothing without zeal, and lose the prerogative of their nature, unless they sustain it by the ardor of zeal." Finally, to the angel of Laodicea it is said in Apocalypse 3:15: "I know your works: that you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will begin to vomit you out of My mouth." A priest ought to have zeal, who strives to preserve the uncorrupted chastity of the Church. Zeal is the life of God. Elijah had zeal, and therefore was caught up to heaven: "With zeal, he said, I have been zealous for the Lord." Mattathias had zeal, and therefore obtained the glory and rule of his nation. Moses had zeal when he struck the Egyptian who was oppressing the Hebrew, and rightly so: "For zeal purges the offense." Out of zeal King David cries, Psalm 118:139: "My zeal has made me waste away: because my enemies have forgotten your words." And Jeremiah 9:1: "Who will give water to my head, and a fountain of tears to my eyes?" Christ, out of zeal, seeing the city of Jerusalem, wept over it. Paul says: "I am jealous for you with the jealousy of God;" and: "Who is weak, and I am not weak? who is scandalized, and I am not on fire?" See the zeal of St. Stephen in Acts chapters 6 and 7. The bride was zealous in the Song of Songs: "Stay me up with flowers, compass me about with apples, because I languish with love;" and the bridegroom: "Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; because love is strong as death, jealousy is hard as hell. Its lamps are lamps of fire and of flames." Moses commanded this zeal to the Levites, saying in Exodus 32,
26: "If anyone is the Lord's, let him join me, and let each one kill his brother and his friend;" and Christ says to us: "I have come to cast fire upon the earth, and what do I will but that it be kindled?" and: "If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his father, and mother, and wife, and children, etc., and even his own soul, he cannot be My disciple."
This zeal is necessary for a prelate: hence God placed over the old Church Moses; over the new, Peter and Paul, on account of zeal. In the old republic He established David as king, who said in Psalm 68:10: "The zeal of your house has consumed me;" in the new, the Constantines, Theodosiuses, Charleses, Bouillons, burning with zeal for the faith. The zeal of St. Anthony restrained the Arians; the zeal of Aphraates restrained the Emperor Valens: see the history in Theodoret, book 4 of his History, chapter 24. On the zeal of St. Francis see Bonaventure in his Life, book 1, chapter 9. This zeal is most sharpened by the thought of eternity. For who would not be zealous against sins, if he considers this: "A moment that delights, an eternity that torments?" Who would not embrace all labors and all hardships for the sake of securing a happy eternity for himself and others? Let prelates and priests think on this and do this, for it befits them to be sowers of eternity.
11. BLESS, O LORD, HIS STRENGTH. This is a prophecy in the form of a prayer about the Maccabees, descended from Levi; whence you may translate the Hebrew thus: bless, O Lord, his army, and may the works of his hands be acceptable to You, namely the wars which Levi was going to wage against Your enemies, through the Maccabees; so Abulensis.
Note: Strength here is called, first, the strong and unconquered spirit with which the Levites for God's sake cut off affection toward parents and brothers; secondly, the strong and vigorous vengeance which they exercised against the worshippers of the golden calf; thirdly, military fortitude, which the Maccabees were going to display against Antiochus and other enemies; for this is what the Hebrew חיל chail signifies; for from this soldiers and valiant men are called אנשי חיל anse chail.
Verse 12: To Benjamin He Said
12. AND TO BENJAMIN HE SAID. After Levi he blesses Benjamin, because in his lot the temple was to be built, in which the priests and Levites were going to offer incense and holocausts.
THE MOST BELOVED OF THE LORD. Because just as Jacob loved his Benjamin, so too did God; whence first, He gave him the scepter and royal power in Saul (for he was from the tribe of Benjamin). Secondly, in the lot of Benjamin, namely in Jerusalem, He willed the temple to be built.
Mystically, all these things apply to St. Paul, who was from the tribe of Benjamin. So Rabanus, Rupert, and St. Ambrose, book On the Blessings of the Patriarchs, last chapter.
HE SHALL DWELL CONFIDENTLY IN HIM, namely in his God, as if to say: Benjamin in his lot shall dwell without fear: because he will have God with him in the temple and in his dwelling, and in it he will rest securely, and as it were will dwell. He adds the reason: because God is in Benjamin, namely in His temple.
AS IN A BRIDAL CHAMBER HE SHALL ABIDE ALL THE DAY LONG, AND SHALL REST BETWEEN HIS SHOULDERS. It is a Hebraism: between the shoulders, that is, in the midst of the tribe of Benjamin; for what is between the shoulders is in the middle. Secondly, by shoulders he alludes to the site of the temple, which was on the high part of Mount Moriah, not however at its summit, but, as the Hebrews hold, 24 cubits below its peak, just as the shoulders are below the head and above the rest of the body. So Pererius on Genesis 49:27. Vatablus translates these words optatively thus: may He be covering him all day long, and may He dwell between his shoulders, as if to say: Would that the Lord might dwell in the midst of the tribe of Benjamin, and protect him at all times! And for this reason the tribe of Benjamin was very strong, as being helped and strengthened by its God, as is clear from Judges 20:16. Cajetan refers these words to Benjamin, as if to say: Let Benjamin himself rest between the shoulders of God, indeed in God Himself, as in his bridal chamber. But the former sense is more fitting, so that not Benjamin, but God is understood here, as the implied subject of the verb, and the Hebrew requires this.
Verses 13-17: To Joseph He Said
Verse 13. TO JOSEPH ALSO HE SAID. Joseph was the older brother of Benjamin: he had two offspring and tribes, namely Ephraim and Manasseh, whom Moses here blesses in the name of their father Joseph.
OF (that is, in) THE BLESSING OF THE LORD BE HIS LAND, as if to say: The land of Joseph shall be blessed by the Lord; this is clear from the Hebrew.
OF THE FRUITS OF HEAVEN, that is, in fruits which are born by the influence of the heaven, the sun, and the moon, the land of Joseph shall be blessed, and shall have an abundance of fruits, dew, and crops: for the preposition 'of' here and in what follows is taken for 'in'; for thus the Hebrews often interchange the preposition beth with 'in.'
AND OF THE DEEP THAT LIES BENEATH, as if to say: The land of Joseph, namely which Ephraim and Manasseh will occupy, shall be blessed on account of the fountains, continually springing up from the earth beneath, like an abyss, just as above it shall be blessed by the influence of heaven, the sun, the moon, and the stars.
15. OF THE TOP OF THE ANCIENT MOUNTAINS, as if to say: The fruits that shall grow on the summit of the ancient mountains, or the everlasting heights, that is, which have existed from the beginning of the world; for this is what he adds in rhythmic explanation: "Of the fruits of the everlasting hills." Moses implies that these hills have been fertile and fruit-bearing from the beginning of the world. Jacob the father also gave these same blessings to Joseph, Genesis chapter 49, verse 26.
16. THE BLESSING OF HIM (God) WHO APPEARED (to Moses, Exodus 3:2) IN THE BUSH, COME UPON THE HEAD OF JOSEPH, AND UPON THE CROWN OF THE NAZARITE AMONG HIS BROTHERS. God appearing in the bush is named here, because just as God in the bush appeared to Moses alone, in a desert place, and appointed him leader of the people: so Ahijah the prophet addressed Jeroboam alone (who was from Ephraim and Joseph), and predicted to him the kingdom of the ten tribes, and as it were sealed it, 3 Kings 11:29. The blessing therefore of God, who appeared to Moses in the bush, to be manifested through Ahijah the prophet, and to come upon the head and crown of Joseph, was the royal crown; whence the Septuagint translates, who was glorified above his brothers on his head. The Hebrew and our Vulgate imply the same, when they add in explanation: "And upon the crown of the Nazarite among his brothers;" for the merit of Joseph, by which his tribes merited this crown, is intimated, when he himself is called a Nazarite among his brothers: for because Joseph was sold and separated by his brothers, he merited among them the principality and kingdom in his posterity. So Cajetan.
Note: Joseph was a Nazarite, that is, separated. First, because he was holy among his brothers; secondly, because he was sold into Egypt, separated, and shut up in a long imprisonment; thirdly, because in prison he remained unshorn, and grew his hair like a Nazarite, which was afterward cut when he was brought out of it, Genesis 41:14. So Rupert. Fourthly, because on account of these things he was separated and exalted to the principality in Egypt under Pharaoh. Fifthly, because on account of these same things he was to be separated and raised in his posterity to the royal crown. Sixthly, because this crown fell to him when Israel, that is, the ten tribes, separated themselves from the house of David and from the two tribes, namely Judah and Benjamin, by establishing for themselves, in place of Rehoboam, their own king Jeroboam, who was from the tribe of Joseph. So Cajetan.
17. AS THE FIRSTBORN OF A BULL (in Hebrew שור scher, in Chaldean חוד tor, whence the Greek and Latin taurus) IS HIS BEAUTY (because indeed Joseph, on account of his beauty, was sought for defilement by his mistress, who was like a wanton cow, he being like a young bull, handsome and outstanding among the rest; but because he strongly resisted her lust, hence it is added of him): THE HORNS OF THE RHINOCEROS ARE HIS HORNS (says Rupert. Secondly, and more aptly, as if to say: Just as the firstborn calf of a bull is beautiful, muscular, with a strong and large body, because he is the strength of the father,
in which, namely in begetting and forming, the bull exerted his first and all his strength: so too the tribe of Joseph, namely Ephraim, shall be the strongest, and shall have battle lines and horns so powerful, as the horns of the rhinoceros are, with which he) SHALL SCATTER (that is, drive, rout, and as it were disperse into the wind) THE NATIONS (hostile ones) TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH, namely his own and the neighboring land, that is, Palestine and Syria; it is a hyperbole.
Note first: He compares Joseph to a bull, first, because he himself was to be honored in Egypt on account of agriculture which he preserved and well provided for; and his tomb was to be adorned with the image of an ox, which is the symbol of agriculture; see what was said at Genesis 41, at the end. Secondly, because his descendants, the future kings, were going to surpass others in strength and magnitude, just as a bull excels the herd. Thus Homer compares Agamemnon to a bull: for the bull is a symbol of a king, as Diogenes teaches, Oration 2, in Dio.
Note secondly: He says horns, not horn, of the rhinoceros, because the rhinoceros, besides the one curved horn which it has on its nose, has another small horn above the nose, but very strong, as our Raderus teaches from Pausanias, Eucherius, Pierius, and the experience of the Portuguese, in book 1 of Martial, On Spectacles, Epigram 22. Hence in Hebrew it is called ארם reem, from the root raam, that is, he exalted, because it raises its horn high, either in a motion to strike, or rather because by its strength and power it exalts its horn above the horns of all animals, that is, demonstrates it to be more powerful and strong. Wherefore the Psalmist, Psalm 91:11: "My horn, he says, shall be exalted like the unicorn's (in Hebrew reem, which others translate as nose-horned or rhinoceros)," as if to say: Just as the horns of other animals are surpassed in strength, beauty, and solidity by the horn of the rhinoceros, so above the forces and kingdoms of all kings and nations, my kingdom and dominion shall be exalted and grow. So Vilalpandus on Ezekiel 27, part 21.
Allegorically Joseph the Nazarite, sold by his brothers, signifies Christ the Nazarene, sold by Judah and His own Jews, and delivered to Pilate and to death. His beauty is like a bull's: because Christ is gentle to some as Savior; fierce to others as Judge, like a bull. His horns are the horns of the cross: by which cross He now through faith scatters all nations, subjecting them to Himself, and transferring believers and Saints from earth to heaven, and at the end of the world He will scatter all unbelievers and the reprobate through judgment and the sentence of condemnation, dispersing and hurling them from earth into hell.
So Tertullian, book Against the Jews, chapter 10; Ambrose, book On the Blessings of the Patriarchs, chapter 11; Augustine, Question 56; Rabanus here, and Justin Against Trypho, page 70, where he teaches that the horns of the unicorn (for so he himself reads with the Septuagint, who throughout translate rhinoceros as monoceros, that is, unicorn) bear the type and likeness of the cross. See what was said at Numbers 23:22. Hear Tertullian, for when he had cited this passage from Deuteronomy, he adds: "Certainly no one-horned rhinoceros was intended, nor a two-horned minotaur; but Christ was signified in that figure, a bull, on account of His twofold disposition, fierce to some as Judge, gentle to others as Savior: whose horns would be the extremities of the cross. For even on the yardarm of a ship, which is a part of the cross, the ends are called horns: and the unicorn is the post of the middle beam. By this power of the cross, therefore, and horned in this manner, He both now scatters all nations through faith, taking them from earth to heaven, and then will scatter them through judgment, casting them down from heaven to earth."
Verses 18-19: To Zebulun and Issachar
18. AND TO ZEBULUN HE SAID: REJOICE, ZEBULUN, IN YOUR GOING OUT, namely in your ports, navigations, and expeditions for your commerce. For the Zebulunites dwelt on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea. See what was said at Genesis 49:13.
AND ISSACHAR IN YOUR TENTS, because the men of Issachar were going to devote themselves not to commerce, but to agriculture, quietly at home.
19. THEY SHALL CALL PEOPLES TO THE MOUNTAIN (as if to say: Issachar and Zebulun, both by word — for there were teachers among them — and by their example, will invite the other tribes to the temple on Mount Zion, so that in it they may piously and devoutly adore and worship God, and there they will sacrifice) VICTIMS OF JUSTICE (that is, lawful and just ones, which are prescribed by the law of God. Secondly, 'of justice,' that is, from wealth not unjustly but justly acquired, says Cajetan), BECAUSE (as follows) THEY SHALL SUCK THE ABUNDANCE OF THE SEA AS MILK (as if to say: Because they will receive merchandise and all kinds of wealth carried in by ships over the waves of the sea), AND THE HIDDEN TREASURES OF THE SANDS, namely gems, gold, and metals, which are dug out of the earth (for these are mixed in with the sands and hidden, like treasures), brought by sea they will receive them. The Septuagint translates: the riches of the sea shall suckle you, and the marts of those dwelling by the sea; or, as Theodoret reads, they shall suck the riches of the sea, and the commerce of those dwelling by the sea; Onkelos: they shall eat the wealth of peoples, and the treasures which are hidden in the sand shall be revealed to them.
Allegorically: Better, says Rupert, and more worthy of the prophetic spirit, we shall refer these things to the doctrine of Christ and to the Apostles. For in the land of Zebulun and Naphtali Christ especially dwelt and taught; whence also He was conceived in Nazareth and transfigured on Tabor: for Nazareth and Tabor are in Zebulun; there too He gathered the Apostles, who called peoples to the mountain, that is, to the Church. These sucked the flood of the sea, that is, they drew the multitude of the Gentiles by sweet preaching into one faith, as it were into their own, that is, Christ's body; they sucked also the hidden treasures of the sands, because they sweetly drank in the depths of the Scriptures, the secrets of the Law and the Prophets. Again, literally, the Church sucked the milk of the Gentiles, and was nursed at the breast of kings, and received gold for bronze, silver for iron, iron for wood and stones, when from the donation of kings and princes she obtained those riches which Isaiah foretold, chapter 49, verse 23, and chapter 60, verse 6: hence Zebulun in Hebrew means the same as dwelling of strength; Issachar, the same as reward, as if to say: Rejoice, O Zebulun and Issachar, that is, O Apostles of Christ, because to you who bravely leave all things, and bravely preach the Gospel, and endure all adversities for the sake of justice, temporal goods will not be lacking: and moreover a copious reward will be stored up for you in heaven; therefore in that going out of yours, in those heavenly dwellings and rewards of yours, rejoice and exult.
Verses 20-21: To Gad He Said
20. AND TO GAD HE SAID: BLESSED BE HE WHO ENLARGES GAD. In Hebrew it is, Gad will enlarge himself, that is, he will obtain a wide and ample lot and possession in Canaan, as is clear from Joshua 13:24.
AS A LION HE HAS RESTED, AND HAS SEIZED THE ARM AND THE HEAD, as if to say: The tribe of Gad shall be fearless and very strong like a lion, who seizes the head and shoulders at once, that is, who in one blow as it were tears off or rips away the head and shoulders from his prey, namely from the animal he has hunted.
21. AND HE SAW HIS PRINCIPALITY. In Hebrew, and he saw his beginning, that is, as the Chaldean has it, he will receive his portion at the beginning. For the beginning of the lot and possession of the Hebrews was the land of Og and Sihon, which the Gadites possessed, before the other tribes crossed the Jordan and obtained their lot in Canaan, as if to say: The tribe of Gad was the first to choose its lot and territory for itself, and already possesses it before the other tribes, in the land of the Amorite kings, Og and Sihon.
AND HE SAW (that is, soon he will see and know) THAT IN HIS PORTION (that is, lot) A TEACHER WAS STORED UP, that is, Moses the lawgiver was buried: so the Chaldean; for near Mount Nebo, on this side of the Jordan, Moses was buried. For although Nebo and the tomb of Moses were properly in the tribe of Reuben, yet because it was beyond the Jordan, in which region the Gadites were prominent and as it were dominant, hence Scripture attributes this to them. Moses implies that the Gadites sought this lot, not only for the sake of their flocks' pastures, but also because they knew that Moses, their leader and lawgiver, was to be buried in it. For they knew that Moses had been forbidden by God to cross the Jordan, and therefore would die on this side of the Jordan, in their lot. Vatablus translates differently, namely: he saw there (in his lot) the portion of the paneled lawgiver, that is, paneled and splendid palaces of princes; but this is novel and obscure.
WHO WAS WITH THE PRINCES OF THE PEOPLE (that is, with the princes of the nine tribes, when namely at the crossing of the Jordan the Gadites preceded the other tribes in the battle line, to conquer the Canaanites, as Moses had commanded, and as they had promised him: and so Gad) PERFORMED THE JUSTICES OF THE LORD, AND HIS JUDGMENT WITH ISRAEL, that is, Gad did what, by his covenant and duty, he ought to have done toward God and toward his fellow Israelites. So Vatablus.
Verse 22: To Dan He Said
22. TO DAN ALSO HE SAID: DAN IS A LION'S WHELP, HE SHALL FLOW ABUNDANTLY FROM BASHAN. In place of 'he shall flow abundantly,' in Hebrew the word is par zanac, which is found only here, for which the Septuagint, Vatablus, Cajetan, and others translate 'he shall leap,' and explain it thus, as if to say: Dan, like a whelp of the strongest and most rapacious lion, such as were wont to be in Bashan, shall spring forth and rush upon his enemies, so that it is a prophecy about Samson, who was a Danite, and most powerfully leaped upon the Philistines. Again, of the Danites suddenly attacking Laish, Judges 18, verses 7 and 27.
But more subtly our Interpreter with the Chaldean understood here two blessings being given to the tribe of Dan, namely first, that it would be warlike, like a lion's whelp, in Samson and the other things already mentioned; secondly, that in Dan was the source of the Jordan, the most celebrated river in Scripture.
Note secondly for this: Dan is a stream which rises from the Phiala fountain, situated at Panium, at the foot of Lebanon, through underground channels, and flows to the city which was likewise called Dan (which was afterward called Paneas, and Caesarea Philippi), and there another stream flows into it, whose name is Jor; whence from the confluence of both the names and the streams Jor and Dan, the name Jordan or Jordanis is formed; see Adrichomius in the Geographic Tables of the Holy Land. Now because Dan, or rather Jordan, at this confluence, which is near the city of Dan, begins to flow with force, abundantly and as it were doubly, so much so that it irrigates and fertilizes the whole region of Bashan, which begins near the city, hence it is said to leap from Bashan: for thus we commonly say that fountains and rivers leap or jump down, when they run in abundance and with force and rush headlong. Whence for 'he shall leap,' both our Vulgate and the Chaldean translate 'he shall flow abundantly,' as if to say: The stream Dan from Lebanon and Panium shall flow to the city of Dan, and there it shall merge with the stream Jor, and become the Jordan: wherefore it shall leap, that is, with force, and shall flow abundantly from Bashan, because the region of Bashan begins near the city of Dan, and extends through the whole course of the Jordan, to the brook Jabbok.
Lyranus and Cajetan explain these things somewhat differently, namely, as if to say: The river Dan, which is the source of the Jordan, rises and is hidden at Panium and Phiala: from there through underground channels it bursts forth and springs out in Bashan, and is called Dan: but this bursting forth is here called leaping; but they err in their geography: for the river Dan does not burst forth in Bashan, but long before it reaches Bashan.
shall be brought from the South and from the sea, that is, from the West; therefore Naphtali shall possess them. For the Naphtalites were neighbors of the Phoenicians, namely the Tyrians, Sidonians, etc., whence they could easily obtain the merchandise of the whole world from them.
however, it can be taken in the same way in both places for the tribe and city of Dan, if you explain it thus: The city of Dan shall flow abundantly, namely through its river Jordan which it as it were sends forth from itself.
Verse 23: To Naphtali He Said
23. AND TO NAPHTALI HE SAID: NAPHTALI SHALL ENJOY ABUNDANCE (abundance of crops and wealth) (in Hebrew it is, he shall be full of good will, that is, he shall have whatever he wants; or, as Oleaster says, he shall be free, he shall do what he wants, like a deer let loose, as Jacob says, Genesis 49:21, and therefore) HE SHALL BE FULL OF THE BLESSINGS OF THE LORD. This will especially be seen, says Cajetan, in that in Naphtali early-ripening fruits shall mature, from which first-fruits shall be offered to God in the temple.
HE SHALL POSSESS THE SEA AND THE SOUTH, as if to say: The lot of Naphtali shall extend to the Mediterranean Sea and to the southern region: so some say. But because between the lot of Naphtali and the sea lies the whole lot of Asher and all of Phoenicia, hence secondly and more truly, as if to say: Naphtali shall extend toward the sea, that is, toward the West and toward the South: for the sea signifies the West in Scripture, because the Mediterranean Sea is to the west of Judea; or thirdly, as if to say: To the Naphtalites merchandise and wealth shall be brought
Verses 24-25: To Asher He Said
24. TO ASHER ALSO HE SAID: BLESSED BE ASHER IN HIS SONS, as if to say: Asher shall beget many and handsome offspring: whence he shall be pleasing and gracious to his brothers.
LET HIM DIP HIS FOOT IN OIL, that is, let him abound in olive groves and oil, so much that he could wash his feet in it, or in oil-water, on account of the abundance. A similar expression and catachresis is in the following verse and Job 29:6, where Job says: "I washed my feet in butter."
25. IRON AND BRASS SHALL BE HIS SHOE. It is a catachresis, as if to say: Asher shall abound in mines of brass and iron, as much as others abound in leather, so that he could make shoes for himself from these, if he wished: an indication of this is the city of Zarephath, which was given to this tribe, Joshua 19:30, which took its name from metalworking smelting workshops; for צרף tsaraph means to smelt: hence it is called Zarephath, as if you would say, a furnace or smelting city.
Note: Iron, equally with brass, was valued by the ancients. Thus Lycurgus among the Spartans abolished gold and silver money, and substituted for it iron coins, and these enormous and heavy ones, in order to exclude avarice and theft, as Plutarch reports in his Life of Lycurgus.
Secondly, Cajetan takes shoe metonymically for possession: for this is usually approached with shoes, by treading on the thing to be possessed, as is clear from Psalm 59:9. Thirdly, Procopius explains it thus, as if to say: Asher shall be strong, and shall preserve his strength perpetually, as if he were shod with brass and iron. Fourthly, Masius on Joshua 19, takes brass and iron for the forces of the Barbarians, who pressed upon the Asherites, as a shoe presses the foot, especially an iron one: for in Galilee of the Gentiles there was a great abundance of barbarian nations, whose forces the Asherites were unable to break. Among these senses, the first seems simpler and clearer.
Tropologically St. Gregory, Moralia 34, chapter 5: "Under the figure of Asher, he says, the holy Church is designated: the shoe signifies the protection of preaching, iron signifies virtue, brass perseverance. Iron and brass therefore are called her shoe, since her preaching is fortified both by sharpness and by constancy: for through iron she penetrates the evils that oppose her, and through brass she preserves with long-suffering the good things she has proposed."
AS THE DAYS OF YOUR YOUTH (namely are, and shall be calm, flourishing, and strong), SO ALSO SHALL YOUR OLD AGE BE, calm, flourishing, and strong.
Verses 26-27: The Rider of the Heavens
26. THERE IS NO OTHER GOD LIKE THE GOD OF THE MOST UPRIGHT, namely Israel, who is called ישורון Jeshurun, that is, the most upright, on account of his most upright faith and religion, as I said at chapter 32:15.
THE RIDER OF THE HEAVENS (in Hebrew, who rides upon the heavens: for the heavens and the whole world are like the horse of God their Rider, who by the reins of His providence steers and turns it wherever He wills; therefore He is the charioteer and ruler of this world) IS YOUR HELPER, so that He may fly swiftly and suddenly, riding upon the heavens and clouds as upon the swiftest horses; and so that from the heavens He may hurl stones and thunderbolts against your enemies, make the sun stand still, etc., says Cajetan. There is no reason, then, O Israel, to fear the Canaanites, the Philistines, men, or demons; for this great Horseman will pierce them all through with one thrust of His lance: therefore take up great courage, fight manfully, assuredly you will conquer and triumph.
IN HIS MAGNIFICENCE (His great wisdom and power) THE CLOUDS RUN.
27. HIS DWELLING IS ABOVE (because God dwells in Himself, and in His eternity, likewise in the empyrean heaven; where He displays His majesty and glory to the Saints. In Hebrew it is: the dwelling of God is antiquity, that is, eternity, says Cajetan; or, namely the clouds and the atmosphere are the dwelling of God from of old. So Vatablus), AND UNDERNEATH ARE THE EVERLASTING ARMS. In Hebrew, and underneath are the arms of the age, as if to say: Under God and God's eternity are the angels or the heavens, who are as it were the everlasting arms of God. So Abulensis; and likewise Cajetan: Eternity, he says, which is the dwelling of God, is above; but beneath it are the arms, that is, the extensions and durations of each age: for eternity encompasses every age and every time, since the powers and forces of every age arise from, and are under eternity, whether they be the powers of angels, or of heavenly bodies, or of lower things.
Whence secondly, from the Hebrew you may translate thus: under His arms is the age, as if to say: God above through the heavens extends the arms of His power immeasurably, and under these arms of His the whole of this world, every time, and all the things of this age are contained, directed, and run their course.
Thirdly and most aptly, as if to say: O Israel, God your Helper, although He dwells above, does not however neglect lower things and human affairs and yours, but cares for them, rules and provides for them: because beneath heaven He has the arms of His power, everlasting, unwearying, and omnipotent, by which He embraces the world and all the things of the world, holds them fast, moves, directs, protects, and governs them; or, as Vatablus says: O Israel, God encircles, embraces, defends, and rules you from below as well as from above; for from above He protects you by Himself and His heaven, just as a shelter protects men from the inclemency of the weather: from below, however, He has as it were beneath you His unwearying arms, by which He holds you fast, in which you lie down securely and rest, just as an infant is held fast in the arms of its mother, and rests securely in them, as if to say: From head to foot, above and below, the Lord diligently surrounds Israel and guards him.
Here also belongs Oleaster's explanation: O Israel, God has been your dwelling from the beginning, indeed from the eternity of His predestination, and He embraces and protects you, as it were with certain eternal and unceasing arms.
Ascend therefore, O soul, you who here struggle with gnats and fleas, with clods and mud; stretch yourself and ascend to the Rider of the heavens, to your God who dwells on the highest mountains of eternity. Placed there, look down, and see how small are the things which here entice you by desire or strike you with terror: see how thin and fragile are all things contained in this point of earth: see how before God, before eternity, all created things are small, how vain, weak, brief, indeed are nothing; therefore pursue the one supreme and immense good, and value the rest little. Supported by God, elevated, and enlarged, trample underfoot whatever under the sun, under the moon, either charms with blandishment or threatens with terror.
Think of eternal things. A demon possessing a camel, brought before St. Hilarion, began to rage terribly, as if about to devour him; to whom the Saint said: "You shall not be feared, O devil, with such a great body mass; in a little fox and in a camel you are the same;" immediately the camel collapsed before him and became perfectly tame. So St. Jerome in the Life of St. Hilarion.
Such are all the allurements, all the temptations of the world. What do you hope for? What do you love? What do you fear? The Rider of the heavens is your Helper; He Himself embraces and protects you with His everlasting arms; and with those same arms He grasps your enemies so tightly — those who either entice you or frighten you — that He can kill them all with one blow, like fleas, or indeed annihilate them. Does the pleasure of gluttony or lust tempt you? It is trifling; despise it, think of eternity. Do threats, tyrants, afflictions, poverty frighten you? They are trifling; despise them, think of eternal things.
HE SHALL CAST OUT THE ENEMY FROM BEFORE YOUR FACE, AND SHALL SAY: BE CRUSHED. So it should be read with the Chaldean, the Septuagint, and the Romans, so that namely in the Hebrew, with different vowel points, we read hisscamed, that is, be crushed, passively; for hisscamed is the passive imperative of the niphal. Now with other points they read actively in the hiphil, hasmed, that is, crush, lay waste, namely you, O Israel, your enemies. Now, "He shall say: Be crushed," that is, He shall cause you to be crushed. For God's saying is doing. But the former reading and sense is more apt and clearer.
Verses 28-29: Blessed Are You, O Israel
28. THE EYE OF JACOB (that is, the eye of the Jacobites, or the descendants of Jacob; supply: shall see, enjoy, and delight) IN A LAND OF GRAIN AND WINE.
AND THE HEAVENS SHALL BE MISTY WITH DEW, as if to say: So great shall be the abundance of dew, watering and fertilizing the herbs and fields, that it will darken the air and the heavens and block the sight of the sun.
29. WHO ARE SAVED IN THE LORD (that is, through the Lord, by the help of the Lord, who is) THE SHIELD OF YOUR HELP, from whom namely all help and all protection comes to you.
AND THE SWORD OF YOUR GLORY, by which namely a glorious victory, empire, honor, and fame are prepared for you.
YOUR ENEMIES SHALL DENY YOU. In Hebrew, your enemies shall lie to you, that is, your enemies shall be utterly subjected to you; for this is what this Hebraism means. Psalm 80, verse 16; Psalm 65, verse 3; Psalm 17, verse 46. For enemies who are defeated and captured, in order to obtain pardon and favor from the conqueror, are accustomed to lie much, and to say that they truly and sincerely were never his enemies, and that they did many other things in his favor. So Cajetan, Vatablus, and others. Abulensis explains it differently: for he refers this to the Gibeonites, who, struck with fear of the Hebrews, lied to them, denying that they were from the land of the enemies of Israel; but Joshua and Israel trampled on their necks, because once the matter was known, he did not kill them indeed, but subjected them to servitude. But the former sense is from the Hebrew idiom and Scripture.