Deuteronomy 33:2

Deuteronomy 33:2 . The Lord came — Namely, to the Israelites; manifested himself graciously and gloriously among them. He begins with this, that he may, in the first place, make them sensible of that most signal blessing which God had bestowed upon them, in choosing them to be his peculiar people. From Sinai — Beginning at Sinai, where the first appearance of God was. And rose up from Seir unto them, &c. — The plain meaning of the word is, that the same divine presence which was manifested to them on mount Sinai, accompanied them through all their journeys and encampments, especially about mount Seir and Paran, the principal places of their abode, till they came to the plains of Moab, where they were now encamped. Rose up from Seir — Namely, when, upon the removal of the cloud of glory, they marched from the neighbourhood of Idumea, in which is mount Seir. The original word signifies that his presence rose upon them like the sun from the mount, ( Malachi 4:2 ,) and spread abroad his beams upon them from Paran, namely, when they encamped below that mount, whither they came from the wilderness of Sinai, Numbers 10:12 ; Numbers 13:1-3 . Here God eminently manifested his presence and goodness, both in giving the people flesh, which they desired, and in appointing the seventy elders, and pouring forth his Spirit upon them.

He came with ten thousands of his saints — Or holy ones, that is, angels, who attended him at the giving of the law, Psalm 68:17 ; see also Acts 7:53 ; Galatians 3:19 , and Hebrews 2:2 . From his right hand — An allusion to the manner of men, who ordinarily both write and give gifts with their right hands. Thus God both wrote and gave the law. A fiery law — The law is termed fiery, because, like fire, it is of a searching, purging, and enflaming nature; because it inflicts fiery wrath on sinners for the violation of it, and principally, because it was delivered out of the midst of fire.

(2)“And he said, Jehovah came from Sinai, And dawned upon them from Seir; He shone forth from mount Paran. And there came from the ten thousands of holiness, From His right hand, a fire of law [10] for them.” [10] On this expression see an additional note at the end of the book. The appearance of God on Sinai is described as a sunrise. His light rose from Sinai, and the tops of the hills of Seir caught its rays. The full blaze of light shone on Paran. (Comp. Psalm 1:2 : “Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined.”) He came with ten thousands of saints is a mere mistranslation. The preposition is “from,” not “with.” If the verb “he came,” in the fourth line, is taken to refer to God, we must translate: “He came from ten thousands of saints” (to sinful men). Rashi takes “from” to mean “part of.” “There came some of His ten thousands of saints, but not all of them.” I believe the true translation is what I have given. The law itself was “ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator” (Galatians 3:19). It is called “the word spoken by angels” in Hebrews 2:2. The language of Daniel 7:10—“A fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him: thousand thousands ministered unto Him”—supplies a complete parallel. The fiery law came from the ten thousands on “His right hand;” or from them, and from His right hand. This construction is by far the most simple, and agrees with what we read elsewhere.

ADDITIONAL NOTE ON Deuteronomy 33:2. “A FIERY LAW.” THE original expression, eshdath or esh dath, sometimes written as one word, and sometimes as two, has created some difficulty. Esh is “fire,” and dath, if taken as a distinct word, is “law.” But dath does not appear elsewhere in the Hebrew of the Old Testament, until we meet it in the book of Esther, where it occurs frequently. It is also found in Ezra 8:36. In the Chaldee of Daniel and Ezra it occurs six times. Modern authorities assert that it is properly a Persian word. But since it is found in the Chaldee of Daniel, it was in use among the Chaldæans before the Persian empire. The word has Semitic affinities. The Hebrewsyllable thêth would have nearly the same meaning. A datum (or dictum) is the nearest equivalent that we have. There seems no reason to doubt that the word dath had obtained a place both in Chaldee and in Hebrew at the time of the Captivity. It is perfectly possible that its existence in Chaldee dates very much earlier. We must remember that Chaldee was the language of the family of Abraham before they adopted Hebrew. “A Syrian ready to perish was my father,” is the confession dictated by Moses in Deuteronomy 26:5. Syriac and Chaldee in the Old Testament are names of the same language. In the Babylonish captivity the Jews really returned to their ancestral language.

Verse 2. - And he said. Here begin the words of Moses. He commences by depicting the majesty of Jehovah as he appeared to Israel when he came to make the covenant with them and give them his Law. The Lord came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them, etc. Seir is the mountain land of Edom to the cast of Sinai. Mount Paran is probably the range of lofty hills which form the southern boundary of the Promised Land to the north of the desert of Et-Tih. These places are not mentioned as scenes of different manifestations of the Divine glory, but as indicating the extent to which the one manifestation given at Sinai reached. The light of the Divine glory that rested on Sinai was reflected also from the mountains of Seir and Paran (cf. Hebrews 3:3 ; Judges 5:4 ). He came with ten thousands of saints ; rather, he came from ten thousands of holy ones ; literally, out from myriads of holiness ; i . e . "from his celestial seat, where myriads of angels surround his throne" (Rosenmüller). The rendering "with," though that of the Targum, LXX., and Vulgate, cannot be retained; nor does Scripture represent God as attended by angels when he comes forth to manifest his glory to men. They are represented as surrounding his throne in heaven ( 1 Kings 22:19 ; Job 1:6 ; Daniel 7:10 ), as his servants awaiting his behest, and his host that do his pleasure ( Genesis 28:12 ; Genesis 32:2, 3 ; Psalm 103:21 ); and God is represented as dwelling in the midst of them ( Psalm 68:17 ).

Hence he is represented here as coming forth from among them to manifest himself to his people. A fiery law . There is a various reading here; instead of אֵשׁ םדּת , fire of law, many codices have אשׁדת in one word, and this is supported by the Samaritan text and other authorities, and is accepted by most critics and interpreters. It is a fatal objection to the textual reading that דַּת is not a Semitic word, but one of Persian origin, brought by the Jews from Babylonia, and found only in the post-exilian books ( Esther 1:8, 19 ; Esther 2:8, 12 ; Esther 3:8, 14 ; Esther 4:11, 15 ; Ezra 7:12, 21 ; Ezra 8:36 ; Daniel 2:9, 13, 15 ; Daniel 6:5, 9, 13, 16 ); and in them as applied to the Law of God only by heathens. It is, therefore, altogether improbable that this word should be found in any Hebrew writing anterior to the Captivity. Besides, what is the sense of אֵשׁ דַּת , supposing דת to mean "law?" The words cannot be rendered, as in the Authorized Version, by "fiery law;" they can only be rendered by "a fire, a law," or "a fire of law," and What either of these may mean it is not easy to see. The ancient versions vary here very considerably: LXX., ἐκ δεξιῶν αὐτοῦ ἄγγελοι μετ αὐτοῦ : Vulgate, fin dextera ejus ignea lex ; Targum of Onkelos, "Written by his right hand, from the midst of the fire, a law gave he to us;" Syriac, "With myriads of his saints at his right hand.

The Lord came, to wit, to the Israelites, i.e. manifested graciously and gloriously among them. From Sinai, i.e. beginning at Sinai, where the first and most glorious appearance of God was, and so going on with them to Seir and Paran. Or, to Sinai , the particle mem oft signifying to , as is evident by comparing Isaiah 59:20 , with Romans 11:26 1 Kings 8:30 , with 2 Chronicles 6:21 2 Samuel 6:2 , with 1 Chronicles 13:6 . See also Genesis 2:8 11:2 13:11 1 Samuel 14:15 . Or, in Sinai ; mem being put for beth , in , as Exodus 25:18 Deu 15:1 Job 19:26 Psalm 68:29 72:16 . Rose up; he appeared or showed himself, as the sun doth when it riseth. From Seir, i.e. from the mountain or land of Edom, which is called Seir , Genesis 32:3 36:8 Deu 2:4 , to which place the Israelites came, Numbers 20:14 , &c.; and from thence God led them on towards the Land of Promise, and then gloriously appeared for them in subduing Sihon and Og before them, and giving their countries unto them; which glorious work of God’s is particularly celebrated Judges 5:4 .

But because the land of Seir or Edom is sometimes taken more largely, and so reacheth even to the Red Sea, as appears from 1 Kings 9:26 , and therefore Mount Sinai was near to it; and because Paran, which here follows, was also near Sinai, as being the next station into which they came from the wilderness of Sinai, Numbers 10:12 ; all this verse may belong to God’s appearance in Mount Sinai, where that glorious light which shone upon Mount-Sinai directly did in all probability scatter its beams into adjacent parts, such as Seir and Paean were; and so this is only a poetical and prophetical variation of the phrase and expression of the same thing in divers words, and God coming , or rising , or shining from or to or in Sinai, and Sear, and Paran note one and the same illustrious action of God appearing there with ten thousands of his saints or holy angels, and there giving a fiery law to them, as it here follows. And this interpretation may receive some strength from Habakkuk 3:3 , where this glorious march of God before his people is remembered; only teman , which signifies the south , is put for Seir , which is here, possibly to signify that that Seir which is here mentioned was to be understood of the southern part of the country of Seir or Edom, which was that part adjoining to the Red Sea. Others refer this of Seir to the brazen serpent, that eminent type of Christ, which was erected in this place.