Deuteronomy 33:21

Deuteronomy 33:21 . He provideth the first part for himself — The first-fruits of the land of promise, the country of Sion, which was first conquered, and which he is said to provide for himself, because he asked and obtained it of Moses, and was the first who viewed his portion in the promised land. There, in a portion of the lawgiver, &c. — This is obscurely expressed, but the meaning seems to be, he was there settled in a portion or settlement allotted him by Moses the Jewish legislator himself, whereas the portions beyond Jordan were given to the several tribes by Joshua, according to the direction of the lot. Or perhaps this part of the land is termed a portion of the lawgiver, because, lying beyond Jordan, it was the only part which Moses was permitted to enter upon. Was he seated — Hebrew, ספון , sapun, covered, or protected: for their wives and children were secured in their cities, while many of the men went over to the war in Canaan. He came with the heads of the people, &c. — Or with the princes, captains, or rulers of the people; that is, under their command and conduct. Or, as ראשׁי , roshee, may be understood, with the first, or in the front of the people, as the Syriac renders it; for this tribe and their brethren, whose lot fell beyond Jordan, were to march into Canaan before their brethren. Thus, again, he speaks, in the prophetic style, of a thing as already done, because he foresaw it would be done.

(21) The first part. —The first territory conquered by Moses was distributed between Reuben and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh. A portion of the lawgiver is interpreted by Rashi as the field of the “burial-place” of the lawgiver. But this can hardly have been in the mind of Moses. He came with the heads of the people.—The Gadites with their companion tribes passed over Jordan to the conquest of Canaan by Moses’ order.

Verse 21 refers to Gad's obtaining an inheritance for himself from Moses beyond Jordan. And he provided the first part for himself ; literally, and he saw for himself (i.e. chose) the first , i . e . either the most excellent part or the firstfruits of the conquest. Because there, in a portion of the lawgiver, was he seated ; rather, for there the portion of the leader was reserved . The word rendered t, lawgiver," or "leader" ( מְחֹקֵק ), signifies primarily one who ordains or appoints, and is used in both the above senses (cf. Exodus 33:22 ; Judges 5:14 ); it is here applied to Gad, because that tribe displayed such promptitude and energy at the head of the tribes in the conquest of the land, that it might be regarded as their leader. An entirely different view of the passage has been taken by some, who by the mechokek understand Moses as the lawgiver, and his portion as the place of his grave, which was concealed, but was within the inheritance of Gad. But it is a fatal objection to this view that not only is the word rendered "portion" ( חֶלְקַת ) nowhere used of a grave, but the grave of Moses on Mount Nebo was in the territory of Reuben, not in that of Gad. Gesenius renders, "The portion of (assigned by) the lawgiver was preserved." But this does not tally with the immediately preceding statement, that Gad chose his portion for himself; at any rate, it could not be because of this that he chose it.

Gad chose for himself a portion on the east of Jordan, and the portion he had chosen was sacredly kept for him, though he went with his brethren to the conquest of Canaan. And he came with the heads of the people ; i . e . his place of marching was with the leaders; his place was at the head of the tribes (cf. Numbers 32:17, 21, 32 , and Joshua 1:14 ; Joshua 4:12 ). He executed the justice of the Lord , etc.; i . e . he did what God required of him, obeying his commands, and thereby fulfilling all righteousness (cf. Matthew 3:15 ; Philippians 3:6 ). With Israel ; in the fellowship of Israel. Deuteronomy 33:21

And he provided the first part for himself, because there, in a portion of the {o} lawgiver, was he seated; and he came with the heads of the people, he executed the justice of the LORD, and his judgments with Israel. (o) So the portion of the Gadites, and others on this side of the Jordan was God's, though it was not so known.

The first part; the first-fruits of the Land of Promise, the country of Sihon, which was first conquered, which he is said to provide for himself , because he desired and so obtained it of Moses, Num 32 . A portion of the lawgiver, i.e. of Moses, whose portion this is called, either because this part of the land beyond Jordan was the only part of the land which Moses was permitted to enter upon; or because it was given to him by Moses; whereas the portions beyond Jordan were given to the several tribes by Joshua, according to the direction of the lot. Was he seated, Heb. hid or protected ; for their wives and children were secured in their cities, whilst many of their men went over to the war in Canaan. He came with the heads of the people, i.e. he went, or he will go, (the preter tense being put for the future, after the manner of the prophets,) to wit, to the war in Canaan, with the princes, or captains, or rulers of the people of Israel , i.e. under their command and conduct, as indeed they did; or with the first of the people ; or, in the front of the people, as the Syriac renders it; for this tribe and their brethren, whose lot fell beyond Jordan, were to march, and did march, into Canaan before their brethren , as it is expressed, Joshua 1:14 . And the Hebrew word rosch oft signifies the beginning or first of a thing .

He executed the justice of the Lord, and his judgments with Israel, i.e. he did or will execute the just judgment of God against the Canaanites, as the rest of the Israelites did; he will join in the war against them, as he promised to do, Numbers 32:27 , and actually did, Joshua 1:14 .

The first fruits of the conquest made by Israel were assigned to Gad and Reuben by Moses, at their own request. Because ... seated - Render, because there was the leader's portion reserved, i. e., there was reserved the fitting portion for Gad as a leader in war. And he came ... - i. e., he joined the other leaders to fulfill the commands of God respecting the conquest of Canaan (compare Numbers 32:17, Numbers 32:21, Numbers 32:32; Joshua 1:14). Moses regards the promise of the Gadites to do this as already redeemed.

20, 21. of Gad he said—Its possessions were larger than they would have been had they lain west of Jordan; and this tribe had the honor of being settled by Moses himself in the first portion of land conquered. In the forest region, south of the Jabbok, "he dwelt as a lion" (compare Ge 30:11; 49:19). Notwithstanding, they faithfully kept their engagement to join the "heads of the people" [De 33:21] in the invasion of Canaan.

21 . vow ] Heb. nadar , as the parallel nazar shows, means originally ‘to dedicate.’ The term and the idea are found in practically all the Semitic languages. be slack ] Lit. be behind , delay . To pay, lit. to fulfil . sin in thee ] Cp. Deuteronomy 15:9 . 21 . provided ] Lit. saw but = saw to . first part ] Or the best , Heb. reshîth . See above, Deuteronomy 33:15 ; and on Deuteronomy 18:4 . For there , etc.] Both the text of this line and the beginning of the next— kî sham ḥelḳath meḥoḳeḳ saphun (so far confirmed by Sam.) wayyeth —and the meaning, for there the lot of a ruler was laid up, and he came , etc., are very uncertain. The line is an odd one and may well be a gloss upon the preceding line. If the Heb. text be accepted, the meaning is that although Gad had received his large and princely territory E. of Jordan yet he came with (Sam. associated himself with ) the heads of the people to the conquest of W. Palestine, loyal to the righteous purpose of God, and executed His judgements on its peoples ( Exodus 23:31 ff.). Possible emendations are ḥelḳoh meḥuḳḳaḳ , and his lot was ordained (Giesebrecht); hullekah ḥelḳath meḥoḳḳeh (cp. LXX ἐμερίσθη γῆ ἀρχόντων ), a ruler’s lot was allotted .

The last word saphun, reserved or laid up , overloads the line and is by some ingeniously taken with wayyeth’ of the next line as an inversion of wayyith - assephun and there gathered themselves the heads of the peoples , LXX συνηγμένων ἄμα ἀρχηγοῖς λαῶν ; and the line is taken as a gloss, or as the repetition by a scribe’s error of the line in Deuteronomy 33:5 . On the whole v . see Numbers 32. 21–23 ( 22–24 ). Of Vows. A vow once made shall be paid without delay. God requires it, neglect is a sin ( Deuteronomy 33:21 ). To forbear to vow is no sin, but every uttered promise of this kind must be observed ( Deuteronomy 33:22 f.).—In the Sg., somewhat redundant, and probably expanded (see on Deuteronomy 33:23 ). Why it stands here is not evident; Steuern. draws attention to the presence of vow in Deuteronomy 33:18 (19) as apparently the reason. D has already stated that vows are to be paid at the one altar ( Deuteronomy 12:6 ; Deuteronomy 12:11 ; Deuteronomy 12:17 ; Deuteronomy 12:26 ). There is no parallel in E, but one in P, Numbers 30:2 (3) with some identical phrases, the context of which deals with women’s vows in an elaborate fashion. For the development of the casuistry thus begun see Mishna , ‘Nedarîm.’ In ancient times the vow was regarded as an essential part of religion (also in mediaeval Christianity) and was usually associated with prayer, cp. the Greek εὐχή , often conditionally on the prayer being granted.