Deuteronomy 33:7

Deuteronomy 33:7 . And this is the blessing of Judah — As these words are used of none of the rest, so they seem to denote that Judah’s blessing was more remarkable than the rest. Judah is here put before Levi, because it was to be the royal tribe. This benediction, as Bishop Sherlock argues, cannot relate to the time when it was given: for then Judah’s hands were very sufficient for him, this tribe being by much the greatest of the twelve tribes, as appears by two different accounts of the forces of Israel in the book of Numbers, Numbers 1:26 : and there was more reason to put up this petition for several other tribes than for Judah. Besides, what is the meaning of bringing Judah to his people ? How were he and his people at this time separate? What means, likewise, the other part of the petition, Be thou a help to him from his enemies? This petition supposes a state of distress; yet what distress was Judah in at this time, at least what greater distress than the other tribes? The ancient Targums, and some old versions, understand the first petition of bringing Judah back to his people, to be only a request in his behalf, for safe return from the day of battle; but was there not the same reason for the same petition in behalf of every tribe?

Nay, how much better would it have suited Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, who left their people and their settlements on the other side of Jordan, and passed over the river in the very front of the battle, to assist their brethren? Joshua 4:12 . But if you refer this prophecy to the prophecy of Jacob, ( Genesis 49:10 ,) and to the continuance of the sceptre of Judah after the destruction of the other tribes, every expression is natural and proper, and suited to the occasion. Do but suppose Moses, in the spirit of prophecy, to have a sight of the state of affairs, when all the people were in captivity, and you will see how this prophetic prayer answers to that state. All the tribes were in captivity, the ten tribes in Assyria, and Judah in Babylon; but it was implied in Jacob’s prophecy, that Judah should retain the sceptre, and return again: for Judah only, therefore, does Moses pray that he may come to his people again. Let his hands be sufficient for him — Good reason was there for this petition, for scarcely were his hands sufficient at the return from Babylon. The tribe of Judah, ( Numbers 26:22 ,) in Moses’s time, consisted of seventy-six thousand five hundred, reckoning only those of twenty years old and upward.

(7) And this (he said) of Judah. —The words which follow are a kingly blessing: “Hear, Lord, the voice of Judah, and bring him to his people.” In other words, when we think of “the Lion of the tribe of Judah,” “Thy kingdom come.” Rashi reminds us of the many prayers in Old Testament history which were heard from Judah’s lips. The prayers of David and Solomon; of Asa and Jehoshaphat; of Hezekiah against Sennacherib;—and, we may add, of King Manasseh, and Daniel the prophet—were all “the voice of Judah.” The last line of Old Testament history is a prayer of Judah by the mouth of Nehemiah, “Remember me, O my God, for good.” The psalms of David, again, are all “the voice of Judah.” And, best of all, every prayer of our Lord’s is “the voice of Judah” also. The remainder of the blessing is easily understood. The “hands” of Judah embrace those Hands which were “sufficient” for the salvation of mankind. “His enemies” include all, even to Death, the “last enemy,” whom God shall subdue under His feet.

Verse 7. - The blessing on Judah is in the form of prayer to Jehovah. As Jacobhad promised to Judah supremacy over his brethren and success in war, so Moses here names him next after Reuben, whose pre-eminence he had assumed, and prays for him that, going forth at the head of the tribes, he might return in triumph, being helped of the Lord. Let his hands be sufficient for him ; rather, with his hands he contendeth for it (to wit, his people ). רַב here is not the adj. much, enough, but the part. of the verb רִיב , to contend, to strive; and יָדָיו is the aeons, of instrument. The rendering in the Authorized Version is grammatically possible; but the meaning thereby brought out is not in keeping with the sentiment of the passage; for if Judah's hands, i . e . his own power and resources, were sufficient for him, what need had he of help from the Lord? Deuteronomy 33:7

Hear, Lord, the voice of Judah, i.e. God will hear his prayer for the accomplishment of those great things promised to that tribe, Genesis 49:8-11 . This implies the delays and difficulties Judah would meet with herein, which would drive him to his prayers, and that those prayers should be crowned with success. Bring him unto his people; either, 1. When he shall go forth to battle against God’s and his enemies, and shall fall fiercely upon them, as was foretold Genesis 49:8,9 , bring him back with honour, and victory, and safety to his people, i.e. either to the rest of his tribe, who were left at home when their brethren went to battle, or to his brethren the other tribes of Israel. Or, 2. When that tribe shall go into captivity, let them not always be kept in captivity, as the ten tribes are like to be, but do thou bring him again to his people . Or, 3. As thou hast promised the gathering of the people to him , even to the Shiloh, who was to come out of his loins, Genesis 49:10 ; so do thou bring him , i.e. the Messias, who may be understood out of that parallel prophecy, and who may be here called Judah, because he was to come from him, as he is for that reason called David in divers places, to his people , i. e. to that people which thou hast given to him. Or, 4. Bring him in , to wit, as a prince and governor, as thou hast promised, Ge 49 , to his people, i.e. to thy people of Israel, now to be reckoned as his people , because of their subjection to him. Or rather, 5.

Bring him in to his people , to that people which thou hast promised and given to him, i.e. to that portion of land which thou hast allotted to him, settle him in his possession; the people or inhabitants being here put for the land inhabited by them, as the Israelites are told they should possess the nations or people of Canaan, Deu 11:23 12:2 , i.e. their land, as it is explained, Deu 17:14 30:18 ; for the people they were not to possess, but to dispossess, and to root out. Let his hands be sufficient for him: this tribe shall be so numerous, and potent, and valiant, that it shall suffice to defend itself without any aid, either from foreign nations or from other tribes; as appeared when this tribe alone was able to grapple with nine or ten of the other tribes. Be thou an help to him from his enemies; thou wilt preserve this tribe in a special manner, so as his enemies shall not be able to ruin it, as they will do other tribes, and that for the sake of Messias, who shall spring out of it.

7 . Thou shalt not abhor ] regard as an abomination, ritually alien or ‘unclean.’ see on Deuteronomy 7:26 . stranger ] Guest , or client . Heb. gçr . 7 . See introductory note above. bring him in ] Not back . Judah is isolated from the rest of the nation, but whether this refers to that early isolation, to which Deborah’s silence upon Judah testifies, or to the later one after the Disruption of the Kingdom it is impossible to say; see introd. to this ch. With his hands , etc.] Text uncertain, Sam. his hand , LXX his hands, contend for him . Read therefore His own hands have striven for him , in antithesis to the next line, But thou , etc. This is better than Stade’s ‘ with thy hands strive thou for him and thou ,’ etc. R.V. marg., reading another vb with the same consonants, is possible but less likely; better than it is his own hands have sufficed for him . Calvin: let his hands suffice him ; so too Geddes. Contrast the very different description of Judah in Genesis 49:8-12 .