“The Lord came from Sinai and dawned from Seir upon us; he shone forth from Mount Paran; he came from the ten thousands of holy ones, with flaming fire at his right hand.  Yes, he loved his people, all his holy ones were in his hand; so they followed in your steps, receiving direction from you, when Moses commanded us a law as a possession for the assembly of Jacob.  Thus the Lord became king in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people were gathered, all the tribes of Israel together” (Deuteronomy 33:2-5).

The first part of the blessing in verses 2-5 focuses purely on God’s glory.  In this it has similarities with other pieces of Scripture.[1] But the chief purpose here seems to be to look back at the glory of God as it was manifested at Sinai (interestingly, this is the only place in Deuteronomy where the name Horab is not used in the text).

The text refers to the splendour of the Lord as being like a sunrise (v2) and I cannot help thinking that this is in reference to the way that God revealed himself to His people.  Back in Deuteronomy chapter 4 and 5 although the people do not see God, they are left in no doubt as to His nature.  He is holy, yet, despite this, He has gone out of his way to firstly, redeemed His people and secondly, to speak to them, and by that, make Himself known.  Surely, this is the equivalent of a spiritual sunrise that seeks to destroy the dark night of superstition and idolatry that the Israelites had acquired in Egypt!

Also in this section there is an emphasis on: ‘holy ones’ which are most probably the Angels that were used in the revealing of God’s law (see Galatians 3:19 and Hebrews 2:2).  The focus then changes in that this great God has revealed himself and redeemed his people out of His great love for them.  The people are, I feel, the most likely explanation of the term: ‘his holy ones’ in verse 3, the context having change from the previous use in verse 2 as this is now related to the giving of the Law to them (see also v4)   which is shown in the phase: ‘so they followed in your steps, receiving direction from you, when Moses commanded us a law as a possession for the assembly of Jacob’ rather referring to the holiness and majesty of the Lord.

There is difficulty in translating the next part of the passage and defining its meaning.  Who does the: King in verse 5 refer to?  Is it the Lord, or is it Moses as it is not clear in the KJ or NIV?  There are arguments both ways.  J. G. McConville translates it as: ‘the Lord’[2] his argument being that this illustrates the Lord’s Kingship on earth echoing His Kingship in heaven.[3]  I once commented to a notable lecturer of Hebrew and Greek at the college I study at, that I have no wish to mangle another language as I had quite enough trouble with my own being dyslexic!  So I am in no position to tell which is the right translation here, but have to rely on the skill of others.  John Currid points out some have seen a reference to the coming of Jesus of whom Moses is a shadow or a ‘type’ in the work that he undertakes for the people as intercessor.  However, it probably refers to the Lord as John Currid notes: ‘as King and Warrior, he has acted on behalf of His people.’[4]  In the end I would settle for the explanation that it refers to the Lord as I feel Christopher Wright clarifies this when he notes ‘the establishment of the monarchy lies outside the scope of the poem.’[5]  So, I believe the ESV gets this translation right, hence the use of it here.

Lastly, Israel is here referred to as ‘Jeshurum’ which is translated as the ‘upright one’.  This is the Lord’s nickname for Israel and presumably shows His affection for them.  Moses uses it here in the context of the poem as it portrays Israel serving faithfully under God’s rule at this point.

[1] Notably, Psalm 68:17, Zechariah 14:5, Acts 7:55-56 and Galatians 3:19.
[2] J. G. McConville, Deuteronomy, Apollos Old Testament Commentary (Leicester, Inter-Varsity Press, 2002) 462.
[3] McConville, Deuteronomy, 469.
[4] John D Currid, Deuteronomy, an EP Study Commentary (Evangelical Press, Darlington, 2006) 520.
[5] Christopher Wright, Deuteronomy, New International Biblical Commentary (Massachusetts, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc, 1996), 314.