Deuteronomy 33:10

They shall teach Jacob thy judgments, and Israel thy law: they shall put incense before thee, and whole burnt sacrifice upon thine altar.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Benson Commentary

Deuteronomy 33:10. They shall teach Jacob thy judgments, and Israel thy law — And that both as preachers in their religious assemblies, reading and expounding the law, (Nehemiah 7:7-8,) and as judges determining doubtful and difficult cases that should be brought before them, 2 Chronicles 17:8-9. The priests’ lips were to keep this knowledge for the use of the people, who were to ask the law at their mouths, Malachi 2:7. Even Haggai, a prophet, consulted the priests in a case of conscience, Haggai 2:12. They shall put incense before thee — They shall be the sole ministers at the altar.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

33:6-23 The order in which the tribes are here blessed, is not the same as is observed elsewhere. The blessing of Judah may refer to the whole tribe in general, or to David as a type of Christ. Moses largely blesses the tribe of Levi. Acceptance with God is what we should all aim at, and desire, in all our devotions, whether men accept us or not, 2Co 5:9. This prayer is a prophecy, that God will keep up a ministry in his church to the end of time. The tribe of Benjamin had their inheritance close to mount Zion. To be situated near the ordinances, is a precious gift from the Lord, a privilege not to be exchanged for any worldly advantage, or indulgence. We should thankfully receive the earthly blessings sent to us, through the successive seasons. But those good gifts which come down from the Father of lights, through the rising of the Sun of righteousness, and the pouring out of his Spirit like the rain which makes fruitful, are infinitely more precious, as the tokens of his special love. The precious things here prayed for, are figures of spiritual blessing in heavenly things by Christ, the gifts, graces, and comforts of the Spirit. When Moses prays for the good will of Him that dwelt in the bush, he refers to the covenant, on which all our hopes of God's favour must be founded. The providence of God appoints men's habitations, and wisely disposes men to different employments for the public good. Whatever our place and business are, it is our wisdom and duty to apply thereto; and it is happiness to be well pleased therewith. We should not only invite others to the service of God, but abound in it. The blessing of Naphtali. The favour of God is the only favour satisfying to the soul. Those are happy indeed, who have the favour of God; and those shall have it, who reckon that in having it they have enough, and desire no more.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Who said unto his father and to his mother - Compare Matthew 10:37; Luke 14:26.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

8-10. of Levi he said—The burden of this blessing is the appointment of the Levites to the dignified and sacred office of the priesthood (Le 10:11; De 22:8; 17:8-11), a reward for their zeal in supporting the cause of God, and their unsparing severity in chastising even their nearest and dearest relatives who had participated in the idolatry of the molten calf (Ex 32:25-28; compare Mal 2:4-6).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

They, i.e. the priests and Levites.

Before thee, i.e. upon thine altar of incense, which stood before the ark, the place of God’s special presence.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

They shall teach Jacob thy statutes, and Israel thy law,.... The priests and Levites, being dispersed among each of the tribes, having cities in them allotted to them, taught the people the laws, statutes, and ordinances of the Lord, moral, civil, and ceremonial, see Malachi 2:6,

they shall put incense before thee; upon the altar of incense, which none but a priest might do, as the case of Uzziah shows; and which, the Jews say (k), he might do but once: the same priest might not offer incense twice; a new priest was always employed: in this they, were typical of Christ, the only Intercessor who is always at the golden altar, to offer up the prayers of all saints with his much incense, Revelation 8:3,

and whole burnt offerings upon thine altar; the altar of burnt offering, typical of Christ, who is both altar, sacrifice, and priest.

(k) T. Bab. Yoma, fol. 26. 1.

Geneva Study Bible

They shall teach Jacob thy judgments, and Israel thy law: they shall put incense before thee, and whole burnt sacrifice upon thine altar.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

10. among you] Lit. in thee.

which chanceth him by night] See Leviticus 15:16; and above on Deuteronomy 20:7.

10. judgements … law] Heb. Mishpaṭim … Torah cp. Deuteronomy 17:9 ff. The earlier priest was a teacher and judge (Hosea 4:6, Micah 3:11); and of his functions these also come first here, and are followed by his offices in the ritual of expiation.

incense] Rather smoke of sacrifice; for in the earlier Heb. literature, Isaiah 1:13, 1 Samuel 2:16, Amos 4:5, Hosea 4:13; Hosea 11:2, the noun ḳeṭôreth (here ḳeṭôrah) and the vb ḳiṭṭer refer always to such smoke and not to incense.

Of the use of incense in Israel’s worship there is no evidence before the 7th cent. b.c.; Jeremiah 6:20 appears to regard frankincense as an innovation. At Ta‘anach Sellin unearthed an incense altar which he dates about 700 b.c. (Tell Ta‘annek, 75 ff., 109 f.) and at Gezer Macalister found another in rubbish of 1000–600 b.c. (PEFQ, 1908, 211). See further Jerusalem i. 333, ii. 63 n. 2, 307 f., etc. The smoke from the altar conveyed to the Deity in an ethereal form the portion of the sacrificial feast reserved for Him. This seems to have been the primitive idea of the process, and a trace of it survives here in the anthropomorphic phrase in thy nostrils (R.V. marg.), cp. Genesis 8:21, 1 Samuel 26:19, etc. But later the burnt-offering came more and more to have a piacular force; and its smoke symbolised to Israel the confession of their sin and their surrender of the lives He was pleased to accept in place of their guilty and forfeit selves. No sacrament could be more adequate than this, which proved at once the death deserved by the guilty, the blackness and bitterness of their sin, and its disappearance in the infinite purity of the skies, the unfathomable mercy of Heaven. It is this piacular meaning which is behind the LXX rendering ἐν ὀργῇ σον, ‘in thy wrath,’ for in thy nostrils.

whole burnt offering] See Deuteronomy 13:16 (17).

Deuteronomy 33:10

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

In these temptations Levi had proved itself "a holy one," although in the latter Moses and Aaron stumbled, since the Levites had risen up in defence of the honour of the Lord and had kept His covenant, even with the denial of father, mother, brethren, and children (Matthew 10:37; Matthew 19:29). The words, "who says to his father," etc., relate to the event narrated in Exodus 32:26-29, where the Levites draw their swords against the Israelites their brethren, at the command of Moses, after the worship of the golden calf, and execute judgment upon the nation without respect of person. To this we may add Numbers 25:8, where Phinehas interposes with his sword in defence of the honour of the Lord against the shameless prostitution with the daughters of Moab. On these occasions the Levites manifested the spirit which Moses predicates here of all the tribe. By the interposition at Sinai especially, they devoted themselves with such self-denial to the service of the Lord, that the dignity of the priesthood was conferred upon their tribe in consequence. - In Deuteronomy 33:10 and Deuteronomy 33:11, Moses celebrates this vocation: "They will teach Jacob Thy rights, and Israel Thy law; bring incense to Thy nose, and whole-offering upon Thine altar. Bless, Lord, his strength, and let the work of his hands be well-pleasing to Thee: smite his adversaries and his haters upon the hips, that they may not rise!" The tribe of Levi had received the high and glorious calling to instruct Israel in the rights and commandments of God (Leviticus 10:11), and to present the sacrifices of the people to the Lord, viz., incense in the holy place, whole-offering in the court. "Whole-offering," a term applied to the burnt-offering, which is mentioned instar omnium as being the leading sacrifice. The priests alone were actually entrusted with the instruction of the people in the law and the sacrificial worship; but as the rest of the Levites were given them as assistants in their service, this service might very properly be ascribed to the whole tribe; and no greater blessing could be desired for it than that the Lord should give them power to discharge the duties of their office, should accept their service with favour, and make their opponents powerless. The enemies and haters of Levi were not only envious persons, like Korah and his company (Numbers 16:1), but all opponents of the priests and Levites. The loins are the seat of strength (Psalm 69:24; Job 40:16; Job 31:1; 17). This is the only place in which מן is used before a finite verb, whereas it often stands before the infinitive (e.g., Genesis 27:1; Genesis 31:29).