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DEUTERONOMY CHAPTER 33
The majesty of God, Deu_33:1-5. Blessings prophesied of the twelve tribes, Deu_33:6-25. The excellency of Israel, Deu_33:26-29.
He is said to bless them ministerially, partly by praying to God with faith for his blessing upon them; partly by foretelling the blessings which God would confer upon them, for the prophets are oft said to do what they foretell should be done, as Gen_49:7 Jer_1:10 Eze_43:3 Hos_6:5. And Moses calls himself here
the man of God, i.e. the servant, or prophet, or minister of God, as this phrase signifies, 1Sa_9:6,7 1Ti_6:11, to acquaint them that the following prophecies were not his own inventions, but Divine inspirations.
The children of Israel, i.e. the several tribes; only Simeon is omitted, either,
1. In detestation of their parent Simeon’s bloody and wicked carriage, for which Jacob also gives that tribe a curse rather than a blessing, in Ge 49. But as for Levi, who is joined with him in that censure and curse, Gen_49:5-7, he is here separated from him, and exempted from that curse, and blessed with an eminent blessing for a singular and valuable reason expressed here, Deu_33:8,9; whereas Simeon’s tribe had been so far from expiating their father’s crime, that they added new ones, their prince being guilty of another notorious crime, Num_25:6,14, and his tribe too much concurring with him in such actions, as interpreters gather from the great diminution of the numbers of that tribe, which were 59,300 in Num_1:23, and but 22,200 in Num_26:14, which was near forty years after. Or,
2. Because that tribe had no distinct inheritance, but was to have his portion in the tribe of Judah, as he had, Jos_19:1, and therefore must needs partake with them in their blessing.