Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for Bible-translators and others doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still early looks into the drafted texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Deuteronomy 33 Chapter Introduction

Structure and Formatting

Some translations set each line of poetry farther to the right than the rest of the text to make it easier to read. The ULT does this with the poetic lines of Moses’ blessings in 33:1–29.1. The author’s introduction to Moses’ blessing (1)2. Yahweh’s appearance and giving of the law (2–5)3. Blessings for individual tribes: Reuben (6), Judah (7), Levi (8–11), Benjamin (12), Joseph (13–17), Zebulun and Issachar (18–19), Gad (20–21), Dan (22), Naphtali (23), Asher (24–25)4. Praise of Yahweh and blessing for all Israel (26–29)

Religious and Cultural Concepts in This Chapter

Tribal Blessings

Moses gives a series of prophetic blessings for each of the tribes of Israel before his death. This follows the pattern of Jacob’s blessings to his sons in Genesis 49. The blessings speak of each tribe’s future character, territory, and relationship with Yahweh. Notably, the tribe of Simeon is not mentioned.

Jeshurun

Jeshurun is a poetic name for Israel, meaning “upright one.” It appears in verses 5 and 26, emphasizing Israel’s ideal character as a righteous nation belonging to Yahweh.

Translation Issues in This Chapter

One direct quotation inside another

In this chapter, Moses’ blessing contains direct quotations from others, such as the Levites in verse 9. If it would be clearer in your language, you could translate or format these passages so that there are no quotations within quotations. (See figs-quotesinquotes)

Poetic imagery

This chapter contains extensive poetic imagery, including metaphors comparing tribes to animals (Joseph as a firstborn ox, Dan as a lion cub, Gad as a lioness) and descriptions of Yahweh riding the heavens. Translators should preserve the figurative nature of these descriptions.

“you” and “your” singular and plural

Even though Moses is addressing all the Israelites, he uses the singular forms of “you.” If the singular forms of these pronouns would not be natural in your language, you could use the plural forms in your translation. (See: figs-youcrowd)

Speaking about a future event using the past tense

This occurs near the end of the chapter, see the book introduction.

Parallel DEU 33:0