Deuteronomy 33:14

14 with the choice fruits of the sun, and the rich yield of the months;

Deuteronomy 33:14 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 33:14

And for the precious fruits [brought forth] by the sun
Which has a wonderful influence upon many and most of the fruits of the earth, to produce them out of their seeds in it, to bring them forward, to ripen and perfect them, and to make them rich and excellent. Jarchi says,

``the land of Joseph lay open to the sun, and it sweetened the fruits of it;''

it improved them, and made them more valuable; and this is spiritually true of Christ the sun of righteousness, to whose influence are owing the blessings of grace, redemption, peace, pardon, and justification, and the graces of the Spirit, faith, hope, and love, and by what believers are filled with, the fruits of righteousness, see ( Malachi 4:2 ) ( Philippians 1:11 ) ;

and for the precious things put forth by the moon;
the fruits which the moon helps forward by its coolness and moisture; and those the above Jewish writer says are cucumbers and gourds; and as various creatures are affected by the moon, it is observed by a naturalist ^F15, that onions, when the moon waxes old, increase, and flag when it is young; and Pliny says ^F16, that at the increase of the moon all sort of corn grows bigger and larger; but a late learned writer ^F17 remarks, that though upon the pressure of the moon on the globe many things depend, as the ebbing and flowing of the sea, epileptic and convulsive paroxysms, yet it does not appear that this pressure exerts its power on plants, so as to thrust them forth, and therefore thinks this respects the ejection or protrusion of monthly fruits; for the word here used is in the plural number, and signifies "months"; and so Onkelos paraphrases the words,

``it produces precious fruits at the beginning of every month;''

or ripe fruit at the beginning of every month, as the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem; for the spiritual meaning, see ( Revelation 22:2 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F15 Dalecamp. in Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 2. c. 41.
F16 Nat. Hist. l. 18. c. 30.
F17 Scheuchzer. Physic. Sacr. vol. 3. p. 437.

Deuteronomy 33:14 In-Context

12 Of Benjamin he said: The beloved of the Lord rests in safety— the High God surrounds him all day long— the beloved rests between his shoulders.

13 And of Joseph he said: Blessed by the Lord be his land, with the choice gifts of heaven above, and of the deep that lies beneath;

14 with the choice fruits of the sun, and the rich yield of the months;

15 with the finest produce of the ancient mountains, and the abundance of the everlasting hills;

16 with the choice gifts of the earth and its fullness, and the favor of the one who dwells on Sinai. Let these come on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince among his brothers.