Devarim 33:14

14 With the choice fruits brought forth by the shemesh, and choice crops put forth by the yarei’ach,

Devarim 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.

Devarim 33:14 In-Context

12 And of Binyamin he said, Yedid Hashem shall dwell in safety by Him; and Hashem shall hover over him all day long, and he (Yedid Hashem, beloved of Hashem) shall rest between His shoulders.

13 And of Yosef he said, Mevorekhet Hashem (Blessed of Hashem) be his land, for the precious things of Shomayim, for the tal, and for the tehom (deep waters) that coucheth below,

14 With the choice fruits brought forth by the shemesh, and choice crops put forth by the yarei’ach,

15 And with the choicest of the harrei kedem (eternal mountains), and for the precious things of the everlasting hills,

16 And for the precious things of ha’aretz and fulness thereof, and for the good will of Him whose [shechinah] dwelling is in the [burning] bush; let the blessing come upon the head of Yosef, and upon the top of the head of him that was separated from his brethren.