Deuteronomy 33:13

13 And 1of Joseph he said, 2"Blessed by the LORD be his land, with the choicest gifts of heaven 3above,[a] and of the deep that crouches beneath,

Deuteronomy 33:13 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 33:13

And of Joseph he said
The tribe of Joseph, as the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem:

blessed of the Lord [be] his land;
as the lands inherited by his sons were extremely fruitful, the countries of lead and Bashan by Manasseh, and the fields of Samaria by Ephraim: Jarchi says,

``there was not in the inheritance of the tribes a land so full of all good things as the land of Joseph;''

typical of the church of Christ, the antitypical Joseph, which abounds with all good things through him, or of the better country in heaven:

for the precious things of heaven;
that is, the pleasant, precious, and excellent fruits, reproduced by the influence of the heavens, particularly showers of rain which descend from thence; emblems of the grace of God, and Gospel of Christ, which bring spiritual blessings to the sons of men on earth, and make them fruitful in every good word and work: for the dew; which descends also from heaven, and is of unspeakable use to the fruits of the earth, and is sometimes used as an emblem of the favour and goodness of God to his people, ( Hosea 14:5 ) ;

and for the deep that coucheth beneath;
that is, beneath the earth, and breaks out upon it, and waters it, and makes it fruitful, which happiness the land of Joseph had, as well as the rain and dew of heaven: this is to be understood of springs and fountains that flow out of the earth to the enriching of it; and so the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem paraphrase the words, and may be applied to Christ and to his Gospel, ( Song of Solomon 4:15 ) ( Isaiah 12:3 ) ( Joel 3:18 ) .

Deuteronomy 33:13 In-Context

11 Bless, O LORD, his substance, and accept the work of his hands; crush the loins of his adversaries, of those who hate him, that they rise not again."
12 Of Benjamin he said, "The beloved of the LORD dwells in safety. The High God surrounds him all day long, and dwells between his shoulders."
13 And of Joseph he said, "Blessed by the LORD be his land, with the choicest gifts of heaven above, and of the deep that crouches beneath,
14 with the choicest 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,

Cross References 3

  • 1. [Genesis 49:22]
  • 2. Genesis 49:25
  • 3. ver. 28; Genesis 27:28

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Two Hebrew manuscripts and Targum; Hebrew with the dew
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.