Deuteronomy 33:12
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What does Deuteronomy 33:12 mean?
[And] of Benjamin he said
The tribe of Benjamin, as the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem;
which is taken notice of next to Levi, because, as the priesthood
was in the tribe of Levi, the temple in which the priests
officiated was in the tribe of Benjamin, or near it; and is
observed next but one to Judah, and before his elder brother
Joseph, because his tribe lay between Judah and Joseph, (
Joshua
18:11 ) ; and Levi having no inheritance in the land:
the beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by
him;
this is commonly understood of the tribe of Benjamin, beloved by
the Lord, as the head of the tribe was by his father Jacob; the
first king of Israel being of that tribe, and the temple built in
it, or on the edge of it, and its land the most fat and fertile
of the land of Canaan, as Josephus F13 observes; and may be
said to "dwell by him", the Lord, because the tabernacle of the
Lord was so near that tribe, and so to dwell "in safety" under
his protection, and which was the means of preserving it from
apostasy, when ten tribes revolted: though the Messiah may be
intended, the Son of God, and man of God's right hand, the
antitype of Benjamin, the beloved of the Lord, and dear son of
his love; his Benjamin, who is now in human nature exalted at his
right hand: and this may denote his inhabitation in the flesh,
and dwelling by or near Benjamin, being born at Bethlehem in the
tribe of Judah, bordering on Benjamin, and frequently had his
abode in Jerusalem, which was in the tribe of Benjamin, (
Joshua
18:28 ) ; and where he was in safety amidst his enemies, they
not having power to lay hold on him until his hour was come:
[and the Lord] shall cover him all the day
long;
for ever, as Jarchi notes, because that, after Jerusalem was
chosen, the divine Majesty dwelt in no other place: this may be
understood either of the Messiah covering Benjamin and protecting
him, as he is the covert of all his Benjamites and beloved ones,
from all their enemies, from all evils and dangers, from all
storms and tempests, and everything troublesome and distressing,
see ( Isaiah
32:2 ) ; or the Lord's covering his beloved One the Messiah;
as he did in his infancy, from the designs of Herod upon his
life, and from the attempts of others before his time was come;
he hid him in the shadow of his hand, ( Isaiah 49:2 ) ;
and he shall dwell between his shoulders;
either the Lord shall dwell between the shoulders of Benjamin;
the temple in which the Lord dwelt was built on Mount Moriah, in
the tribe of Benjamin, in the highest part of his land, as Jarchi
notes; the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem paraphrase the
words,
``in his border the Shechinah (or the glory of the Shechinah of the Lord) shall dwell,''for if the temple was not within the tribe of Benjamin, yet it was certainly on the borders of it: or Benjamin shall dwell between the shoulders of the Lord, being bore up and supported by him: Christ dwells in the hearts of his people, and over them as an head, and they dwell upon his shoulders, on which the care and government of them lies, ( Isaiah 9:6 ) ; in the Talmud F14 this passage is applied to the days of the Messiah.
F13 Antiqu. l. 5. c. 1. sect. 22.
F14 T. Bab. Zebachim, fol. 118. 2.
