The parashah is discussed in these
rabbinic sources from the era of the
Mishnah and the
Talmud:
Deuteronomy chapter 33 Reading Deuteronomy 33:1, "This is the blessing with which Moses, the man of God, bade the Israelites farewell before his death," the
Sifre taught that since Moses had earlier said harsh words to the Israelites, at this point Moses said to them words of comfort. And from Moses did the prophets learn how to address the Israelites, for they would first say harsh words to the Israelites and then say words of comfort. A
midrash told that God had Moses bless Israel in Deuteronomy 33 because Moses was superior to
Adam,
Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Noting that Deuteronomy 33:1 calls Moses "the man of God," the Sifre counted Moses among ten men whom Scripture calls "man of God," along with
Elkanah,
Samuel, David,
Shemaiah,
Iddo,
Elijah,
Elisha,
Micah, and
Amoz.
Rabbi Joḥanan counted Deuteronomy 33:1 among ten instances in which Scripture refers to the death of Moses (including three in the parashah and two in the haftarah for the parashah), teaching that God did not finally seal the harsh decree until God declared it to Moses. Rabbi Joḥanan cited these ten references to the death of Moses: (1) Deuteronomy 4:22: "But I must die in this land; I shall not cross the Jordan"; (2) Deuteronomy 31:14: "The Lord said to Moses: 'Behold, your days approach that you must die'"; (3) Deuteronomy 31:27: "[E]ven now, while I am still alive in your midst, you have been defiant toward the Lord; and how much more after my death"; (4) Deuteronomy 31:29: "For I know that after my death, you will act wickedly and turn away from the path that I enjoined upon you"; (5) Deuteronomy 32:50: "And die in the mount that you are about to ascend, and shall be gathered to your kin, as your brother
Aaron died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his kin"; (6) Deuteronomy 33:1: "This is the blessing with which Moses, the man of God, bade the Israelites farewell before his death"; (7) Deuteronomy 34:5: "So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, at the command of the Lord"; (8) Deuteronomy 34:7: "Moses was 120 years old when he died"; (9) Joshua 1:1: "Now it came to pass after the death of Moses"; and (10) Joshua 1:2: "Moses My servant is dead." Rabbi Joḥanan taught that ten times it was decreed that Moses should not enter the Land of Israel, but the harsh decree was not finally sealed until God revealed it to him and declared (as reported in Deuteronomy 3:27): "It is My decree that you should not pass over."
Rabbi Tarfon taught that God came from Mount Sinai (or others say
Mount Seir) and was revealed to the children of
Esau, as Deuteronomy 33:2 says, "The Lord came from Sinai, and rose from Seir to them," and "Seir" means the children of Esau, as Genesis 36:8 says, "And Esau dwelt in Mount Seir." God asked them whether they would accept the Torah, and they asked what was written in it. God answered that it included (in Exodus 20:13 and Deuteronomy 5:17, "You shall do no murder." The children of Esau replied that they were unable to abandon the blessing with which Isaac blessed Esau in Genesis 27:40, "By your sword shall you live." From there, God turned and was revealed to the children of
Ishmael, as Deuteronomy 33:2 says, "He shined forth from Mount Paran," and "Paran" means the children of Ishmael, as Genesis 21:21 says of Ishmael, "And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran." God asked them whether they would accept the Torah, and they asked what was written in it. God answered that it included (in Exodus 20:13 and Deuteronomy 5:17), "You shall not steal." The children of Ishamel replied that they were unable to abandon their fathers' custom, as Joseph said in Genesis 40:15 (referring to the Ishmaelites' transaction reported in Genesis 37:28), "For indeed I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews." From there, God sent messengers to all the nations of the world asking them whether they would accept the Torah, and they asked what was written in it. God answered that it included (in Exodus 20:3) and Deuteronomy 5:7), "You shall have no other gods before me." They replied that they had no delight in the Torah, therefore let God give it to God's people, as Psalm 29:11 says, "The Lord will give strength [identified with the Torah] to His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace." From there, God returned and was revealed to the children of Israel, as Deuteronomy 33:2 says, "And he came from the ten thousands of holy ones," and the expression "ten thousands" means the children of Israel, as Numbers 10:36 says, "And when it rested, he said, 'Return, O Lord, to the ten thousands of the thousands of Israel.'" With God were thousands of chariots and 20,000 angels, and God's right hand held the Torah, as Deuteronomy 33:2 says, "At his right hand was a fiery law to them." The Sifre said that in Deuteronomy 33:2, Moses began his blessing of the Israelites by first speaking praise for God, not by dealing with what Israel needed first. The Sifre likened Moses to an orator hired to speak at court on behalf of a client. The orator did not begin by speaking of his client's needs, but first praised the king, saying that the world was happy because of his rule and his judgment. Only then did the orator raise his client's needs. And then the orator closed by once again praising the king. Similarly, Moses closed in Deuteronomy 33:26 praising God, saying, "There is none like God, O Jeshurun." Similarly, the Sifre said, the blessings of the
Amidah prayer do not begin with the supplicant's needs, but start with praise for God, "The great, mighty, awesome God." Only then does the congregant pray about freeing the imprisoned and healing the sick. And at the end, the prayer returns to praise for God, saying, "We give thanks to You." ) Interpreting the words of Deuteronomy 33:2, "The Lord came from Sinai", the Sifre taught that when God came to give the Torah to Israel, God came not from just one direction, but from all four directions. The Sifre read in Deuteronomy 33:2 a list of three directions, when it says, "The Lord came from Sinai, and rose from Seir to them; He shined forth from Mount Paran, and He came from Ribeboth-kodesh." And the Sifre found the fourth direction in
Habakkuk 3:3, which says, "God comes from the south." Thus, the Sifre expanded on the metaphor of God as an eagle in Deuteronomy 32:11, teaching that just as a mother eagle enters her nest only after shaking her chicks with her wings, fluttering from tree to tree to wake them up, so that they will have the strength to receive her, so when God revealed God's self to give the Torah to Israel, God did not appear from just a single direction, but from all four directions, as Deuteronomy 33:2 says, "The Lord came from Sinai, and rose from Seir to them," and Habakkuk 3:3 says, "God comes from the south." ) The
Tosefta found in Deuteronomy 33:2 demonstration of the proposition that Providence rewards a person measure for measure. Thus just as Abraham rushed three times to serve the visiting
angels in Genesis 18:2, 6, and 7, so God rushed three times in service of Abraham's children when in Genesis 18:2, God "came from Sinai, rose from Seir to them, [and] shined forth from mount Paran." Reading Deuteronomy 33:2, "The Lord came from Sinai and rose from Seir to them, He shined forth from Mount Paran," together with Habakkuk 3:3, "God comes from Teman," the
Gemara asked what God sought in Seir and Mount Paran. Rabbi Joḥanan taught that God offered the Torah to every nation and tongue, but none accepted it, until God came to Israel, who received it. But the Gemara continued that reading Exodus 19:17, "And they stood at the foot of the mountain," Rav Dimi bar Hama taught that in offering the Torah to Israel, God suspended the mountain over Israel and told them that if they accepted the Torah, all would be well, but if not, that place would be their grave. The students of Rav Shila's academy deduced from the words "from His right hand, a fiery law for them" in Deuteronomy 33:2 that Moses received the Torah from God's hand. Rabbi
Simeon ben Lakish (Resh Lakish) taught that the Torah that God gave Moses was of white
fire and its writing of black fire. It was itself fire and it was hewn out of fire, completely formed of fire, and given in fire, as Deuteronomy 33:2 says, "At His right hand was a fiery law to them." Rabbi Abin son of Rav Ada in the name of Rabbi Isaac deduced from Deuteronomy 33:2 that God wears
tefillin. For
Isaiah 62:8 says: "The Lord has sworn by His right hand, and by the arm of His strength." "By His right hand" refers to the Torah, for Deuteronomy 33:2 says, "At His right hand was a fiery law to them." "And by the arm of His strength" refers to tefillin, as Psalm 29:11 says, "The Lord will give strength to His people," and tefillin are a strength to Israel, for Deuteronomy 28:10 says, "And all the peoples of the earth shall see that the name of the Lord is called upon you, and they shall be afraid of You," and Rabbi Eliezer the Great said that this refers to tefillin of the head (in which the Name of God is written in fulfillment of Deuteronomy 28:10). The midrash and the Talmud differed over which five brothers Joseph presented to Pharaoh in Genesis 47:2, and each source employed the Farewell of Moses in Deuteronomy 33:2–29 to make its argument. The midrash read the word
from among (, ) in Genesis 47:2, "And from among (, ) his brethren he took five men," to mean "from the end," implying inferiority. The midrash thus concluded that they were not the strongest of the brothers and named them as
Reuben,
Simeon, Levi, Benjamin, and
Issachar. The midrash said that Joseph took these five brothers, because he reasoned that if he presented the strongest to Pharaoh, then Pharaoh would on make them his warriors. Therefore, Joseph presented these five, who were not mighty men. The midrash taught that we know that they were not strong from the blessing of Moses in Deuteronomy 33:2–29, where every brother whose name Moses repeated in his blessing was mighty, while every brother whose name Moses did not repeat was not mighty. Judah, whose name he repeated, was mighty, for Deuteronomy 33:7 says, "And this for Judah, and he said: 'Hear, Lord, the voice of Judah'"; therefore, Joseph did not present him to Pharaoh. Likewise
Naphtali, as Deuteronomy 33:23 says, "And of Naphtali he said: 'O Naphtali, satisfied with favor.'" Likewise, Asher, of whom Deuteronomy 33:24 says, "And of Asher he said: 'Blessed be Asher above sons.'" Likewise, Dan, of whom Deuteronomy 33:22 says, "And of Dan he said: 'Dan is a lion's whelp.'"
Zebulun too, of whom Deuteronomy 33:18 says, "And of Zebulun he said: 'Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out.'"
Gad too, of whom Deuteronomy 33:20 says, "And of Gad he said: 'Blessed be He that enlarges Gad.'" Therefore, Joseph did not present them to Pharaoh. But the others, whose names were not repeated, were not mighty, therefore he presented them to Pharaoh. In the Babylonian Talmud, however, Rava asked Rabbah bar Mari who the five were. Rabbah bar Mari replied that Rabbi Joḥanan said that they were those whose names were repeated in the Farewell of Moses, Deuteronomy 33:2–29 (and thus the mightier of the brothers). Besides Judah, the five whose names Moses repeated were Dan, Zebulun, Gad, Asher and Naphtali. Saying why Moses repeated Judah's name in Deuteronomy 33:7, but Joseph nonetheless excluded him from the five, Rabbah bar Mari said that Moses repeated Judah's name for a different purpose, which Rabbi Samuel bar Naḥmani recounted that Rabbi Joḥanan said. Rabbi Joḥanan interpreted the words of Deuteronomy 33:6–7, "Let Reuben live and not die, in that his men become few, and this is for Judah," to teach that during the 40 years that the Israelites were in the wilderness, the bones of Judah rolled around detached in the coffin that conveyed the bones of the heads of the tribes from Egypt to the Promised Land along with Joseph's remains. But then Moses solicited God for mercy by noting that Judah brought Reuben to confess his own sin in Genesis 35:22 and Genesis 49:4 (lying with
Bilhah) by himself making public confession in Genesis 38:26 (when Judah admitted that
Tamar was more righteous than he was). Therefore, in Deuteronomy 33:7, Moses exhorted God: "Hear Lord the voice of Judah!" Thereupon God fitted each of Judah's limbs into its original place as one whole skeleton. Judah was, however, not permitted to ascend to the heavenly academy, until Moses said in Deuteronomy 33:7, "And bring him in to his people." As, however, Judah still did not know what the Rabbis were saying in that assembly and was thus unable to argue with the Rabbis on matters of the law, Moses said in Deuteronomy 33:7, "His hands shall contend for him!" As again he was unable to conclude legal discussions in accordance with the Law, Moses said in Deuteronomy 33:7, "You shall be a help against his adversaries!" Rabbi
Simlai taught that God communicated to Moses a total of 613 commandments—365 negative commandments, corresponding to the number of days in the solar year, and 248 positive commandments, corresponding to the number of the parts in the human body. Rav
Hamnuna said that one may derive this from Deuteronomy 33:4, "Moses commanded us Torah, an inheritance of the congregation of Jacob." For the letters of the word
Torah () have a numerical value of 611 (as equals 400, equals 6, equals 200, and equals 5, using the interpretive technique of
Gematria). And the Gemara taught that the Israelites heard the words of the first two commandments (in Exodus 20:3–6) and Deuteronomy 5:7–10) directly from God and thus did not count them among the commandments that the Israelites heard from Moses. The Gemara taught that David reduced the number of precepts to eleven, as Psalm 15 says, "Lord, who shall sojourn in Your Tabernacle? Who shall dwell in Your holy mountain?—He who (1) walks uprightly, and (2) works righteousness, and (3) speaks truth in his heart; who (4) has no slander upon his tongue, (5) nor does evil to his fellow, (6) nor takes up a reproach against his neighbor, (7) in whose eyes a vile person is despised, but (8) he honors them who fear the Lord, (9) he swears to his own hurt and changes not, (10) he puts not out his money on interest, (11) nor takes a bribe against the innocent."
Isaiah reduced them to six principles, as Isaiah 33:15–16 says, "He who (1) walks righteously, and (2) speaks uprightly, (3) he who despises the gain of oppressions, (4) who shakes his hand from holding of bribes, (5) who stops his ear from hearing of blood, (6) and shuts his eyes from looking upon evil; he shall dwell on high." Micah reduced them to three principles, as
Micah 6:8 says, "It has been told you, o man, what is good, and what the Lord requires of you: only (1) to do justly, and (2) to love mercy, and (3) to walk humbly before your God." Isaiah reduced them to two principles, as Isaiah 56:1 says, "Thus says the Lord, (1) Keep justice and (2) do righteousness."
Amos reduced them to one principle, as
Amos 5:4 says, "For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel, 'Seek Me and live.'" To this Rav Naḥman bar Isaac demurred, saying that this might be taken as: "Seek Me by observing the whole Torah and live." The Gemara concluded that
Habakkuk based all the Torah's commandments on one principle, as Habakkuk 2:4 says, "But the righteous shall live by his faith." The Gemara counted Deuteronomy 33:5, "And He was King in Jeshurun," among only three verses in the Torah that indisputably refer to God's Kingship and thus are suitable for recitation on
Rosh Hashanah. The Gemara also counted Numbers 23:21, "The Lord his God is with him, and the shouting for the King is among them"; and Exodus 15:18, "The Lord shall reign for ever and ever."
Rabbi Jose also counted as Kingship verses Deuteronomy 6:4, "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God the Lord is One"; Deuteronomy 4:39, "And you shall know on that day and lay it to your heart that the Lord is God, ... there is none else"; and Deuteronomy 4:35, "To you it was shown, that you might know that the Lord is God, there is none else beside Him"; but Rabbi Judah said that none of these three is a Kingship verse. (The traditional Rosh Hashanah liturgy follows Rabbi Jose and recites Numbers 23:21, Deuteronomy 33:5, and Exodus 15:18, and then concludes with Deuteronomy 6:4.) Rabbi Judah bar Simon taught that the blessing of Reuben by Moses in Deuteronomy 33:6, "Let Reuben live and not die," gained for Reuben life in the
World to Come and brought him back together with his father Jacob. Rabbi Judah bar Simon read Deuteronomy 28:6, "Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out," to refer to Moses. Rabbi Judah bar Simon read "when you come in" to refer to Moses, because when he came into the world, he brought nearer to God
Batya the daughter of Pharaoh (who by saving Moses from drowning merited life in the World to Come). And "blessed shall you be when you go out" also refers to Moses, for as he was departing the world, he brought Reuben nearer to his father Jacob, when Moses blessed Reuben with the words "Let Reuben live and not die" in Deuteronomy 33:6 (thus gaining for Reuben the life in the World to Come and thus proximity to Jacob that Reuben forfeited when he sinned against his father in Genesis 35:22 and became estranged from him in Genesis 49:4). The Mishnah taught that the
High Priest inquired of the Thummim and Urim in Deuteronomy 33:8 only for the king, for the court, or for one whom the community needed. A
baraita said they called the Thummim and Urim in Deuteronomy 33:8 by those names: The term
Urim is like the Hebrew word for "lights," and thus they called it "Urim" because it enlightened. The term
Thummim is like the Hebrew word meaning 'to be complete', and thus they called it "Thummim" because its predictions were fulfilled. The Gemara discussed how they used the Urim and Thummim: Rabbi Joḥanan said that the letters of the stones in the breastplate stood out to spell out the answer. Resh Lakish said that the letters joined each other to spell words. The Gemara said that the Hebrew letter ,
tsade, was missing from the list of the 12 tribes of Israel. Rabbi Samuel bar Isaac said that the stones of the breastplate also contained the names of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The Gemara said that the Hebrew letter ,
teth, was also missing. Rav Aha bar Jacob said that they also contained the words: "The tribes of Jeshurun." The Gemara taught that although the decree of a prophet could be revoked, the decree of the Urim and Thummim could not be revoked, as Numbers 27:21 says, "By the judgment of the Urim." The
Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer taught that when Israel sinned in the matter of the devoted things, as reported in Joshua 7:11, Joshua looked at the 12 stones corresponding to the 12 tribes that were upon the High Priest's breastplate. For every tribe that had sinned, the light of its stone became dim, and Joshua saw that the light of the stone for the Tribe of Judah had become dim. So Joshua knew that the tribe of Judah had transgressed in the matter of the devoted things. Similarly, the Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer taught that
Saul saw the
Philistines turning against Israel, and he knew that Israel had sinned in the matter of the ban. Saul looked at the 12 stones, and for each tribe that had followed the law, its stone (on the High Priest's breastplate) shined with its light, and for each tribe that had transgressed, the light of its stone was dim. So Saul knew that the Tribe of Benjamin had trespassed in the matter of the ban. The Mishnah reported that with the death of the
former prophets, the Urim and Thummim ceased. In this connection, the Gemara reported differing views of who the former prophets were.
Rav Huna said they were David, Samuel, and Solomon.
Rav Nachman said that during the days of David, they were sometimes successful and sometimes not (getting an answer from the Urim and Thummim), for
Zadok consulted it and succeeded, while
Abiathar consulted it and was not successful, as 2 Samuel 15:24 reports, "And Abiathar went up." (He retired from the priesthood because the Urim and Thummim gave him no reply.) Rabbah bar Samuel asked whether the report of 2 Chronicles 26:5, "And he (King
Uzziah of Judah) set himself to seek God all the days of
Zechariah, who had understanding in the vision of God," did not refer to the Urim and Thummim. But the Gemara answered that Uzziah did so through Zechariah's prophecy. A baraita told that when the first Temple was destroyed, the Urim and Thummim ceased, and said Ezra 2:63 (reporting events after the Jews returned from the
Babylonian Captivity), "And the governor said to them that they should not eat of the most holy things till there stood up a priest with Urim and Thummim," was a reference to the remote future, as when one speaks of the time of the
Messiah. Rav Naḥman concluded that the term "former prophets" referred to a period before
Haggai, Zechariah, and
Malachi, who were latter prophets. And the
Jerusalem Talmud taught that the "former prophets" referred to Samuel and David, and thus the Urim and Thummim did not function in the period of the First Temple, either.
Rabbi Hanina taught that the world was unworthy to have
cedar trees, but God created them for the sake of the Tabernacle (for example, in the acacia-wood of Exodus 26:15) and the Temple, as Psalm 104:16 says, "The trees of the Lord have their fill, the cedars of Lebanon, which He has planted," once again interpreting Lebanon to mean the Temple. Rabbi
Samuel ben Nahman in the name of
Rabbi Jonathan taught that there are 24 kinds of cedars, of which seven are especially fine, as Isaiah 41:19 says, "I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia-tree, and the myrtle, and the oil-tree; I will set in the desert the cypress, the plane-tree, and the larch together." God foresaw that the Tabernacle would be made of these trees, as Psalm 104:17 says, "Wherein the birds make their nests," and "birds" refers to those birds that the priests offered. And when Psalm 104:17 says, "As for the stork (, ), the fir-trees are her house," the , (stork) refers to the High Priest, of whom Deuteronomy 33:8 says, "
Your Thummim and Your Urim be with Your holy one (, )." A midrash employed a parable to explain why God held Aaron as well as Moses responsible when Moses struck the rock, as Numbers 20:12 reports, "and the Lord said to Moses
and Aaron: 'Because you did not believe in me.'" The midrash told how a creditor came to take away a debtor's granary and took both the debtor's granary and the debtor's neighbor's granary. The debtor asked the creditor what his neighbor had done to warrant such treatment. Similarly, Moses asked God what Aaron had done to be blamed when Moses lost his temper. The midrash taught that it on this account that Deuteronomy 33:8 praises Aaron, saying, "And of Levi he said: 'Your Thummim and your Urim be with your holy one, whom you proved at Massah, with whom you strove at the waters of Meribah.'"
Rabbi Meir taught that when the Israelites stood by the sea, the tribes competed over who would go into the sea first. The
tribe of Benjamin went first, as Psalm 68:28 says: "There is Benjamin, the youngest, ruling them (, )," and Rabbi Meir read , , 'ruling them,' as , , 'descended into the sea.' Then the princes of Judah threw stones at them, as Psalm 68:28 says: "the princes of Judah their council (, )," and Rabbi Meir read , , as 'stoned them.' For that reason, Benjamin merited hosting the site of God's
Temple, as Deuteronomy 33:12 says: "He dwells between his shoulders."
Rabbi Judah answered Rabbi Meir that no tribe was willing to be the first to go into the sea. Then
Nahshon ben Aminadab stepped forward and went into the sea first, praying in the words of Psalm 69:2–16, "Save me O God, for the waters come into my soul. I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing . . . . Let not the water overwhelm me, neither let the deep swallow me up." Moses was then praying, so God prompted Moses, in words parallel those of Exodus 14:15, "My beloved ones are drowning in the sea, and you prolong prayer before Me!" Moses asked God, "Lord of the Universe, what is there in my power to do?" God replied in the words of Exodus 14:15–16, "Speak to the children of Israel, that they go forward. And lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it; and the children of Israel shall go into the midst of the sea on dry ground." Because of Nahshon's actions, Judah merited becoming the ruling power in Israel, as Psalm 114:2 says, "Judah became His sanctuary, Israel His dominion," and that happened because, as Psalm 114:3 says, "The sea saw [him], and fled." Rabbi Joḥanan taught in the name of Rabbi
Simeon ben Yoḥai that Deuteronomy 33:17 helps to show the value of Torah study and
charity. Rabbi Joḥanan deduced from Isaiah 32:20, "Blessed are you who sow beside all waters, who send forth the feet of the ox and the donkey," that whoever engages in Torah study and charity is worthy of the inheritance of two tribes, Joseph and Issachar (as Deuteronomy 33:17 compares Joseph to an ox, and Genesis 49:14 compares Issachar to a donkey). Rabbi Joḥanan equated "sowing" with "charity," as Hosea 10:12 says, "Sow to yourselves in charity, reap in kindness." And Rabbi Joḥanan equated "water" with "Torah," as Isaiah 55:1 says, "Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters (that is, Torah)." Whoever engages in Torah study and charity is worthy of a canopy—that is, an inheritance—like Joseph, for Genesis 49:22 says, "Joseph is a fruitful bough . . . whose branches run over the wall." And such a person is also worthy of the inheritance of Issachar, as Genesis 49:14 says, "Issachar is a strong donkey" (which the
Targum renders as rich with property). The Gemara also reported that some say that the enemies of such a person will fall before him as they did for Joseph, as Deuteronomy 33:17 says, "With them he shall push the people together, to the ends of the earth." And such a person is worthy of understanding like Issachar, as 1 Chronicles 12:32 says, "of the children of Issachar . . . were men who had understanding of the times to know what Israel ought to do." A midrash told that when in Genesis 44:12 the steward found Joseph's cup in Benjamin's belongings, his brothers beat Benjamin on his shoulders, calling him a thief and the son of a thief, and saying that he had shamed them as
Rachel had shamed Jacob when she stole
Laban's idols in Genesis 31:19. And by virtue of receiving those unwarranted blows between his shoulders, Benjamin's descendants merited having the Divine Presence rest between his shoulders and the Temple rest in Jerusalem, as Deuteronomy 33:12 reports, "He dwells between his shoulders" Reading Deuteronomy 33:20 and 22 (and other verses), Rabbi Joḥanan said that the lion has six names—, in Deuteronomy 33:22; , ; , in Deuteronomy 33:20|HE}}; , ; , ; and , . The Mishnah applied to Moses the words of Deuteronomy 33:21, "He executed the righteousness of the Lord and His ordinances with Israel," deducing therefrom that Moses was righteous and caused many to be righteous, and therefore the righteousness of the many was credited to him. And the Tosefta taught that the ministering angels mourned Moses with these words of Deuteronomy 33:21. A midrash taught that as God created the four cardinal directions, so also did God set about God's throne four angels—
Michael,
Gabriel,
Uriel, and
Raphael—with Michael at God's right. The midrash taught that Michael got his name (, ) as a reward for the way that he praised God in two expressions that Moses employed. When the Israelites crossed the Red Sea, Moses began to chant, in the words of Exodus 15:11, "Who (, ) is like You, o Lord." And when Moses completed the Torah, he said, in the words of Deuteronomy 33:26, "There is none like God (, ), O
Jeshurun." The midrash taught that () combined with () to form the name (). Reading the words, "And he lighted upon the place," in Genesis 28:11 to mean, "And he met the Divine Presence (
Shechinah)," Rav Huna asked in
Rabbi Ammi's name why Genesis 28:11 assigns to God the name "the Place." Rav Huna said that it is because God is the Place of the world (the world is contained in God, and not God in the world). Rabbi
Jose ben Halafta taught that we do not know whether God is the place of God's world or whether God's world is God's place, but from Exodus 33:21, which says, "Behold, there is a place with Me," it follows that God is the place of God's world, but God's world is not God's place. Rabbi Isaac taught that reading Deuteronomy 33:27, "The eternal God is a dwelling place," one cannot know whether God is the dwelling-place of God's world or whether God's world is God's dwelling-place. But reading Psalm 90:1, "Lord, You have been our dwelling-place," it follows that God is the dwelling-place of God's world, but God's world is not God's dwelling-place. And Rabbi Abba ben Judan taught that God is like a warrior riding a horse with the warrior's robes flowing over on both sides of the horse. The horse is subsidiary to the rider, but the rider is not subsidiary to the horse. Thus Habakkuk 3:8 says, "You ride upon Your horses, upon Your chariots of victory." A baraita taught that Rabbi Yosei read the words of Deuteronomy 33:27, "And underneath are the everlasting arms," to teach that the whole world rests upon God. from the 1860
Bible in Pictures)
Deuteronomy chapter 34 The Sifre taught that one should not read Deuteronomy 34:1–2 to say, "the Lord showed him . . . as far as the hinder sea (, )," but, "the Lord showed him . . . as far as the final day (, )." The Sifre thus read Deuteronomy 34:1–2 to say that God showed Moses the entire history of the world, from the day on which God created the world to the day on which God would cause the dead to live again. Rabbi Samuel ben Naḥman in the name of Rabbi Jonathan cited Deuteronomy 34:4 for the proposition that the dead can talk to each another. Deuteronomy 34:4 says: "And the Lord said to him (Moses): 'This is the land that I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob,
saying . . . .'" Rabbi Samuel ben Naḥman reasoned that the word
saying here indicates that just before Moses died, God told Moses to
say to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that God had carried out the oath that God had sworn to them. The Gemara said that God told Moses to tell them so that they might be grateful to Moses for what he had done for their descendants. The Sifre taught that the description of Deuteronomy 34:5 of Moses as "the servant of the Lord" was not one of derision but one of praise. For Amos 3:7 also called the former prophets "servants of the Lord," saying: "For the Lord God will do nothing without revealing His counsel to His servants the prophets."
Rabbi Eleazar taught that
Miriam died with a Divine kiss, just as Moses had. As Deuteronomy 34:5 says, "So Moses the servant of the Lord died
there in the land of Moab by the mouth of the Lord," and Numbers 20:1 says, "And Miriam died
there"—both using the word
there—Rabbi Eleazar deduced that both Moses and Miriam died the same way. Rabbi Eleazar said that Numbers 20:1 does not say that Miriam died "by the mouth of the Lord" because it would be indelicate to say so. A baraita taught that Joshua wrote eight verses of the Torah, and the Gemara elaborated that some say that Joshua wrote the Torah's last eight verses. Another baraita (quoting Rabbi Judah, or some say Rabbi Nehemiah) questioned whether Moses could have written Deuteronomy 34:5, "And Moses the servant of the Lord died there," and explained that Moses wrote the entire Torah up until Deuteronomy 34:5, and Joshua wrote from Deuteronomy 34:5 to the end. But Rabbi Simeon read Deuteronomy 31:26, "Take this Torah scroll," to teach that the Torah was complete at that point. According to Rabbi Simeon, God dictated the entire text to Moses, who wrote it down. God dictated to Moses about Moses' death, and Moses wrote it down with tears in his eyes. , from the 1881 ''Illustrations for "Dalziel's Bible Gallery"'') The Mishnah and Tosefta cited Deuteronomy 34:6 for the proposition that Providence treats a person measure for measure as that person treats others. And so because, as Exodus 13:19 relates, Moses attended to Joseph's bones, so in turn, none but God attended him, as Deuteronomy 34:6 reports that God buried Moses. The Tosefta deduced that Moses was thus borne on the wings of God's Presence from the portion of Reuben (where the Tosefta deduced from Deuteronomy 32:49 that Moses died on Mount Nebo) to the portion of Gad (where the Tosefta deduced from the words "there a portion of a ruler was reserved" in Deuteronomy 33:21 that Moses was buried). Rabbi Hama son of Rabbi Hanina taught that Deuteronomy 34:6 demonstrates one of God's attributes that humans should emulate. Rabbi Hama son of Rabbi Hanina asked what Deuteronomy 13:5 means in the text, "You shall walk after the Lord your God." How can a human being walk after God, when Deuteronomy 4:24 says, "[T]he Lord your God is a devouring fire"? Rabbi Hama son of Rabbi Hanina said that the command to walk after God means to walk after the attributes of God. As God clothes the naked—for Genesis 3:21 says, "And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife coats of skin and clothed them"—so should we also clothe the naked. God visited the sick—for Genesis 18:1 says, "And the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of
Mamre" (after Abraham was circumcised in Genesis 17:26)—so should we also visit the sick. God comforted mourners—for Genesis 25:11 says, "And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed Isaac his son"—so should we also comfort mourners. God buried the dead—for Deuteronomy 34:6 says, "And He buried him in the valley"—so should we also bury the dead. Similarly, the Sifre on Deuteronomy 11:22 taught that to walk in God's ways means to be (in the words of Exodus 34:6) "merciful and gracious." The Mishnah taught that some say the miraculous burial place of Moses—the location of which Deuteronomy 34:6 reports no one knows to this day—was created on the eve of the first Sabbath at twilight. Rabbi Simlai taught that the Torah begins and ends with acts of kindness. Its beginning is an act of kindness, as Genesis 3:21 reports, "And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skin and clothed them." And its end is an act of kindness, as Deuteronomy 34:6 tells, "And he was buried in the valley in the land of Moab." A midrash read Deuteronomy 34:7, "His eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated," to teach that the radiant countenance that God had given Moses still remained with him. The Tosefta deduced from Deuteronomy 34:8 and Joshua 1:1–2, 1:10–11 (in the haftarah for the parashah), and 4:19 that Moses died on the seventh of
Adar. ==In modern interpretation==