He was king in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people were gathered, all the tribes of Israel together.
Parallel Translations
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He was king in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people were gathered, all the tribes of Israel together.
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And he was king in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people and the tribes of Israel were gathered together.
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And there was a king in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people were gathered, all the tribes of Israel together.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (9)
Passages linked to Deuteronomy 33:5 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Deuteronomy 32:15 But Jeshurun grew fat, and kicked. You have grown fat. You have grown thick. You have become sleek. Then he abandoned God who made him, and rejected the Rock of his salvation.
- Judges 17:6 In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did that which was right in his own eyes.
- Genesis 36:31 These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom, before any king reigned over the children of Israel.
- Exodus 18:16 When they have a matter, they come to me, and I judge between a man and his neighbor, and I make them know the statutes of God, and his laws.”
- Exodus 18:19 Listen now to my voice. I will give you counsel, and God be with you. You represent the people before God, and bring the causes to God.
- Numbers 16:13-15 Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, but you must also make yourself a prince over us? Moreover you haven’t brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men? We won’t come up.” Moses was very angry, and said to Yahweh, “Don’t respect their offering. I have not taken one donkey from them, neither have I hurt one of them.”
- Numbers 23:21 He has not seen iniquity in Jacob. Neither has he seen perverseness in Israel. Yahweh his God is with him. The shout of a king is among them.
- Judges 8:22 Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, both you, your son, and your son’s son also; for you have saved us out of the hand of Midian.”
- Judges 9:2 “Please speak in the ears of all the men of Shechem, ‘Is it better for you that all the sons of Jerubbaal, who are seventy persons, rule over you, or that one rule over you?’ Remember also that I am your bone and your flesh.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (12 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Or, Moses.
Or, Moses.
Or, Israel.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Deu 33:5 And he was king in Jeshurun, when…
Deu 33:5 And he was king in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people [and] the tribes of Israel were gathered together.
Ver. 5. And he was king in Jeshurun.] A heroic king, reigning by virtue and justice only, not by force and violence: one that said not, εξεστι, but καηνκει; This I can do, but this is fit for me to do.
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When the heads of the people, and the tribes.] Here was a government made up of king, lords, and commons. The best of governments, doubtless, so that the beam be kept right between sovereignty and subjection. The contention between prince and people, about command and obedience, ceased not till the Magna Charta, first obtained of King John, after of his son Henry III, though observed truly of neither, was in the maturity of a judicial prince, Edward I, freely ratified after fourscore years.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Moses was their king, not in title, but in…
Moses was their king, not in title, but in reality, being under God their supreme and uncontrollable governor and lawgiver: though the word oft signifies only a prince or chief ruler, as Jdg 19:1; Jer 19:3; 46:25.
In Jeshurun, i.e. in Israel, so called Deu 32:15.
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When the heads of the people and the tribes of Israel were gathered together: when the princes and people met together for the management of public affairs, Moses was owned by them as their king and lawgiver, and he directed and ruled them as their superior. This he saith to show that the people approved and consented to the authority and law of Moses.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Let Reuben live, and not die,.... As a tribe,…
Let Reuben live, and not die,.... As a tribe, continue and not be extinct, though they should not excel, because of the sin of their progenitor; and it may have a special regard to the preservation of them, of their families on the other side Jordan, while they passed over it with their brethren into Canaan, and of them in that expedition to help the other tribes in the conquest of the country and the settlement of them in it; which Jacob by a spirit of prophecy foresaw, and in a prayer of faith petitioned for their safety: all the three Targums refer the words to a future state, as a wish for them, that they might live and enjoy an eternal life, and not die the death of the wicked in the world to come; and which they call the second death, and from whom the Apostle John seems to have borrowed the phrase, Rev 2:11 Rev 20:6; Reuben signifies, "see the Son"; and all that see the Son of God in a spiritual manner, and believe in him with a true faith, as they live spiritually now, shall live eternally hereafter, and never die the second or eternal death; on them that shall have no power, see Joh 6:40,
and let not his men be few; or, "though his men be few?" as Bishop Patrick chooses to render the words, and as they will bear, "vau", being sometimes so used, of which Noldius (h) gives instances; and the number of men in this tribe were but few in comparison of some others; and so those that see the Son of God and believe in him are but a small number; for all men have not faith. Th2 3:2
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(h) Concord. part. Ebr. p. 292.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain He was king in Jeshurun - Moses was their…
He was king in Jeshurun - Moses was their king not in title, but in reality, being under God, their supreme governor, and law giver. Gathered together - When the princes and people met together for the management of public affairs, Moses was owned by them as their king and lawgiver. 6. Let Reuben live - Though Reuben deserve to be cut off or greatly diminished and obscured, according to Jacob's prediction, Gen. xlix, 4, yet God will spare them and give them a name and portion among the tribes of Israel, and bless them with increase of their numbers. All the ancient paraphrasts refer this to the other world, so far were they from expecting temporal blessings only. Let Reuben live in life eternal, says Onkelos, and not die the second death. Let Reuben live in this world, so Jonathan and the Jerusalem Targum, and not die that death which the wicked die in the world to come.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Deu 33:5. And — Or, for, he was king…
Deu 33:5. And — Or, for, he was king — Not indeed in title, but, in reality, being under God their supreme governor and lawgiver; and therefore, by his authority, required them to observe these laws. When the tribes were gathered together — When the princes and people met together, for the management of public affairs, Moses was owned by them as their king and lawgiver. Le Clerc, however, and many others, think that God, and not Moses, is here intended, he being indeed the king and lawgiver of the Jews especially, and not Moses. Moses elsewhere sufficiently intimates that he was not their king, Deu 17:14. And so does Samuel, who acted in a character similar to that of Moses, 1Sa 8:7.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain He was king - i. e., not Moses but…
He was king - i. e., not Moses but the Lord became king.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain He shall, &c. Erit rex, may perhaps be as…
He shall, &c. Erit rex, may perhaps be as well rendered indefinitely, "There shall be a king;" or, with the Septuagint, "And there shall be over the beloved a ruler," as (Haydock) some understand this of Moses, others of Saul, though it most probably refers to God himself, who gave the law, and was acknowledged, in the most solemn manner, for the king of Israel. --- Right. Hebrew yishurun, a term which St. Jerome translates, with the Septuagint, (Calmet) chap. xxxii. 15, the beloved, as it is supposed to be a diminutive of Israel, to express greater tenderness. Thus Cicero called his daughter Tulliola. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 5. And he was king in Jeshurun — That…
5. And he was king in Jeshurun — That is, Jehovah became king over the righteous nation. Comp. Deu_32:15.
Were gathered together — This refers to the assembling around Sinai to receive the law.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 5. And he became king in Jeshurun] i.e. Jehovah.…
5. And he became king in Jeshurun] i.e. Jehovah. Graf, Wellh., Stade render and there was a king, i.e. Saul, but Saul is not relevant here. On Yeshurun see Deu_32:15.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Some refer this to Moses, but Moses was never…
Some refer this to Moses, but Moses was never recognized as king in Israel: he "was faithful in all his house as a servant"; (Heb_3:5) but Jehovah alone was King. (Exo_15:18; Psa_47:6, Psa_47:7) Jeshurun. (cf. Deu_32:5) The gathering together refers to the assembling of the people at Sinai, when Jehovah came forth as their King to give them his Law.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
Moses continues to bless the tribes of Israel, which he began to do in Deuteronomy 33:2. The blessings are short poems. (See: Parallelism)
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General Information:
Verse 5 is difficult to understand.
there was a king
"Yahweh became king"
Jeshurun
This is another name for Israel. Translated as in Deuteronomy 32:15.
Let Reuben live
This begins Moses' blessings to the individual tribes of Israel.
but may his men be few
Other possible meanings are 1) "and may his men not be few" or 2) "even though his men are few."
translationWords
Yahweh
king
head
tribe
Reuben
life
die
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.