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Selected Verse: Deuteronomy 33:12 - Strong Concordance
Verse |
Translation |
Text |
De 33:12 |
Strong Concordance |
And of Benjamin [01144] he said [0559], The beloved [03039] of the LORD [03068] shall dwell [07931] in safety [0983] by him; and the LORD shall cover [02653] him all the day [03117] long, and he shall dwell [07931] between his shoulders [03802]. |
|
King James |
And of Benjamin he said, The beloved of the LORD shall dwell in safety by him; and the LORD shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell between his shoulders. |
Summary Of Commentaries Associated With The Selected Verse
A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882] |
of Benjamin he said--A distinguishing favor was conferred on this tribe in having its portion assigned near the temple of God.
between his shoulders--that is, on his sides or borders. Mount Zion, on which stood the city of Jerusalem, belonged to Judah; but Mount Moriah, the site of the sacred edifice, lay in the confines of Benjamin. |
Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, [1834] |
He shall dwell between his shoulders - i. e., be supported by God as a son who is carried by his father (compare Deu 1:31). Benjamin was especially beloved of his father Gen 35:18; Gen 44:20; Moses now promises no less love to him from God Himself. |
Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78] |
Benjamin. - "The beloved of the Lord will dwell safely with Him; He shelters him at all times, and he dwells between His shoulders." Benjamin, the son of prosperity, and beloved of his father (Gen 35:18; Gen 44:20), should bear his name with right. He would be the beloved of the Lord, and as such would dwell in safety with the Lord (עליו, lit., founded upon Him). The Lord would shelter him continually. The participle expresses the permanence of the relation: is his shelterer. In the third clause Benjamin is the subject once more; he dwells between the shoulders of Jehovah. "Between the shoulders" is equivalent to "upon the back" (vid., Sa1 17:6). The expression is founded upon the figure of a father carrying his son (Deu 1:29). This figure is by no means so bold as that of the eagle's wings, upon which the Lord had carried His people, and brought them to Himself (Exo 19:4; vid., Deu 32:11). There is nothing strange in the change of subject in all three clauses, since it is met with repeatedly even in plain prose (e.g., Sa2 11:13); and here it follows simply enough from the thoughts contained in the different clauses, whilst the suffix in all three clauses refers to the same noun, i.e., to Jehovah.
(Note: "To dwell upon God and between His shoulders is the same as to repose upon Him: the simile being taken from fathers who carry their sons while delicate and young" (Calvin).)
There are some who regard Jehovah as the subject in the third clause, and explain the unheard-of figure which they thus obtain, viz., that of Jehovah dwelling between the shoulders of Benjamin, as referring to the historical fact that God dwelt in the temple at Jerusalem, which was situated upon the border of the tribes of Benjamin and Judah. To this application of the words Knobel has properly objected, that God did not dwell between ridges (= shoulders) of mountains there, but upon the top of Moriah; but, on the other hand, he has set up the much more untenable hypothesis, that the expression refers to Gibeon, where the tabernacle stood after the destruction of Nob by Saul. - Moreover, the whole nation participated in the blessing which Moses desired for Benjamin; and this applies to the blessings of the other tribes also. All Israel was, like Benjamin, the beloved of the Lord (vid., Jer 11:15; Psa 60:7), and dwelt with Him in safety (vid., Deu 33:28). |
Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65] |
Of Benjamin - Benjamin is put next to Levi, because the temple, where the work of the Levites lay, was upon the edge of the lot of this tribe. And 'tis put before Joseph, because of the dignity of Jerusalem, (part of which was in this lot) above Samaria, which was in the tribe of Ephraim: likewise because Benjamin adhered to the house of David and to the temple of God, when the rest of the tribes deserted both. The beloved of the Lord - So called in allusion to their father Benjamin who was the beloved of his father Jacob; and because of the kindness of God to this tribe which appeared both in this, that they dwelt in the best part of the land, as Josephus affirms, and in the following privilege. Shall dwell in safety by him - Shall have his lot nigh to God's temple, which was both a singular comfort and safeguard to him. Shall cover - Shall protect that tribe continually while they cleave to him. He - The Lord shall dwell, that is, his temple shall be placed, between his shoulders, that is, in his portion, or between his border's as the word shoulder is often used. And this was truly the situation of the temple, on both sides whereof was Benjamin's portion. And though mount Sion was in the tribe of Judah, yet mount Moriah, on which the temple was built, was in the tribe of Benjamin. |
Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826 |
Of Benjamin - the beloved of the Lord - Alluding to his being particularly beloved of his father Jacob, Gen 49:27, etc.
Shall dwell in safety by him - That is, by the Lord, whose temple, which is considered as his dwelling-place, was in the tribe of Benjamin, for a part of Jerusalem belonged to this tribe.
Shall cover him all the day - Be his continual protector; and he shall dwell between his shoulders - within his coasts, or in his chief city, viz., Jerusalem, where the temple of God was built, on his mountains Zion and Moriah, here poetically termed his shoulders.
Some object to our translation of the Hebrew ידיד yedid by the term beloved, and think the original should be divided as it is in the Samaritan, יד יד yad yad, the hand, even the hand of the Lord shall dwell for safety or protection, עליו alaiv, upon him. This makes a good sense, and the reader may choose. |
20 And we said [0559] unto my lord [0113], We have [03426] a father [01], an old man [02205], and a child [03206] of his old age [02208], a little one [06996]; and his brother [0251] is dead [04191], and he alone is left [03498] of his mother [0517], and his father [01] loveth [0157] him.
18 And it came to pass, as her soul [05315] was in departing [03318], (for she died [04191] that she called [07121] his name [08034] Benoni [01126]: but his father [01] called [07121] him Benjamin [01144].
31 And in the wilderness [04057], where thou hast seen [07200] how that the LORD [03068] thy God [0430] bare [05375] thee, as a man [0376] doth bear [05375] his son [01121], in all the way [01870] that ye went [01980], until ye came [0935] into this place [04725].
27 Benjamin [01144] shall ravin [02963] as a wolf [02061]: in the morning [01242] he shall devour [0398] the prey [05706], and at night [06153] he shall divide [02505] the spoil [07998].