Deuteronomy 33:10
in Deuteronomy 33He will teach Your ordinances to Jacob and Your law to Israel; he will set incense before You and whole burnt offerings on Your altar.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
They shall teach Jacob thine ordinances, And Israel thy law: They shall put incense before thee, And whole burnt-offering upon thine altar.
KJV
They shall teach Jacob thy judgments, and Israel thy law: they shall put incense before thee, and whole burnt sacrifice upon thine altar.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 33
Commentary
2 notes on this verseThey shall teach Jacob, etc. - This was the office of the Levites, to teach, by their significant service and typical ceremonies, the way of righteousness and truth to the children of Israel. And of their faithfulness in this respect God bears testimony by the prophet, “My covenant was with him of life and peace,” Mal 2:5; and, “The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity;” Mal 2:
This site's exposition
They shall teach Jacob thy judgments
on Deuteronomy 33:10-11
Teaching is named before incense and burnt sacrifice, so the priest's first work in this blessing is instruction, which is how Leviticus 10:11 assigns it and how Malachi 2:7 remembers it when it says the priest's lips should keep knowledge. The tribe with no territory of its own is given an office in place of one. Verse 11 asks that the work of Levi's hands be accepted and that those who rise against him be struck down, and Numbers 16 shows the danger was a real one.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
BLESS, ETERNAL, ‘CHEILO’ — that they be a great chayil (army). And the meaning thereof is that they should increase and not decrease when they enter the Holiness, similar in meaning to the verse, Cut ye not off the tribe of the families of the Kohathites. 186 Numbers:18.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
11 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| יוֹר֤וּ | yoru | they will teach | H3384 → | 80 times |
| מִשְׁפָּטֶ֙יךָ֙ | mishpateikha | judgments your | H4941 → | 422 times |
| לְיַעֲקֹ֔ב | leyaako | to Jacob | H3290 → | 350 times |
| וְתוֹרָתְךָ֖ | vetoratekha | and law your | H8451 → | 219 times |
| לְיִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל | leyisrael | to Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| יָשִׂ֤ימוּ | yasimu | they will put | H7760 → | 584 times |
| קְטוֹרָה֙ | ketorah | incense | H6988 → | |
| בְּאַפֶּ֔ךָ | beapekha | in nose your | H639 → | 276 times |
| וְכָלִ֖יל | vekhalil | and [the] whole offering | H3632 → | |
| עַֽל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| מִזְבְּחֶֽךָ׃ | mizbechekha | altar your | H4196 → | 401 times |
יוֹר֤וּthey will teach
yoruH3384 →80 times
מִשְׁפָּטֶ֙יךָ֙judgments your
mishpateikhaH4941 →422 times
לְיַעֲקֹ֔בto Jacob
leyaakoH3290 →350 times
וְתוֹרָתְךָ֖and law your
vetoratekhaH8451 →219 times
לְיִשְׂרָאֵ֑לto Israel
leyisraelH3478 →2507 times
יָשִׂ֤ימוּthey will put
yasimuH7760 →584 times
קְטוֹרָה֙incense
ketorahH6988 →
בְּאַפֶּ֔ךָin nose your
beapekhaH639 →276 times
וְכָלִ֖ילand [the] whole offering
vekhalilH3632 →
עַֽל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
מִזְבְּחֶֽךָ׃altar your
mizbechekhaH4196 →401 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 51:19Then You will delight in righteous sacrifices, in whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on Your altar.
it leads to
- Psalms 4:5
Offer the sacrifices of the righteous and trust in the LORD.
- Malachi 3:3
And He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver. Then they will present offerings to the LORD in…
- Ephesians 5:2
and walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant sacrificial offering to God.
- Psalms 66:13–15
I will enter Your house with burnt offerings; I will fulfill my vows to You—
- Psalms 4:5
Through
1 Samuel 2:28And out of all the tribes of Israel I selected your father to be My priest, to offer sacrifices on My altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod in My presence. I…
it leads to
- Exodus 28:1
“Next, have your brother Aaron brought to you from among the Israelites, along with his sons Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar, to serve Me as priests.
- Exodus 28:1
Through
Leviticus 10:11so that you may teach the Israelites all the statutes that the LORD has given them through Moses.”
it leads to
- Matthew 28:20
and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
- Malachi 2:7
For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, because he is the messenger of the LORD of Hosts.
- Matthew 28:20
Through
Ezekiel 43:27At the end of these days, from the eighth day on, the priests are to present your burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar. Then I will accept you, declares the Lord GOD.’”
it leads to
- Leviticus 9:1
On the eighth day Moses summoned Aaron and his sons and the elders of Israel.
- Leviticus 9:1
About Deuteronomy

Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Alfred Edersheim, The Temple: Its Ministry and Services and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
