Deuteronomy 33:3
in Deuteronomy 33Surely You love the people; all the holy ones are in Your hand, and they sit down at Your feet; each receives Your words—
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Yea, he loveth the people; All his saints are in thy hand: And they sat down at thy feet; Every one shall receive of thy words.
KJV
Yea, he loved the people; all his saints are in thy hand: and they sat down at thy feet; every one shall receive of thy words.
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This verse in Deuteronomy 33
Commentary
3 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
“The people” are the twelve tribes, not the Gentiles; and his saints refer to God’s chosen people just before spoken of. Compare Deu 7:18, Deu 7:21; Exo 19:6; Dan 7:8-21.
This site's exposition
Yea, he loved the people
on Deuteronomy 33:3-5
Between the theophany and the tribes stands a people gathered at God's feet to receive his words, and verse 4 calls the law an inheritance, which is the language used elsewhere of land. Jeshurun is a name for Israel that falls four times in Scripture, three of them in this book at 32:15, 33:5 and 33:26, and once at Isaiah 44:2. Commentators divide over who the king of verse 5 is, some reading it of God and others of Moses among the assembled heads, and the Hebrew names neither.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
These words are spoken to God: the change of persons, his and thy, is most frequent in the Hebrew tongue. This clause may farther note God's kindness to Israel, in upholding them when the fiery law was delivered, which was done with so much terror that not only the people were ready to sink under it, but even Moses did exceedingly fear and quake.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אַ֚ף | ʾaf | also | H637 → | 134 times |
| חֹבֵ֣ב | chovev | [he is] loving | H2245 → | |
| עַמִּ֔ים | ʾamim | peoples | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| קְדֹשָׁ֖יו | kedoshav | holy [ones] his | H6918 → | 116 times |
| בְּיָדֶ֑ךָ | beyadekha | [are] in hand your | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| וְהֵם֙ | vehem | and they | H1992 → | 553 times |
| תֻּכּ֣וּ | tuku | they were led | H8497 → | |
| לְרַגְלֶ֔ךָ | leraglekha | to foot your | H7272 → | 247 times |
| יִשָּׂ֖א | yisa' | he will take | H5375 → | 656 times |
| מִדַּבְּרֹתֶֽיךָ׃ | midaberoteikha | from words your | H1703 → |
אַ֚ףalso
ʾafH637 →134 times
חֹבֵ֣ב[he is] loving
chovevH2245 →
עַמִּ֔יםpeoples
ʾamimH5971 →1873 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
קְדֹשָׁ֖יוholy [ones] his
kedoshavH6918 →116 times
בְּיָדֶ֑ךָ[are] in hand your
beyadekhaH3027 →1618 times
וְהֵם֙and they
vehemH1992 →553 times
תֻּכּ֣וּthey were led
tukuH8497 →
לְרַגְלֶ֔ךָto foot your
leraglekhaH7272 →247 times
יִשָּׂ֖אhe will take
yisa'H5375 →656 times
מִדַּבְּרֹתֶֽיךָ׃from words your
midaberoteikhaH1703 →
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
Luke 10:39She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to His message.
it leads to
- Proverbs 8:34
Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at the posts of my doorway.
- Luke 8:35
So the people went out to see what had happened. They came to Jesus and found the man whom the demons had left, sitting at Jesus’ feet, clothed and in his right mind; and…
- John 12:3
Then Mary took about a pint of expensive perfume, made of pure nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet and wiped them with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the…
- Proverbs 8:34
Through
Malachi 1:2“I have loved you,” says the LORD. But you ask, “How have You loved us?” “Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the LORD. “Yet Jacob I have loved,
it leads to
- Jeremiah 31:3
The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you with loving devotion.
- Isaiah 41:8–9
“But you, O Israel, My servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, descendant of Abraham My friend—
- Jeremiah 31:3
Through
Acts 22:3“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but raised in this city. I was educated at the feet of Gamaliel in strict conformity to the law of our fathers. I am just…
it leads to
- Philippians 3:5–6
circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin; a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee;
- Acts 26:5
They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that I lived as a Pharisee, adhering to the strictest sect of our religion.
- Acts 9:11
“Get up!” the Lord told him. “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying.
- Philippians 3:5–6
About Deuteronomy

This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch.
