Deuteronomy 33:8
in Deuteronomy 33Concerning Levi he said: “Give Your Thummim to Levi and Your Urim to Your godly one, whom You tested at Massah and contested at the waters of Meribah.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And of Levi he said, Thy Thummim and thy Urim are with thy godly one, Whom thou didst prove at Massah, With whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah;
KJV
And of Levi he said, Let thy Thummim and thy Urim be with thy holy one, whom thou didst prove at Massah, and with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah;
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This verse in Deuteronomy 33
Commentary
6 notes on this verseOf Levi he said - Concerning the Urim and Thummim, see Exo 28:30 (note). Thy holy one - Aaron primarily, who was anointed the high priest of God, and whose office was the most holy that man could be invested with. Therefore Aaron was called God’s holy one, and the more especially so as he was the type of the Most Holy and blessed Jesus, from whom the Urim - all light and wisdom, and Thummim - all excellence, completion, and perfection, are derived.
This site's exposition
Give Your Thummim to Levi and Your Urim to Your godly one
on Deuteronomy 33:8-9
Levi receives the Urim and Thummim of the breastpiece at Exodus 28:30. The tribe's first privilege is asking God and getting an answer.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Whom thou didst prove - Altho' thou didst try him, and rebuke him, yet thou didst not take away the priesthood from him. At Massah - Not at that Massah mentioned Exod. xvii, 7, which is also called Meribah, but at that other Meribah, Num. xx, 13.
And of Levi he said,....
Thummim signifies integrity, and Urim illumination: Let these be with thy holy one, that is, "Lord, let the high priest ever be both an upright man and an understanding man." A good prayer to be put up for the ministers of the gospel, that they may have clear heads and honest hearts; light and sincerity make a complete minister.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Thy holy one - i. e., Levi, regarded as the representative of the whole priestly and Levitical stock which sprang from him. The contrast between the tone of this passage and that of Gen 49:5-7 is remarkable. Though the prediction of Jacob respecting the dispersion of this tribe held good, yet it was so overruled as to issue in honor and reward. The recovery of God’s favor is to be traced to the faithfulness with which Moses and Aaron, who came of this tribe, served God in their high offices; and to the zeal and constancy which conspicuous persons of the tribe (e. g. Phinehas, Num 25:11 ff), and the whole tribe itself (compare Exo 32:26), manifested on critical occasions in supporting the leaders of the people. The same reasons led to Levi’s being selected for the special service of God in the sanctuary (Deu 10:8 ff, and Num 8:5 ff); and for the office of instructing their brethren in the knowledge of the Law. The events at Massah and Meribah, the one occurring at the beginning, the other toward the end, of the forty years’ wandering, serve to represent the whole series of trials by which God proved and exercised the faith and obedience of this chosen tribe.
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וּלְלֵוִ֣י | ulelevi | and of Levi | H3878 → | 59 times |
| אָמַ֔ר | ʾamar | he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| תֻּמֶּ֥יךָ | tumeikha | Thummim your | H8550 → | |
| וְאוּרֶ֖יךָ | veureikha | and Urim your | H224 → | |
| לְאִ֣ישׁ | leish | [belong] to a man | H376 → | 1663 times |
| חֲסִידֶ֑ךָ | chasidekha | faithful [one] your | H2623 → | |
| אֲשֶׁ֤ר | ʾasher | whom | H834 → | 5497 times |
| נִסִּיתוֹ֙ | nisito | you put to [the] test him | H5254 → | 36 times |
| בְּמַסָּ֔ה | bemasah | at Massah | H4532 → | 5 times |
| תְּרִיבֵ֖הוּ | terivehu | you contended with him | H7378 → | |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | at | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| מֵ֥י | mei | [the] waters of | H4325 → | 581 times |
| מְרִיבָֽה׃ | merivah | Meribah | H4809 → |
וּלְלֵוִ֣יand of Levi
uleleviH3878 →59 times
אָמַ֔רhe said
ʾamarH559 →5305 times
תֻּמֶּ֥יךָThummim your
tumeikhaH8550 →
וְאוּרֶ֖יךָand Urim your
veureikhaH224 →
לְאִ֣ישׁ[belong] to a man
leishH376 →1663 times
חֲסִידֶ֑ךָfaithful [one] your
chasidekhaH2623 →
אֲשֶׁ֤רwhom
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
נִסִּיתוֹ֙you put to [the] test him
nisitoH5254 →36 times
בְּמַסָּ֔הat Massah
bemasahH4532 →5 times
תְּרִיבֵ֖הוּyou contended with him
terivehuH7378 →
עַל־at
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
מֵ֥י[the] waters of
meiH4325 →581 times
מְרִיבָֽה׃Meribah
merivahH4809 →
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
Exodus 28:30And place the Urim and Thummim in the breastpiece of judgment, so that they will also be over Aaron’s heart whenever he comes before the LORD. Aaron will continually carry the judgment of the…
it leads to
- Ezra 2:63
The governor ordered them not to eat the most holy things until there was a priest to consult the Urim and Thummim.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Nehemiah 7:65
The governor ordered them not to eat the most holy things until there was a priest to consult the Urim and Thummim.
- Numbers 27:21
He shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who will seek counsel for him before the LORD by the judgment of the Urim. At his command, he and all the Israelites with him—the entire congregation—will…
- Leviticus 8:8
Then he put the breastpiece on him and placed the Urim and Thummim in the breastpiece.
- Ezra 2:63
Through
Exodus 17:7He named the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled, and because they tested the LORD, saying, “Is the LORD among us or not?”
it leads to
- Psalms 95:8
do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, in the day at Massah in the wilderness,
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Psalms 81:7
You called out in distress, and I rescued you; I answered you from the cloud of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah
- Numbers 20:13
These were the waters of Meribah, where the Israelites quarreled with the LORD, and He showed His holiness among them.
- Psalms 95:8
Through
Psalms 106:16In the camp they envied Moses, as well as Aaron, the holy one of the LORD.
it leads to
- Numbers 16:1–50
Now Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath son of Levi, along with some Reubenites—Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth—conducted
- Numbers 16:1–50
Where this verse is studied
About Deuteronomy
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Calvin, Commentary on the Four Last Books of Moses Arranged in the Form of a Harmony; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.