DEUTERONOMY CHAPTER 33 The majesty of God, Deuteronomy 33:1-5. Blessings prophesied of the twelve tribes, Deuteronomy 33:6-25. The excellency of Israel, Deuteronomy 33:26-29. He is said to bless them ministerially, partly by praying to God with faith for his blessing upon them; partly by foretelling the blessings which God would confer upon them, for the prophets are oft said to do what they foretell should be done, as Genesis 49:7 Jeremiah 1:10 Ezekiel 43:3 Hosea 6:5. And Moses calls himself here the man of God, i.e. the servant, or prophet, or minister of God, as this phrase signifies, 1 Samuel 9:6,7 1 Timothy 6:11, to acquaint them that the following prophecies were not his own inventions, but Divine inspirations. The children of Israel, i.e. the several tribes; only Simeon is omitted, either,
1. In detestation of their parent Simeon's bloody and wicked carriage, for which Jacob also gives that tribe a curse rather than a blessing, in Ge 49. But as for Levi, who is joined with him in that censure and curse, Genesis 49:5-7, he is here separated from him, and exempted from that curse, and blessed with an eminent blessing for a singular and valuable reason expressed here, Deuteronomy 33:8,9; whereas Simeon's tribe had been so far from expiating their father's crime, that they added new ones, their prince being guilty of another notorious crime, Numbers 25:6,14, and his tribe too much concurring with him in such actions, as interpreters gather from the great diminution of the numbers of that tribe, which were 59,300 in Numbers 1:23, and but 22,200 in Numbers 26:14, which was near forty years after. Or,
2. Because that tribe had no distinct inheritance, but was to have his portion in the tribe of Judah, as he had, Joshua 19:1, and therefore must needs partake with them in their blessing.