Ulangan 32:15

Israel’s Rebellion

32:15 But Jeshurun ¹  became fat and kicked,

you ²  got fat, thick, and stuffed!

Then he deserted the God who made him,

and treated the Rock who saved him with contempt.

Ulangan 33:5

33:5 The Lord ³  was king over Jeshurun, ⁴ 

when the leaders of the people assembled,

the tribes of Israel together. ⁵ 

Ulangan 33:26

General Praise and Blessing

33:26 There is no one like God, O Jeshurun, ⁶ 

who rides through the sky ⁷  to help you,

on the clouds in majesty.

[32:15]  ¹ tn To make the continuity of the referent clear, some English versions substitute “Jacob” here (NAB, NRSV) while others replace “Jeshurun” with “Israel” (NCV, CEV, NLT) or “the Lord’s people” (TEV).

[32:15]  sn Jeshurun is a term of affection derived from the Hebrew verb יָשַׁר (yashar, “be upright”). Here it speaks of Israel “in an ideal situation, with its ‘uprightness’ due more to God’s help than his own efforts” (M. Mulder, TDOT 6:475).

[32:15]  ² tc The LXX reads the third person masculine singular (“he”) for the MT second person masculine singular (“you”), but such alterations are unnecessary in Hebrew poetic texts where subjects fluctuate frequently and without warning.

[33:5]  ³ tn Heb “he was king.” The present translation avoids the sudden shift in person and the mistaken impression that Moses is the referent by specifying the referent as “the Lord.”

[33:5]  ⁴ sn Jeshurun is a term of affection referring to Israel, derived from the Hebrew verb יָשַׁר (yashar, “be upright”). See note on the term in Deut 32:15.

[33:5]  ⁵ sn The following blessing is given to the tribes in order, although the tribe of Simeon is curiously missing from the list.

[33:26]  ⁶ sn Jeshurun is a term of affection referring to Israel, derived from the Hebrew verb יָשַׁר (yashar, “be upright”). See note on the term in Deut 32:15.

[33:26]  ⁷ tn Or “(who) rides (on) the heavens” (cf. NIV, NRSV, NLT). This title depicts Israel’s God as sovereign over the elements of the storm (cf. Ps 68:33). The use of the phrase here may be polemical; Moses may be asserting that Israel’s God, not Baal (called the “rider of the clouds” in the Ugaritic myths), is the true divine king (cf. v. 5) who controls the elements of the storm, grants agricultural prosperity, and delivers his people from their enemies. See R. B. Chisholm, Jr., “The Polemic against Baalism in Israel’s Early History and Literature,” BSac 151 (1994): 275.