Deuteronomy 33:11

Summary

This verse is part of the blessing on Levi, calling on Yehovah to bless Levi's resources and accept the work done by him, while asking that those who rise against him or hate him be struck down so they cannot rise again.

Key words

• ba.Rekh ("bless", H1288) — piel imperative, an intensive command form addressed to Yehovah, opening the verse with a direct appeal.
• chei.L ("wealth", H2428) — masculine singular construct, "wealth/strength of," followed by the suffix "his," referring to Levi's resources or capability.
• tir.Tzeh ("you will be pleased with", H7521) — qal imperfect, expressing a future or ongoing wish that Yehovah accept or favor the work of the hands mentioned.
• me.Chatz ("shatter", H4272) — qal imperative, a second command verb, this time calling for the striking of the loins of adversaries.
• ye.ku.Mu ("they will rise", H6965) with paragogic nun (H9013) — qal imperfect with an emphatic ending, intensifying the statement about rising, here negated by min ("from," H4480) to express "so that they do not rise."

What the text says

The verse is built on two parallel imperative commands directed at Yehovah: ba.Rekh ("bless") and me.Chatz ("shatter"). The first half asks Yehovah to bless chei.L-o ("his wealth," H2428+H9023) and to be pleased with (tir.Tzeh) po.'al ya.Da-v ("the work of his hands," H6467+H3027+H9023). Both "wealth" and "work of hands" are construct nouns joined to pronominal suffixes referring to the same third-person antecedent (Levi, based on context of the wider blessing).

The second half shifts to conflict: me.Chatz ("shatter") governs ma.te.Na.yim ("loins," H4975, dual form) of two groups described in parallel construct participial phrases: ka.Ma-v ("those rising against him," H6965+H9033) and me.san.'A-v ("those hating him," H8130+H9033). Both participles are plural construct forms with third-person suffixes, indicating that the loins targeted belong to those characterized by hostility and hatred.

The final clause uses min ("from," H4480) with ye.ku.Mu-n ("they will rise," H6965+H9013), the paragogic nun adding emphasis to this imperfect verb. The construction "min...yekumun" functions to express negative purpose or result — that the shattering should prevent these adversaries from rising again. This repeats the root H6965 ("to rise") first as a participle describing the enemies ("those rising against him") and then as a finite verb describing the desired negated outcome ("they will not rise"), creating a wordplay within the Hebrew that is not preserved as clearly in translation.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders me.san.'A-v ("those who hate him") with an imperative-like construction "μὴ ἀναστήτωσαν" ("let them not rise"), making the final clause an explicit jussive rather than following the Hebrew's min-plus-imperfect construction. The Vulgate similarly renders it as "non consurgant" ("let them not rise up"), matching the LXX's explicit negative wish rather than the Hebrew's construction with min. The BSB and SBLIBRE translations render this same clause as "so they can rise no more" or "so that they do not rise again," reflecting a purpose/result sense closer to the Hebrew's min construction.