Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Deuteronomy 33:17
His glory [is like] the firstling of his bullock, and his horns [are like] the horns of unicorns: with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth: and they [are] the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they [are] the thousands of Manasseh.
17. For these two hierodules the Heb. is adesh (masc.) and e deshah (fem.) and means simply set apari, consecrated (cp. above, pp. 108 ff.), the former being probably the unsexed man referred to in Deu 22:5, Deu 23:1.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
17. The firstling of his bullock ] Ephraim, Gen 48:13 ff.
wild-ox ] Heb. r e ’em, Ar. ri’m = the white antelope, leucoryx (see on Deu 14:5), but the descriptions in the O.T. prove that the Heb. r e ’em was rather the Ass. rimu, a gigantic species of ox (‘Bos primigenius’) now extinct, though its teeth have been found in the valley of the Nahr el-Kelb, in the district where Tiglath Pileser i. (b.c. 1120 ff.) hunted the rimu (Tristr. Nat. Hist. of the Bible, 146 ff., Houghton, Trans. Soc. Bibl. Arch. v. 33, 326 ff.; see more fully Driver’s note).
These be ] So (without and) Sam. LXX, etc.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 17. His glory is like the firstling of his bullock] This similitude is very obscure. A bullock was the most excellent of animals among the Jews, not only because of its acceptableness in sacrifice to God, but because of its great usefulness in agriculture. There is something peculiarly noble and dignified in the appearance of the ox, and his greatest ornament are his fine horns; these the inspired penman has particularly in view, as the following clause proves; and it is well known that in Scriptural language horns are the emblem of strength, glory, and sovereignty; Ps 75:5; Ps 75:10; Ps 89:17; Ps 89:24; Ps 112:9; Dan 8:3, c. Lu 1:69; Re 17:3, c.
His horns are like the horns of unicorns] reem, which we translate unicorn, from the monokeros of the Septuagint, signifies, according to Bochart, the mountain goat and according to others, the rhinoceros, a very large quadruped with one great horn on his nose, from which circumstance his name is derived. See the notes on Nu 23:22; Nu 24:8. Reem is in the singular number, and because the horns of a unicorn, a one-horned animal, would have appeared absurd, our translators, with an unfaithfulness not common to them, put the word in the plural number.
To the ends of the earth] Of the land of Canaan, for Joshua with his armies conquered all this land, and drove the ancient inhabitants out before him.
They are the ten thousands of Ephraim, c.] That is, The horns signify the ten thousands of Ephraim, and the thousands of Manasseh. Jacob prophesied, Ge 48:19, that the younger should be greater than the elder so here TENS of thousands are given to Ephraim, and only thousands to Manasseh. See the census, Nu 1:33-35.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The firstling of his bullock; in whose countenance there is a kind of awful majesty and comely generosity, as Tully, Aelian, &c. observe. This seems to note the kingdom which Ephraim should obtain in Jeroboam and his successors.
His horns are like the horns of unicorns; his strength and power shall be very great.
He shall push the people, i.e. all that shall oppose him, and particularly the Canaanites.
To the ends of the earth, i.e. of the land of Canaan.
They are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh; though Manasseh be now more numerous, yet Ephraim shall shortly outstrip him, as was foretold, Gen 48:19.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
His glory [is like] the firstling of his bullock,…. Such as were in Bashan, a country possessed by the posterity of Joseph, see
Ps 22:12; and so might be called “his” bullock, or a young bull, was reckoned both comely and majestic; so Menis or Mnevis, king of Egypt, preferred a bull above all animals to be worshipped, because the most beautiful of all, as Aelianus w relates; and Astarte, according to Sanchoniatho x, put a bull’s head upon her own, as a sign of royalty or kingly power. The Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem refer this to the birthright which belonged to Reuben, and was taken from him, and given to Joseph, see 1Ch 5:2. Some will have Joshua intended by the firstling of his bullock, so Jarchi; who was of the tribe of Ephraim, and so famous for his strength and courage, his warlike exploits and victories, and the glory, honour, and renown he obtained; and who was a type of Christ, the first and only begotten Son of God, the brightness of his Father’s glory, and the express image of his person; this is applied to the Messiah in some ancient Jewish writings y:
and his horns [are like] the horns of unicorns; of the monoceros or rhinoceros; and as the strength of these creatures, as of others, lies in their horns, these are figures of the power and strength of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, the sons of Joseph; see Nu 23:22;
with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth; not to the ends of the world, as if the posterity of Joseph should carry their conquests and spread their dominion over all people to the ends of the world, as the Targum of Jonathan suggests; but to the ends of the land of Canaan, which was done by Joshua, when he smote the thirty one kings of that country. The word “push” is used in allusion to the horns of creatures, with which they push, drive away from them, or hurt and destroy those that annoy them:
and they [are] the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they [are] the thousands of Manasseh; though Manasseh was the eldest son of Joseph, fewer are ascribed to him than to Ephraim the younger, according to Jacob’s prediction, Ge 48:19. This has been in a spiritual sense verified in Christ, the antitype of Joseph, the horn of salvation, who by his great strength has vanquished all his, and the enemies of his people, and even spoiled principalities and powers.
w Hist. Animal. l. 11. c. 10. x Apud Euseb. Evangel. Praepar. l. 1. p. 38. y Zohar in Numb. fol. 103. 4. & in Deut. fol. 117. 3. & 118. 3. Bereshit Rabba, fol. 66. 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
“ The first-born of his ox, majesty is to him, and buffalo-horns his horns: with them he thrusts down nations, all at once the ends of the earth. These are the myriads of Ephraim, and these the thousands of Manasseh.” The “ first-born of his (Joseph’s) oxen” (shor, a collective noun, as in Deu 15:19) is not Joshua ( Rabb., Schultz); still less is it Joseph ( Bleek, Diestel), in which case the pronoun his ox would be quite out of place; nor is it King Jeroboam II, as Graf supposes. It is rather Ephraim, whom the patriarch Jacob raised into the position of the first-born of Joseph ( Gen 48:4.). All the sons of Joseph resembled oxen, but Ephraim was the most powerful of them all. He was endowed with majesty; his horns, the strong weapon of oxen, in which all their strength is concentrated, were not the horns of common oxen, but horns of the wild buffalo ( reem, Num 23:22), that strong indomitable beast (cf. Job 39:9.; Psa 22:22). With them he would thrust down nations, the ends of the earth, i.e., the most distant nations (vid., Psa 2:8; Psa 7:9; Psa 22:28). “ Together,” i.e., all at once, belongs rhythmically to “the ends of the earth.” Such are the myriads of Ephraim, i.e., in such might will the myriads of Ephraim arise. To the tribe of Ephraim, as the more numerous, the ten thousands are assigned; to the tribe of Manasseh, the thousands.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
17 His glory is like the firstling. Translators obscure the meaning by translating the word firstling in the nominative case. I have no doubt, however, but that he compares the glory of Joseph to the size of a very fine bullock, as if He had said, “His beauty is as of the most choice bullocks in his herds.” At least it is very consistent that the word firstling should be used for pre-eminent. He says, then, that no more magnificent or glorious bullocks should be found in the land of Joseph than the people itself would be. And to beauty he adds strength and vigor, so that they should be victorious over all their enemies.
At the end of the verse (as I have before stated,) he declares that what he had prophesied of Joseph should be common to the two families of Ephraim and Manasseh. At the same time he confirms the declaration of Jacob, whereby he had preferred Ephraim the younger to the elder. Manasseh, therefore, only reckons his thousands, but Ephraim his tell thousands, a proof of which fact God had given in the census which has been already recorded, in which the tribe of Ephraim was found to be the more numerous.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(17) They are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh.Rashi refers this to the ten thousands slain by Joshua, the Ephraimite leader, and the thousands slain by Gideon, who was of the tribe of Manasseh. He expounds nearly the whole of the verse in reference to Joshua and the conquest of Canaan. There is an obvious similarity in the song of the Israelitish women after the defeat of the Philistines, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands. The people pushed to the ends of the earth are taken to be the thousands and ten thousands of conquered Canaanites and Midianites. For a similar metaphor, see 1Ki. 22:11. Otherwise the ten thousands of Ephraim and the thousands of Manasseh would be the two-horned power of Joseph. (Comp. Dan. 8:3; Dan. 8:20 for a simile of the same kind.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
17. The firstling of his bullock The emblem of the tribe of Ephraim, a powerful tribe.
Horns of unicorns Rather, wild bulls.
Deu 33:17 His glory [is like] the firstling of his bullock, and his horns [are like] the horns of unicorns: with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth: and they [are] the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they [are] the thousands of Manasseh.
Ver. 17. His horns are like the horns of unicorns. ] Justin Martyr a and some other of the ancients b have strangely racked and wrested this text, to wring out of it the sign of the cross, resembled and represented by the horn of a unicorn. At nihil hic de Christo, nihil de cruce.
He shall push the people together. a Advers. Tryph.
b Tertul. Adver. Judaeos, cap. 10. Ambrose, De Benedict. Pat.
horns. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Subject), App-6, for Ephraim and Manasseh.
unicorns. See note on Num 23:22.
people = peoples.
earth, or land.
the firstling: 1Ch 5:1
his horns: Num 23:22, Num 24:8, Job 39:9, Job 39:10, Psa 22:21, Psa 29:6, Psa 92:10, Isa 34:7
unicorns: Heb. an unicorn
he shall push: 1Ki 22:11, 2Ch 18:10, Psa 44:5
the ten thousands: Gen 48:19, Num 26:34, Num 26:37, Hos 5:3, Hos 6:4, Hos 7:1
Reciprocal: Gen 41:51 – called Gen 48:16 – a multitude Gen 49:22 – a fruitful Num 1:32 – General Num 1:33 – the tribe Num 1:34 – Manasseh Num 2:18 – camp of Ephraim Jdg 2:12 – forsook 1Ch 12:20 – captains Psa 60:7 – strength Psa 108:8 – Ephraim Hos 9:11 – their Hos 13:15 – he be
Deu 33:17. His glory is like the firstling of his bullock Or the prime and fairest bullock of the herd. For things that excel in their kind are called firstborn in Scripture. The beauty and strength of this tribe are compared to this stately creature, and a bullock being the best emblem of power among the beasts of the pasture, it seems to be here used to denote the superior honour and dignity of the house of Joseph above the rest of the tribes of Israel. Indeed, a bullock, as Bochart shows, was formerly used as an image of kingly power and dignity, and therefore seems here to denote the kingdom which Ephraim should obtain in Jeroboam and his successors. His horns are like the horns of unicorns A horn is a common Scripture emblem of power and force. So this is a further description of the house of Joseph. With them he shall push the people together That is, throw down all that oppose him, particularly the Canaanites; to the ends of the earth That is, of the land of Canaan. The ten thousands of Ephraim, and the thousands of Manasseh Or, such are, &c.; that is, these blessings belong to the two numerous branches of the house of Joseph. Here he ascribes to Ephraim ten thousands, and to Manasseh only thousands; thus foreshowing, that Ephraim the younger was to be the more numerous of the two, as Jacob had before prophesied of them.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments