Bible Strands
Deuteronomy 33:11
Bless his substance, O LORD, and accept the work of his hands. Smash the loins of those who rise against him, and of his foes so they can rise no more.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Moses delivers a tribal blessing over Levi, specifically addressing the priestly tribe’s role in teaching the law and presenting incense and whole burnt offerings.
The words — תִּרְצֶ֑ה (tir.Tzeh) literally means “you will be pleased with,” and מְחַ֨ץ (me.Chatz) means “shatter” or “smash.”
The thread — The motif of divine acceptance appears in 2 Samuel 24:23 and Ezekiel 43:27, where the verb is directed toward the person rather than the sacrifices.
Why it lands — The text commands God to approve the priest’s service while simultaneously destroying his enemies, requiring the reader to acknowledge that divine favor and judgment operate together.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Bless, Lord, his substance, and accept the work of his hands: smite through the loins of them that rise against him, and of them that hate him, that they rise not again.
Cross-references
- 2 Samuel 24:23 O king, Araunah gives all these to the king.” He also said to the king, “May the LORD your God accept you.”
- Ezekiel 20:40 For on My holy mountain, the high mountain of Israel, declares the Lord GOD, there the whole house of Israel, all of them, will serve Me in the land. There I will accept them and will require your offerings and choice gifts, along with all your holy sacrifices.
- Ezekiel 43:27 At the end of these days, from the eighth day on, the priests are to present your burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar. Then I will accept you, declares the Lord GOD.’”
- Numbers 18:8 Then the LORD said to Aaron, “Behold, I have put you in charge of My offerings. As for all the sacred offerings of the Israelites, I have given them to you and your sons as a portion and a permanent statute.
- Numbers 35:2 “Command the Israelites to give, from the inheritance they will possess, cities for the Levites to live in and pasturelands around the cities.
- Deuteronomy 18:1 The Levitical priests—indeed the whole tribe of Levi—shall have no portion or inheritance with Israel. They are to eat the food offerings to the LORD; that is their inheritance.
- Psalms 20:3 May He remember all your gifts and look favorably on your burnt offerings. Selah
- Isaiah 29:21 those who indict a man with a word, who ensnare the mediator at the gate, and who with false charges deprive the innocent of justice.
- Jeremiah 15:10 Woe to me, my mother, that you have borne me, a man of strife and conflict in all the land. I have neither lent nor borrowed, yet everyone curses me.
- Amos 5:10 There are those who hate the one who reproves in the gate and despise him who speaks with integrity.