Bible Strands
Deuteronomy 33:15
with the best of the ancient mountains and the bounty of the everlasting hills,
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Moses addresses the tribes of Israel, detailing specific provisions for Joseph just before his death. He frames this blessing within a sequence of agricultural and geographical descriptions.
The words — קֶדֶם (Qedem) literally means ancient time, and עוֹלָם (Olam) denotes antiquity or perpetuity. These terms anchor the listed bounty to enduring conditions rather than temporary ones.
The thread — The phrasing runs parallel to Genesis 49:26 and Habakkuk 3:6, which deploy the same mountain/hill imagery for divine presence and ancestral blessing. James 5:7 later adopts the agricultural metaphor while redirecting attention to patient waiting.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to identify material provision as dependent on stable, long-term divine order. It asks for a concrete assessment of where current abundance originates, pointing directly to established geographical and historical foundations.
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
And for the chief things of the ancient mountains, and for the precious things of the lasting hills,
Cross-references
- Habakkuk 3:6 He stood and measured the earth; He looked and startled the nations; the ancient mountains crumbled; the perpetual hills collapsed. His ways are everlasting.
- Genesis 49:26 The blessings of your father have surpassed the blessings of the ancient mountains and the bounty of the everlasting hills. May they rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince of his brothers.
- James 5:7 Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer awaits the precious fruit of the soil—how patient he is for the fall and spring rains.