Deuteronomy 33:29

Blessed are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD? He is the shield that protects you, the sword in which you boast. Your enemies will cower before you, and you shall trample their high places.”

Berean Standard Bible

Follow its threads on the canvas →

Study note

Setting — Moses addresses the whole nation of Israel as part of his final blessings, spoken on the plains east of the Jordan just before his death and immediately after the covenant warnings of chapter 28.

The words — 'Ashrei ("how blessed!") opens the verse as a declarative exclamation, and no'asha' ("saved," Niphal of nasha) is the theological hinge: Israel's blessedness rests entirely on having been delivered by Yahweh.

The thread — The "who is like you" motif echoes Deuteronomy 4:7, and the claim that Israel is saved by the LORD with an everlasting salvation is picked up in Isaiah 45:17.

Why it lands — The verse locates Israel's security not in the shield or sword but in the prior act of divine deliverance; the reader is asked to test whether their own sense of safety rests on that act or on their own performance.

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

אַשְׁרֶ֨יךָ'ash.Rei./khahow blessed [are]!/ you יִשְׂרָאֵ֜לYis.ra.'ElO Israel מִ֣יmiwho?כָמ֗וֹךָkha.Mo./kha[is] like/ you עַ֚ם'ama people נוֹשַׁ֣עno.Sha'[which] it has been saved בַּֽיהוָ֔הba./Yah.wehby/ Yahweh מָגֵ֣ןma.Gen[the] shield of עֶזְרֶ֔ךָ'ez.Re./khahelp/ your וַאֲשֶׁר־va./'a.Sher-and/ who חֶ֖רֶבChe.rev[is] [the] sword of גַּאֲוָתֶ֑ךָga.'a.va.Te./khaeminence/ your וְיִכָּֽחֲשׁ֤וּve./yi.ka.cha.Shuso/ they may cringe אֹיְבֶ֙יךָ֙'o.ye.Vei./khaenemies/ yourלָ֔ךְLa/khto <the>/ youוְאַתָּ֖הve./'a.Tahand/ you עַל־'al-on בָּמוֹתֵ֥ימוֹba.mo.Tei./movhigh places/ their תִדְרֹֽךְ׃ סtid.Rokhyou will tread

King James Version

Happy art thou, O Israel: who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency! and thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places.

Cross-references

Isaiah 12:2 Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. For the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and He also has become my salvation.”
Isaiah 45:17 But Israel will be saved by the LORD with an everlasting salvation; you will not be put to shame or humiliated, to ages everlasting.
Deuteronomy 4:7 For what nation is great enough to have a god as near to them as the LORD our God is to us whenever we call on Him?
Psalms 115:9 O Israel, trust in the LORD! He is their help and shield.
2 Samuel 7:23 And who is like Your people Israel—the one nation on earth whom God went out to redeem as a people for Himself and to make a name for Himself? You performed great and awesome wonders by driving out nations and their gods from before Your people, whom You redeemed for Yourself from Egypt.
Genesis 15:1 After these events, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”
Numbers 23:20 I have indeed received a command to bless; He has blessed, and I cannot change it.
Deuteronomy 32:13 He made him ride on the heights of the land and fed him the produce of the field. He nourished him with honey from the rock and oil from the flinty crag,
2 Samuel 22:45 Foreigners cower before me; when they hear me, they obey me.
Psalms 18:44 When they hear me, they obey me; foreigners cower before me.