What Does Deuteronomy 33:13 Mean in the King James?
And of Joseph he said, Blessed of the LORD be his land, for the precious things of heaven, for the dew, and for the deep that coucheth beneath,
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The land’s blessing comes from both directions: dew descends from heaven while the deep rests beneath it.
THE MEANING
The land is held between two sources: dew arrives from above, and the deep lies beneath. Its flourishing is named as the LORD’s gift, reaching both what is visible and what rests out of sight.
THE ROOT
מְבֹרֶכֶת
mevorekhet
GROWS FROM
ברך
To bless; the root also carries the image of bending the knee.
“Blessed” in this verse is mevorekhet. Hebrew lets blessing and knee share the same root letters, giving blessing an embodied image of bending. Here the blessing takes material form in a land receiving dew above and nourishment from the deep below.
ALSO GROWS
berakhah: A blessing or benediction.
בְּרָכָה
It carries the same root into the noun for the blessing resting on the land.
berekh: A knee.
בֶּרֶךְ
The shared root preserves the bent-knee image within the language of blessing.
רֹבֶצֶת
rovetset
GROWS FROM
רבץ
To lie down, crouch, or recline.
“That coucheth” in this verse is rovetset. The deep is given a posture: it lies settled beneath the land. Beside dew arriving from above, this root makes the blessing span both the descending and the resting sources of provision.
ALSO GROWS
rovetz: One who lies down or crouches.
רֹבֵץ
This form makes the posture in the verse explicit: the deep is lying beneath the land.
mirbats: A place where an animal lies down; a lair.
מִרְבָּץ
It carries the root’s sense of a settled place beneath the surface.
THE PATTERN
The land’s fruitfulness is held by provision that human effort cannot originate.
Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb:Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it: thou greatly enrichest it with the river of God, which is full of water: thou preparest them corn, when thou hast so provided for it.That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.THE THREAD
Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb:Genesis 49:25 places the root ברך (barak, bless) beside heaven above and the deep beneath. Deuteronomy 33:13 makes that same vertical span tangible: dew descends while the deep lies under the land.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us