Deuteronomy 33:8
To Levi also he said: Thy perfection, and thy doctrine be to thy holy man, whom thou hast proved in the temptation, and judged at the waters of contradiction:
The verse in its languages
- Vulgate (Clementine)
- Levi quoque ait : Perfectio tua, et doctrina tua viro sancto tuo, quem probasti in tentatione, et judicasti ad aquas contradictionis.
- Septuagint (Swete)
- Καὶ τῷ Λευεὶ εἶπεν Δότε Λευεὶ δήλους αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἀλήθειαν αὐτοῦ τῷ ἀνδρὶ τῷ ὁσίῳ, ὃν ἐπείρασαν αὐτὸν ἐν Πείρᾳ, ἐλοιδόρησαν αὐτὸν ἐπὶ ὕδατος Ἀντιλογίας.
- Hebrew (WLC)
- וּלְלֵוִ֣י אָמַ֔ר תֻּמֶּ֥יךָ וְאוּרֶ֖יךָ לְאִ֣ישׁ חֲסִידֶ֑ךָ אֲשֶׁ֤ר נִסִּיתוֹ֙ בְּמַסָּ֔ה תְּרִיבֵ֖הוּ עַל מֵ֥י מְרִיבָֽה
Haydock's commentary
Holy man. Aaron and his successors in the priesthood. (Challoner)
They were adorned with the Urim and Thummim, which are here rendered perfection and doctrine. (Calmet)
Septuagint, "give to Levi his insignia, (délous) and his truth, to the holy man, the same whom they tried at the temptation, they spoke ill of him at the waters," &c. It was in consequence of the seditious conduct of the Israelites that the two brothers betrayed a want of confidence in God, and were excluded from the land of promise, as Moses often reminds them, chap. iii. 26. (Haydock)
Temptation. The place which goes by this name is at Raphidim, near Horeb, Exodus xvii. 6. But the word here probably includes all the other places, where the Hebrews tempted God, and particularly that, where so holy a man as Aaron was permitted to fall. (Calmet) (Numbers xx. 12.)
The priesthood is the peculiar blessing and honour of the tribe of Levi. (Menochius)
From Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary, 1859, in the transcription made by Todd Easton and kept online by John Paul Wohlschied at johnblood.gitlab.io/haydock.
The Fathers on this verse
St Hippolytus On Genesis, Section I
Hipp . This he says regarding the conspiracy into which they were to enter against the Lord. And that he means this conspiracy, is evident to us. For the blessed David sings, “Rulers have taken counsel together against the Lord,” and so forth. And of this conspiracy the Spirit prophesied, saying, “Let not my soul contend,” desiring to draw them off, if possible, so that that future crime might not happen through them. “They slew men, and houghed the bull;” by the “strong bull” he means Christ. And “they houghed,” since, when He was suspended on the tree, they pierced through His sinews. Again, “in their anger they houghed a bull.” And mark the nicety of the expression: for “they slew men, and houghed a bull.” For they killed the saints, and they remain dead, awaiting the time of the resurrection. …
St Ambrose On the Duties of the Clergy, Chapter L. The Levites ought to be utterly free from all earthly desires. What their virtues should be on the Apostle's own showing, and how great their purity must be. Also what their dignity and duty is, for the carrying out of which the chief virtues are necessary. He states that these were not unknown to the philosophers, but that they erred in their order. Some are by their nature in accordance with duty, which yet on account of what accompanies them become contrary to duty. From whence he gathers what gifts the office of the Levites demands. To conclude, he adds an exposition of Moses' words when blessing the tribe of Levi
266. This seems high and somewhat severe, but in a high office it is not out of place. For the grace of the Levites is such that Moses spoke of them as follows in his blessing: “Give to Levi his men, give Levi his trusted ones, give Levi the lot of his inheritance, and his truth to the holy men whom they tempted in temptation, and reviled at the waters of contradiction. Who said to his father and mother, I know thee not, and knew not his brethren, and renounced his children. He guarded Thy word and kept Thy testimony.”