Deuteronomy 33:8

  Deuteronomy 33:8

And of Levi he said, Let thy Thummim and thy Urim be with thy holy one, whom thou didst prove at Massah, and with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah;

a. NASB 1995: Of Levi he said, “Let Your Thummim and Your Urim belong to Your godly man, Whom You proved at Massah, With whom You contended at the waters of Meribah;  [New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.]

b. YLT: And of Levi he said: -- Thy Thummim and thy Urim are for thy pious one, Whom Thou hast tried in Massah, Thou dost strive with Him at the waters of Meribah;

  [The Young's Literal Translation was translated by Robert Young, who believed in a strictly literal translation of God's word. This version of the Bible is in the public domain.]

c. Classic Amplified: And of Levi he said: Your Thummim and Your Urim [by which the priest sought God’s will for the nation] are for Your pious one [Aaron on behalf of the tribe], whom You tried and proved at Massah, with whom You contended at the waters of Meribah;  [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

d. Stone Edition THE CHUMASH, Rabbinic Commentary: Of Levi he said: Your Tummim and Your Urim befit Your devout one, whom You testedat Massah, and whom You challenged at the waters of Meribah.  [The Artscroll Series/Stone Edition, THE CHUMASH Copyright 1998, 2000 by MESORAH PUBLICATIONS, Ldt.]

e. ESV: And of Levi he said, “Give to Levi your Thummim, and your Urim to your godly one, whom you tested at Massah, with whom you quarreled at the waters of Meribah;  [Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

f. Unless otherwise stated, all Greek and Hebrew definitions are from Blue Letter Bible

1. “And of Levi he said, Let thy Thummim and thy Urim be with thy holy one…” 

a. [And of] Levi [Strong: 3678 Lêvîy, lay-vee'; from H3867; attached; Levi, a son of Jacob:—Levi.]

b. [he] said [Strong: 559 ʼâmar, aw-mar'; a primitive root; to say (used with great latitude):—answer, appoint, avouch, bid, boast self, call, certify, challenge, charge, (at the, give) command(-ment), commune, consider, declare, demand, × desire, determine, × expressly, × indeed, × intend, name, × plainly, promise, publish, report, require, say, speak (against, of), × still, × suppose, talk, tell, term, × that is, × think, use (speech), utter, × verily, × yet.]

c. [Let thy] Thummim [Strong: 8550 Tummîym, toom-meem'; plural of H8537; perfections, i.e. (techn.) one of the epithets of the objects in the high-priest's breastplate as an emblem of complete Truth:—Thummim.]

d. [and thy] Urim [Strong: 224 ʼÛwrîym, oo-reem'; plural of H217; lights; Urim, the oracular brilliancy of the figures in the high-priest's breastplate:—Urim.]

1). Chumash Rabbinic note for Exodus 28:30: The Urim and the Thummim as noted above, the Breastplate was folded in half to form a pouch-like pocket. Into it Moses was to insert a slip of parchment containing the ineffable Name [according to Rambam, there was more than one Name]. This Name was called Urim, from the word ‘light’ because it would cause the individual letters of the tribal name on the Breastplate to light up; and it was called Thumim, from the word ‘completeness’, because if read in the proper order, these luminous letters presented complete and true answers to the questions of national import that the Kohen Gadol would ask of God (Rashi from Yoma 73b). Ramban gives an example of how this process took place. When the Jewish people crossed the Jordan and had to undertake the conquest of the Land, the question arose which tribe should begin the war against the Canaanites. Phinehas the Kohen Gadol entered the Tabernacle and posed this question. The name Judah lit up…[DC: Plus four other Hebrew letters], The Kohen had to know what this combination of letters represented, because they could be placed in several orders, thus forming different combinations of words. A Divine spirit gave him the wisdom to know that the message of the Urim was…[the tribe of] Judah shall go forth [to wage war] (see Judges 1:1, 2).

2). Unger's Bible Dictionary: Urim and the Thummim: “Lights and perfections”. Into the breastplate of the high priest were placed the “Urim and the Thummim, and they shall be over Aaron’s heart when he goes in before the Lord (Exodus 28:30). These formed the medium through which the high priest ascertained the will of Jehovah in regard to any important matter affecting the theocracy (Numbers 27:21). Even such early writers as Josephus, Philo, and the rabbis do not furnish any precise information as to what the Urim and Thummim really were. On every side we meet with confessions of ignorance. 

e. [be with thy] holy [Strong: 2623 châçîyd, khaw-seed'; from H2616; properly, kind, i.e. (religiously) pious (a saint):—godly (man), good, holy (one), merciful, saint, (un-) godly.]

f. one [Strong: 376 ʼîysh, eesh; contracted for H582 (or perhaps rather from an unused root meaning to be extant); a man as an individual or a male person; often used as an adjunct to a more definite term (and in such cases frequently not expressed in translation):—also, another, any (man), a certain, champion, consent, each, every (one), fellow, (foot-, husband-) man, (good-, great, mighty) man, he, high (degree), him (that is), husband, man(-kind), none, one, people, person, steward, what (man) soever, whoso(-ever), worthy.]

2. “...whom thou didst prove at Massah, and with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah;”

a. whom [Strong: 834 ʼăsher, ash-er'; a primitive relative pronoun (of every gender and number); who, which, what, that; also (as an adverb and a conjunction) when, where, how, because, in order that, etc.:—× after, × alike, as (soon as), because, × every, for, + forasmuch, + from whence, + how(-soever), × if, (so) that ((thing) which, wherein), × though, + until, + whatsoever, when, where (+ -as, -in, -of, -on, -soever, -with), which, whilst, + whither(-soever), who(-m, -soever, -se). As it is indeclinable, it is often accompanied by the personal pronoun expletively, used to show the connection.]

b. [thou didst] prove [Strong: 5254 nâçâh, naw-saw'; a primitive root; to test; by implication, to attempt:—adventure, assay, prove, tempt, try.]

c. [at] Massah [Strong: 4532 Maççâh, mas-saw'; the same as H4531; Massah, a place in the Desert:—Massah.]

d. [and with whom thou didst] strive [Strong: 7378 rîyb, reeb; or רוּב rûwb; a primitive root; properly, to toss, i.e. grapple; mostly figuratively, to wrangle, i.e. hold a controversy; (by implication) to defend:—adversary, chide, complain, contend, debate, × ever, × lay wait, plead, rebuke, strive, × thoroughly.]

e. at [Strong: 5921 ʻal, al; properly, the same as H5920 used as a preposition (in the singular or plural often with prefix, or as conjunction with a particle following); above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applications:—above, according to(-ly), after, (as) against, among, and, × as, at, because of, beside (the rest of), between, beyond the time, × both and, by (reason of), × had the charge of, concerning for, in (that), (forth, out) of, (from) (off), (up-) on, over, than, through(-out), to, touching, × with.]

f. [at the] waters [Strong: 4325 mayim, mah'-yim; dual of a primitive noun (but used in a singular sense); water; figuratively, juice; by euphemism, urine, semen:— piss, wasting, water(-ing, (-course, -flood, -spring)).]

g. [of] Meribah [Strong: 489 Mᵉrîybâh, mer-ee-baw'; the same as H4808; Meribah, the name of two places in the Desert:—Meribah.]

1). This is the first striking of the rock at Rephidim.

a). Exodus 17:1-7 And all the congregation of the children of Israel journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, after their journeys, according to the commandment of the Lord, and pitched in Rephidim: and there was no water for the people to drink.

17:2 Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, and said, Give us water that we may drink. And Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? wherefore do ye tempt the Lord?

17:3 And the people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?

17:4 And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, What shall I do unto this people? they be almost ready to stone me.

17:5 And the Lord said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest the river, take in thine hand, and go.

17:6 Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.

17:7 And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, Is the Lord among us, or not?

1). This rock, according to the inspired writing of the Apostle Paul, not only followed Israel through the desert. The rock was the Messiah.

a). 1 Corinthians 10:4  And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

2). Comments from David Stearn, Jewish Messianic writer.

a). Jewish New Testament Commentary, David H.  Stearn, Jewish New Testament publications, Inc. p. 469.  “According to the Aggadah [the legendary and Midrashic material woven about the Tanakh], the Children of Israel were accompanied in the desert by a rolling stone that poured forth water.” (Avraham Chill, The Minhagim, New York: Sepher-Hermon Press, Inc., 1979, p.322).

3). This means of course that the rock that Israel received water out of in Rephidim is the same rock that Israel received water from in Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin, that account is in Numbers (Numbers 20:1-13). 

4). The wonderful thing about this of course is that Israel traveled and set up camp 22 times between Rephidim and Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin. There are different schools of thought as to where Kadesh is. I have four Bible Atlas’s and all four have Kadesh 160 miles northeast of the Sinai location on the Sinai Peninsula. Other scholars and ones I lean toward, have Mt. Sinai on the East side of the Red Sea in Saudi Arabia in the ancient land of Midian, and Kadesh north from there about 120 miles but south of the ancient kingdom of Edom. (Numbers 33:14-36).