How do the major poems of the Pentateuch relate to the intervening narratives? In a previous post, I noted how the themes of the poems are related and overlap to support a future-oriented hope for “the last days.”¹ That post highlighted connections between the poems themselves. In this post, I try to explain how the poems and the intervening narratives share common focal points. That is, the poems call attention to themes that are foundational to the narratives that precede them. They gather up key aspects of the narratives, especially the expectation of a coming seed/descendant, and provide poetic pause, leading the reader to meditate on the future hope that would later be called Messiah and Christ, ultimately Jesus.²

Genesis 49

Throughout Genesis, the future-oriented promises of a seed keep piling up. Genesis 49 points to Judah as the one through whom the growing collection of promises will be fulfilled. The snake-crushing seed of Eve (Gen 3:15), the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob whose reign will bring blessing to all nations (Genesis 12; 15; 17; 26; 28), the seed of Rebekah who will “possess the gate of those who hate him” (Gen 24:60), will come through Judah, according to Genesis 49:8–12. According to Genesis 49:8, the long Joseph story (Gen 37–45) serves as a metaphor for what will, in the last days, happen through Judah.³

Exodus 15

Exodus 15 has a unique emphasis on Yahweh’s power to bring judgment on his enemies and salvation to his people. It’s by Yahweh’s power that Israel was created out of the chaotic waters of the Red Sea and Egypt. Yahweh’s presence and power to save has been the key theme throughout the first fourteen chapters. At the burning bush, Yahweh repeatedly called Moses to enter Egypt and confront Pharaoh, and Moses repeatedly said he was unable. Yahweh’s repeated response: “I am with you” (Exod 3:12; 4:12, 15; 7:1–2, et al.).

Numbers 23–24

Exodus 16–Numbers 22 focuses on Israel’s struggle to remain faithful during their wilderness wanderings. Moses repeatedly intercedes, and Yahweh responds to Moses’s intercession. Though Israel’s rebellion leads to judgment for some, the stories between Exodus 16 and Numbers 22 and the poems of Numbers 23–24 portray Yahweh as one who continues to bless a faithful remnant within Israel. Despite the people’s rebellion and Balak and Balaam’s attempts to curse his people, Yahweh will carry forward his plan to raise up a king who will lead his people to rest from their enemies—“the uproar of a king is among them … his king higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted … he crouched and lay down like a lion …” (Num 23:21; 24:7–9).

Deuteronomy 32–33

While Genesis 49 focused on Joseph and Judah, Deuteronomy 33 focuses on Levi and the way blessing will be extended to all Israel and all nations. Together the stories in Numbers 25 and the poem of Deuteronomy 33 form Levi-focused bookends around the last section of the Pentateuch. Numbers 25 begins this section with a story about Phinehas, a Levite, through whose zeal a covenant of peace and an eternal priesthood was affirmed (Num 25:12–13). Deuteronomy 33 highlights Levi’s future Torah teaching role.

Deuteronomy 33 points to each of Jacob’s sons as beacons of hope set against the dark portrait of human rebellion in Deuteronomy 32. In this way, the final poems (Deut 32–33) intertwine two major emphases in the Pentateuch: human rebellion and the future-oriented hope of a human “seed” that will lead Israel and creation back into the trajectory of flourishing for which they were created. At Sinai, Yahweh’s reign as king over his people was mediated through Moses and the giving of the Torah (Deut 33:1–5). Levi will carry forward the Torah-teaching in Israel (Deut 33:10) as they work and keep the temple and tabernacle performing Israel’s sacrificial rituals. Through their Torah teaching—embodied in the performative rituals of Leviticus and no doubt verbally explained in light of the nature of Deuteronomy—Levi moves forward as mediators of Yahweh’s Torah-centered reign.⁴

Though the focus of this poem is different than Genesis 49, the hope of a king from Judah is not completely absent. A student question today reminded me of this, and Sailhamer discusses it, too. Deuteronomy 33:7 can reasonably be read as Moses praying for the long awaited king of Judah mentioned in Genesis 49:8–12.

This is what he said about Judah:

Hear, Yahweh, the voice of Judah!

Bring him to his people!

With his hands he fights for him.

You will be the help he needs against his enemies (Deut 33:7).⁵

Sailhamer comments,

From reading Deuteronomy 33:7 as a learned quotation of, and commentary on, Genesis 49, we see that here Moses is praying for the coming of the one promised to Judah in Genesis 49. Moses, like Hannah (1 Sam 2:10) many years later, prays for the fulfillment of the Lord’s word in these poems. Moses asks that God will bring (tĕbîʾ ennû) the royal scepter from the house of Judah to his people (ʿammô). He is the one who “with his own hands, contends for what is rightfully his [lô]” and for the “obedience of the peoples/nations [yiqqĕhat ʿammîm]” Deuteronomy 33:7 is thus a summary and reiteration of the hope expressed in Genesis 49:10.⁶

Conclusion

This is my first attempt to explain how the poems and the narratives connect. The poems provide poetic pause and image rich reflection on the messianic hope that has been developing in both the stories and the major poems.

1. These posts on the major poems of the Pentateuch are inspired by a recent rereading of Sailhamer, but teasing out the themes in each poem has also come from my own reading and teaching of the material. ↩
2. Sailhamer has a whole chapter on the “biblical Jesus” of the Pentateuch, and I know how crazy that sounds. He’s using that terminology tongue in cheek and his point is solid, but that’s the topic of another post. ↩
3. For more on the Joseph story and Judah, see this post. ↩
4. For more on Numbers 25 and Deuteronomy 33, see this post. ↩
5. It’s worth noting that “help he needs” is עֵזֶר, from Genesis 2:7, the same word used to describe Eve in the garden. Eve moved Adam from a state of “not good because he’s alone” to flourishing. She provided the help he needed and without which he would not be able to carry out his purpose. ↩
6. Sailhamer, The Meaning of the Pentateuch, p. 471. ↩