| Deuteronomy 33:2
| And he said: The Lord came from Sinai, and from Seir he rose up to us: he hath appeared from Mount Pharan, and with him thousands of saints. In his right hand a fiery law.
| Pharan. Habacuc 3:3, mentions this apparition. See also Psalm 67:9. --- Saints. God was accompanied by legions of angels, when he delivered the law to the Israelites, who are styled a nation of saints, Numbers 16:3. Septuagint, "he hastened from Mount Pharan, with ten thousands to Cades. At his right hand are his angels attending." (Haydock) --- Kodesh does not mean saints, but holiness, or the city of Cades; and the preceding word, which Protestants translate, with ten thousands, more probably refers to another title of the city, as it is specified Meriba-Cadesh, Deuteronomy 32:51., and Ezechiel 48:28. (Kennicott) --- Law. Chaldean, "from the midst of the fire he has given us a law, written with his own hand." We may translate, "He hath shone from Mount Pharan, and multitudes accompanied him. The Holy One, who hath in his hand fire and the law." See Isaias 6:3. God conducted his people, like a victorious general, through the wilderness, frequently appearing to them to strike terror into the rebellious. (Calmet) --- When he first descended upon Sinai, his glory shone on Pharan and Seir, as it were in its progress thither. (Menochius) --- The law is styled fiery, not only because it was given from the midst of flames, but also because it was to be put in execution with the utmost rigour. (Haydock) --- But doth is Chaldean, and no where else used for the law in the books written before the captivity, nor is it acknowledged by the Septuagint, Syriac, etc. Perhaps it was originally aur, as it is in the Samaritan version, "shone forth," conformably to a similar passage, Habacuc 3:4. "His brightness was as the sun, horns, or rather splendours (issuing forth) from his hand," etc. (Kennicott)
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