John Gill Commentary Deuteronomy 33:29

"Happy art thou, O Israel: Who is like unto thee, a people saved by Jehovah, The shield of thy help, And the sword of thy excellency! And thine enemies shall submit themselves unto thee; And thou shalt tread upon their high places." — Deuteronomy 33:29 (ASV)

Happy are you, O Israel
This is the conclusion of the blessing on Israel summed up in a few words; they having God to be their God, and having so many good things promised them, and in sight of them; being now got through, the wilderness, and on the borders of the land of Canaan; as all such must be happy, whose covenant God is the Lord; since they must be beloved of him, chosen by him, and blessed with all spiritual blessings; and in the faith, hope, and view of eternal happiness:

who is like you ?
for an interest in the favour of God, for a share in the blessings of goodness, for a good God, a good land, and good laws; for wisdom and knowledge, for riches and honour, for holiness and happiness:

O people saved by the Lord ;
redeemed by him out of Egypt, preserved in the wilderness, saved from many dangers and enemies, and now brought near to the land of Canaan. The Targum of Jonathan is,

``saved or redeemed in the name of the word of the Lord:'' by whom the spiritual Israel of God are redeemed from all their sins, from the curses of the law, and out of the hand of all their enemies; and are and will be completely saved in soul and body, with an everlasting salvation:

the shield of your help ;
that, is, the Lord, by whom they are saved; he is the shield that protects them; the shield of faith and of salvation, which faith lays hold on and makes use of for its defence, and who is the help of his people in all times of trouble:

and who is the sword of your excellency ;
to destroy their enemies, and whereby they would be raised to that excellency and glory they were in the land of Canaan;

and your enemies shall be found liars unto you ;
who threatened what they would do unto them, but were not able: or "shall lie unto you" ^F15 , be in such dread and fear as to tell lies to save themselves, and pretend to be what they were not, as the Gibeonites did, of whom Jarchi interprets this passage:

and you shall tread upon their, high places ;
be possessed of their cities and fortresses, built on an eminence; see (Deuteronomy 32:13) ; all the three Targums, and so Jarchi, interpret it of treading on the necks of their kings, which was fulfilled, (Joshua 10:24) .

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FOOTNOTES:

• F15: (wvxky) "mentientur", Montanus, Tigurine version; "mentiuntur", Cocceius.