1 And Jacob H3290 called H7121 unto his sons, H1121 and said, H559 Gather yourselves together, H622 that I may tell H5046 you that which shall befall H7122 you in the last H319 days. H3117
2 Gather yourselves together, H6908 and hear, H8085 ye sons H1121 of Jacob; H3290 and hearken H8085 unto Israel H3478 your father. H1
3 Reuben, H7205 thou art my firstborn, H1060 my might, H3581 and the beginning H7225 of my strength, H202 the excellency H3499 of dignity, H7613 and the excellency H3499 of power: H5794
4 Unstable H6349 as water, H4325 thou shalt not excel; H3498 because thou wentest up H5927 to thy father's H1 bed; H4904 then defiledst thou H2490 it: he went up H5927 to my couch. H3326
5 Simeon H8095 and Levi H3878 are brethren; H251 instruments H3627 of cruelty H2555 are in their habitations. H4380
6 O my soul, H5315 come H935 not thou into their secret; H5475 unto their assembly, H6951 mine honour, H3519 be not thou united: H3161 for in their anger H639 they slew H2026 a man, H376 and in their selfwill H7522 they digged down H6131 a wall. H7794
7 Cursed H779 be their anger, H639 for it was fierce; H5794 and their wrath, H5678 for it was cruel: H7185 I will divide H2505 them in Jacob, H3290 and scatter H6327 them in Israel. H3478
8 Judah, H3063 thou art he whom thy brethren H251 shall praise: H3034 thy hand H3027 shall be in the neck H6203 of thine enemies; H341 thy father's H1 children H1121 shall bow down H7812 before thee.
9 Judah H3063 is a lion's H738 whelp: H1482 from the prey, H2964 my son, H1121 thou art gone up: H5927 he stooped down, H3766 he couched H7257 as a lion, H738 and as an old lion; H3833 who shall rouse him up? H6965
10 The sceptre H7626 shall not depart H5493 from Judah, H3063 nor a lawgiver H2710 from between his feet, H7272 until H3588 Shiloh H7886 come; H935 and unto him shall the gathering H3349 of the people H5971 be.
11 Binding H631 his foal H5895 unto the vine, H1612 and his ass's H860 colt H1121 unto the choice vine; H8321 he washed H3526 his garments H3830 in wine, H3196 and his clothes H5497 in the blood H1818 of grapes: H6025
12 His eyes H5869 shall be red H2447 with wine, H3196 and his teeth H8127 white H3836 with milk. H2461
13 Zebulun H2074 shall dwell H7931 at the haven H2348 of the sea; H3220 and he shall be for an haven H2348 of ships; H591 and his border H3411 shall be unto Zidon. H6721
14 Issachar H3485 is a strong H1634 ass H2543 couching down H7257 between two burdens: H4942
15 And he saw H7200 that rest H4496 was good, H2896 and the land H776 that it was pleasant; H5276 and bowed H5186 his shoulder H7926 to bear, H5445 and became a servant H5647 unto tribute. H4522
16 Dan H1835 shall judge H1777 his people, H5971 as one H259 of the tribes H7626 of Israel. H3478
17 Dan H1835 shall be a serpent H5175 by the way, H1870 an adder H8207 in the path, H734 that biteth H5391 the horse H5483 heels, H6119 so that his rider H7392 shall fall H5307 backward. H268
18 I have waited for H6960 thy salvation, H3444 O LORD. H3068
19 Gad, H1410 a troop H1416 shall overcome H1464 him: but he shall overcome H1464 at the last. H6119
20 Out of Asher H836 his bread H3899 shall be fat, H8082 and he shall yield H5414 royal H4428 dainties. H4574
21 Naphtali H5321 is a hind H355 let loose: H7971 he giveth H5414 goodly H8233 words. H561
22 Joseph H3130 is a fruitful H6509 bough, H1121 even a fruitful H6509 bough H1121 by a well; H5869 whose branches H1323 run H6805 over the wall: H7791
23 The archers H1167 H2671 have sorely grieved him, H4843 and shot H7232 at him, and hated him: H7852
24 But his bow H7198 abode H3427 in strength, H386 and the arms H2220 of his hands H3027 were made strong H6339 by the hands H3027 of the mighty H46 God of Jacob; H3290 (from thence is the shepherd, H7462 the stone H68 of Israel:) H3478
25 Even by the God H410 of thy father, H1 who shall help H5826 thee; and by H854 the Almighty, H7706 who shall bless H1288 thee with blessings H1293 of heaven H8064 above, H5920 blessings H1293 of the deep H8415 that lieth H7257 under, blessings H1293 of the breasts, H7699 and of the womb: H7356
26 The blessings H1293 of thy father H1 have prevailed H1396 above the blessings H1293 of my progenitors H2029 unto the utmost bound H8379 of the everlasting H5769 hills: H1389 they shall be on the head H7218 of Joseph, H3130 and on the crown of the head H6936 of him that was separate H5139 from his brethren. H251
27 Benjamin H1144 shall ravin H2963 as a wolf: H2061 in the morning H1242 he shall devour H398 the prey, H5706 and at night H6153 he shall divide H2505 the spoil. H7998
28 All these are the twelve H6240 H8147 tribes H7626 of Israel: H3478 and this is it that their father H1 spake H1696 unto them, and blessed H1288 them; every H834 one H376 according to his blessing H1293 he blessed H1288 them.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Genesis 49
Commentary on Genesis 49 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 49
Ge 49:1-33. Patriarchal Blessing.
1. Jacob called unto his sons—It is not to the sayings of the dying saint, so much as of the inspired prophet, that attention is called in this chapter. Under the immediate influence of the Holy Spirit he pronounced his prophetic benediction and described the condition of their respective descendants in the last days, or future times.
Ge 49:3, 4. Reuben forfeited by his crime the rights and honors of primogeniture. His posterity never made any figure; no judge, prophet, nor ruler, sprang from this tribe.
Ge 49:5-7. Simeon and Levi were associate in wickedness, and the same prediction would be equally applicable to both their tribes. Levi had cities allotted to them (Jos 21:1-45) in every tribe. On account of their zeal against idolatry, they were honorably "divided in Jacob"; whereas the tribe of Simeon, which was guilty of the grossest idolatry and the vices inseparable from it, were ignominiously "scattered."
Ge 49:8-12. Judah—A high pre-eminence is destined to this tribe (Nu 10:14; Jud 1:2). Besides the honor of giving name to the Promised Land, David, and a greater than David—the Messiah—sprang from it. Chief among the tribes, "it grew up from a lion's whelp"—that is, a little power—till it became "an old lion"—that is, calm and quiet, yet still formidable.
10. until Shiloh come—Shiloh—this obscure word is variously interpreted to mean "the sent" (Joh 17:3), "the seed" (Isa 11:1), the "peaceable or prosperous one" (Eph 2:14)—that is, the Messiah (Isa 11:10; Ro 15:12); and when He should come, "the tribe of Judah should no longer boast either an independent king or a judge of their own" [Calvin]. The Jews have been for eighteen centuries without a ruler and without a judge since Shiloh came, and "to Him the gathering of the people has been."
Ge 49:13. Zebulun was to have its lot on the seacoast, close to Zidon, and to engage, like that state, in maritime pursuits and commerce.
Ge 49:14, 15. Issachar—
14. a strong ass couching down between two burdens—that is, it was to be active, patient, given to agricultural labors. It was established in lower Galilee—a "good land," settling down in the midst of the Canaanites, where, for the sake of quiet, they "bowed their shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute."
Ge 49:16-18. Dan—though the son of a secondary wife, was to be "as one of the tribes of Israel."
17. Dan—"a judge."
a serpent … an adder—A serpent, an adder, implies subtlety and stratagem; such was pre-eminently the character of Samson, the most illustrious of its judges.
Ge 49:19. Gad—This tribe should be often attacked and wasted by hostile powers on their borders (Jud 10:8; Jer 49:1). But they were generally victorious in the close of their wars.
Ge 49:20. Asher—"Blessed." Its allotment was the seacoast between Tyre and Carmel, a district fertile in the production of the finest corn and oil in all Palestine.
Ge 49:21. Naphtali—The best rendering we know is this, "Naphtali is a deer roaming at liberty; he shooteth forth goodly branches," or majestic antlers [Taylor, Scripture Illustrations], and the meaning of the prophecy seems to be that the tribe of Naphtali would be located in a territory so fertile and peaceable, that, feeding on the richest pasture, he would spread out, like a deer, branching antlers.
Ge 49:22-26. Joseph—
22. a fruitful bough, &c.—denotes the extraordinary increase of that tribe (compare Nu 1:33-35; Jos 17:17; De 33:17). The patriarch describes him as attacked by envy, revenge, temptation, ingratitude; yet still, by the grace of God, he triumphed over all opposition, so that he became the sustainer of Israel; and then he proceeds to shower blessings of every kind upon the head of this favorite son. The history of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh shows how fully these blessings were realized.
Ge 49:27-33. Benjamin
27. shall ravin like a wolf—This tribe in its early history spent its energies in petty or inglorious warfare and especially in the violent and unjust contest (Jud 19:1-20:48), in which it engaged with the other tribes, when, notwithstanding two victories, it was almost exterminated.
28. all these are the twelve tribes of Israel—or ancestors. Jacob's prophetic words obviously refer not so much to the sons as to the tribes of Israel.
29. he charged them—The charge had already been given and solemnly undertaken (Ge 47:31). But in mentioning his wishes now and rehearsing all the circumstances connected with the purchase of Machpelah, he wished to declare, with his latest breath, before all his family, that he died in the same faith as Abraham.
33. when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons—It is probable that he was supernaturally strengthened for this last momentous office of the patriarch, and that when the divine afflatus ceased, his exhausted powers giving way, he yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people.