4 Unstable as water, thou art not abundant; For thou hast gone up thy father's bed; Then thou hast polluted: My couch he went up!
and it cometh to pass in Israel's dwelling in that land, that Reuben goeth, and lieth with Bilhah his father's concubine; and Israel heareth.
As to sons of Reuben, first-born of Israel -- for he `is' the first-born, and on account of his profaning the couch of his father hath his birthright been given to the sons of Joseph son of Israel, and `he is' not to be reckoned by genealogy for the birthright,
And these `are' the names of the sons of Israel who are coming into Egypt: Jacob and his sons, Jacob's first-born, Reuben.
And much cattle hath been to the sons of Reuben and to the sons of Gad, very many; and they see the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, and lo, the place `is' a place `for' cattle; and the sons of Gad, and the sons of Reuben, come in and speak unto Moses, and unto Eleazar the priest, and unto the princes of the company, saying: `Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Shebam, and Nebo, and Beon -- the land which Jehovah hath smitten before the company of Israel, is a land for cattle, and thy servants have cattle.' And they say, `If we have found grace in thine eyes, let this land be given to thy servants for a possession; cause us not to pass over the Jordan.' And Moses saith to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Reuben, `Do your brethren go in to the battle, and ye -- do ye sit here? and why discourage ye the heart of the sons of Israel from passing over unto the land which Jehovah hath given to them? `Thus did your fathers in my sending them from Kadesh-Barnea to see the land; and they go up unto the valley of Eshcol, and see the land, and discourage the heart of the sons of Israel so as not to go in unto the land which Jehovah hath given to them; and the anger of Jehovah burneth in that day, and He sweareth, saying, They do not see -- the men who are coming up out of Egypt from a son of twenty years and upward -- the ground which I have sworn to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, for they have not been fully after Me; save Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenezite, and Joshua son of Nun, for they have been fully after Jehovah; and the anger of Jehovah burneth against Israel, and He causeth them to wander in the wilderness forty years, until the consumption of all the generation which is doing the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah. `And lo, ye have risen in the stead of your fathers, an increase of men -- sinners, to add yet to the fury of the anger of Jehovah toward Israel; when ye turn back from after Him, then He hath added yet to leave him in the wilderness, and ye have done corruptly to all this people.' And they come nigh unto him, and say, `Folds for the flock we build for our cattle here, and cities for our infants; and we -- we are armed hasting before the sons of Israel till that we have brought them in unto their place; and our infants have dwelt in the cities of defence because of the inhabitants of the land; we do not turn back unto our houses till the sons of Israel have inherited each his inheritance, for we do not inherit with them beyond the Jordan and yonder, for our inheritance hath come unto us beyond the Jordan at the `sun'-rising.' And Moses saith unto them, `If ye do this thing: if ye are armed before Jehovah for battle, and every armed one of you hath passed over the Jordan before Jehovah, till his dispossessing His enemies from before Him, and the land hath been subdued before Jehovah -- then afterwards ye do turn back, and have been acquitted by Jehovah, and by Israel; and this land hath been to you for a possession before Jehovah. `And if ye do not so, lo, ye have sinned against Jehovah, and know ye your sin, that it doth find you; build for yourselves cities for your infants, and folds for your flock, and that which is going out from your mouth do ye.' And the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben speak unto Moses, saying, `Thy servants do as my lord is commanding; our infants, our wives, our cattle, and all our beasts, are there in cities of Gilead, and thy servants pass over, every armed one of the host, before Jehovah, to battle, as my lord is saying.' And Moses commandeth concerning them Eleazar the priest, and Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the sons of Israel; and Moses saith unto them, `If the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben pass over with you the Jordan, every one armed for battle, before Jehovah, and the land hath been subdued before you, then ye have given to them the land of Gilead for a possession; and if they do not pass over armed with you, then they have possessions in your midst in the land of Canaan.' And the sons of Gad and the sons of Reuben answer, saying, `That which Jehovah hath spoken unto thy servants -- so we do; we -- we pass over armed before Jehovah `to' the land of Canaan, and with us `is' the possession of our inheritance beyond the Jordan.' And Moses giveth to them, to the sons of Gad, and to the sons of Reuben, and to the half of the tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorite, and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land by its cities, in the borders, the cities of the land round about. And the sons of Gad build Dihon, and Ataroth, and Aroer, and Atroth, Shophan, and Jaazer, and Jogbehah, and Beth-Nimrah, and Beth-Haran, cities of defence, and sheepfolds. And the sons of Reuben have build Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Kirjathaim, and Nebo, and Baal-Meon (changed in name), and Shibmah, and they call by `these' names the names of the cities which they have built. And sons of Machir son of Manasseh go to Gilead, and capture it, and dispossess the Amorite, who `is' in it; and Moses giveth Gilead to Machir son of Manasseh, and he dwelleth in it. And Jair son of Manasseh hath gone and captureth their towns, and calleth them `Towns of Jair;' and Nobah hath gone and captureth Kenath, and its villages, and calleth it Nobah, by his own name.
Let Reuben live, and not die, And let his men be a number.
Whoredom is actually heard of among you, and such whoredom as is not even named among the nations -- as that one hath the wife of the father! --
having eyes full of adultery, and unable to cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, having an heart exercised in covetousnesses, children of a curse,
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.