the Second Week after Easter
Click here to join the effort!
Read the Bible
New King James Version
Genesis 49:26
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
- Nave'sDictionaries:
- AmericanEncyclopedias:
- CondensedParallel Translations
The blessings of your father Have prevailed above the blessings of the ancient mountains, Than the bounty of the age-old hills. They will be on the head of Yosef, On the crown of the head of him who is separated from his brothers.
The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.
The blessings of your father are superior to the blessings of my ancestors, to the bounty of the everlasting hills. May they be on the head of Joseph, and on the forehead of the prince of his brothers.
The blessings of your father are greater than the blessings of the oldest mountains, greater than the good things of the long-lasting hills. May these blessings rest on the head of Joseph, on the forehead of the one who was separated from his brothers.
The blessings of your father are greater than the blessings of the eternal mountains or the desirable things of the age-old hills. They will be on the head of Joseph and on the brow of the prince of his brothers.
"The blessings of your father Are greater than the blessings of my ancestors [Abraham and Isaac] Up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills; They shall be on the head of Joseph, Even on the crown of the head of him who was the distinguished one and the one who is prince among (separate from) his brothers.
"The blessings of your father Have surpassed the blessings of my ancestors Up to the furthest boundary of the everlasting hills; May they be on the head of Joseph, And on the top of the head of the one distinguished among his brothers.
The blessings of thy father shalbe stronger then the blessings of mine elders: vnto the ende of the hilles of the worlde they shall be on the head of Ioseph, and on the top of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.
The blessings of your fatherHave surpassed the blessings of my ancestorsUp to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills;May they be on the head of Joseph,And on the top of the head of the one distinguished among his brothers.
My son, the blessings I give are better than the promise of ancient mountains or eternal hills. Joseph, I pray these blessings will come to you, because you are the leader of your brothers.
The blessings of your father are more powerful than the blessings of my parents, extending to the farthest of the everlasting hills; they will be on the head of Yosef, on the brow of the prince among his brothers.
The blessings of thy father surpass the blessings of my ancestors, Unto the bounds of the everlasting hills: They shall be on the head of Joseph, And on the crown of the head of him that was separated from his brethren.
My parents had many good things happen to them. And I, your father, was blessed even more. Your brothers left you with nothing. But now I pile all my blessings on you, as high as a mountain.
The blessings of your father are mighty beyond the blessings of my parents, up to the bounties of the everlasting hills. May they be on the head of Joseph, and on the brow of him who was set apart from his brothers.
The blessings of your father have prevailed above the blessings of my forbears to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills; they shall be on the head of Joseph, on the crown of the head of him who is the prince of his brothers.
Blessings of grain and flowers, Blessings of ancient mountains, Delightful things from everlasting hills. May these blessings rest on the head of Joseph, On the brow of the one set apart from his brothers.
The blessings of your father excelthe blessings of my ancestorsand the bounty of the ancient hills.May they rest on the head of Joseph,on the brow of the prince of his brothers.
The blessings of your father are above the blessings of my offspring, to the limit of everlasting hills; may they be for the head of Joseph and for the crown of the leader of his brothers.
The blessinges promised vnto thy father and my fore elders go mightely, after the desyre of the hyest in the worlde: these shal light on Iosephs heade, and on the toppe of his heade, that was separate from his brethren.
The blessings of thy father Have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors Unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: They shall be on the head of Joseph, And on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.
Blessings of sons, old and young, to the father: blessings of the oldest mountains and the fruit of the eternal hills: let them come on the head of Joseph, on the crown of him who was separate from his brothers.
The blessynges of thy fathers shall be stronger then the blessinges of my elders: vnto the vtmost of the hylles of the worlde, they shalbe on the head of Ioseph, and on the toppe of the head of hym that was seperate from his brethren.
The blessings of thy father are mighty beyond the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills; they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of the prince among his brethren.
The blessings of thy father haue preuailed aboue the blessings of my progenitors: vnto the vtmost bound of the euerlasting hils, they shall bee on the head of Ioseph, and on the crowne of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.
the blessings of thy father and thy mother—it has prevailed above the blessing of the lasting mountains, and beyond the blessings of the everlasting hills; they shall be upon the head of Joseph, and upon the head of the brothers of whom he took the lead.
The blessings of thy father Have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors Unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: They shall be on the head of Joseph, And on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.
The blessings of your father have surpassed the blessings of the ancient mountains and the bounty of the everlasting hills. May they rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince of his brothers.
the blessyngis of thi fadir ben coumfortid, the blessyngis of his fadris, til the desire of euerlastynge hillis cam; blessyngis ben maad in the heed of Joseph, and in the nol of Nazarei among his britheren.
Thy father's blessings have been mighty Above the blessings of my progenitors, Unto the limit of the heights age-during They are for the head of Joseph, And for the crown of the one Separate [from] his brethren.
The blessings of your father Have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors To the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: They shall be on the head of Joseph, And on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brothers.
The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills; they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.
The blessings of your father Have prevailed above the blessings of the ancient mountains, Than the bounty of the age-old hills. They will be on the head of Joseph, On the crown of the head of him who is separated from his brothers.
May my fatherly blessings on you surpass the blessings of my ancestors, reaching to the heights of the eternal hills. May these blessings rest on the head of Joseph, who is a prince among his brothers.
More good has come to your father than to my fathers before me, as lasting as the hills that last forever. May this good be on the head of Joseph, on the crown of him who was divided from his brothers.
The blessings of your father are stronger than the blessings of the eternal mountains, the bounties of the everlasting hills; may they be on the head of Joseph, on the brow of him who was set apart from his brothers.
The blessings of thy father, have prevailed, Over the blessings of the perpetual mountains, The charm of the age-abiding hills, - They turn out to be, for the head of Joseph, And for the crown of the head of him who was set apart from his brethren.
The blessings of thy father are strengthened with the blessings of his fathers: until the desire of the everlasting hills should come: may they be upon the head of Joseph, and upon the crown of the Nazarite among his brethren.
The blessings of your father are mighty beyond the blessings of the eternal mountains, the bounties of the everlasting hills; may they be on the head of Joseph, and on the brow of him who was separate from his brothers.
"The blessings of your father Have surpassed the blessings of my ancestors Up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills; May they be on the head of Joseph, And on the crown of the head of the one distinguished among his brothers.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
have prevailed: Genesis 27:27-29, Genesis 27:39, Genesis 27:40, Genesis 28:3, Genesis 28:4, Ephesians 1:3
everlasting hills: Deuteronomy 33:15, Psalms 89:36, Isaiah 54:10, Ezekiel 37:25, Ezekiel 37:26, Jonah 2:6, Habakkuk 3:6
they shall: Deuteronomy 33:16, Psalms 132:18
was separate: Genesis 37:28, Numbers 6:2, Psalms 105:17-22, Isaiah 66:5, Acts 7:9
Reciprocal: Genesis 22:17 - in blessing 1 Chronicles 5:2 - birthright was Ezekiel 47:13 - Joseph
Cross-References
Then Midianite traders passed by; so the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.
"Reuben, you are my firstborn, My might and the beginning of my strength, The excellency of dignity and the excellency of power.
Unstable as water, you shall not excel, Because you went up to your father's bed; Then you defiled it-- He went up to my couch.
He saw that rest was good, And that the land was pleasant; He bowed his shoulder to bear a burden, And became a band of slaves.
"Dan shall judge his people As one of the tribes of Israel.
Dan shall be a serpent by the way, A viper by the path, That bites the horse's heels So that its rider shall fall backward.
"Joseph is a fruitful bough, A fruitful bough by a well; His branches run over the wall.
By the God of your father who will help you, And by the Almighty who will bless you With blessings of heaven above, Blessings of the deep that lies beneath, Blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
The blessings of your father Have excelled the blessings of my ancestors, Up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills. They shall be on the head of Joseph, And on the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers.
"Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; In the morning he shall devour the prey, And at night he shall divide the spoil."
Gill's Notes on the Bible
The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors,.... Jacob's blessings were greater and more numerous, both those which he himself had, and bestowed upon his offspring, than those that Abraham and Isaac had, he having more children than they, and blessings for everyone of them; whereas they each of them had but two, and one of these two were excluded the blessing: and besides, though these blessings were the same in substance bestowed on his progenitors, and by them on him, yet these were more clearly and distinctly given out by him to his posterity, and were nearer their accomplishment:
unto the utmost bounds of the everlasting hills, they shall be on the head of Joseph: that is, continue on him as long as the everlasting hills continue, particularly those of a spiritual kind, for they endure for ever. The word for "bounds" signifies "desire"; and Onkelos paraphrases the words,
"which the princes that were of old desired:''
meaning either the angels who desire to look into heavenly things, or the patriarchs, who were desirous of the coming of the Messiah, and salvation by him; and so the Vulgate Latin version is, "until the desire of the everlasting hills should come"; that is, Christ, who is the desire of all nations, in whom all nations of the earth are to be blessed, and therefore desirable; blessings of all kinds are upon the head of the just, as they were on Joseph, Proverbs 10:6
and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren; who shunned company and conversation with him, and at length sold him into Egypt, where he was parted from them, and remained separate for many years; and when they came to dwell in the land of Egypt, they lived in Goshen, and he at Pharaoh's court, where he was distinguished with peculiar honours, and advanced above them. Of Christ his antitype, see Hebrews 7:26.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
- Jacob Blesses His Sons
5. מכרה mekêrāh, “weapon;” related: כיר kārar or כרה kārāh dig. “Device, design?” related: מכר mākar “sell,” in Arabic “take counsel. Habitation.”
10. מחקק mechoqēq, “lawgiver, judge, dispenser of laws.” This word occurs in six other places - Numbers 21:18; Deuteronomy 33:21; Jud. Deuteronomy 5:14; Psalms 60:9; Psalms 108:9; Isaiah 33:22; in five of which it clearly denotes ruler, or judge. The meaning “sceptre” is therefore doubtful. שׁילה shı̂ylôh, Shiloh, a softened form of שׁילון shı̂ylôn, a derivative of שׁל shol, the ultimate root of שׁלה shālâh, שׁלם shālam, and possibly שׁלט shālaṭ, and hence, denoting “the peacemaker, the prince of peace.” It is not employed as an appellative noun. But it is used afterward as the name of a town, now identified as Seilun. This town probably had its name, like many other ancient places from a person of the same name who built or possessed it.
From the special conference with Joseph we now pass to the parting address of Jacob to his assembled sons. This is at the same time prophetic and benedictory. Like all prophecy, it starts from present things, and in its widest expanse penetrates into the remotest future of the present course of nature.
Genesis 49:1-2
And Jacob called his sons - This is done by messengers going to their various dwellings and pasture-grounds, and summoning them to his presence. And he said. These words introduce his dying address. “Gather yourselves together.” Though there is to be a special address to each, yet it is to be in the audience of all the rest, for the instruction of the whole family. “That which shall befall you in the after days.” The after days are the times intervening between the speaker and the end of the human race. The beginning of man was at the sixth day of the last creation. The end of his race will be at the dissolution of the heavens and the earth then called into being, and the new creation which we are taught will be consequent thereupon. To this interval prophecy has reference in general, though it occasionally penetrates beyond the veil that separates the present from the future creation.
The prophet has his mind filled with the objects and events of the present and the past, and from these he must draw his images for the future, and express them in the current language of his day. To interpret his words, therefore, we must ascend to his day, examine his usage of speech, distinguish the transient forms in which truth may appear, and hold fast by the constant essence which belongs to all ages. “Hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken to Israel your father.” This is a specimen of the synthetic or synonymous parallel. It affords a good example of the equivalence, and at the same time the distinction, of Jacob and Israel. They both apply to the same person, and to the race of which he is the head. The one refers to the natural, the other to the spiritual. The distinction is similar to that between Elohim and Yahweh: the former of which designates the eternal God, antecedent to all creation, and therefore, equally related to the whole universe; the latter, the self-existent God, subsequent to the creation of intelligent beings, and especially related to them, as the moral Governor, the Keeper of covenant, and the Performer of promise.
Genesis 49:3-4
Reuben, as the first-born by nature, has the first place in the benedictory address. My might. In times and places in which a man’s right depends on his might, a large family of sons is the source of strength and safety. “The excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power” - the rank and authority which belong to the first-born. “Boiling over as water.” That which boils over perishes at the same time that it is pernicious. This is here transferred in a figure to the passionate nature of Reuben. “Thou shalt not excel.” There is here an allusion to the excellency of dignity and power. By the boiling over of his unhallowed passions Reuben lost all the excellence that primogeniture confers. By the dispensation of Providence the double portion went to Joseph, the first-born of Rachel; the chieftainship to Judah; and the priesthood to Levi. The cause of this forfeiture is then assigned. In the last sentence the patriarch in a spirit of indignant sorrow passes from the direct address to the indirect narrative. “To my couch he went up.” The doom here pronounced upon Reuben is still a blessing, as he is not excluded from a tribe’s share in the promised land. But, as in the case of the others, this blessing is abated and modified by his past conduct. His tribe has its seat on the east of the Jordan, and never comes to any eminence in the commonwealth of Israel.
Genesis 49:5-7
“Simon and Levi are brethren,” by temper as well as by birth. Their weapons. This word is rendered plans, devices, by some. But the present rendering agrees best with the context. Weapons may be properly called instruments of violence; but not so plots. “Habitations” requires the preposition in before it, which is not in the original, and is not to be supplied without necessity. “Into their counsel.” This refers to the plot they formed for the destruction of the inhabitants of Shekem. “They houghed an ox.” The singular of the original is to be understood as a plural denoting the kind of acts to which they were prompted in their passion for revenge. Jacob pronounces a curse upon their anger, not because indignation against sin is unwarrantable in itself, but because their wrath was marked by deeds of fierceness and cruelty. “I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.” He does not cut them off from any part in the promised inheritance; but he divides and scatters them.
Accordingly they are divided from one another in their after history, the tribe of Simon being settled in the southwest corner of the territory of Judah, and Levi having no connected territory, but occupying certain cities and their suburbs which were assigned to his descendants in the various provinces of the land. They were also scattered in Israel. For Simon is the weakest of all the tribes at the close of their sojourn in the wilderness Numbers 26:14; he is altogether omitted in the blessing of Moses Deuteronomy 33:0, and hence, obtains no distinct territory, but only a part of that of Judah Joshua 19:1-9; and he subsequently sends out two colonies, which are separated from the parent stock, and from one another 1 Chronicles 4:24-43. And Levi received forty-eight towns in the various districts of the land, in which his descendants dwelt, far separated from one another. This prediction was therefore, fulfilled to the letter in the history of these brothers. Their classification under one head is a hint that they will yet count but as one tribe.
Genesis 49:8-12
Judah, the fourth son of Jacob, comes in for the supremacy after the three former have been set aside. His personal prowess, the perpetuity of his dominion, and the luxuriance of his soil are then described. “Thee shall thy brethren praise.” This is an allusion to his name, which signifies praise Genesis 29:35. As his mother praised the Lord for her fourth son, so shall his brethren praise him for his personal excellence. Ardor of temperament, decision of character, and frankness of acknowledgment are conspicuous even in the blemishes of his early life. Tenderness of conscience, promptitude in resolve, capacity for business, and force of eloquence come out in his riper years. These are qualities that win popular esteem. “Thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies.” They shall flee before him, but shall not escape his powerful grasp. They shall be compelled to yield to his overwhelming power. “Thy father’s sons shall bow down to thee.” Not only his enemies, but his friends, shall acknowledge his sway. The similar prediction concerning Joseph Genesis 37:6-8 was of a personal nature, and referred to a special occasion, not to a permanent state of affairs. It had already received its main fulfillment, and would altogether terminate with the lifetime of Joseph. The present announcement refers to Judah not as an individual, but as the head of a tribe in Israel, and will therefore, correspond in duration with that commonwealth.
Genesis 49:9
A lion’s whelp is Judah. - In physical strength Judah is compared to the lion, the king of beasts. At first he is the lion’s whelp, the young lion, giving promise of future vigor; then the full-grown lion, exulting in his irresistible force, seizing and overmastering the prey, and after reaping the fruits of his victory, ascending to his mountain lair and reposing in undisturbed security. The lioness is brought into the comparison with propriety, as in defense of her cubs she is even more dangerous than the male to the unwary assailant. After being satiated with prey, the lion, reposing in his majesty, will not disturb the passer-by; but who shall rouse him up and escape?
Genesis 49:10
From his physical force we now pass to his moral supremacy. “The sceptre,” the staff of authority. “Shall not depart from Judah.” The tribe scepter did not leave Judah so long as there was a remnant of the commonwealth of Israel. Long after the other tribes had lost their individuality, Judah lingered in existence and in some measure of independence; and from the return his name supplanted that of Israel or Jacob, as the common designation of the people. “Nor the lawgiven from between his feet.” This is otherwise rendered, “nor the judicial staff from between his feet;” and it is argued that this rendering corresponds best with the phrase “between his feet” and with the parallel clause which precedes. It is not worth while contending for one against the other, as the meaning of both is precisely the same. But we have retained the English version, as the term מחקק mechoqēq has only one clear meaning; “between the feet” may mean among his descendants or in his tribe; and the synthetic parallelism of the clauses is satisfied by the identity of meaning.
Lawgiver is to be understood as judge, dispenser or administrator of law. Judah had the forerank among the tribes in the wilderness, and never altogether lost it. Nahshon the son of Amminadab, the prince of his tribe, was the ancestor of David, who was anointed as the rightful sovereign of all Israel, and in whom the throne became hereditary. The revolt of the ten tribes curtailed, but did not abolish the actual sovereignty of Rehoboam and his successors, who continued the acknowledged sovereigns until some time after the return from the captivity. From that date the whole nation was virtually absorbed in Judah, and whatever trace of self-government remained belonged to him until the birth of Jesus, who was the lineal descendant of the royal line of David and of Judah, and was the Messiah, the anointed of heaven to be king of Zion and of Israel in a far higher sense than before. “Until Shiloh come.”
This is otherwise translated, “until he come to Shiloh,” the place so called. This is explained of the time when “the whole assembly of the children of Israel was convened at Shiloh, and set up the tent of meeting there” Joshua 18:1. We hold by the former translation:
1. Because Shiloh has not yet been named as a known locality in the land of promise.
2. Judah did not come to Shiloh in any exclusive sense.
3. His coming thither with his fellows had no bearing whatever on his supremacy.
4. He did not come to Shiloh as the seat of his government or any part of his territory; and
5. The real sovereignty of Judah took place after this convention at Shiloh, and not before it.
After the rejection of the second translation on these grounds, the former is accepted as the only tenable alternative.
6. Besides, it is the natural rendering of the words.
7. Before the coming of Shiloh, the Prince of Peace, the highest pitch of Judah’s supremacy in its primary form has to be attained.
8. On the coming of Shiloh the last remnant of that supremacy was removed, only to be replaced by the higher form of pre-eminence which the Prince of Peace inaugurates.
And unto him be the obedience of the peoples. - “Unto him” means naturally unto Shiloh. “The obedience” describes the willing submission to the new form of sovereignty which is ushered in by Shiloh. The word is otherwise rendered “gathering;” but this does not suit the usage in Proverbs 30:17. “The obedience” intimates that the supremacy of Judah does not cease at the coming of Shiloh, but only assumes a grander form.
Of the peoples. - Not only the sons of Israel, but all the descendants of Adam will ultimately bow down to the Prince of Peace. This is the seed of the woman, who shall bruise the serpent’s head, the seed of Abraham, in whom all the families of the earth shall be blessed, presented now under the new aspect of the peacemaker, whom all the nations of the earth shall eventually obey as the Prince of Peace. He is therefore, now revealed as the Destroyer of the works of evil, the Dispenser of the blessings of grace, and the King of peace. The coming of Shiloh and the obedience of the nations to him will cover a long period of time, the close of which will coincide with the limit here set to Judah’s earthly supremacy in its wider and loftier stage. This prediction therefore, truly penetrates to the latter days.
Genesis 49:11-12
The exuberant fertility of Judah’s province is now depicted. We now behold him peacefully settled in the land of promise, and the striking objects of rural plenty and prosperity around him. The quiet ass on which he perambulates is tied to the vine, the juice of whose grapes is as copious as the water in which his robes are washed. The last sentence is capable of being rendered, “Red are his eyes above wine, and white his teeth above milk.” But a connection as well as a comparison seems to be implied in the original. Judea is justly described as abounding in the best of wine and milk. This fine picture of Judah’s earthly abode is a fitting emblem of the better country where Shiloh reigns.
Genesis 49:13
Zebulun means “dwelling,” to which there is an allusion in the first clause of the verse. “At the haven of seas.” This tribe touched upon the coast of the sea of Kinnereth and of the Mediterranean. It probably possessed some havens for shipping near the promontory of Karmel: and its northwestern boundary touched upon Phoenicia, the territory of Zidon. He is placed before Issakar, who was older, because the latter sank into a subordinate position.
Genesis 49:14-15
“An ass of bone,” and therefore, of strength. “Couching between the hurdles” - the pens or stalls in which the cattle were lodged. Rest in a pleasant land he felt to be good; and hence, rather than undertake the struggle for liberty and independence, he became like the strong ass a bearer of burdens, and a payer of tribute. He is thus a hireling by disposition as well as by name Genesis 30:18.
Genesis 49:16-18
The sons of the handmaids follow those of Leah. “Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel.” He will maintain his position as a tribe in the state. When threatened by overwhelming power he will put forth his native force for the discomfiture of the foe. The adder is the cerastes or horned serpent, of the color of the sand, and therefore, not easily recognized, that inflicts a fatal wound on him that unwarily treads on it. The few facts in the history of Dan afterward given correspond well with the character here drawn. Some of its features are conspicuous in Samson Judg. 13–16. “For thy salvation have I waited, O Lord.” The patriarch, contemplating the power of the adversaries of his future people, breaks forth into the expression of his longing desire and hope of that salvation of the Almighty by which alone they can be delivered. That salvation is commensurate with the utmost extent and diversity of these adversaries.
Genesis 49:19
Gad also shall be subject to the assaults of the enemy. But he shall resist the foe and harass his rear. This brief character agrees with his after history. He is reckoned among the valiant men in Scripture 1 Chronicles 5:18.
Genesis 49:20
Asher shall have a soil abounding in wheat and oil. He occupies the low lands along the coast north of Karmel. Hence, the products of his country are fit to furnish the table of kings. Gad and Asher are placed before Naphtali, the second son of Bilhah. We cannot tell whether they were older, or for what other reason they occupy this place. It may be that Naphtali was of a less decisive or self-reliant character.
Genesis 49:21
Naphtali is a hind let loose. The hind or “gazelle” is agile and nimble. When free on its native hills, it roams with instinctive confidence and delight. It is timid and irresolute in confinement. This is probably the character of Naphtali. “He giveth goodly words.” Here we pass from the figure to the reality. Eloquence in prose and verse was characteristic of this particular tribe. The only important historical event in which they are concerned is the defeat of Jabin’s host, which is celebrated in the song of Deborah and Barak Judges 4:5. In this passage we may study the character of the tribe.
Genesis 49:22-26
Jacob had doubtless been made acquainted with the history of his beloved son Joseph from the time of his disappearance until he met him on the borders of Egypt. It had been the meditation and the wonder of his last seventeen years. When he comes to Joseph, therefore, the mingled emotions of affection and gratitude burst forth from his heart in language that cannot be restrained by the ordinary rules of speech. The first thing connected with Joseph in the patriarch’s mind is fruitfulness. The image is vivid and striking. “Son of a fruitful tree.” A branch or rather a shoot transplanted from the parent stem. “By a well;” from which it may draw the water of life. “Whose daughters” - luxuriant branches. Run over a wall - transcend all the usual boundaries of a well-enclosed garden. This fruitfulness attaches to Joseph in two respects. First, he is the prudent gatherer and the inexhaustible dispenser of the produce of Egypt, by which the lives of his father and brethren were preserved. And then he is in prospect the twofold tribe, that bursts the bounds assigned to a twelfth of the chosen people, and overspreads the area of two tribes.
Genesis 49:23-24
The memory then reverts to the past history of Joseph. A new figure is now called up. A champion is assailed by a host of archers. They vex him, shoot at him, and in every way act the part of an enemy. But his bow continues elastic, and his arms are enabled to bend it, because he receives strength from the God of his fathers, “the Might of Jacob, the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel.” Such is the rich and copious imagery that flows from the lips of Jacob. “The Might,” the exalted upholder; “the Shepherd, the Stone,” the fostering guardian as well as the solid foundation of his being. His great hands upheld Joseph against the brother and the stranger. “From him.” This seems the free rendering of the word requisite to bring the two members of the parallel into harmony.
Genesis 49:25-26
These two thoughts - the peaceful abundance of his old age, which he owed to Joseph, and the persecutions his beloved son had endured - stir the fountains of his affections until they overflow with blessings. “From the God of thy father” - the Eternal One who is the source of all blessing. “And the Almighty,” who is able to control all adverse influences. “Blessings of heaven above” - the air, the rain, and the sun. “Blessings of the deep” - the springs and streams, as well as the fertile soil. “Blessings of the breasts and the womb” - the children of the home and the young of the flocks and herds. “Have prevailed.” The benedictions of Jacob pronounced upon Joseph exceed those that came upon Jacob himself from his fathers. To Joseph is given a double portion, with a double measure of affection from a father’s heart. “Unto the bound of the perpetual hills.” Like an overflowing flood they have risen to the very summits of the perpetual hills in the conceptions of the venerable patriarch. “Of him who was distinguished from his brethren;” not only by a long period of persecution and humiliation, but by a subsequent elevation to extraordinary dignity and pre-eminence.
It is to be noted that this benediction, when fairly interpreted, though it breathes all the fondness of a father’s heart, yet contains no intimation that the supremacy or the priesthood were to belong to Joseph, or that the Messiah was to spring from him. At the same time Joseph was in many events of his history a remarkable type of the Messiah, and by intermarriage he, as well as many foreigners, was no doubt among the ancestors of the Messiah 2 Kings 8:18, 2 Kings 8:26.
Genesis 49:27
Benjamin is described as a wolf who is engaged morning and evening, that is, all day long, in hunting after prey. He was warlike by character and conduct Judg. 20–21, and among his descendants are Ehud, Saul, and Jonathan.
Genesis 49:28-33
After the benediction Jacob gives directions concerning his burial. “All these are the twelve tribes”. This implies that the benedictions refer not to the heads only, but to the whole tribes. “Each according to his blessing.” All are blessed, but the form of the blessing is suited to the character of the individual “Bury me with my fathers” - with Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, and Leah. This dying command he now lays on the twelve, as he had before bound Joseph by oath to its performance. “Gathered up his feet into the bed.” He had been sitting upright while pronouncing the benedictory address and giving his last directions. He now lies down and calmly breathes his last.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Genesis 49:26. The blessing of thy father, c. — The blessings which thy father now prays for and pronounces are neither temporal nor transitory they shall exceed in their duration the eternal mountains, and in their value and spiritual nature all the conveniences, comforts, and delicacies which the everlasting hills can produce. They shall last when the heavens and the earth are no more, and shall extend throughout eternity. They are the blessings which shall be communicated to the world by means of the Messiah.
The Jerusalem Targum paraphrases the place thus: "The blessing of this father shall be added unto the blessings wherewith thy fathers Abraham and Isaac, who are likened to mountains, have blessed thee; and they shall exceed the blessings of the four mothers, Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, and Leah, who are likened to the hills: all these blessings shall be a crown of magnificence on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him who was a prince and governor in the land of Egypt."
27. Benjamin is a ravenous wolf: In the morning
he shall devour the prey, And in the evening
he shall divide the spoil.
This tribe is very fitly compared to a ravenous wolf, because of the rude courage and ferocity which they have invariably displayed, particularly in their war with the other tribes, in which they killed more men than the whole of their own numbers amounted to.
"This last tribe," says Dr. Hales, "is compared to a wolf for its ferocious and martial disposition, such as was evinced by their contests with the other tribes, in which, after two victories, they were almost exterminated, Judges 20:18-48." Its union with the tribe of Judah seems to be intimated in their joint conquests, expressed nearly in the same terms: "Judah went up from the prey;" "Benjamin devoured the prey." Moses in his parallel prophecy, Deuteronomy 33:12, confirms this by signifying that the sanctuary should be fixed in his lot, and that he should continue as long as the existence of the temple itself: -
THE BELOVED OF THE LORD shall dwell with him in safety,
And shall cover him all the day long,
And shall dwell between his shoulders.
Deuteronomy 33:12.
In the morning, c. — These expressions have been variously understood. The sense given above is that in which the principal interpreters agree but Houbigant protests against the prophecy signifying the continuance of this tribe, as the words, "in the morning devouring the prey," and "in the evening dividing the spoil," are supposed to imply; "because," he observes, "after the return from the Babylonish captivity, this tribe is no more mentioned." But this may be accounted for from the circumstance of its being associated with that of Judah, (see 1 Kings 12:21-24), after which it is scarcely ever mentioned but in that union. Being thus absorbed in the tribe of Judah, it continued from the morning till the evening of the Jewish dispensation, and consequently till the Lion of the tribe of Judah was seen in the wilderness of Israel.
In the morning, according to Mr. Ainsworth, "signifies the first times; for Ehud of Benjamin was the second judge that saved the Israelites from the hands of the Moabites, Judges 3:15, c. Saul of Benjamin was the first king of Israel he and his son were great warriors, making a prey of many enemies, 1 Samuel 11:6-7, 1 Samuel 11:11; 1 Samuel 14:13, 1 Samuel 14:15, 1 Samuel 14:47-48. And the evening, the latter times; for Mordecai and Esther of Benjamin delivered the Jews from a great destruction, and slew their enemies, Esther 8:7, Esther 8:9, Esther 8:11; Esther 9:5-6, Esther 9:15-16."
