Genesis 49

Genesis 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.

Genesis 49:3 Genesis 49:4 . 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.

Genesis 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 ( Joshua 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."

Genesis 49:8-12 . JUDAH--A high pre-eminence is destined to this tribe ( Numbers 10:14 , Judges 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" ( John 17:3 ), "the seed" ( Isaiah 11:1 ), the "peaceable or prosperous one" ( Ephesians 2:14 )--that is, the Messiah ( Isaiah 11:10 , Romans 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."

Genesis 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.

Genesis 49:14 Genesis 49:15 . 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."

Genesis 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.

Genesis 49:19 . GAD--This tribe should be often attacked and wasted by hostile powers on their borders ( Judges 10:8 , Jeremiah 49:1 ). But they were generally victorious in the close of their wars.

Genesis 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.

Genesis 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.

Genesis 49:22-26 . JOSEPH--