Genesis 49:25-33

25 From 1the God of your father who helps you, And 2by the Almighty who blesses you With 3blessings of heaven above *, Blessings of the deep that lies beneath, Blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
26 "The blessings of your father Have surpassed the blessings of my ancestors Up to the utmost bound of 4the everlasting hills; May they be on the head of Joseph, And on the crown of the head of the one distinguished among his brothers.
27 "Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; In the morning he devours the prey, And in the evening he divides the spoil."
28 All these are the twelve * tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them. He blessed them, every one with the blessing appropriate to him.
29 Then he charged them and said to them, "I am about to be 5gathered to my people; 6bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in 7the field of Ephron the Hittite,
30 in the 8cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before * Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought along with the field from Ephron the Hittite for a burial site.
31 "There they buried 9Abraham and his wife 10Sarah, there they buried 11Isaac and his wife Rebekah, and there I buried Leah -
32 the field and the cave that is in it, purchased from the sons of Heth."
33 When Jacob finished charging his sons, he drew his feet into the bed and 12breathed his last, and was 13gathered to his people.

Genesis 49:25-33 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 49

This chapter contains a prophecy of future things, relating to the twelve sons of Jacob, and to the twelve tribes, as descending from them, and which he delivered to his sons on his death bed, having called them together for that purpose, Ge 49:1,2, he begins with Reuben his firstborn, whose incest he takes notice of, on which account he should not excel, Ge 49:3,4, next Simeon and Levi have a curse denounced on them for their cruelty at Shechem, Ge 49:5,6, but Judah is praised, and good things prophesied of him; and particularly that Shiloh, or the Messiah, should spring from him, the time of whose coming is pointed at, Ge 49:7-12, the predictions concerning Zebulun, Issachar, and Dan, follow, at the close of which Jacob expresses his longing expectation of God's salvation, Ge 49:13-18 and after foretelling what should befall Gad, Asher, and Naphtali, Ge 49:19-21, a large account is given of Joseph, his troubles, his trials, and his blessings, Ge 49:22-26, and Benjamin the youngest son is taken notice of last of all, all the tribes being blessed in their order according to the nature of their blessing, Ge 49:27,28, and the chapter is closed with a charge of Jacob's to his sons to bury him in Canaan, which having delivered, he died, Ge 49:29-33.

Cross References 13

  • 1. Genesis 28:13; Genesis 32:9
  • 2. Genesis 28:3; Genesis 48:3
  • 3. Genesis 27:28
  • 4. Deuteronomy 33:15, 16
  • 5. Genesis 25:8
  • 6. Genesis 47:30
  • 7. Genesis 23:16-20; Genesis 50:13
  • 8. Genesis 23:3-20
  • 9. Genesis 25:9
  • 10. Genesis 23:19
  • 11. Genesis 35:29
  • 12. Genesis 25:8; Acts 7:15
  • 13. Genesis 49:29

Footnotes 7

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