Genesis 49:24-33

24 yet ¹his bow remained unmoved; his arms^[a] were made agile by the hands of the ²Mighty One of Jacob(from there is ³the Shepherd, ^{[b] 4}the Stone of Israel),

25 ⁵by the God of your father who will help you, by ⁶the Almighty^{[c] 7}who will bless you with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that crouches beneath, blessings of the breasts and of the womb.

26 The blessings of your father are mighty beyond the blessings of my parents, up to the bounties ⁸of the everlasting hills. ^[d] May they be ⁹on the head of Joseph, and on the brow of him who was set apart from his brothers.

27 ¹⁰“Benjamin is a ravenous wolf, in the morning devouring the prey and at evening ¹¹dividing the spoil. ”

Jacob’s Death and Burial

28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each with the blessing suitable to him.

29 Then he commanded them and said to them, “I am to be ¹²gathered to my people; ¹³bury me with my fathers ¹⁴in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,

30 in the cave that is in the field at Machpelah, to the east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, ¹⁵which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite to possess as a burying place.

31 ¹⁶There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife. There ¹⁷they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah—

32 the field and the cave that is in it were bought from the Hittites. ”

33 When Jacob finished commanding his sons, he drew up his feet into the bed and breathed his last and ¹⁸was gathered to his people.

Genesis 49:24-33 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

• 1. 49:24 Job 29:20
• 2. 49:24 Ps. 132:2, 5; Isa. 1:24
• 3. 49:24 Ps. 23:1; 80:1
• 4. 49:24 Isa. 28:16; Eph. 2:20; 1 Pet. 2:4; [Deut. 32:4]
• 5. 49:25 ch. 35:3; 50:17
• 6. 49:25 ch. 17:1; 35:11
• 7. 49:25 Deut. 33:13
• 8. 49:26 Deut. 33:15; Hab. 3:6
• 9. 49:26 Deut. 33:16
• 10. 49:27 [Judg. 20:21, 25; Ezek. 22:27]
• 11. 49:27 Zech. 14:1; [Ezek. 39:10]
• 12. 49:29 ver. 33; ch. 25:8
• 13. 49:29 ch. 47:30
• 14. 49:29 ch. 50:13; [ch. 23:9]
• 15. 49:30 See ch. 23:16-18
• 16. 49:31 ch. 23:19; 25:9
• 17. 49:31 ch. 35:29
• 18. 49:33 ver. 29

Footnotes

• [a] 49:24 Hebrew 'the arms of his hands'
• [b] 49:24 Or 'by the name of the Shepherd'
• [c] 49:25 Hebrew 'Shaddai'
• [d] 49:26 A slight emendation yields (compare Septuagint) 'the blessings of the eternal mountains, the bounties of the everlasting hills'