Genesis 49:5-15

5 Simeon and Levi are brethren: Instruments of violence their swords.

6 My soul, come not into their council; Mine honour, be not united with their assembly; For in their anger they slew men, And in their wantonness houghed oxen.

7 Cursed be their anger, for it [was] violent; And their rage, for it [was] cruel! I will divide them in Jacob, And scatter them in Israel.

8 Judah -- [as to] thee, thy brethren will praise thee; Thy hand will be upon the neck of thine enemies; Thy father's children will bow down to thee.

9 Judah is a young lion; From the prey, my son, thou art gone up. He stoopeth, he layeth himself down as a lion, And as a lioness: who will rouse him up?

10 The scepter will not depart from Judah, Nor the lawgiver from between his feet, Until Shiloh come, And to him will be the obedience of peoples.

11 He bindeth his foal to the vine, And his ass's colt to the choice vine; He washeth his dress in wine, And his garment in the blood of grapes.

12 The eyes are red with wine, And the teeth [are] white with milk.

13 Zebulun will dwell at the shore of the seas; Yea, he will be at the shore of the ships, And his side [toucheth] upon Sidon.

14 Issachar is a bony ass, Crouching down between two hurdles.

15 And he saw the rest that it was good, And the land that it was pleasant; And he bowed his shoulder to bear, And was a tributary servant.

Genesis 49:5-15 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.

Footnotes

• [a]. The sense of the Hebrew word is doubtful.
• [b]. Or 'company' as ch. 28.3.
• [c]. Some read 'pulled down a wall.'
• [d]. Paronomasia, yehudah yoduca; Judah and praise: see ch. 29.35.
• [e]. Or 'the staff [of the tribe].'
• [f]. Or 'sceptre' or 'staff of command:' see Num. 21.18.
• [g]. Many take it as 'gathering.'
• [h]. Or 'dull.'
• [i]. As 'sheepfolds,' Jud. 5.16.