Genesis 49

— my might, and the beginning of my strength.] Whom I begot, when I was in my full vigour; and the firstfruits of my strength. The firstborn is called the “beginning of strength” in Deut. xxi. 17; and “the chief of strength” in Ps. cv. 36. Bp. Patrick. Or the phrase may signify, not the personal vigour of Jacob, but “the beginning of his strength,” as a tribe. The strength of the Patriarch consisted in the number and valour of his sons; and the future greatness of the tribe depended on their increase. Edit.

— the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power.] Who hadst the preeminence among thy brethren, if thou hadst not lost it by thy folly: and who wast born to the highest authority among them. Bp. Patrick.

— secret.] A secret place or closet, where cabals are usually held. Bp. Patrick. Their secret cruel designs. Dr. Wells.

— they slew a man.] The original word, though singular in its form, is frequently used for any number of men: though it may be matter of indifference, which of the two numbers we adopt here. The singular answers more exactly to Hamor, the chief of the Shechemites; but the plural represents in a stronger light the murder of “all the males.” Dr. Durell.

— they digged down a wall.] In order to break into Hamor’s house, and so kill him and his son. Dr. Wells. Or, as the inhabitants of Shechem are meant by the former sentence, so is the town of Shechem by “the wall,” which they are here said to have “digged down.” Locke. Many read, “They slew a bullock,” that is, a prince: meaning the prince of Shechem, chap. xxxiv. 26. Script. illustr.

— unto Zidon.] Not the city of Zidon, for the tribe of Zebulon did not extend beyond mount Carmel, forty miles from thence; but the country of Zidon, or Phenicia, which Zebulon touched. Bp. Patrick.

Genesis 49:4

4. Unstable as water.] Or, poured out like water. It denotes Reuben’s fall from dignity, as water suddenly disappears, when it is poured out on the earth, and sucked up into it. Bp. Patrick. Rather unconfusable, licentious: not to be restrained by mounds and banks, but overflowing all restrictions: “impetuous as a deluge, or a cataract.” Script. illustr.

— thou shalt not excel.] Nothing great or excellent is recorded of this tribe. In number and power they were inferior to several other tribes. Less numerous, by a third part, than the tribe of Judah, to whom God gave part of Reuben’s prerogative, Numb. i. 81, 27. Bps. Newton and Patrick.

— thou wentest up] At one end of each chamber there is a little gallery, raised four or five feet above the floor, with a balustrade in the front of it. Here they place their beds: a situation frequently alluded to in the holy Scriptures; Gen. xlix. 4; 2 Kings i. 6, and 16; Ps. cxxxii. 3. Dr. Shaw.

Genesis 49:5

5. Simeon and Levi are brethren.] That is, not only born of the same father and mother, for so were Reuben and Judah also; but as they conspired against Joseph, whose life Reuben and Judah studied to preserve; and especially because of their conspiracy against the Shechemites, chap. xxxiv. 25; the swords, there mentioned, being the instruments of cruelty mentioned here. In the Scripture phrase, brethren are those who are alike in manners, and agree in the same design. Compare Job xxx. 29; Ps. cii. 6; Prov. xviii. 9. Bp. Kidder.

Genesis 49:6

6. O my soul, come not thou &c.] He utterly disclaims all knowledge of their wicked deed beforehand; and all approbation of it afterwards. By soul is meant himself: and the word honour seems to mean the same; or else it signifies the tongue, as in other places of Scripture, particularly Ps. xxx. 12. The meaning then is, He never in thought, much less in word, assented to what they did. Bp. Patrick. Though Jacob seems, from what is recorded in chap. xxxiv, to have urged only

their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their selfwill they || digged down a wall.

Genesis 49:7

7. — I will divide them in Jacob, &c.] The tribe of Simeon had not any inheritance properly of their own, but only a portion in the midst of the tribe of Judah, Josh. xix. 1—9; whence several of them afterwards went in quest of new habitations, 1 Chron. iv. 39, 42, and so were divided from the rest of their brethren. As to the tribe of Levi, they had no inheritance allotted to them, but were dispersed among all the tribes, having certain cities assigned to them, with a little land adjoining. This indeed did not prove a curse to them, they having the tenth of all the increase of the land: for this curse seems to have been taken off, by reason of their eminent service in falling on the worshippers of the golden calf, and so consecrating themselves to the Lord, Exod. xxxii. 26, 29; on which account Moses blesses this tribe a little before his death, Deut. xxxiii. 9: whereas he gives no blessing to the tribe of Simeon, but leaves them under the curse here pronounced by Jacob. Bp. Patrick.

Genesis 49:8

8. Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise:] Or, confess. The rest of the nation shall be called Jess, and their whole country Judea, from Judah. See Esth. iii. 6; Matt. xxvii. 37. This tribe was famous also for their conquests over their enemies, Judges i. 2, and the dominion, which it enjoyed over their brethren. It was famous for the kingdom of the house of David; but especially, because the Messiah was born of this tribe, whose kingdom is everlasting. Bp. Kidder.

The name of Judah signifies praise: it was given him by his mother, in gratitude to God for him; and his father here alludes to it, with a view to the opulence, which Judah should receive from his brethren. Bp. Patrick.

The blessing of Judah, Zebulun, father’s children shall bow down before thee.

Genesis 49:9

9. Judah is a lion’s whelp:] He sets forth in this verse the warlike temper of this tribe, their undaunted courage, and the terror they inspired into their enemies. Bps. Patrick and Kidder.

This tribe gave early proofs of its valour, being the first that went to fight against the Canaanites after Joshua’s death. Bp. Patrick.

— from the prey, my son, thou art gone up:] He speaks as if he saw them returning in triumph with the spoils of their enemies; alluding to lions, who, having gotten their prey in the plain, returned satiated to the mountains. Bp. Patrick.

— he stooped down, he couched as a lion.] The Hebrew word signifies a grown lion, come to his full strength: by whose stooping down and couching to take his rest, Jacob sets forth the ease and quiet, that Judah should enjoy after their victories, without any fear of disturbance. Bp. Patrick.

— who shall rouse him up? That is, as all other creatures are afraid to disturb a full-grown lion, so shall all the neighbouring nations be afraid to assault the tribe of Judah or any of the Israelites, during the great power which that tribe shall possess in the days of David and Solomon. And this shall be fulfilled in a much higher manner, when the kingdoms of the earth shall become the kingdom of Christ, who is expressly and emphatically styled “the Lion of the tribe of Juda,” as He in whom this prophecy is to receive its utmost completion. Dr. Wells.

Genesis 49:10

10. The sceptre shall not depart from Judah.] The word, translated sceptre, signifies a rod or staff of any kind; and particularly the rod or staff, which belonged to each tribe as an ensign of their authority. What is here meant is, that such authority as Judah then had, was to remain with his posterity; that is, that he should not cease from being a tribe, or body politick, having rulers and governours of his own, till a certain period here foretold. Bp. Newton.

— nor a lawgiver from between his feet.] The word, rendered lawgiver, signifies, not only one who makes laws, but likewise one who exercises jurisdiction. The meaning is, there should not be wanting a judge of the race and posterity of Judah, according to the Hebrew phrase of children’s coming from between the feet, until the time here foretold. Bp. Newton.

— until Shiloh come:] That is, until the coming of the Messiah. For howsoever the word Shiloh be explained, whether it signify He who is to be sent, or the Peacemaker, or any other of the senses, usually given by interpreters, the Messiah is the person plainly intended.

The promise then to Judah means, that his tribe should continue a distinct tribe with rulers and judges and governours of its own, until the coming of the Messiah. In early times the tribe of Judah made as considerable a figure as any other. The second king of Israel was of the tribe of Judah; and from that time to the Babylonish captivity, Judah had not only the sceptre of a tribe, but the sceptre of a kingdom. When it was promised, that the sceptre should not depart

from Judah, it was implied that it should depart from the other tribes: accordingly the tribe of Benjamin became an appendage to the kingdom of Judah, and the other ten tribes were carried into Assyria, whence they never returned. The Jews also were carried captive to Babylon, but returned after seventy years. During their captivity they had lived as a distinct people; had rulers and governours of their own; and a “prince of Judah,” Ezra i. 8. These princes and rulers managed their return and settlement afterwards. After the Babylonish captivity, they lived under the dominion of the Persians, Greeks, and Romans, not so free as before; but still as a distinct people under their own laws. The authority of their rulers and governours subsisted under these foreign masters; afterwards under the Assonean princes; and even in our Saviour’s time. Their power indeed in capital causes, especially those relating to the state, was abridged. The sceptre was then departing; and in about forty years it totally departed. Their city was taken; their temple was destroyed; and they themselves were either slain with the sword, or sold for slaves. And from that time to this, they have never formed one body or society, but have been dispersed among all nations; their tribes and genealogies have been all confounded; and they have lived without a ruler, without a lawgiver, and without supreme authority and government in any part of the earth. And this a captivity not for seventy years, but for seventeen hundred. Bp. Newton.

— unto him shall the gathering of the people be.] That is, of the Gentiles. This is foretold in many other Scriptures. It began to be fulfilled in Cornelius the centurion, Acts x, and in a few years the Gospel was disseminated in the most considerable parts of the then known world. We ourselves were of the Gentiles, but are now gathered unto Christ. Bp. Newton.

Genesis 49:11

11. Binding his fole unto the vine, &c.] The expressions in this verse are somewhat hyperbolical; for they imply that vines in this country were as common as thorns in other places, so that they might be asses with their colts to them; and wine as plentiful as water, so that they might wash their clothes in it. They were however in a great measure fulfilled in that fertile land, which fell to the tribe of Judah: for here was the valley of Eahcol, from which a bunch of grapes was brought by the spies as a specimen of the fruitfulness of the land, Numb. xiii. 23. And here was a brook, or torrent of the same name, along the banks of which were the most delicious pasture grounds for cattle. Modern travellers tell us of the large grapes and rich pasture grounds, about Jerusalem and the valley of Hebron. Stackhouse.

Genesis 49:13

13. Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea:] Had Jacob been present at the division of the land of Canaan, he could hardly have described Zebulun’s lot more exactly, than he did two hundred and fifty years before it happened. It extended from the Mediterranean sea on the west, to the lake of Gennesaret on the east, and was very commodious for trade and navigation. Such particularities as these must have con-

Issachar, Dan, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, and Joseph. Before CHAP 107 1000. an haven of ships; and his border shall be unto Zidon.

Genesis 49:14

14. Issachar is a strong ass] The description of

Issachar is no less remarkable: since, though a laborious people in rural employments, they had no inclination to war; and were therefore frequently subjected by strangers, especially in the time of the Judges. Stackhouse.

As he compares Judah to a lion, for his valour; so he compares Issachar to an ass, which was principally employed for hard labour in those countries. Bp. Patrick.

Genesis 49:15

15. — he saw that rest was good.] He should prefer husbandry to war or merchandise, and love peace and quiet as husbandmen do. Bp. Patrick.

— and the land that it was pleasant:] The famous valley of Jezreel was in this tribe; the border of which extended as far as Jordan, where was a very pleasant country, Josh. xix. 18, 22. Bp. Patrick.

Genesis 49:16

16. Dan shall judge his people, &c.] Though Dan was the son of a bondwoman, yet his posterity shall be

governed by a ruler of his own tribe, as well as the descendants of Rachel and Leah. Bps. Patrick and Wilson.

Genesis 49:17

17. Dan shall be a serpent by the way, &c.] This is supposed to be a description of Samson, who was of that tribe, and, by pulling down the temple on the Philistines, overthrew them by craft and subtilty. Perhaps it rather belongs to the tribe of Dan in general, as the foregoing prophecies to the other tribes: Jacob foreseeing that they would manage their wars rather by cunning and deceit, than by open hostility. An example of this occurs, Judg. xviii. 27. Stackhouse, Bp. Patrick.

Genesis 49:18

18. I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord.] In these

words, Jacob, foreseeing the distresses of his children, prays that God would help them, and teach them

to look up to Him in their necessities, especially to wait for the Messiah. Or, perceiving his approaching death, and his spirits beginning to fail him, he interrupts his speech to his sons with this exclamation, signifying, I wait, O Lord, for a happy deliverance out of this world into a better place. Bp. Patrick.

Genesis 49:19

19. Gad, a troop shall overcome him: &c.] The inheritance of Gad being in a frontier country, they were

often invaded and harassed by their neighbours, the Ammonites, Moabites, &c. Judg. x. 7, 8, 17. But as

Genesis 49:20

20. Out of Asher] That is, out of his country. Bp. Patrick. Asher’s tribe shall be situated in a plentiful tract, abounding not only with excellent provisions of all kinds for human life; but some part of it, namely, the delicious valley about Carmel, producing the choicest fruit, fit to be served up to the table of kings, Josh. xix. 26. Bp. Patrick, Pyle.

Genesis 49:21

21. Naphtali is a hind let loose:] And like it, will be great lovers of liberty. To preserve the peace and freedom of their country, they will use great smoothness and address in treating with the neighbouring people. But when urged by necessity, will prove as swift and valiant in defending their country, as any other tribe. As in the instance of Barak’s expedition, Judg. iv. and v. Pyle.

The prophecy relating to Naphtali may be thus translated, “Naphtali is a spreading oak, which produceth

beautiful boughs:” Jacob probably meant hereby to denote the flourishing condition of the land, which this tribe

should possess. Dr. Durell. Or, it may be translated, “Naphtali is a deer roaming at liberty: he shooteth forth noble branches,” that is, majestick antlers. The horns

of a stag are ample or stinted in their growth, in proportion to the richness or penury of his pasture. The prediction then of Jacob means: Naphtali shall inhabit a

country, so rich, fertile, and quiet, that after having fed to the full on the most nutritious pasturage, he shall shoot out branches, or antlers, of the most majestick magnitude. Thus the Patriarch indirectly denotes the happy lot of Naphtali. And in fact the lot of this tribe was rich in pasture, and his soil was very fruitful in corn and oil. Script. illust.

Genesis 49:22

22. Joseph is a fruitful bough, &c.] See Ps. i. 3; Jer. xvii. 8. Joseph is very fitly compared to a fruitful bough, by reason of his numerous offspring. He was the head of two tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh, and they were both very numerous, Numb. i. 33, 35; Josh. xvii. 14—17; Deut. xxxiii. 17. Bp. Kidder.

Genesis 49:23

23. The archers &c.] Joseph was, as it were, aimed and shot at, and greatly oppressed by his enemies. His

own brethren reviled him, shooting at him with the arrows of bitter words: they contrived his death. He was

sold into Egypt through envy, and imprisoned by a lie. His chastity was assaulted by his mistress; his patience exercised by his master and the ingratitude of Pharaoh’s butler. Bp. Kidder.

Genesis 49:24

24. But his bow abode in strength, &c.] The Divine help and mercy did not forsake him: he was preserved and relieved by the mighty God of Israel. By him he Jacob blesseth Joseph and Benjamin. His charge about his burial.

strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:)

Genesis 49:25

25. Even by] Or rather, from the God, &c. These blessings light upon Joseph, but they come from the God of Israel, who will help him; and from the Almighty, who will bless him with all temporal blessings. Such are seasonable weather, Lev. xxvi. 4; Deut. xxviii. 12; xxxiii. 14; and consequently a fruitful land; a numerous offspring, and power to bring them up. Bp. Kidder.

Genesis 49:26

26. The blessings of thy father have prevailed &c.] The blessings, which I have received, and with which I bless thee and thy brethren, are greater than the blessings of my progenitors, Abraham and Isaac. Jacob blessed Joseph’s two sons; whereas Abraham suffered Ishmael to be cast out; and Isaac bestowed the blessing on Jacob, rejecting Esau. Besides, Jacob was blessed with many sons, none of which were excluded from inheritance, but all were heads of their several tribes, and continued among God’s peculiar people. “Unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills” may imply either, the plenty of that part of Canaan, which was the lot of Joseph’s children, comprehending the mountains of Ephraim, Samaria, and Bashan, Deut. xxxiii. 15; or, the eminence and long duration of these blessings, metaphorically expressed by the height and duration of ancient hills, Isai. liv. 10. Bp. Kidder.

— of him that was separate from his brethren.] The Hebrew word nazir, translated separate, signifies crowned; it appears to be here used in allusion to the superintendents of the king’s household in Eastern countries, who were called Nazirs, and probably wore some kind of diadem on their heads, by way of distinction. Stackhouse. Separated from others, either by a vow or by dignity: Joseph is called so in the latter sense, as viceroy of Egypt. Bp. Patrick.

Genesis 49:27

27. Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf:] As Judah is likened to a lion, Issachar to a strong ass, Dan to a ser-

pent, Naphtali to an hind let loose, Joseph to a fruitful bough, or tree planted by the waters; so Benjamin is fitly compared to a ravenous wolf, for his warlike courage and success against his enemies. Bp. Kidder. It was a fierce and warlike tribe, as appears from several instances, and especially in the case of the Levite’s wife, Judg. xx, when they alone waged war against all the other tribes, and overcame them in two battles. Bp. Newton.

— in the morning he shall devour the prey, &c.] The morning and night here are the morning and night of the Jewish state, which is the subject of all Jacob’s prophecy: as in Moses’s prophecy, which is an exposition of this of Jacob, “Benjamin shall dwell in safety; the Lord shall cover him all the day long,” Deut. xxxiii. 12. This imports that Benjamin should continue longer than the other tribes, even to the very last times of the Jewish state. And this was most exactly fulfilled. As the tribe of Benjamin annexed itself to the tribe of Judah as its head, so it ran the same fortune with it: they went together into captivity; they returned home together; and were both in being when Shiloh came. Bps. Sherlock and Newton.

Genesis 49:28

28. All these are the twelve tribes of Israel:] From these sprang the twelve tribes of Israel; or these are the blessings of the twelve tribes. Levi not inheriting as the rest did, they are said to be twelve: or they are so reckoned, according to Jacob’s words; for though he expressly mentions Levi, he does not mention Ephraim and Manasseh, but blesses them in Joseph. Bps. Patrick and Kidder.

— blessed them:] Reuben, Simeon, and Levi, though reprehended by their father, yet received a blessing in being reckoned as heads of their tribes, and inheritors of the promised land. Bp. Kidder.

— according to his blessing] That is, Jacob told each of his sons what would happen in aftertimes to his posterity respectively, as we are told in the introduction to this prophecy. The word “bless” may signify here to take leave or bid farewell: as it appears to be used in 2 Sam. xix. 39; or it is meant, as Calmet says, to de-note the last words of a dying parent to his children. Dr. Durell.

Genesis 49:29

29. — I am to be gathered unto my people:] I must die shortly. Bp. Patrick.

Genesis 49:30

30. — In the cave that is in the field &c.] He describes the place so particularly, because he would not have

Jacob’s death; his embalming, and funeral. Before CHRIST 1668.

Genesis 49:33

33. — And was gathered unto his people.] To his ancestors. Hence is inferred the belief entertained in those days of another life, in society with such as were departed out of this life. Bp. Patrick.

In the history, which the Scriptures give us, of good men in old time, it is worth observing, that their dying appears to have been a circumstance as easy and indifferent to them as to the historian who relates it. With Moses, it is only, “Go up to mount Nebo, and die.” With Aaron, “Ascend to mount Hor,” and do the same. And before them, we find the holy Patriarchs, when the appointed hour came, calling their children about them, bequeathing to posterity the promised blessing of salvation by the Messiah, gathering up their feet into the bed, and dying with the same satisfaction and complacency, as they would have fallen asleep. And why? but because, having been always accustomed to think of themselves as strangers in the earth, they constantly regarded death as a departure to that other and better country, of which they lived in perpetual expectation; and could not therefore be surprised or alarmed, at being called to take possession, as knowing they began their journey in order to finish it. Could we think as they did, we should live as they did, and die as they did. Bp. Horne.

Chap. L. ver. 2. — the physicians] Those to whom the care of embalming belonged. Bp. Kidder.

— embalmed Israel.] The manner of embalming among the Egyptians was as follows. A coffin was first prepared, the upper part of which represented the person of the deceased, and was generally adorned with paintings and embellishments, suitable to his quality. Preparations were then made for embalming the body, the price varying from about £300 sterling, to a very small sum. An incision was first made in the left side, through which they drew all the intestines, except the

him; for so are fulfilled the days of those which are embalmed: and the Egyptians † mourned for him three-score and ten days.

Before CHRIST 1668.