Genesis 49:2-27

2 "Gather together and hear, O sons of Jacob; And ¹listen to Israel your father.

3 "Reuben, you are my firstborn; My might and ²the beginning of my strength, Preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power.

4 "Uncontrolled as water, you shall not have preeminence, ³Because you went up to your father's bed; Then you defiled it -he went up to my couch.

5 "⁴Simeon and Levi are brothers; Their swords are implements of violence.

6 "⁵Let my soul not enter into their council; Let not my glory be united with their assembly; Because in their anger they slew men, And in their self-will they lamed oxen.

7 "Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce; And their wrath, for it is cruel. ⁶I will disperse them in Jacob, And scatter them in Israel.

8 "Judah, your brothers shall praise you; Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; ⁷Your father's sons shall bow down to you.

9 "Judah is a ⁸lion's whelp; From the prey, my son, you have gone up. ⁹He couches, he lies down as a lion, And as a lion, who dares rouse him up?

10 "¹⁰The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, Until * Shiloh comes, And ¹¹to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.

11 "¹²He ties his foal to the vine, And his donkey's colt to the choice vine; ¹³He washes his garments in wine, And his robes in the blood of grapes.

12 "His eyes are dull from wine, And his teeth white from milk.

13 "¹⁴Zebulun will dwell at the seashore *; And he shall be a haven for ships, And his flank shall be toward Sidon.

14 "Issachar is a strong donkey, ¹⁵Lying down between the sheepfolds.

15 "When he saw that a resting place was good And that the land was pleasant, He bowed his shoulder to bear burdens, And became a slave at forced labor.

16 "¹⁶Dan shall ¹⁷judge his people, As one of the tribes of Israel.

17 "Dan shall be a serpent in the way, A horned snake in the path, That bites the horse's heels, So that his rider falls backward.

18 "¹⁸For Your salvation I wait, O LORD.

19 "¹⁹As for Gad, raiders shall raid him, But he will raid at their heels.

20 "²⁰As for ²¹Asher, his food shall be rich, And he will yield royal dainties.

21 "²²Naphtali is a doe let loose, He gives beautiful words.

22 "²³Joseph is a fruitful bough, A fruitful bough by a spring; Its branches run over a wall.

23 "The archers * bitterly attacked him, And shot at him and harassed him;

24 But his ²⁴bow remained firm, And ²⁵his arms were agile, From the hands of the ²⁶Mighty One of Jacob (From there is ²⁷the Shepherd, ²⁸the Stone of Israel ),

25 From ²⁹the God of your father who helps you, And ³⁰by the Almighty who blesses you With ³¹blessings 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 ³²the 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."

Genesis 49:2-27 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. Psalms 34:11
• 2. Deuteronomy 21:17; Psalms 78:51; Psalms 105:36
• 3. Genesis 35:22; Deuteronomy 27:20; 1 Chronicles 5:1
• 4. Genesis 34:25-30
• 5. Psalms 64:2
• 6. Joshua 19:1, 9; Joshua 21:1-42
• 7. Genesis 27:29; 1 Chronicles 5:2
• 8. Ezekiel 19:5-7; Micah 5:8
• 9. Numbers 24:9
• 10. Numbers 24:17; Psalms 60:7; Psalms 108:8
• 11. Psalms 2:6-9; Psalms 72:8-11; Isaiah 42:1, 4; Isaiah 49:6
• 12. Deuteronomy 8:7, 8; 2 Kings 18:32
• 13. Isaiah 63:2
• 14. Deuteronomy 33:18, 19
• 15. Judges 5:16; Psalms 68:13
• 16. Deuteronomy 33:22; Judges 18:26, 27
• 17. Genesis 30:6
• 18. Exodus 15:2; Psalms 25:5; Psalms 40:1-3; Psalms 119:166, 174; Isaiah 25:9; Micah 7:7
• 19. Deuteronomy 33:20
• 20. Deuteronomy 33:24, 25
• 21. Genesis 30:13
• 22. Deuteronomy 33:23
• 23. Deuteronomy 33:13-17
• 24. Job 29:20
• 25. Psalms 18:34; Psalms 73:23; Isaiah 41:10
• 26. Psalms 132:2, 5; Isaiah 1:24; Isaiah 49:26
• 27. Psalms 23:1; Psalms 80:1
• 28. Psalms 118:22; Isaiah 28:16; 1 Peter 2:6-8
• 29. Genesis 28:13; Genesis 32:9
• 30. Genesis 28:3; Genesis 48:3
• 31. Genesis 27:28
• 32. Deuteronomy 33:15, 16

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "preeminence"
• [b]. Lit "preeminence"
• [c]. Or "Boiling over;" lit "Recklessness"
• [d]. Lit "a man"
• [e]. Lit "an ox"
• [f]. Lit "divide"
• [g]. Lit "bows down"
• [h]. Or "lioness"
• [i]. Lit "shall"
• [j]. Or "Until he comes to Shiloh;" or "Until he comes to whom it belongs"
• [k]. Lit "Binding of"
• [l]. Or "darker than"
• [m]. Or "whiter than"
• [n]. Lit "for a shore of ships"
• [o]. Lit "a donkey of bone"
• [p]. Or "saddlebags"
• [q]. Lit "a raiding band"
• [r]. Lit "heel"
• [s]. Lit "From"
• [t]. Or "bread"
• [u]. Lit "fat"
• [v]. Lit "son"
• [w]. Lit "son"
• [x]. Lit "daughters"
• [y]. I.e. in an unyielding position
• [z]. Lit "the arms of his hands"
• [aa]. Or "with"
• [ab]. Heb "Shaddai"
• [ac]. Lit "limit;" or "desire"
• [ad]. Lit "a wolf that tears"