Genesis · Chapter 49

V. 1. Gather yourselves together-Let them all be sent for to see their father die, and to hear his dying words. “Twas a comfort to Jacob, now he was dying, to see all his children about him tho’ he had sometimes thought himself bereaved: ‘twas of use to them to attend him in his last moments, that they might learn of him how to die, as well as how to live; what he said to each, he said in the hearing of all the rest, for we may profit by the reproofs, counsels and comforts that are principally intended for others. That I may tell you that which shall befal you, not your persons but your posterity, in the latter days-The prediction of which would be of use to those that come after them, for confirming their faith, and guiding their way, at their return to Canaan. We cannot tell our children what shall befal them, or their families, in this world; but we can tell them from the word of God, what will befal them in the last day of all, according as they carry themselves in this world.

Verse 1. That which shall befall you in the last days.] It is evident from this, and indeed from the whole complexion of these important prophecies, that the twelve sons of Jacob had very little concern in them, personally considered, as they were to be fulfilled in the last days, i.e., in times remote from that period, and consequently to their posterity, and not to themselves, or to their immediate families. The whole of these prophetic declarations, from Genesis 49:2-27 inclusive, is delivered in strongly figurative language, and in the poetic form, which, in every translation, should be preserved as nearly as possible, rendering the version line for line with the original. This order I shall pursue in the succeeding notes, always proposing the verse first, in as literal a translation as possible, line for line with the Hebrew after the hemistich form, from which the sense will more readily appear; but to the Hebrew text and the common version the reader is ultimately referred.

2. Come together and hear, O sons of Jacob!

And hearken unto Israel your father.

Bishop Newton has justly observed that Jacob had received a double blessing, spiritual and temporal; the promise of being progenitor of the Messiah, and the promise of the land of Canaan. The promised land he might divide among his children as he pleased, but the other must be confined to one of his sons; he therefore assigns to each son a portion in the land of Canaan, but limits the descent of the blessed seed to the tribe of Judah. Some have put themselves to a great deal of trouble and learned labour to show that it was a general opinion of the ancients that the soul, a short time previous to its departure from the body, becomes endued with a certain measure of the prophetic gift or foresight; and that this was probably the case with Jacob. But it would be derogatory to the dignity of the prophecies delivered in this chapter, to suppose that they came by any other means than direct inspiration, as to their main matter, though certain circumstances appear to be left to the patriarch himself, in which he might express his own feelings both as a father and as a judge. This is strikingly evident, 1. In the case of Reuben, from whom he had received the grossest insult, however the passage relative to him may be understood; and, 2. In the case of Joseph, the tenderly beloved son of his most beloved wife Rachel, in the prophecy concerning whom he gives full vent to all those tender and affectionate emotions which, as a father and a husband, do him endless credit.

3. Reuben, my first-born art thou!

My might, and the prime of my strength,

Excelling in eminence, and excelling in power:

4. Pouring out like the waters:-thou shalt not excel,

For thou wentest up to the bed of thy father,—

Then thou didst defile: to my couch he went up!

Verse 1. Gather yourselves together — It was his will that they should all be sent for to see their father die, and to hear his dying words. It would be a comfort to him, who had sometimes thought himself bereaved, to see all his children about him when he was dying, and he hoped it would be a blessing to them to attend him in his last moments, and witness his confidence and hope in God, the serenity and peace of mind in which he could quit this world and all its concerns, to enter the invisible and eternal state. It appears that what he said to each he said in the audience of all the rest, for we may profit by the reproofs, counsels, and encouragements which are principally intended for others. In the last days — Or following times, when they should be settled in the land of promise. Hereby he signified that he was about to speak of things which concerned their posterity rather than themselves. “It is an opinion of great antiquity,” says Bishop Newton, on the Prophecies, “that the nearer men approach to their dissolution, their souls grow more divine, and discern more of futurity. And what I conceive might principally give rise to this opinion, was the tradition of some of the patriarchs being divinely inspired in their last moments, to foretel the state and condition of the people descended from them; as Jacob summoned his sons together, that he might inform them of what should befall them in the latter days.” — Vol. 1. p. 85, second edition. We cannot tell our children what shall befall them or their families in this world; but we can tell them, from the word of God, what shall befall them in the last day of all, according as they conduct themselves in this world.

JACOB’S PROPHETIC BLESSING ON HIS SONS, 1-27.

Jacob was the last great patriarchal representative and possessor of the covenant blessing of Jehovah. His grandfather Abraham had been separated from his kindred and native land, and received the promise and the covenant of circumcision. Isaac was preferred, to the exclusion of Ishmael and the sons of Keturah, and he transmitted the prophetic blessing of the covenant to Jacob, thereby excluding and supplanting Esau. Jacob is now about to die, and the chosen seed are henceforth to be represented by twelve tribes rather than by one great father. It was fitting, therefore, before this last great patriarch was gathered to his people, the voice of prophecy should issue from his lips, and, magnifying itself above the blessings of the everlasting hills, (ver. 26,) should disclose unto his children some things that would befall them in the last days. Israel will have no successor like himself, and the Book of Genesis ends with the “generations of Jacob;” but the divine thoughts of this prophecy appear again in the blessing of Moses, (Deuteronomy 33,) and may also be traced in the song of Deborah. Judges 5. The student should also compare with this prophetic psalm that of Isaac when he felt his end approaching, (Genesis 27:1, 4, 26-29, 39, 40,) the farewells of Joshua (Joshua 23 and 24) and of Samuel, (1 Samuel 12,) the last words of David, (2 Samuel 23,) and the language of Simeon (Luke 2:25-32) and of Paul, (2 Timothy 4:5-8.) All these saints breathed the same prophetic spirit, and were divinely gifted to utter words of imperishable value. They caught in vision the outlines of future great events, the full significance of which they but imperfectly comprehended. 1 Peter 1:10, 11. It was a prevalent opinion of heathen antiquity that highly gifted souls were wont to prophesy at the moment of their departure from the world. Thus Socrates (in Plato’s Apology) says to his judges: “And now, O men who have condemned me, I would fain prophesy to you; for I am about to die, and that is the hour in which men are gifted with prophetic power.” Modern critics, of all rationalistic schools, deny the genuineness of this prophecy, and refer it to a period long subsequent to Jacob’s time. They hold that its author, after the manner of poetical writers of all nations, conceived the happy thought of transferring certain facts of his own time and nation to the prophetic vision of a famous ancestor. Similarly Virgil, in the sixth book of the AEneid, (756-891,) represents father Anchises detailing to his son a long account of the fortunes of his posterity in Italy. These critics claim that the language of this poem is too highly wrought, and its historical and geographical allusions too minute, to be the utterance of an illiterate old man, who had been a shepherd all his life. To these criticisms it may be replied, that the quiet of shepherd life, the deep and varied experiences through which Jacob passed, and the serene grandeur of his old age, furnished the most natural conditions of such a prophecy. So far, therefore, from being an objection, these considerations furnish a strong argument in favour of the genuineness of this poem. He who had the dream at Bethel, the vision of angels at Mahanaim, and the struggle and triumph at Peniel; who had traversed hills and plains, and been exposed to the extremes of heat and cold and storms; who, like David in later times, became, by means of pastoral life and exposure, familiar with the habits of the lioness and the lion’s whelp, the ravening wolf and the bounding hind, and the horned serpent hidden by the wayside; the father, who had studied the characters of all his sons with more than human interest; who had watched the merchant-caravan to learn the ways of other lands and peoples; who had stood in the presence of Pharaoh, and abode seventeen years in Egypt; the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the heir of the promises — he, of all men, would seem to have been the fittest person to voice these oracles. So we aver that this prophecy is traceable to a psychological basis in the life and experiences of the aged patriarch, as they are presented to us in the Book of Genesis. As to the poetical form of the prophecy, we may suppose a number of hypotheses. The rapturous utterances of such a seer naturally take poetic form and fervour, and the critical reader of this poem will note its intensity of passion, sudden transitions, outbursts of alarm, ejaculations of prayer, and a multiplicity of similes and metaphors. Can we suppose any of the greatest poets of the world to have spoken in such exalted strains? Certainly, but not without premeditation. Milton composed his finest passages in the stillness of the night, and dictated them to his daughters the following day. Similarly Jacob may have mentally prepared this entire poem, and have repeated it with glowing inspiration when his sons stood about his bed. Nothing forbids the supposition that months and even years had been previously given to its preparation. It has been suggested that each of the sons remembered his own blessing or oracle, and wrote it down, and afterwards the eleven separate oracles were united in the order in which they now stand. Others have thought that the patriarch blessed his sons in substantially the words which we have here, and the general sentiments were treasured up in the memory of his sons, written out in rhythmic form by a later poet, and possibly revised and supplemented at a still later day. Any or all of these suppositions are permissible with one who defends the genuineness of the prophecy, so long as he holds that, whatever revision it has received by later hands, it truly preserves in substance what the dying patriarch said to his sons.

This prophecy contains nothing in itself incredible — nothing which might not, in substance if not in form, have been spoken by Jacob in his last days. It is in admirable keeping with the dream of Bethel, which was a sublime revelation of the great truth, running through the whole Old Testament, that in him and his posterity all families of the earth were to be blessed. Genesis 28:14. Such a gift of prophecy has its measure of the supernatural, but nothing miraculous. The super-naturalism of genuine prophecy implies no violence done to the prophet. The prevision with which he was for the time gifted, was as truly in harmony with his natural powers as was the far-reaching prophetic dream at Bethel. The charge that this poem abounds with minute geographical and historical allusions inconsistent with genuine prophecy, is abundantly refuted by the fact that the adverse critics cannot agree as to its date, but have referred its composition all the way from the times of the judges to the later kings of Israel. Determining data must be sadly deficient in a production which has been assigned by eminent critics to such different times as the six following:

1) The period of the Judges. (Dillmann, Baur, Ewald.)

2) The time of Saul’s reign, and probably written by Samuel. (Tuch.)

3) The reign of David. (Eichhorn, Knobel, Bohlen.)

4) Somewhere in the period covered by the reigns of David and Solomon. (Reuss.)

5) In the earlier period of the divided kingdom, when Judah and Joseph were the two great rival tribes. (Kalisch.)

6) During the times of the Syro-Israelitish wars, to which allusion is supposed in verses 23 and 24.

It is evident from this diversity of opinion that when we remove this prophecy from the date and person to whom it is assigned by the sacred writer, we go out upon a sea of uncertainty and conjecture which involves greater difficulties than to accept it as the genuine word of Jacob. The order in which the sons are named is: A. — The six sons of Leah: 1) Reuben. 2) Simeon. 3) Levi. 4) Judah. 5) Zebulun. 6) Issachar. B. — The four sons of the handmaids: 7) Dan. 8) Gad. 9) Asher. 10) Naphtali. C. — The two sons of Rachel: 11) Joseph. 12) Benjamin. If we compare the narrative of the several births, (chapter 30,) we see that Zebulun was born after Issachar, though named before him here, and Naphtali is placed here after Gad and Asher, though probably born before them. It is possible, however, that Naphtali was born after both Gad and Asher; for after giving birth to Dan, (Genesis 30:6,) Rachel’s handmaid, Bilhah, may not have borne her second child, Naphtali, until after Leah’s handmaid, Zilpah, had borne both her sons, (Genesis 30:9, 13.) The placing of Zebulun before Issachar was, perhaps, designed in this prophetic blessing, like the placing of Ephraim before Manasseh, to denote that the younger should be in some way greater than the elder. Compare Genesis 48:14, 19; Deuteronomy 33:18. In comparing the order followed in Moses’s psalm, we find 1) Reuben, whose precedence in birth never could be denied; 2) Judah, the princely; 3) Levi, the priestly; 4) Benjamin, placed before 5) Joseph; 6) Zebulun, as here before 7) Issachar; and the sons of the handmaids are arranged as follows: 8) Gad, 9) Dan, 10) Naphtali, 11) Asher, while Simeon is left out altogether.

As a part of the exegesis we furnish a new translation of this poem, and accordingly the notes are based upon the new translation.

1. Assemble yourselves — These words evidently belong to the poem itself, and are not the composition of the historian, who inserted a copy of Jacob’s prophecy in this place in his volume. The gathering contemplated was around the patriarch’s couch, whither Joseph had before hastened when he heard of his father’s sickness, (Genesis 48:2,) and where the whole family were now summoned to hear the prophetic word. What particular meaning the writer attached to the expression the end of the days is somewhat doubtful. It is too definite a phrase to denote merely after times, or the future. It suggests the idea of a limit, the end of an age, aeon, or period. Such an age had its tyvar and its tyrja, its beginning and its end, and the author of this prophecy proposed to speak of events belonging to the end, or closing period, of the age to which he belonged. The Septuagint translates it by the phrase so common in the New Testament, ep’ escatwn twn hmerwn, in the last days, which suggests the same idea of the closing period of an aeon. The events contemplated as befalling the sons of Jacob in the end of the days were such as belonged to the last period of the prophet’s vision; the end as distinguished from the beginning of Israelitish history. How near or how remote that end might be is left entirely undetermined.

V. 2. Hearken to Israel your father-Let Israel that has prevailed with God, prevail with you.

Verse 2. Hearken, unto Israel your father — This chapter calls for our strictest attention, for it contains a number of predictions which were to be fulfilled at distant periods, through a long succession of ages; things depending upon so many various circumstances, upon such remote causes, so hid to all human view, so contrary to all appearances at the time they were spoken of, that it was impossible for any foresight or sagacity of man so much as to conjecture or imagine them. And yet they were all exactly and fully accomplished; many of them in distant ages, long after both the prophet and the recorder of the prophecies were dead. And surely nothing can give us a higher idea of the Scriptures, or more confirm our faith in them, than to observe events foretold in them, and spoken of with the most certain assurance, ages before they happened, and then to see all these things taking place accordingly. But what makes this chapter of still more value to us, and more worthy of our closest attention, is, that we have here a sure word prophecy, marking out the time and some peculiar circumstances of the coming of the Messiah so particularly as will furnish us with an invincible argument, that not only the Messiah is come, but also that Jesus, in whom we believe, is that Messiah: so that, being fully convinced in our hearts, as Peter was, (John 6:68, 69,) we may say with him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life; and we believe and are sure thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Verse 2. Gather yourselves together. This phrase implies that they should come purified, and prepared for instruction.

JACOB’S PROPHETIC BLESSING ON HIS SONS, 1-27.

Jacob was the last great patriarchal representative and possessor of the covenant blessing of Jehovah. His grandfather Abraham had been separated from his kindred and native land, and received the promise and the covenant of circumcision. Isaac was preferred, to the exclusion of Ishmael and the sons of Keturah, and he transmitted the prophetic blessing of the covenant to Jacob, thereby excluding and supplanting Esau. Jacob is now about to die, and the chosen seed are henceforth to be represented by twelve tribes rather than by one great father. It was fitting, therefore, before this last great patriarch was gathered to his people, the voice of prophecy should issue from his lips, and, magnifying itself above the blessings of the everlasting hills, (ver. 26,) should disclose unto his children some things that would befall them in the last days. Israel will have no successor like himself, and the Book of Genesis ends with the “generations of Jacob;” but the divine thoughts of this prophecy appear again in the blessing of Moses, (Deuteronomy 33,) and may also be traced in the song of Deborah. Judges 5. The student should also compare with this prophetic psalm that of Isaac when he felt his end approaching, (Genesis 27:1, 4, 26-29, 39, 40,) the farewells of Joshua (Joshua 23 and 24) and of Samuel, (1 Samuel 12,) the last words of David, (2 Samuel 23,) and the language of Simeon (Luke 2:25-32) and of Paul, (2 Timothy 4:5-8.) All these saints breathed the same prophetic spirit, and were divinely gifted to utter words of imperishable value. They caught in vision the outlines of future great events, the full significance of which they but imperfectly comprehended. 1 Peter 1:10, 11. It was a prevalent opinion of heathen antiquity that highly gifted souls were wont to prophesy at the moment of their departure from the world. Thus Socrates (in Plato’s Apology) says to his judges: “And now, O men who have condemned me, I would fain prophesy to you; for I am about to die, and that is the hour in which men are gifted with prophetic power.” Modern critics, of all rationalistic schools, deny the genuineness of this prophecy, and refer it to a period long subsequent to Jacob’s time. They hold that its author, after the manner of poetical writers of all nations, conceived the happy thought of transferring certain facts of his own time and nation to the prophetic vision of a famous ancestor. Similarly Virgil, in the sixth book of the AEneid, (756-891,) represents father Anchises detailing to his son a long account of the fortunes of his posterity in Italy. These critics claim that the language of this poem is too highly wrought, and its historical and geographical allusions too minute, to be the utterance of an illiterate old man, who had been a shepherd all his life. To these criticisms it may be replied, that the quiet of shepherd life, the deep and varied experiences through which Jacob passed, and the serene grandeur of his old age, furnished the most natural conditions of such a prophecy. So far, therefore, from being an objection, these considerations furnish a strong argument in favour of the genuineness of this poem. He who had the dream at Bethel, the vision of angels at Mahanaim, and the struggle and triumph at Peniel; who had traversed hills and plains, and been exposed to the extremes of heat and cold and storms; who, like David in later times, became, by means of pastoral life and exposure, familiar with the habits of the lioness and the lion’s whelp, the ravening wolf and the bounding hind, and the horned serpent hidden by the wayside; the father, who had studied the characters of all his sons with more than human interest; who had watched the merchant-caravan to learn the ways of other lands and peoples; who had stood in the presence of Pharaoh, and abode seventeen years in Egypt; the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the heir of the promises — he, of all men, would seem to have been the fittest person to voice these oracles. So we aver that this prophecy is traceable to a psychological basis in the life and experiences of the aged patriarch, as they are presented to us in the Book of Genesis. As to the poetical form of the prophecy, we may suppose a number of hypotheses. The rapturous utterances of such a seer naturally take poetic form and fervour, and the critical reader of this poem will note its intensity of passion, sudden transitions, outbursts of alarm, ejaculations of prayer, and a multiplicity of similes and metaphors. Can we suppose any of the greatest poets of the world to have spoken in such exalted strains? Certainly, but not without premeditation. Milton composed his finest passages in the stillness of the night, and dictated them to his daughters the following day. Similarly Jacob may have mentally prepared this entire poem, and have repeated it with glowing inspiration when his sons stood about his bed. Nothing forbids the supposition that months and even years had been previously given to its preparation. It has been suggested that each of the sons remembered his own blessing or oracle, and wrote it down, and afterwards the eleven separate oracles were united in the order in which they now stand. Others have thought that the patriarch blessed his sons in substantially the words which we have here, and the general sentiments were treasured up in the memory of his sons, written out in rhythmic form by a later poet, and possibly revised and supplemented at a still later day. Any or all of these suppositions are permissible with one who defends the genuineness of the prophecy, so long as he holds that, whatever revision it has received by later hands, it truly preserves in substance what the dying patriarch said to his sons.

This prophecy contains nothing in itself incredible — nothing which might not, in substance if not in form, have been spoken by Jacob in his last days. It is in admirable keeping with the dream of Bethel, which was a sublime revelation of the great truth, running through the whole Old Testament, that in him and his posterity all families of the earth were to be blessed. Genesis 28:14. Such a gift of prophecy has its measure of the supernatural, but nothing miraculous. The super-naturalism of genuine prophecy implies no violence done to the prophet. The prevision with which he was for the time gifted, was as truly in harmony with his natural powers as was the far-reaching prophetic dream at Bethel. The charge that this poem abounds with minute geographical and historical allusions inconsistent with genuine prophecy, is abundantly refuted by the fact that the adverse critics cannot agree as to its date, but have referred its composition all the way from the times of the judges to the later kings of Israel. Determining data must be sadly deficient in a production which has been assigned by eminent critics to such different times as the six following:

1) The period of the Judges. (Dillmann, Baur, Ewald.)

2) The time of Saul’s reign, and probably written by Samuel. (Tuch.)

3) The reign of David. (Eichhorn, Knobel, Bohlen.)

4) Somewhere in the period covered by the reigns of David and Solomon. (Reuss.)

5) In the earlier period of the divided kingdom, when Judah and Joseph were the two great rival tribes. (Kalisch.)

6) During the times of the Syro-Israelitish wars, to which allusion is supposed in verses 23 and 24.

It is evident from this diversity of opinion that when we remove this prophecy from the date and person to whom it is assigned by the sacred writer, we go out upon a sea of uncertainty and conjecture which involves greater difficulties than to accept it as the genuine word of Jacob. The order in which the sons are named is: A. — The six sons of Leah: 1) Reuben. 2) Simeon. 3) Levi. 4) Judah. 5) Zebulun. 6) Issachar. B. — The four sons of the handmaids: 7) Dan. 8) Gad. 9) Asher. 10) Naphtali. C. — The two sons of Rachel: 11) Joseph. 12) Benjamin. If we compare the narrative of the several births, (chapter 30,) we see that Zebulun was born after Issachar, though named before him here, and Naphtali is placed here after Gad and Asher, though probably born before them. It is possible, however, that Naphtali was born after both Gad and Asher; for after giving birth to Dan, (Genesis 30:6,) Rachel’s handmaid, Bilhah, may not have borne her second child, Naphtali, until after Leah’s handmaid, Zilpah, had borne both her sons, (Genesis 30:9, 13.) The placing of Zebulun before Issachar was, perhaps, designed in this prophetic blessing, like the placing of Ephraim before Manasseh, to denote that the younger should be in some way greater than the elder. Compare Genesis 48:14, 19; Deuteronomy 33:18. In comparing the order followed in Moses’s psalm, we find 1) Reuben, whose precedence in birth never could be denied; 2) Judah, the princely; 3) Levi, the priestly; 4) Benjamin, placed before 5) Joseph; 6) Zebulun, as here before 7) Issachar; and the sons of the handmaids are arranged as follows: 8) Gad, 9) Dan, 10) Naphtali, 11) Asher, while Simeon is left out altogether.

As a part of the exegesis we furnish a new translation of this poem, and accordingly the notes are based upon the new translation.

1. Assemble yourselves — These words evidently belong to the poem itself, and are not the composition of the historian, who inserted a copy of Jacob’s prophecy in this place in his volume. The gathering contemplated was around the patriarch’s couch, whither Joseph had before hastened when he heard of his father’s sickness, (Genesis 48:2,) and where the whole family were now summoned to hear the prophetic word. What particular meaning the writer attached to the expression the end of the days is somewhat doubtful. It is too definite a phrase to denote merely after times, or the future. It suggests the idea of a limit, the end of an age, aeon, or period. Such an age had its tyvar and its tyrja, its beginning and its end, and the author of this prophecy proposed to speak of events belonging to the end, or closing period, of the age to which he belonged. The Septuagint translates it by the phrase so common in the New Testament, ep’ escatwn twn hmerwn, in the last days, which suggests the same idea of the closing period of an aeon. The events contemplated as befalling the sons of Jacob in the end of the days were such as belonged to the last period of the prophet’s vision; the end as distinguished from the beginning of Israelitish history. How near or how remote that end might be is left entirely undetermined.

V. 3. Reuben thou art my first-born-Jacob here puts upon him the ornaments of the birth-right, that he and all his brethren might see what he had forfeited and in that might see the evil of his sin. As the first-born he was his father’s joy, being the beginning of his strength. To him belonged the excellency of dignity above his brethren, and some power over them.

Verse 3. Reuben as the first-born had a right to a double portion of all that the father had; see Deuteronomy 21:17.

The eminence or dignity mentioned here may refer to the priesthood; the power, to the regal government or kingdom. In this sense it has been understood by all the ancient Targumists. The Targum of Onkelos paraphrases it thus: “Thou shouldst have received three portions, the birthright, the priesthood, and the kingdom:” and to this the Targums of Jonathan ben Uzziel and Jerusalem add: “But because thou hast sinned, the birthright is given to Joseph, the kingdom to Judah, and the priesthood to Levi.” That the birthright was given to the sons of Joseph we have the fullest proof from 1 Chronicles 5:1.

Verses 3, 4. Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might — Begotten in the prime and vigour of my days; the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power — Such were the prerogatives of the birthright, which he would have enjoyed had he not forfeited and fallen from them by his sin; dignity above his brethren, and considerable power over them. Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel — As water is prone to flow, and still tends downward to an inferior situation, so Reuben should fall from the pre-eminence he had by birth. In the Chaldee paraphrase it is, “Thou wast to have had three parts, the birthright, the priesthood, and the kingdom; but thou hast followed thy own will; as water spilled, thou shalt not prosper.” Two shares of the inheritance, which are supposed to have belonged to the birthright, were given to Joseph, the priesthood to Levi, and the kingdom to Judah. And nothing great or excellent is recorded of the tribe of Reuben throughout the Scriptures. From it arose no judge, prophet, prince, nor any person of renown, only Dathan and Abiram, who were noted for their impious rebellion. This tribe, not aiming to excel, chose a settlement on the other side Jordan. Jacob here charges him with the sin for which he was disgraced. It was forty years ago that he had been guilty of this sin; yet now it is remembered against him. It left an indelible mark of infamy upon his family; a wound not to be healed without a scar.

Ver. 3, 4. Reuben. Jacob here seems to enumerate the excellencies of Reuben, the more deeply to detest his crime; and after affirming that he should not excel in posterity, he turns towards his brethren, and adds, because he went up to my couch. But Dr. Lightfoot rather softens this translation. Reuben shall have a remnant of dignity, and a remnant of strength; for he was to lead the field in the wars of Canaan, and to vanquish the Hagarians. Joshua 4:12. 1 Chronicles 5:10. Unstable as water in affecting the priesthood, Numbers 16:1, 2, 32:1; but his father advises him not to suffer his instability to remain.

3. My firstborn, thou — By this form of expression poetic emphasis is given to the direct address. Beginning of my strength — Allusion to the supposed superior vigour of the firstborn, as inheriting the full virile power of the father. Comp. Deuteronomy 21:17; Psalm 78:51; 105:36. Excellence of dignity… power — His excellence is his natural pre-eminence as firstborn; his dignity, (Hebrews, tac, from acn, to lift up,) is his elevation, or the rank to which he was thus entitled. The distinction between might, strength, and power in this verse, each representing a different Hebrew word, is this: Might and strength here denote physical energy and manly vigour, while power (z[) is used in the sense of authority, a right and prerogative of the firstborn. The powers and prerogatives naturally adhering to the firstborn, were, because of Reuben’s sins, transferred to Judah and Joseph.

V. 4. Thou shalt not excel-A being thou shalt have as a tribe, but not an excellency. No judge, prophet, or prince, are found of that tribe, nor any person of renown only Dathan and Abiram, who were noted for their impious rebellion. That tribe, as not aiming to excel, chose a settlement on the other side Jordan. The character fastened upon Reuben, for which he is laid under this mark of infamy, is, that he was unstable as water. His virtue was unstable, he had not the government of himself, and his own appetites. His honour consequently was unstable, it vanished into smoke, and became as water spilt upon the ground. Jacob charges him particularly with the sin for which he was disgraced,

thou wentest up to thy father’s bed-It was forty years ago that he had been guilty of this sin, yet now it is remembered against him. Reuben’s sin left an indelible mark of infamy upon his family; a wound not to be healed without a scar.

Verse 4. Pouring out like the waters] This is an obscure sentence because unfinished. It evidently relates to the defilement of his father’s couch; and the word zjp pachaz, here translated pouring out, and in our Version unstable, has a bad meaning in other places of the Scripture, being applied to dissolute, debauched, and licentious conduct. See Judges 9:4; Zep 3:4; Jeremiah 23:14, 32; 29:23.

Thou shalt not excel] This tribe never rose to any eminence in Israel; was not so numerous by one third as either Judah, Joseph, or Dan, when Moses took the sum of them in the wilderness, Numbers 1:21; and was among the first that were carried into captivity, 1 Chronicles 5:26. Then thou didst defile] Another unfinished sentence, similar to the former, and upon the same subject, passing over a transaction covertly, which delicacy forbade Jacob to enlarge on. For the crime of Reuben, See Clarke on “Genesis 35:22”.

5. Simeon and Levi, brethren:

They have accomplished their fraudulent purposes.

6. Into their secret council my soul did not come;

In their confederacy my honour was not united:

For in their anger they slew a man, (cya

cya ish, a noble,)

And in their pleasure they murdered a prince.

7. Cursed was their anger, for it was fierce!

And their excessive wrath, for it was inflexible!

I will divide them out in Jacob,

And I will disperse them in Israel.

Verses 3, 4. Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might — Begotten in the prime and vigour of my days; the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power — Such were the prerogatives of the birthright, which he would have enjoyed had he not forfeited and fallen from them by his sin; dignity above his brethren, and considerable power over them. Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel — As water is prone to flow, and still tends downward to an inferior situation, so Reuben should fall from the pre-eminence he had by birth. In the Chaldee paraphrase it is, “Thou wast to have had three parts, the birthright, the priesthood, and the kingdom; but thou hast followed thy own will; as water spilled, thou shalt not prosper.” Two shares of the inheritance, which are supposed to have belonged to the birthright, were given to Joseph, the priesthood to Levi, and the kingdom to Judah. And nothing great or excellent is recorded of the tribe of Reuben throughout the Scriptures. From it arose no judge, prophet, prince, nor any person of renown, only Dathan and Abiram, who were noted for their impious rebellion. This tribe, not aiming to excel, chose a settlement on the other side Jordan. Jacob here charges him with the sin for which he was disgraced. It was forty years ago that he had been guilty of this sin; yet now it is remembered against him. It left an indelible mark of infamy upon his family; a wound not to be healed without a scar.

Ver. 3, 4. Reuben. Jacob here seems to enumerate the excellencies of Reuben, the more deeply to detest his crime; and after affirming that he should not excel in posterity, he turns towards his brethren, and adds, because he went up to my couch. But Dr. Lightfoot rather softens this translation. Reuben shall have a remnant of dignity, and a remnant of strength; for he was to lead the field in the wars of Canaan, and to vanquish the Hagarians. Joshua 4:12. 1 Chronicles 5:10. Unstable as water in affecting the priesthood, Numbers 16:1, 2, 32:1; but his father advises him not to suffer his instability to remain.

4. Boiling over like the waters — The figure may be the overflowing of a large body of water beyond its proper banks, and sweeping away all before it; but, more likely, as Gesenius thinks, it is that of a boiling pot of water, and denotes the violent, unrestrained licentiousness of Reuben, exhibited in his incestuous intercourse with Bilhah. Genesis 35:22. Beds — The use of the plural may here hint at repeated acts of incest on the part of Reuben. Defile is purposely left without an expressed object. The supplying, in the common version, of the word it, weakens the passage. Then didst thou defile, exclaims the indignant father, and suddenly changes from direct address to the third person, and repeats the words my couch he went up! as denoting the foul act by which he showed himself unworthy to retain the rights and glory of his primogeniture, and, therefore, he should not excel. The tribe of Reuben never did excel. The leadership was given to Judah; the birthright of a double portion of the inheritance was given to Joseph’s two sons. Comp. 1 Chronicles 5:1,

2. The Reubenites were among the first to settle at their ease on the east of the Jordan, (Numbers 32,) and in the time of Deborah they remained at ease among their sheepfolds when other tribes arose and fought for the liberty of the nation. Judges 5:15, 16. No leader, judge, or prophet is ever mentioned as springing from the tribe of Reuben, but they had among them some valiant warriors, who fought successfully against the Hagarites. 1 Chronicles 5:10, 18, 20.

V. 5. Simeon and Levi are brethren-Brethren in disposition, but unlike their father: they were passionate and revengeful, fierce and wilful; their swords, that should have been only weapons of defence, were (as the margin reads it) weapons of violence, to do wrong to others, not to save themselves from wrong.

Verse 5. Simeon and Levi are brethren] Not only springing from the same parents, but they have the same kind or disposition, head-strong, deceitful, vindictive, and cruel.

They have accomplished, &c.] Our margin has it, Their swords are weapons of violence, i.e., Their swords, which they should have used in defence of their persons or the honourable protection of their families, they have employed in the base and dastardly murder of an innocent people. The Septuagint gives a different turn to this line from our translation, and confirms the translation given above: sunetelesan adikia exairesewv autwn\ They have accomplished the iniquity of their purpose; with which the Samaritan Version agrees. In the Samaritan text we read [Samaritan] calu, they have accomplished, instead of the Hebrew ylk keley, weapons or instruments, which reading most critics prefer: and as to מכרתיהם mecherotheyhem, translated above their fraudulent purposes, and which our translation on almost no authority renders their habitations, it must either come from the Æthiopic rkm macar, he counselled, devised stratagems, &c., (see Castel,) or from the Arabic [Arabic] macara, he deceived, practised deceit, plotted, &c., which is nearly of the same import. This gives not only a consistent but evidently the true sense.

Verse 5. Simeon and Levi are brethren — In disposition, but unlike their father: they were passionate and revengeful, fierce and wilful; instruments of cruelty are in their inhabitations, or, as µhytrkm mecherotheihem rather signifies, their counsels, or compacts, alluding to their treacherous agreement with the Shechemites: their swords, which should have been only weapons of defence, were (as the margin reads it) weapons of violence, to do wrong to others, not to save themselves from wrong.

5. Simeon and Levi are named together, because they were brothers in the twofold sense of being sons of the same mother, and so much alike in disposition and character. Hence, after pronouncing their names, the patriarch pauses, and then emphatically adds the word brothers. Their similar spirit was seen and became historical in their cruel slaughter of the Shechemites, (Genesis 34:25-31,) for in that massacre they led the way. The memory and fear of that act never departed from Jacob’s soul, and as Reuben’s incest cost him the rights and glory of the firstborn, so the bloody deed of Simeon and Levi colours all this oracle, and brought them cursing where they might have had blessing. Instruments of violence their swords — The word trkm, rendered swords, occurs here only, and manifestly means some instrument of violence; but its derivation is uncertain. The ancient versions differ widely, and the word has been variously explained, as machinations, (De Dieu,) betrothals, (Dathe,) habitations, (Eng. version.) But the rendering swords, (perhaps from rwk, to pierce, or penetrate,) seems most in harmony with the context, and is adopted by many of the best interpreters. According to Rashi, the Greek word macaira, sword, was derived from this. According to Gesenius, Rabbi Eliezer says: “Jacob cursed their swords in the Greek tongue.” According to Genesis 34:25, Simeon and Levi “took each man his sword” (brj) and slaughtered all the men of Shechem.

V. 6. They slew a man-Shechem himself, and many others; and to effect that, they digged down a wall, broke the houses to plunder them, and murder the inhabitants.

O my soul, come not thou into their secret-Hereby he professeth not only his abhorrence of such practices in general, but his innocency particularly in that matter. Perhaps he had been suspected as under-hand aiding and abetting; he therefore solemnly expresseth his detestation of the fact.

Verse 6. Into their secret council, &c.] Jacob here exculpates himself from all participation in the guilt of Simeon and Levi in the murder of the Shechemites. He most solemnly declares that he knew nothing of the confederacy by which it was executed, nor of the secret council in which it was plotted.

If it should be said that the words abt tabo and djt techad should be translated in the future tense or in the imperative, as in our translation, I shall not contend; though it is well known that the preterite is often used for the future in Hebrew, and vice versa. Taken thus, the words mark the strong detestation which this holy man’s soul felt for the villany of his sons: “My soul shall not come into their secret council. My honour shall not be united to their confederacy.

For in their anger they slew a man] vya ish, a noble, an honourable man, viz., Shechem.

And in their pleasure] This marks the highest degree of wickedness and settled malice, they were delighted with their deed. A similar spirit Saul of Tarsus possessed previously to his conversion; speaking of the martyrdom of St. Stephen, St. Luke says, Acts 8:1: saulov de hn suneudokwn th anairesei autou\ And Saul was gladly consenting to his death. He was with the others highly delighted with it; and thus the prediction of our Lord was fulfilled, John 16:2: Yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. And it is represented as the highest pitch of profligacy and wickedness, not only to sin, but to delight in it; see Romans 1:32. As the original word רעונ ratson signifies, in general, pleasure, benevolence, delight, &c., it should neither be translated self-will nor wilfulness, as some have done, but simply as above; and the reasons appear sufficiently obvious. They murdered a prince-Hamor, the father of Shechem. Instead of rwv shor, which we have translated a wall, and others an ox, I read rc sar, a prince, which makes a consistent sense; (see Kennicott’s first Dissertation, p. 56, &c.;) as there is no evidence whatever that Simeon and Levi either dug down a wall or houghed the oxen, as some have translated the passage; (see the margin;) on the contrary, the text, Genesis 34:28, 29, proves that they had taken for their own use the sheep, oxen, asses, all their wealth, their wives, and their little ones.

Verse 6. My soul, come not thou into their secret — Their cursed plot hatched in secret: far be it from me to approve of their secret designs. And let not mine honour — Or good name, be stained by being associated with theirs. Thus he signifies to all posterity that that bloody enterprise was undertaken without his consent, and that he could not think of it without detestation, nor let it pass without a severe censure. For in their anger they slew a man — Shechem himself, and many others: and to effect that wickedness they digged down a wall — Broke into their houses to plunder them, and murder the inhabitants.

Ver. 6. They slew a man. The Hebrew ish always signifies a person of rank or respectability. It here refers to the prince and people of Shechem, whom Simeon and Levi had perfidiously murdered. Blood has a voice which reaches heaven, and soon or late shall be followed by visitations on the guilty.—They digged down a wall. Margin, They hough oxen. Why then curse them for killing an ox? The princes are compared to strong bulls of Bashan. Psalm 22. The reference has a figurative bearing on the fall of the father and the son, princes of Shechem. In Hebrew, rwv schor slightly varied, it is likely, in the pronunciation, is a bull, and a wall; the LXX, it would seem, have mistaken the sense, because we have no account that Simeon and Levi dismantled the walls of Shechem.

6. Their secret council — Allusion to their private conspiracy to massacre the men of Shechem. Unite not — This uniting in secret assembly is to be punished by dividing and scattering them. Verse 7. My honour — Used of the heart or soul, as the noblest and most honourable part of man’s nature. Compare Psalm 7:5; 16:9; 30:13. But at the same time the ordinary meaning of the word may be here kept prominent: Let not my honour be compromised or tarnished by any union with their counsels. They slaughtered men — Hebrews, a man. The singular, though used collectively, gives peculiar vividness to the thought as conceived in the Hebrew idiom. They houghed oxen — Here, too, the Hebrew employs the singular in the same collective sense. The fact stated illustrates the wanton cruelty of these brothers. The common version, they digged down a wall, follows the Chaldee, Syriac, Vulgate, Aquila, and Symmachus; but the authority of these versions, which have copied from one another, is outweighed by the fact that in all other passages where the Piel of this word (rq[) occurs, it means to hamstring or hough an animal. Such uniform usage has greater authority than the testimony of many versions.

V. 7. Cursed be their anger-Not their persons. We ought always in the expressions of our zeal carefully to distinguish between the sinner and the sin, so as not to love or bless the sin for the sake of the person, nor to hate or curse the person for the sake of the sin.

I will divide them-The Levites were scattered throughout all the tribes, and Simeon’s lot lay not together, and was so strait that many of that tribe were forced to disperse themselves in quest of settlements and subsistence. This curse was afterwards turned into a blessing to the Levites; but the Simeonites, for Zimri’s sin, Numbers 25:6-14, had it bound on.

Verse 7. Cursed was their anger] The first motions of their violence were savage; and their excessive or overflowing wrath, hrb[ ebrah, for it was inflexible-neither the supplications of the males, nor the entreaties, tears, cries, and shrieks of the helpless females, could deter them from their murderous purpose; for this, Genesis 49:5, they are said to have accomplished.

I will divide them out, µqlja achallekem, I will make them into lots, giving a portion of them to one tribe, and a portion to another; but they shall never attain to any political consequence. This appears to have been literally fulfilled. Levi had no inheritance except forty-eight cities, scattered through different parts of the land of Canaan: and as to the tribe of Simeon, it is generally believed among the Jews that they became schoolmasters to the other tribes; and when they entered Canaan they had only a small portion, a few towns and villages in the worst part of Judah’s lot, Joshua 19:1, which afterwards finding too little, they formed different colonies in districts which they conquered from the Idumeans and Amalekites, 1 Chronicles 4:39, &c. Thus these two tribes were not only separated from each other, but even divided from themselves, according to this prediction of Jacob.

8. Judah! thou! Thy brethren shall praise thee.

Thy hand, in the neck of thine enemies:

The sons of thy father shall bow themselves to thee.

9. A lion’s whelp is Judah:

From the prey, my son, thou hast ascended,

He couched, lying down like a strong lion

And like a lioness; who shall arouse him?

10. From Judah the sceptre shall not depart,

Nor a teacher from his offspring,

Until that SHILOH shall come,

And to him shall be assembled the peoples.

11. Binding his colt to the vine,

And to the choice vine the foals of his ass,

He washed his garments in wine,

His clothes in the blood of the grape.

12. With wine shall his eyes be red,

And his teeth shall be white with milk.

Verse 7. Cursed be their anger — Not their persons. We ought always, in the expressions of our zeal, carefully to distinguish between the sinner and the sin, so as not to love or bless the sin for the sake of the person, nor to hate or curse the person for the sake of the sin. I will divide them — The Levites were scattered throughout all the tribes, and Simeon’s lot lay not together, and was so strait that many of that tribe were forced to disperse themselves in quest of settlements and subsistence. This curse was afterward turned into a blessing to the Levites; but the Simeonites, for Zimri’s sin, Numbers 25., had it bound on.

Ver. 7. I will divide them. The Levites and the priests were divided all over Israel; and Simeon’s lot was almost in the centre of Judah. The curse of Levi seems to have been in part removed because of the services and zeal of his children, when the Israelites made the calf. Reuben’s chastisement seems also to have been removed by Moses’ prayer. Deuteronomy 33:6. Let Reuben live, and not die; and let not his men be few.

7. I will divide… scatter — He speaks as one conscious of divine authority. Their guilty uniting in conspiracy and cruelty is to be punished by dividing and scattering them in Israel. In the census of Numbers xxvi, the Simeonites number only 22,200 — less than any other tribe; in Moses’s blessing (Deuteronomy 33,) they are not mentioned at all; and in the allotment of Canaan their inheritance consisted of scattered cities within the territory previously assigned to Judah. Joshua 19:1-9. The Jews have a tradition that the Simeonites became largely the scribes and teachers among the other tribes, and so were scattered in Israel. In 1 Chronicles 4:27, it is said they did not increase like the children of Judah, and in verses 39-43, of the same chapter, it appears that they were scattered beyond the limits of Judah southward. The Levites, as is well-known, obtained no separate territory as a tribe, but were scattered about in various cities of the other tribes. See Joshua 21. But this curse of the patriarch did not hinder these tribes from sharing in the blessings of the covenant. Though divided and scattered, they were made a means of blessing to the whole house of Israel. Compare Moses’s words on Levi, Deuteronomy 33:8-11, where their character as priests and teachers is made prominent.

The words used of Simeon and Levi in Jacob’s prophecy have been a great trouble to the critics who would explain it as the production of a later time. So far from being an accurate detail of facts, some writers have pronounced it inconsistent with the history of those tribes, for, according to Joshua 19:1-9, Simeon did have a definite tribe-territory allotted him, and to the Levites were assigned several of the most important cities in the land, with their suburbs, and they were made the priests and ministers of the sanctuary instead of the firstborn. These facts are hard to reconcile with the theory that the song was written after the conquest of Canaan; but, in the mouth of Jacob, the language may be naturally explained.

V. 8. Judah’s name signifies praise, in allusion to which he saith, Thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise, God was praised for him, Genesis 29:35, praised by him, and praised in him; and therefore his brethren shall praise him.

Thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies-This was fulfilled in David, Psalm 18:40.

Thy father’s children shall bow down before thee-Judah was the law-giver, Psalm 60:7. That tribe led the van through the wilderness, and in the conquest of Canaan, Judges 1:2. The prerogatives of the birth-right which Reuben had forfeited, the excellency of dignity and power, were thus conferred upon Judah. Thy brethren shall bow down before thee, and yet shall praise thee, reckoning themselves happy in having so wise and bold a commander.

Verse 8. Thy brethren shall praise thee.] As the name Judah signifies praise, Jacob takes occasion from its meaning to show that this tribe should be so eminent and glorious, that the rest of the tribes should praise it; that is, they should acknowledge its superior dignity, as in its privileges it should be distinguished beyond all the others. On the prophecy relative to Judah, Dr. Hales has several judicious remarks, and has left very little to be farther desired on the subject. Every reader will be glad to meet with them here.

“The prophecy begins with his name JUDAH, signifying the praise of the Lord, which was given to him at his birth by his mother Leah, Genesis 29:35. It then describes the warlike character of this tribe, to which, by the Divine appointment, was assigned the first lot of the promised land, which was conquered accordingly by the pious and heroic Caleb; the first who laid hands on the necks of his enemies, and routed and subdued them, Joshua 14:11; 15:1; Judges 1:1, 2; and led the way for their total subjugation under David; who, in allusion to this prediction, praises God, and says: Thou hast given me the necks of mine enemies, that I might destroy them that hate me, Psalm 18:40. In the different stages of its strength, this tribe is compared to a lion’s whelp, to a full grown lion, and to a nursing lioness, the fiercest of all. Hence a lion was the standard of Judah; compare Numbers 2:3, Ezekiel 1:10. The city of David, where he reposed himself after his conquests, secure in the terror of his name, 1 Chronicles 14:17, was called Ariel, the lion of God, Isaiah 29:1; and our Lord himself, his most illustrious descendant, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, Revelation 5:5.

“The duration of the power of this famous tribe is next determined: ‘the sceptre of dominion,’ as it is understood Esther 8:4; Isaiah 14:5, &c., or its civil government, was not to cease or depart from Judah until the birth or coming of SHILOH, signifying the Apostle, as Christ is styled, Hebrews 3:1; nor was the native lawgiver, or expounder of the law, teacher, or scribe, intimating their ecclesiastical polity, to cease, until Shiloh should have a congregation of peoples, or religious followers, attached to him. And how accurately was this fulfilled in both these respects!

“1. Shortly before the birth of Christ a decree was issued by Augustus Cæsar that all the land of Judea and Galilee should be enrolled, or a registry of persons taken, in which Christ was included, Luke 2:1-7; whence Julian the apostate unwittingly objected to his title of CHRIST or KING, that he was born a subject of Cæsar!’ About eleven years after Judea was made a Roman province, attached to Syria on the deposal and banishment of Archelaus, the son of Herod the Great, for

maladministration; and an assessment of properties or taxing was carried into effect by Cyrenius, then governor of Syria, the same who before, as the emperor’s procurator, had made the enrolment, Luke 2:2; Ac 5:37; and thenceforth Judea was governed by a Roman deputy, and the judicial power of life and death taken away from the Jews, John 18:31. “2. Their ecclesiastical polity ceased with the destruction of their city and temple by the Romans, A. D. 70; at which time the Gospel had been preached through the known world by the apostles, ‘his witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth;’ Acts 2:8; Ro 10:18.

“Our Lord’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem, before his crucifixion, ‘riding on an ass, even a colt the foal of an ass,’ which by his direction his disciples brought to him for this purpose, ‘Go into the village over against you, and presently ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her; loose them, and bring them to me,’ Matthew 21:2-5, remarkably fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah, (Zechariah 9:9) is no less a fulfillment of this prophecy of Shiloh, ‘binding or tying his foal to the vine, even his ass’s colt to the choice vine.’ In ancient times to ride upon white asses or ass-colts was the privilege of persons of high rank, princes, judges, and prophets, Judges 5:10; 10:4; Numbers 22:22. And as the children of Israel were symbolized by the vine, Psalm 80:8; Hosea 10:1, and the men of Judah by ‘a (choice) vine of Sorek,’ in the original, both here and in the beautiful allegory of Isaiah, Isaiah 5:1-7, adopted by Jeremiah, Jeremiah 2:21, and by our Lord, Matthew 21:33, who styled himself the true vine, John 15:1; so the union of both these images signified our Lord’s assumption, as the promised Shiloh, of the dignity of the king of the Jews, not in a temporal but in a spiritual sense, as he declared to Pilate, John 18:36, as a prelude to his second coming in glory ‘to restore again the kingdom to Israel.’

“The vengeance to be then inflicted on all the enemies of his Church, or congregation of faithful Christians, is expressed by the symbolical imagery of ‘washing his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes;’ which to understand literally, would be incongruous and unusual any where, while it aptly represents his garments crimsoned in the blood of his foes, and their immense slaughter; and imagery frequently adopted in the prophetic scriptures.

“The strength and wholesomeness of Shiloh’s doctrine are next represented by having ‘his eyes red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.’ And thus the evangelical prophet, in similar strains, invites the world to embrace the GOSPEL:—

Ho, every one that thirsteth, come to the waters,

And he that hath no money; come, buy and eat:

Yea, come, buy wine and milk,

Without money and without price.

Isaiah 55:1.

“On the last day of the feast of tabernacles it was customary among the Jews for the people to bring water from the fountain of Siloah or Siloam, which they poured on the altar, singing the words of Isaiah, Isaiah 12:3: With joy shall ye draw water from the fountain of salvation; which the Targum interprets, ‘With joy shall ye receive a new doctrine from the ELECT of the JUST ONE;’ and the feast itself was also called Hosannah, Save, we beseech thee. And Isaiah has also described the apostasy of the Jews from their tutelar God IMMANUEL, under the corresponding imagery of their ‘rejecting the gently-flowing waters of Siloah,’ Isaiah 8:6-8. “Hence our Lord, on the last day of the feast, significantly invited the Jews to come unto him as the true and living Fountain of waters, Jeremiah 2:13. ‘If any man thirst, let him come to ME and drink;’ John 7:37. He also compared his doctrine to new wine, which required to be put into new bottles, made of skins strong enough to contain it, Matthew 9:17; while the Gospel is repeatedly represented as affording milk for babes, or the first principles of the oracles of God for novices in the faith, as well as strong meat [and strong wine] for masters in Christ or adepts, Matthew 13:11; Heb 5:12-14.

“And our Lord’s most significant miracle was wrought at this fountain, when he gave sight to a man forty years old, who had been blind from his birth, by sending him, after he had anointed his eyes with moistened clay, to wash in the pool of Siloam, which is the Greek pronunciation of the Hebrew hlc Siloah or Siloh, Isaiah 8:6, where the Septuagint version reads silwam, signifying, according to the evangelist, apestalmenov, sent forth, and consequently derived from jlv shalach, to send, John 9:7. Our Lord thus assuming to himself his two leading titles of MESSIAH, signifying anointed, and SHILOH, sent forth or delegated from God; as he had done before at the opening of his mission: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor; he hath sent me forth (apestalke) to heal the broken-hearted,’ &c.; Luke 4:18.

“And in the course of it he declared, I was not sent forth (apestalhn) but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel, Matthew 15:24, by a two-fold reference to his character in Jacob’s prophecy of SHILOH and SHEPHERD OF ISRAEL, Genesis 49:10-24. ‘This is life eternal, to know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou sentest forth,’ (apesteilav,) to instruct and save mankind, John 17:3; and he thus distinguishes his own superior mission from his commission to his apostles: ‘As THE FATHER hath sent ME, (apestalke me,) so I send you,’ pempw umav, John 20:21. Whence St. Paul expressly styles Jesus Christ ‘the Apostle (Jo apostolov) and High Priest of our profession,’ Hebrews 3:1; and by an elaborate argument shows the superiority of his mission above that of Moses, and of his priesthood above that of Aaron, in the sequel of the epistle. His priesthood was foretold by David to be a royal priesthood, after the order of Melchizedek, Psalm 110:4. But where shall we find his mission or apostleship foretold, except in Jacob’s prophecy of Shiloh? which was evidently so understood by Moses when God offered to send him as his ambassador to Pharaoh, and he declined at first the arduous mission: ‘O my Lord, send I pray thee by the hand of Him whom thou wilt send,’ or by the promised Shiloh, Exodus 3:10; 4:13; by whom in his last blessing to the Israelites, parallel to that of Jacob, he prayed that ‘God would bring back Judah to his people,’ from captivity, Deuteronomy 33:7.

“Here then we find the true meaning and derivation of the much disputed term Shiloh in this prophecy of Jacob, which is fortunately preserved by the Vulgate, rendering qui mittendus est, he that is to be sent, and also by a rabbinical comment on Deuteronomy 22:7: ‘If you keep this precept, you hasten the coming of the Messiah, who is called SENT.’ “This important prophecy concerning Judah intimates, 1. The warlike character and conquests of this tribe; 2. The cessation of their civil and religious polity at the first coming of Shiloh; 3. His meek and lowly inauguration at that time, as spiritual King of the Jews, riding on an ass like the ancient judges and prophets; 4. His second coming as a warrior to trample on all his foes; and, 5. To save and instruct his faithful people.”-Hales’ Anal., vol. ii., p. 167, &c.

Verse 8. Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise — As thy name signifies praise, and God was praised for thee, (Genesis 29:35,) and shall be praised by and in thee, so shalt thou have praise and honour from thy brethren. The tribe of Judah led the van through the wilderness, Numbers 10:14, and, in the conquest of Canaan, by the appointment of God, went first up against the Canaanites, after the death of Joshua, Judges 1:1, 2. They had the first lot assigned them in the division of the country, and a lot that was very extensive and fertile. Othniel, the first judge, was of this tribe; and Caleb, whose reputation was not much inferior to that of Joshua. And all the kings that ever God granted the Jewish nation in mercy were of them. In short, in every age, this tribe was more honoured than any of the others. Thy hand shall be on the neck of thine enemies — An expression which signified victory over their enemies, and was remarkably fulfilled in David, Psalm 18:40. Thy father’s children shall bow down before thee — They shall not only acknowledge thy dignity above that of the other tribes, and pay such honour to thee as is wont to be conferred on the firstborn; but shall submit to the regal authority and power which shall be vested in thee. This was verified in God’s choosing the tribe of Judah, and David out of it, to govern the Hebrew nation, and in settling the kingdom of Israel in his stock for ever; but especially in the Messiah’s being born of this tribe, whose kingdom is everlasting, and to whom every knee shall bow.

Ver. 8. Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise. The whole of Jacob’s blessings have in view principally the posterity of those patriarchs, and the events of future years. Judah, while in Egypt, was eclipsed by Joseph’s glory; but after David had ascended the throne, the prophets have celebrated his victories, and the church in all ages has very much delighted to worship God in his words. But these words receive their real accomplishment in Christ; all the children bow down to him, and having received the spirit of adoption they glorify his name.

8. Judah, thou — Pleonastic use of the pronoun, but adding emphasis to the address. Shall praise thee — A play upon the meaning of the name Judah. See Genesis 29:35. “Reuben, Simeon, and Levi had been cursed and scattered, but as the patriarch turns his eye upon Judah, he sees that the energy and courage which have made him a leader among his brethren will re-appear in his children of remote generations, and make them illustrious above all the other tribes of Israel. His name, which signifies ‘praised,’ or ‘celebrated,’ is seen to shoot its lustre through all the future.” — Newhall.

V. 9. Judah is a lion’s whelp-The lion is the king of beasts, the terror of the forest when he roars; when he seizeth his prey, none can resist him; when he goes up from the prey, none dares pursue him to revenge it. By this it is foretold that the tribe of Judah should become very formidable, and should not only obtain great victories but should peaceably enjoy what was got by those victories. Judah is compared not to a lion rampant, always raging but to a lion couching, enjoying the satisfaction of his success, without creating vexation to others.

Verse 9. Judah is a lion’s whelp, &c. — The lion is the king of beasts, the terror of the forest when he roars; when he seizeth his prey, none can resist him; when he goes up from the prey, none dares pursue him to revenge it. By this it was foretold that the tribe of Judah should become very formidable, and should not only obtain great victories, but should peaceably enjoy what was gotten by those victories. Judah is compared, not to a lion rampant, always raging, but to a lion couching, enjoying the satisfaction of his success, without creating vexation to others.

Ver. 9. Judah is a lion’s whelp. Alluding to his generosity. Genesis 37:26. But others, and with more propriety, think it alludes to his vast growth in strength above the other tribes. David as a lion vanquished all his foes, and then couched in Solomon’s peaceful reign. But the words refer to the lion of the tribe of Judah, who having vanquished and ultimately destroyed all his foes, entered on his peaceful and everlasting kingdom.

9. Whelp of a lion — Three different Hebrew words are here employed for lion, represented in our translation by whelp, lion, and lioness. The patriarch first calls Judah a lion’s whelp, and then directly addresses him, as if, like a lion, he had seized his prey, and having eaten what he would, had gone up to his lair in the mountains. He then resumes the third person, and pictures the victorious lion as having bowed and crouched down, either for repose or in readiness to pounce upon any victim which might approach him. In this crouching attitude he is further described as a lioness, fiercest of all the lion family, and most dangerous to rouse up in the lair. Hence the apocalyptic expression, “lion of the tribe of Judah,” (Revelation 5:5.) “The form of this vision came from remembered sights and sounds in the far-away Syrian mountains, but its substance came from an energy, courage, and might that were to burst upon the world in still increasing splendour through successive generations, yet incomprehensible to the wisest prophet in advance of their historic development. It came from Jerusalem, the Ariel, ‘or lion of God’ — from David, who, in one of his loftiest lyrics, cried, ‘Thou hast given me the necks of mine enemies,’ (Psalm 18:40,) — from the ‘Lion of the tribe of Judah,’ whose eyes are one day to be turned upon men ‘like a flame of fire,’ and his voice to fill the world ‘like the sound of many waters.’” — Newhall.

V. 10. The sceptre shall not depart from Judah till Shiloh come-Jacob here foretels,

(1.) That the sceptre should come into the tribe of Judah, which was fulfilled in David, on whose family the crown was entailed.

(2.) That Shiloh should be of this tribe; that seed in whom the earth should be blessed. That peaceable prosperous one, or, the Saviour, so others translate it, shall come of Judah.

(3.) That the sceptre should continue in that tribe, till the coming of the Messiah, in whom as the king of the church, and the great High-priest, it was fit that both the priesthood and the royalty should determine. Till the captivity, all along from David’s time, the sceptre was in Judah, and from thence governors of that tribe, or of the Levites that adhered to it, which was equivalent; till Judea became a province of the Roman empire just at the time of our Saviour’s birth, and was at that time taxed as one of the provinces, Luke 2:1, and at the time of his death the Jews expressly owned, We have no king but Caesar. Hence it is undeniably inferred against the Jews, that our Lord Jesus is be that should come, and we are to look for no other, for he came exactly at the time appointed. (4.) That it should be a fruitful tribe, especially that it should abound with milk and wine, Genesis 49:11,12, vines so common, and so strong, that they should tye their asses to them, and so fruitful, that they should load their asses from them; wine as plentiful as water, so that the men of that tribe should be very healthful and lively, their eyes brisk and sparkling, their teeth white. Much of that which is here said concerning Judah is to be applied to our Lord Jesus.

1. He is the ruler of all his Father’s children, and the conqueror of all his Father’s enemies, and he it is that is the praise of all the saints.

2. He is the lion of the tribe of Judah, as he is called with reference to this, Revelation 5:5, who having spoiled principalities and powers, went up a conqueror, and couched so as none can stir him up when he sat down on the right hand of the Father.

3. To him belongs the sceptre, he is the lawgiver, and to him shall the gathering of the people be, as the desire of all nations, Haggai 2:7, who being lifted up from the earth should draw all men unto him, John 12:32, and in whom the children of God that are scattered abroad should meet as the centre of their unity, John 11:52.

4. In him there is plenty of all that which is nourishing and refreshing to the soul, and which maintains and chears the divine life in it; in him we may have wine and milk, the riches of Judah’s tribe, without money, and without price, Isaiah 55:1.

Verse 10. From Judah the sceptre shall not depart] The Jews have a quibble on the word cbv shebet, which we translate sceptre; they say it signifies a staff or rod, and that the meaning of it is, that “afflictions shall not depart from the Jews till the Messiah comes;” that they are still under affliction and therefore the Messiah is not come. This is a miserable shift to save a lost cause. Their chief Targumist, Onkelos, understood and translated the word nearly as we do; and the same meaning is adopted by the Jerusalem Targum, and by all the ancient versions, the Arabic excepted, which has [Arabic] kazeeb, a rod; but in a very ancient MS. of the Pentateuch in my own possession the word [Arabic] sebet is used, which signifies a tribe. Judah shall continue a distinct tribe till the Messiah shall come; and it did so; and after his coming it was confounded with the others, so that all distinction has been ever since lost. Nor a teacher from his offspring] I am sufficiently aware that the literal meaning of the original רגליו מבינ mibbeyn raglaiv is from between his feet, and I am as fully satisfied that it should never be so translated; from between the feet and out of the thigh simply mean progeny, natural offspring, for reasons which surely need not be mentioned. The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel, and the Jerusalem Targum, apply the whole of this prophecy, in a variety of very minute particulars, to the Messiah, and give no kind of countenance to the fictions of the modern Jews.

13. At the haven of the seas shall Zebulun dwell,

And he shall be a haven for ships.

And his border shall extend unto Sidon.

Verse 10. The sceptre — The dominion or government, which is expressed by this word, because it was an ensign of government. It is true, the word cbv, shebet, here used, also signifies a rod, or staff of any kind, and particularly the rod or staff which belonged to each tribe, as an ensign of its authority, whence it is transferred to signify tribe, as being united under one rod or staff of government. It seems evident, however, from what has been observed on verse 8, that dominion, or authority, is also and especially here intended. But it is asked, How could it be said with propriety, the dominion, or authority, shall not depart from Judah, when Judah had none? To this it must be answered, that Jacob had just foretold that his father’s children should bow down to Judah, and that he, therefore, should have this authority or dominion. After which, it is predicted that it should not depart till Shiloh came. Nor a lawgiver from between his feet — The word qqjm, mechokek, here rendered lawgiver, means also ruler, or judge, and the prophecy certainly implies, not only that, while the other tribes should be captivated, dispersed, and confounded with each other, the tribe of Judah should be kept entire until Christ came; but that rulers and magistrates, descended from Judah, or called by his name, should succeed each other at least for a time, and that both the civil and ecclesiastical power should continue till Shiloh should come, and then should be taken away, or rather should devolve on him. Now, as it will readily be acknowledged that the authority remained with Judah till the captivity, so it must be observed, that even in Babylon, the Jews appear to have been under a kind of internal government, exercised by the family of David. “And after their return from Babylon, Zerubbabel, of David’s race, was their leader; and the tribe of Judah, and those who were incorporated with them, had regular magistrates and rulers from among themselves, under the kings of Persia and Syria, and afterward under the Romans.” The great council of the Jews, termed “the Sanhedrim, constituted chiefly of the tribe of Judah, and the other courts dependant on it, possessed great authority till the coming of Christ, according to the concurrent testimony of ancient writers. The tribe of Judah was likewise preserved distinct, and could trace back its genealogies without difficulty.” So that, “in all respects, the sceptre, though gradually enfeebled, did not depart: nor was the regular exercise of legislative and judicial authority, though interrupted, finally suspended till after that event.” — Scott. Till Shiloh come — It is not perfectly agreed among the learned what is the precise meaning of the word. But it is pretty certain, according to its derivation, it either signifies he that is sent, or, the seed, or, the peaceable and prosperous one. And that the Messiah is intended, Jews as well as Christians generally acknowledge; the word being expounded of him by all the three Chaldee paraphrasts, the Jewish Talmud, and many of the latter Jews also. Till he came Judah or Judea possessed considerable authority and power, but at or about the time of his birth, it became a province of the Roman empire, and was enrolled and taxed as such, Luke 2:1; and at the time of his death the Jews themselves expressly owned, “We have no king but Cesar.” Hence it is undeniably inferred against the Jews, that our Lord Jesus is “He that should come,” and that we are to look for no other; for he came exactly at the time appointed. Unto him shall the gathering of the people be — After he came, and the sceptre was departed from Judah, the gathering both of Jews and Gentiles was to him, as to their King and Saviour. The pale of the church was enlarged, the partition between the Jews and Gentiles broken down, and the converted Gentiles, along with the converted Jews, became his subjects and worshippers. He became the “desire of different nations,” Haggai 2:7, and being “lifted up from the earth,” drew myriads unto him, John 12:32, and the “children of God that were scattered abroad” met in him as their centre of unity. This was the case, in a great degree, for many centuries, and we are taught to believe that it shall be the case more and more till the earth shall be filled with his glory; for of “the increase of his government, as well as peace, shall be no end.” The fulness of the Gentiles shall come in, and then “ungodliness shall be turned away from Jacob, and all Israel shall be saved.” And when “he shall come in his glory, all nations shall be gathered unto him,” and at last the innumerable multitudes of the redeemed shall be gathered into his everlasting kingdom.

Ver. 10. The Sceptre. This word is sometimes translated rod; but it implies civil authority. Isaiah 14:5. The rod or sceptre of the rulers. Secondly, Judah’s successors, or the reigning family should never want a son, or young lawgiver between their feet. God remarkably kept his eye upon this promise; for instance, when Athaliah had killed all the royal seed, as she thought, Joash, an infant son was preserved in the temple.—Until Shiloh come. The power or government was not to depart from Judah until he came, for whom it was reserved, or to whom it did belong; that is, the kingdom. The Messiah is called Shiloh in reference to his quiet and peaceful reign; or in reference to his being the sent of God with divine power. John 9:7. The ancient Jews are all agreed that Shiloh here means the Messiah. The Jews gave four names to the Messiah; Shiloh, Jinnon, Chaninah, and Menahem. The last, designating consolation, Luke 2:25, was a favourite name. He had other names of hope and glory.

This text is a striking and convincing proof, that the Messiah is already come, and that all the efforts of modern Jews to evade its force, do but discover the enmity of their hearts. Who could have thought that they should call Nebuchadnezzar the Shiloh, merely because he took away their regal power! The text has a most evident reference to David, the tenth from Judah, of whose line twenty three kings reigned in Jerusalem. And even after Zedekiah, the last of those kings, was carried with a large remnant of his nation to Chaldea, the civil power did not depart from Judah. Daniel, who was so long distinguished in that empire, was of the seed royal. Daniel 1:3. Zerubbabel, the builder of the second temple, was of the same line. The grand Sanhedrim, or council of seventy members, was composed chiefly of the tribe of Judah. Some of Benjamin, of Levi, and stragglers of the ten tribes, were indeed associated with them; but Judah had the majority; the ten tribes having nearly perished in exile for their sins. Their princes, or captain-generals, were also of this tribe. Hence Judah had the pre-eminence, and the power of life and death until the time of Herod, an Idumean, whom the Romans invested with regal power. But the Sanhedrim opposed his power, and did not fully relinquish their claim till the last year of his reign. This power was indeed gone when they confessed to Pilate, a Roman, that they had not the power to put any man to death. John 18:31. Even their civil power was not entirely taken away, till the destruction of their city. And then the gathering of the people was unto the Messiah; for great multitudes both of Jews and Gentiles were converted unto him in most parts of the empire. And this gathering of the people corresponds also very strikingly with all that the prophets have said respecting the conversion of the isles and nations of the gentiles. Hence there is no man who attentively studies this text with its accomplishment, but must own that it is one striking proof that Jesus Christ is the true Messiah.

10. Sceptre shall not depart from Judah — “The symbol of tribal authority in Israel, not necessarily the badge of royalty. The token of tribal life and pre-eminence should not depart, but Judah should maintain its life, integrity, and supremacy as a tribe.” — Newhall. Ruler’s staff — The word qqjm may denote either a ruler or his badge of office and power. The latter best preserves the harmony of the parallelism. Some read, as the common version, lawgiver. The Septuagint and Vulgate have leader. Targum Onkelos, scribe; Targum Jerusalem, scholars of the law. Syriac, interpreter. From between his feet — Those who render qqjm ruler, or lawgiver, naturally explain this expression as a euphemism for posterity — issue of his loins. But with the idea of ruler’s staff is associated the custom of Oriental kings, as depicted on the monuments, sitting on the throne with the royal sceptre between their feet. Until he shall come — Shiloh. By translating in this form we leave the grammatical construction as ambiguous as it appears in the Hebrew text. It is equally correct, so far as the mere question of syntax is concerned, to render until Shiloh comes, or until he comes to Shiloh. Three different readings appear in Hebrew MSS., namely, hlyv, hlv, and wlv. The Septuagint, Aquila, Symmachus, Syriac, and some of the Targums, seem to have read hlv, as if compounded of v, abbreviation of rva, and hl or wl. We have the cognate words wlv wlv and hwlv, meaning rest, or peace, and it is not impossible but one of these words was the original reading of our text. The Septuagint and other versions named above render, until that which is his shall come, or, till he come whose it is. The Vulgate reads, “until he comes who is to be sent.” Others translate Shiloh as an appellative, meaning rest, “until he (Judah) comes to rest, or, “until rest comes.” The English revisers (of 1885) place until Shiloh come in the text, and till he come to Shiloh in the margin. Many have adopted this last rendering, and understand Shiloh of the town where the tabernacle was set up after the conquest, (Joshua 18:1;) but against this is the decisive objection, that up to that time Judah had no notable pre-eminence. The honourable position assigned to this tribe in the desert march, (Numbers 2:3,) was by no means an adequate fulfilment of the terms of this oracle; for Moses, the Levite, was commander during all the march, and Joshua, the Ephraimite, succeeded him, and commanded the armies until after the conquest and partition of the land. It also is doubtful if Shiloh existed in Jacob’s time, and it is certain that it never appears in history as having any especial interest for the tribe of Judah, but was situated in the tribe-territory of Ephraim. Far more satisfactory is the ancient interpretation, represented in the Targums and maintained by most Christian expositors, which makes Shiloh a proper name, (meaning resting-place, or rest-giver,) and a designation of the Messiah, who was to spring from the tribe of Judah. Jacob’s prophetic vision opened for the moment into the distant future, and saw the regal position the tribe of Judah was destined to hold at the time when all the tribes should be organized into a kingdom. From the time when royalty was established in Israel by the conquests of David and his settlement upon the throne, the tribe of Judah held a regal pre-eminence, and maintained its distinct tribal character until the coming of Jesus Christ.

It is often alleged against this Messianic interpretation, that after the destruction of the kingdom of Judah by the Chaldeans the exercise of royal power was broken, and that no real Jewish king again reigned in the city of David. The Maccabean leaders were not of the tribe of Judah, and the Herods, who bore the title of kings, were of foreign birth. But, after granting all these allegations, the notable fact remains that the vast majority of those who returned from the Babylonian exile were of the tribe of Judah, and that their body of elders formed a council which virtually represented the sceptre and the ruler’s staff. Notwithstanding their many oppressions, and the occasional interruption of their worship, they were permitted during all those centuries to manage their own affairs, and to constitute a distinct and well-known body politic until finally broken up and scattered by the Romans. The sceptre of Judah was, indeed, during much of this time, of no great weight, but it was not taken away; it did not depart from Judah. The wars of the Maccabees and the government of Herod truly served to maintain and perpetuate (not Joseph, or Dan, or Naphtali but) the power of Judah. As long as the tribe retained its distinct existence and name, even though a foreigner held the sceptre, the spirit of this prophecy was fulfilled. So the Persian monarchy retained its name and power, even while a usurper occupied the throne. No one now questions, that when Christ appeared he sprang from the tribe of Judah. It deserves special remark that the permanency of the kingdom of Judah and of the royal line of David is one of the marvels of history. While other and greater kingdoms fell, it remained. Revolutions swept over Egypt, and dynasty after dynasty passed away. Phoenicia and Syria, with their varied forms of power and pomp, flourished and decayed. The great Assyrian empire, after oppressing both Judah and Israel, and blotting out the latter, was overthrown, and yet the little kingdom of Judah, with a descendant of David on the throne, maintained its individuality, held its ancient sacred capital, and continued unbroken, resolute, hopeful. And even after its fall under Nebuchadnezzar, and seventy years of bitter exile, and after Babylon, in turn, had fallen and the Persian empire had risen into power, we find the children of Judah returning to their fatherland, rebuilding their temple and city, still led by a scion of the house of Judah. This irrepressible tribe, thus again established in their ancient regal seat, survived the fall of Persia, outlived the triumphs of Alexander and his successors, and maintained its national and political existence through unspeakable troubles and oppressions, until finally dispersed by the Romans in A.D. 70.

Obedience of peoples — The Septuagint and Vulgate render, expectation of peoples; others, gathering, or congregation of peoples. But the word occurs elsewhere only at Proverbs 30:17, where obedience is the only suitable meaning. Here is the first intimation of such Messianic hopes as are more fully outlined in such passages as Isaiah 2:3; 11:1-10.

Verse 11. Binding his foal unto the vine — It is here foretold that the tribe of Judah should inhabit a fruitful land, and especially that it should abound with milk and wine: that vines should be so common and so strong that they should tie their asses to them, and so fruitful that they should load their asses from them, wine being as plentiful as water, so that the men of that tribe should be very healthful and lively, their eyes brisk and sparkling, and their teeth white. In Christ there is plenty of all that which is nourishing and refreshing to the soul, and which maintains and cheers the divine life in it: in him we may have wine and milk, the riches of Judah’s tribe without money and without price, Isaiah 55:1.

Ver. 11. Binding his foal to the vine. Sir John Chardin reports, that at Bahia in Persia, he found vines so large that he could scarcely grasp them with both his arms, so that it was easy to tie a horse to a vine. The same oriental traveller adds, that after gathering the grapes, they turn their cattle into the vineyards. Jacob here augurs affluence to Judah, which was literally fulfilled.

11. Binding to the vine his young ass — This verse contains a composite picture of princely wealth and peaceful industry. Judah will be rich in vineyards and wine and milk. In the more ancient times the ass, like the camel, served for carrying the rich and noble; (Judges 5:10; 10:4; 12:14;) and the thought here is, that Judah will have possessions of this costly kind. The picture of abundance and luxury is enhanced by the thought that the vines of his soil will grow to such strength that the asses may be tied to them without harm. The territory allotted to Judah was noted for its vineyards and pastures. Here grew the grapes of Eshcol and En-gedi; (Numbers 13:23, 24; Song of Solomon 1:14;) here were Maon and Carmel and Tekoa, famous for pastures and numerous flocks. 1 Samuel 25:2; Amos, 1:7; 2 Chronicles 26:10. It is not improbable that this picture of abundance and repose was added to that of Judah’s conquests and power in order to denote the plentiful peace and quiet which he should enjoy after his great victories. But to adduce, as parallel to this Scripture, the ass and foal of Zechariah 9:9, and Matthew 21:5, and the wine-press and blood-stained garments of Isaiah, 63:1-6, and explain all alike as a special prophecy of Christ, would be extravagant — a reading into the language of this poem the ideas of a later time.

12. Lustrous the eyes from wine — The Septuagint, Vulgate, and some expositors construe the preposition ˆm, from, as denoting a comparison; more lustrous, or more joyful than wine, and whiter than milk. This is allowable; but inasmuch as the previous verse speaks of the great abundance of wine, and fertility of the land of Judah, the more suitable thought in this verse is, that from the superabundance of wine and milk, (as the originating cause,) the eyes and teeth are affected.

V. 13. Zebulon shall dwell at the haven of the sea-This was fulfilled, when 2 or 300 years after, the land of Canaan was divided by lot, and the border of Zebulon went up towards the sea, Joshua 19:11.

Verse 13. Zebulun’s lot or portion in the division of the Promised Land extended from the Mediterranean Sea on the west, to the lake of Gennesareth on the east; see his division, Joshua 19:10, &c. The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel paraphrases the passage thus: “Zebulun shall be on the coasts of the sea, and he shall rule over the havens; he shall subdue the provinces of the sea with his, ships, and his border shall extend unto Sidon.

14. Issachar is a strong ass

Couching between two burdens.

15. And he saw the resting place that it was good,

And the land that it was pleasant;

And he inclined his shoulder to the load,

And he became a servant unto tribute.

Verse 13. Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea — This was fulfilled, when, two or three hundred years after, the land of Canaan was divided by lot, and the “border of Zebulun went up toward the sea,” Joshua 19:11.

Ver. 13. Zebulun’s lot extended from Zidon, a port in the Levant, to the lake of Gennesareth; the riches of Galilee, and the abundance of the sea were his portion.

13. At the coast of seas let him dwell — These words concerning Zebulun are among the definite geographical allusions which rationalistic criticism adduces as evidence of the late origin of this prophecy. But so far from being situated upon the seas, or bordering on Zidon, Zebulun’s territory was entirely surrounded by that of other tribes, and touched neither sea nor land of Zidon. Compare Joshua 19:10-16; Deuteronomy 33:19. As designating geographical position, both this verse and its parallel in Deuteronomy would better fit Issachar and Asher, and, therefore, refute the idea that they were written after the conquest and allotment of the land. Better is the supposition that the dying father’s words sprang from what he had observed in the tastes and habits of this son — a love of commerce, a desire for ships and trade upon the seas rather than by the travel of the desert caravans. Thus the allusion to seas, ships, Zidon — the synonymes of ancient naval commerce — would be most natural in the mouth of Jacob. Hence also a reason for the jussive rendering of ˆkvy, let him dwell. As a matter of fact, the tribe-territory of Zebulun extended between the Mediterranean and Galilean seas, though not touching upon either, and the words his side upon Zidon, or towards Zidon, do not necessarily mean that his territory would border on Zidon, but may denote that it looked that way, or that the tribe itself would come to have some peculiar dependence on Zidon, or some notable relations with the Phoenicians. In Deborah’s song this tribe is celebrated for skill in penmanship and heroism in battle. Judges 5:14, 18.

V. 14. Issachar is a strong ass, couching down between two burdens-The men of that tribe shall be strong and industrious, fit for and inclined to labour, particularly the toil of husbandry, like the ass that patiently carries his burden. Issachar submitted to two burdens, tillage and tribute.

Verse 14. Issachar is a strong ass] גרם rmj chamor garem is properly a strong-limbed ass; couching between two burdens-bearing patiently, as most understand it, the fatigues of agriculture, and submitting to exorbitant taxes rather that exert themselves to drive out the old inhabitants.

The two burdens literally mean the two sacks or panniers, one on each side of the animal’s body; and couching down between these refers to the well-known propensity of the ass, whenever wearied or overloaded, to lie down even with its burden on its back.

Verse 14. Issachar is a strong ass, couching down between two burdens — The men of that tribe shall be strong and industrious, fit for and inclined to labour, particularly the toil of husbandry; like the ass that patiently carries his burden. Issachar submitted to two burdens, tillage and tribute.

Ver. 14. Issachar’s lot was hard labour in husbandry, as a strong ass bearing a burden on each side.

14. Ass of bone — Or, bony ass; that is, strongly built and fit for carrying burdens. See Genesis 30:18, on the origin of the name Issachar. Issachar’s characteristic was a disposition to look for a reward or hire rather than liberty and honour. Like a beast of burden, he loves to lie down and rest between the double sheepfolds; that is the inclosures made of hurdles, and open at the top. The word is dual, probably because these folds were generally divided into two parts. Comp. Judges 5:16, note.

Verse 15. He saw that rest] The inland portion that was assigned to him between the other tribes. He inclined his shoulder to the load; the Chaldee paraphrast gives this a widely different turn to that given it by most commentators: “He saw his portion that it was good, and the land that it was fruitful; and he shall subdue the provinces of the people, and drive out their inhabitants, and those who are left shall be his servants, and his tributaries.” Grotius understands it nearly in the same way. The pusillanimity which is generally attributed to this tribe certainly does not agree with the view in which they are exhibited in Scripture. In the song of Deborah this tribe is praised for the powerful assistance which it then afforded, Judges 5:15. And in 1 Chronicles 7:1-5, they are expressly said to have been valiant men of might in all their families, and in all their generations; i.e., through every period of their history. It appears they were a laborious, hardy, valiant tribe, patient in labour and invincible in war; bearing both these burdens with great constancy whenever it was necessary. When Tola of this tribe judged Israel, the land had rest twenty-three years, Judges 10:1.

16. Dan shall judge his people,

As one of the tribes of Israel.

17. Dan shall be a serpent on the way,

A cerastes upon the track,

Biting the heels of the horse,

And his rider shall fall backwards.

15. Rest… good — His love of ease, and a pleasant territory, including the rich valley of Jezreel, led him to bear burdens, and to submit to tribute rather than to enter into any struggle for political eminence. For this reason, probably, Zebulun was placed before him. In the war against Sisera, he was a supporter of Barak, but no leader. He followed at the feet of his leader, as one obedient to orders. Judges 5:15.

V. 16. Dan shall judge his people-Though Dan was one of the sons of the concubines, yet he shall be a tribe governed by judges of his own as well as other tribes; and shall by art and policy, and surprise, gain advantages against his enemies, like a serpent suddenly biting the heel of the traveller.

Verse 16. Dan shall judge] Dan, whose name signifies judgment, was the eldest of Jacob’s sons by Bilhah, Rachel’s maid, and he is here promised an equal rule with those tribes that sprang from either Leah or Rachel, the legal wives of Jacob.

Some Jewish and some Christian writers understand this prophecy of Samson, who sprang from this tribe, and judged, or as the word might be translated avenged, the people of Israel twenty years. See Judges 13:2; 15:20.

Verse 16. Dan shall judge his people — Jacob alludes to the name Dan, which signifies to judge, or judging. Onkelos, a famous Jewish rabbi of the first century, and the author of a Targum or paraphrase in the Chaldee language on the books of Moses, the most simple and the most esteemed of all the Targums of the Jews, expounds the passage thus: “A man shall arise out of the tribe of Dan, in whose days his people shall be delivered;” referring to Samson, who was of that tribe, Judges 13:2, and who judged Israel twenty years, Judges 15:20. But the latter part of the verse seems not perfectly to agree with this, as all the tribes did not produce judges. The meaning, therefore seems rather to be, Though he be the son of one of my concubines, yet he shall not be subject to any other, but shall be a tribe governed by judges of his own, as well as any of the other tribes. And what is said of him is to be understood of the rest of the sons of the concubines, and hereby all difference between them and the sons of the wives is taken away. It is spoken of Dan, because he is first mentioned of that sort.

Ver. 16. Dan, by Samson, judged Israel. And surely he bit the heel of the Philistine horse, and was a figure of Jesus Christ, slaying his enemies by his death. And Jacob having long waited for God’s salvation, groans here in the spirit for the salvation of his posterity, and of the church of Christ when she shall be delivered from all her enemies; and when he should see, with his fathers, his Redeemer face to face.

16. Dan shall judge — A play upon the name of Dan, which means a judge, or judging. Comp. Genesis 30:6. Being the first named of the sons of the handmaids, it is fitting to emphasize the thought that he shall, nevertheless, even as the sons of Leah, or any of the tribes, exercise due authority as one of the tribes of Israel. Some suppose there is here a special allusion to Samson, the distinguished judge, who sprang from this tribe; but this is unnecessary as an exposition of the sense of the verse.

Verse 17. Dan shall be a serpent] The original word is vjn nachash, and we have seen in Clarke’s note “Genesis 3:1” that this has a great variety of significations. It is probable that a serpent is here intended, but of what kind we know not; yet as the principal reference in the text is to guile, cunning, &c., the same creature may be intended as in “Clarke’s note “Genesis 3:1”.

A cerastes upon the track] The word שפיפונ shephiphon, which is nowhere else to be found in the Bible, is thus translated by the Vulgate, and Bochart approves of the translation. The cerastes has its name from two little horns upon its head, and is remarkable for the property here ascribed to the shephiphon. The word jra orach, which we translate path, signifies the track or rut made in the ground by the wheel of a cart, wagon, &c. And the description that Nicander gives of this serpent in his Theriaca perfectly agrees with what is here said of the shephiphon. en dJ amaqoisin

h kai amatroxihsi para stibon endukev anei.

v. 262.

It lies under the sand, or in some cart rut by the way.

It is intimated that this tribe should gain the principal part of its conquests more by cunning and stratagem, than by valour; and this is seen particularly in their conquest of Laish, Judges xviii., and even in some of the transactions of Samson, such as burning the corn of the Philistines, and at last pulling down their temple, and destroying three thousand at one time, see Judges 16:26-30.

18. For thy salvation have I waited, O Lord!

This is a remarkable ejaculation, and seems to stand perfectly unconnected with all that went before and all that follows; though it is probable that certain prophetic views which Jacob now had, and which he does not explain, gave rise to it; and by this he at once expressed both his faith and hope in God. Both Jewish and Christian commentators have endeavoured to find out the connection in which these words existed in the mind of the patriarch. The Targum of Jonathan expresses the whole thus: “When Jacob saw Gideon the son of Joash, and Samson the son of Manoah, which were to be saviours in a future age, he said: I do not wait for the salvation of Gideon, I do not expect the salvation of Samson, because their salvation is a temporal salvation; but I wait for and expect thy salvation, O Lord, because thy salvation is eternal.” And the Jerusalem Targum much to the same purpose: “Our father Jacob said: Wait not, my soul, for the redemption of Gideon the son of Joash which is temporal, nor the redemption of Samson which is a created salvation; but for the salvation which thou hast said by THY WORD should come to thy people the children of Israel: my soul waits for this thy salvation.” Indeed these Targums understand almost the whole of these prophecies of the Messiah, and especially what is said about Judah, every word of which they refer to him. Thus the ancient Jews convict the moderns of both false interpretations and vain expectations. As the tribe of Dan was the first that appears to have been seduced from the true worship of God, (see Judges 18:30,) some have thought that Jacob refers particularly to this, and sees the end of the general apostasy only in the redemption by Jesus Christ, considering the nachash above as the seducer, and the Messiah the promised seed.

19. Gad, an army shall attack him,

And he shall attack in return.

This is one of the most obscure prophecies in the whole chapter; and no two interpreters agree in the translation of the original words, which exhibit a most singular alliteration:—

wndwgy dwdg dg gad gedud yegudennu;

bq[ dgy awhw vehu yagud akeb.

The prophecy seems to refer generally to the frequent disturbances to which this tribe should be exposed, and their hostile, warlike disposition, that would always lead them to repel every aggression. It is likely that the prophecy had an especial fulfillment when this tribe, in conjunction with that of Reuben and the half tribe of Manasseh, got a great victory over the Hagarites, taking captive one hundred thousand men, two thousand asses, fifty thousand camels, and two hundred and fifty thousand sheep; see 1 Chronicles 5:18-22. Dr. Durell and others translate the last word bq[ akeb, rear-“He shall invade their rear;” which contains almost no meaning, as it only seems to state that though the army that invaded Gad should be successful, yet the Gadites would harass their rear as they returned: but this could never be a subject sufficient consequence for a prophecy. The word by[ ekeb is frequently used as a particle, signifying in consequence, because of, on account of. After the Gadites had obtained the victory above mentioned, they continued to possess the land of their enemies till they were carried away captive. The Chaldee paraphrasts apply this to the Gadites going armed over Jordan before their brethren, discomfiting their enemies, and returning back with much spoil. See Joshua 4:12, 13, and Joshua 22:1-2, 8.

20. From Asher his bread shall be fat,

And he shall produce royal dainties.

This refers to the great fertility of the lot that fell to Asher, and which appears to have corresponded with the name, which signifies happy or blessed. His great prosperity is described by Moses in this figurative way: “Let Asher be blessed with children, let him be acceptable to his brethren, and let him dip his foot in oil;” Deuteronomy 33:24.

21. Naphtali is a spreading oak,

Producing beautiful branches.

This is Bochart’s translation; and perhaps no man who understands the genius of the Hebrew language will attempt to dispute its propriety; it is as literal as it is correct. Our own translation scarcely gives any sense. The fruitfulness of this tribe in children may be here intended. From his four sons Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer, and Shillem, which he took down into Egypt, Genesis 46:24, in the course of two hundred and fifteen years there sprang of effective men 53,400: but as great increase in this way was not an uncommon case in the descendants of Jacob, this may refer particularly to the fruitfulness of their soil, and the especial providential care and blessing of the Almighty; to which indeed Moses seems particularly to refer, Deuteronomy 33:23: O Naphtali, satisfied with favour, and full with the blessing of the Lord. So that he may be represented under the notion of a tree planted in a rich soil, growing to a prodigious size, extending its branches in all directions, and becoming a shade for men and cattle, and a harbour for the fowls of heaven.

22. The son of a fruitful (vine) is Joseph;

The son of a fruitful (vine) by the fountain:

The daughters (branches) shoot over the wall.

23. They sorely afflicted him and contended with him;

The chief archers had him in hatred.

24. But his bow remained in strength,

And the arms of his hands were made strong

By the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob:

By the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel.

25. By the God of thy father, for he helped thee;

And God All-sufficient, he blessed thee,

The blessing of the heavens from above,

And the blessings lying in the deep beneath,

The blessings of the breasts and of the womb

26. The blessings of thy father have prevailed

Over the blessings of the eternal mountains,

And the desirable things of the everlasting hills.

These shall be on the head of Joseph,

And on his crown who was separated from his brethren.

Verse 17. An adder, ˆwpypv shepipon — A cerastes, probably, or kind of horned serpent, of a subtle nature, which, according to Pliny, hides its whole body in the sand, showing only its horns to catch birds. This is intended to signify the subtlety of that tribe, which should conquer its enemies more by craft than by strength or force of arms, and by art, and policy, and surprise, gain advantages against them, like a serpent suddenly biting the heels of a traveller. “These words,” says Bishop Sherlock, “lead us to expect, in the history of this tribe, an account of some very dishonourable and perfidious transaction. And the history will justify this expectation,” for though the house of Israel were in general a stubborn and disobedient people, “yet it was the peculiar infamy of the tribe of Dan, to be the ringleaders in idolatry, the first who erected publicly a molten image in the land of promise, and, by their example and perseverance in this iniquity, infected all the tribes of Israel. This idolatry began soon after the days of Joshua, and continued till the day of the captivity of the land, Judges 18:30.”

17. Let Dan become — The emphatic position of the verb yjy is best expressed by translating it thus imperatively. And the comparison with the serpent need not be construed as necessarily a curse or condemnation. The account in Judges xviii, of the Danite conquest in the north, illustrates the subtlety and prowess of this tribe; and so, also, does the whole history of Samson. His stratagems to overthrow his enemies might well be compared with the habits of the viper that hides by the wayside, and bites the horse’s heels, and causes him to throw his rider. The horned viper is generally regarded as the cerastes, “the very poisonous horned serpent, which is of the colour of the sand, and as it lies upon the ground merely stretching out its feelers, inflicts a fatal wound upon any who may tread upon it unawares. (Diod. Sic., 3:49; Pliny, 8:23.”) — Keil. Comp. also Deuteronomy 33:22.

V. 18. I have waited for thy salvation, Lord-If he must break off here, and his breath will not serve him to finish what he intended, with these words he pours out his soul into the bosom of his God, and even breaths it out. The pious ejaculations of a warm and lively devotion, though sometimes they maybe incoherent, yet they are not impertinent; that may be uttered affectionately, which doth not come in methodically. It is no absurdity, when we are speaking to men, to lift up our hearts to God. The salvation he waited for was,

1st, Christ, the promised seed, whom he had spoken of, Genesis 49:10, now he was going to be gathered to his people, he breathes after him to whom the gathering of the people shall be.

2ndly, Heaven, the better country, which he declared plainly that he sought, Hebrews 11:13,14, and continued seeking now he was in Egypt.

Verse 18. I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord — These words may be considered in two lights; 1st, As connected with the preceding prophecy concerning Dan, according to the explanation given in the last note. Under a foresight of their dishonourable, perfidious, and serpent-like conduct, and the general idolatry which should be introduced among his descendants through their means, Jacob says, I have waited for, expected and desired, thy help, O Lord, to save my posterity from the manifold sins and temporal calamities which I foresee are coming upon them, and especially from spiritual and eternal miseries, by that Messiah whom thou hast promised, that seed of the woman which is to bruise the head of him that bruises the heel of thy people. Or, 2d, They may be considered as an unconnected sentence, an ejaculation, in which he interrupts the thread of his discourse, and breathes out his desires after God. And the pious ejaculations of a warm and lively devotion, though sometimes they may be incoherent, yet are not impertinent. It is no absurdity, when we are speaking to men, to lift up our hearts to God. The salvation he waited for was, 1st, Christ, the promised seed, whom he had spoken of, verse 10; now he was going to be gathered to his people, he breathes after him to whom the gathering of the people shall be. 2d, Heaven, the better country, which he declared plainly that he sought, Hebrews 11:13, 14, and continued seeking now he was in Egypt.

18. For thy salvation have I longed, Jehovah — What occasioned this abrupt exclamation at this point, or what connexion it has with the context, is not clear. Probably the wars and dangers that awaited the chosen people were vividly presented to the patriarch’s soul as he mentioned the traits of Dan, and these again call up the ancient prophecy of the conflict between the woman’s and the serpent’s seed, (Genesis 3:15,) and as he has a glimpse of that momentous struggle, he breaks out with this ejaculation. But if no such relation to the context be allowed, we may suppose that Jacob here breaks out with these words as a refrain, or pause, in the midst of exciting prophecy, and conflicting emotions within.

V. 19. Concerning Gad, he alludes to his name, which signifies a troop, foresees the character of that tribe, that it should be a warlike tribe; and so we find, 1 Chronicles 12:8, the Gadites were men of war fit for the battle. He foresees, that the situation of that tribe on the other side Jordan would expose it to the incursions of its neighbours, the Moabites and Ammonites; and that they might not be proud of their strength and valour, he foretells that the troops of their enemies should, in many skirmishes, overcome them; yet, that they might not be discouraged by their defeats, he assures them, that they should overcome at the last, which was fulfilled, when in Saul’s time and David’s the Moabites and Ammonites were wholly subdued.

Verse 19. Concerning Gad, he alludes to his name, which signifies a troop, foresees the character of that tribe, that it should be a warlike tribe; and so we find, 1 Chronicles 12:8, the Gadites were men of war fit for the battle. He foresees that the situation of that tribe on the other side Jordan would expose it to the incursions of its neighbours, the Moabites and Ammonites; and that they might not be proud of their strength and valour, he foretels that the troops of their enemies should, in many skirmishes, overcome them; yet, that they might not be discouraged by their defeats, he assures them that they should overcome at the last — Which was fulfilled, when in Saul’s time and David’s the Moabites and Ammonites were wholly subdued.

Ver. 19. Gad’s lot was beyond the Jordan, where he was much assailed with Hagar’s race, and other foes; but he vanquished them by the aid of his brethren. 1 Chronicles 5. So is the church of Christ assailed, so also the believer; but they shall overcome at last through the strength of our God.

19. A crowd shall crowd him — In this verse we have a more notable play on words than in any other part of the chapter. Every word in the verse but he and heel is a form of the word Gad. We have sought in our translation to bring out, even though imperfectly, this feature of the Hebrew. The thought is, that crowds or troops of invading enemies will crowd in upon his territory, but he will resist them, and in their retreat he will press upon their heel or rear, and harass them. In 1 Chronicles 5:18, the Gadites are mentioned as valiant warriors, and in 1 Chronicles 12:8 they are described as having faces like lions, and being swift as the mountain roes.

V. 20. Concerning Asher, he foretells, That it should be a rich tribe, replenished not only with bread for necessity, but with fatness, with dainties, royal dainties, and these exported out of Asher, to other tribes, perhaps to other lands. The God of nature has provided for us not only necessaries but dainties, that we might call him a bountiful benefactor; yet, whereas all places are competently furnished with necessaries, only some places afford dainties. Corn is more common than spices. Were the supports of luxury as universal as the supports of life, the world would be worse than it is, and that needs not.

Verse 20. Out of Asher his bread shall be fat — This implies that it should be a rich tribe, replenished not only with bread for necessity, but with fatness, with dainties, royal dainties, and these exported out of Asher to other tribes, perhaps to other lands. The God of nature has provided for us not only necessaries but dainties, that we might call him a bountiful benefactor; yet, whereas all places are competently furnished with necessaries, only some places afford dainties. Corn is more common than spices. Were the supports of luxury as universal as the supports of life, the world, in consequence of the wickedness of man, would be worse than it is, and surely it is bad enough.

Ver. 20. Asher is promised by Jacob, and by Moses, the riches of the earth. Deuteronomy 33:24. But let all men look for the higher portion, even for God, who satisfieth the soul.

20. Fat his bread — Grammatically, bread is in apposition with fat. The tribe of Asher occupied the rich and fertile region along the Mediterranean, north of Mount Carmel. According to Moses (Deuteronomy 33:24) Asher should “dip his foot in oil.”

V. 21. Naphtali is a hind let loose-Those of this tribe were, as the loosen’d hind, zealous for their liberty, and yet affable and courteous, their language refined, and they complaisant, giving goodly words. Among God’s Israel there is to be found a great variety of dispositions, yet all contributing to the beauty and strength of the body. He closes with the blessings of his best beloved sons, Joseph and Benjamin, with these he will breathe his last.

Verse 21. Naphtali is a hind let loose — Those of this tribe were, as the loosened hind, zealous for their liberty, and yet affable and courteous, their language refined, and they complaisant, giving goodly words. Among God’s Israel there is to be found a great variety of dispositions, yet all contributing to the beauty and strength of the body. He closes with the blessings of his best-beloved sons, Joseph and Benjamin: with these he will breathe his last.

Ver. 21. Naphtali was to enjoy happiness and liberty as a hind in the pastures; and the goodly words refer to his acquaintance with the law, and with devotion.

21. A hind sent forth — The image is that of a beautiful hind or gazelle running loose and in perfect freedom upon its native heights. The agility and prowess of this tribe are nobly celebrated in Deborah’s song. Giver of sayings of beauty — The elegance and beauty of the hind suggests that the tribe so compared might naturally have had an elegant taste for sayings of beauty; elegant proverbs and songs. As the tribe of Zebulun developed ready writers, (Judges 5:14,) so Naphtali, perhaps, became noted for elegant speakers. This seems to be the general sense of the verse; but we know too little of the subsequent history and character of the tribe to enable us to define more particularly. Several critics, following the Septuagint, render: “Naphtali is a spreading tree, which puts forth goodly branches.” But this is scarcely tenable.

V. 22. Joseph is a fruitful bough, or young tree, for God had made him fruitful in the land of his affliction, as branches of a vine, or other spreading plant, running over the wall.

Verse 22. The sum of a fruitful vine] This appears to me to refer to Jacob himself, who was blessed with such a numerous posterity that in two hundred and fifteen years after this his own descendants amounted to upwards of 600,000 effective men; and the figures here are intended to point out the continual growth and increase of his posterity. Jacob was a fruitful tree planted by a fountain, which because it was good would yield good fruit; and because it was planted near a fountain, from being continually watered, would be perpetually fruitful. The same is used and applied to Jacob, Deuteronomy 33:28: The FOUNTAIN of JACOB shall be upon a land of corn, and wine, &c.

The daughters, twnb banoth, put here for branches, shoot over or run upon the wall.] Alluding probably to the case of the vine, which requires to be supported by a wall, trees, &c. Some commentators have understood this literally, and have applied it to the Egyptian women, who were so struck with the beauty of Joseph as to get upon walls, the tops of houses, &c., to see him as he passed by. This is agreeable to the view taken of the subject by the Koran. See Clarke on “Genesis 39:6”.

Verse 22. Joseph is a fruitful bough — Shooting forth two luxuriant stems or branches, the two numerous tribes which proceeded from his sons; by a well — Or fountain, or water-course, where plants grow fastest. Thus David compares a godly man to “a tree planted by the rivers of waters:” Whose branches run over the wall — The heat of which furthers their growth no less than the moisture received from the water.

Ver. 22. Joseph’s two sons were to be fruitful as the vine, and blessed with peace and affluence. His daughters went unto the enemy, when he gave wives to Benjamin. Judges 21.

22. Joseph — When the patriarch turns to Joseph, all the affection and tenderness of his soul seem to break forth in rapturous song. It remains for him now only to bless the two sons of Rachel, and then die. Three expressions in this verse serve to portray the fruitfulness and glory of the tribe of Joseph. 1) Son of a fruit tree; that is, branch, scion, or outgrowth of a fruit tree; transplanted from the main stock. 2) The fruitfulness of the tree and its branches is enhanced by its standing over a fountain. Comp. Psalm 1:3. 3) So fruitful and luxuriant is the tree that its boughs beget other boughs; the sons beget daughters, which spread and climb upon the wall beside which the tree is supposed to be planted. This great luxuriance of growth points to Joseph as having, through his two sons, a double inheritance; for this was the birthright given to him. 1 Chronicles 5:1.

V. 23. The archer have sorely grieved him-Tho’ he now lived at ease and in honour, Jacob minds him of the difficulties he had formerly waded through. He had many enemies here called archers, being skilful to do mischief; they hated him, they shot their poisonous darts at him. His brethren were spiteful towards him, mocked him, stripped him, sold him, thought they had been the death of him. His mistress sorely grieved him, and shot at him, when she solicited his chastity; and then shot at him by her false accusations.

Verse 23. The chief archers] µyxj בעלי baaley chitstsim, the masters of arrows-Joseph’s brethren, who either used such weapons, while feeding their flocks in the deserts, for the protection of themselves and cattle, or for the purpose of hunting; and who probably excelled in archery. It may however refer to the bitter speeches and harsh words that they spoke to and of him, for they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him, Genesis 37:4. Thus they sorely afflicted him, and were incessantly scolding or finding fault.

Verse 23. The archers have sorely grieved him — Though he now lived in ease and in honour, Jacob reminds him of the difficulties he had formerly waded through. He had had many enemies, here called archers, being skilful to do mischief; they hated him, they shot their poisonous darts at him. His brethren were spiteful toward him, mocked him, stripped him, sold him, thought they had been the death of him. His mistress sorely grieved him, and shot at him, when she solicited his chastity; and then shot at him by her false accusations.

23. Imbittered… shot… hated — This verse depicts Joseph as persecuted by his brethren, and by Potiphar’s wife. His soul had been terribly imbittered; he had been a shining mark for archers who hated him, and sought his ruin. Jacob’s knowledge of Joseph’s trials, learned and thought on for seventeen years, was the subjective basis of all these metaphors; but while they had that personal basis and background, they may also point to the future wars and triumphs of Ephraim and Manasseh. Lords of arrows — That is, masters in the use of bows and arrows. Joseph’s foes are thus compared to skilled and malignant archers.

V. 24. But his bow abode in strength-His faith did not fail; he kept his ground, and came off conqueror. The

arms of his hands were made strong-That is, his other graces did their part, his wisdom, courage, patience, which are better than weapons of war: By the hands of the mighty God-Who was therefore able to strengthen him; and the God of Jacob, a God in covenant with him. From thence, from this strange method of Providence, he became the shepherd and stone, the feeder and supporter of Israel, Jacob and his family. Herein Joseph was a type of Christ: He was shot at and hated, but borne up under his sufferings, and was afterwards advanced to be the shepherd and stone: and of the church in general, hell shoots its arrows against her, but heaven protects and strengthens her.

Verse 24. But his bow remained in strength] The more he was persecuted, either by his brethren or in Egypt, the more resplendent his uprightness and virtues shone: and the arms his extended power and influence, of his hands plans, designs, and particular operations of his prudence, judgment, discretion, &c., were all rendered successful by the hand-the powerful succour and protection, of the Mighty One of Jacob that God who blessed and protected all the counsels and plans of Jacob, and protected and increased him also when he was in a strange land, and often under the power of those who sought opportunities to oppress and defraud him.

By the name of the Shepherd; the Rock of Israel] Jehovah, and El-Elohey Israel; see Genesis 33:20. This appears to me to refer to the subject of the thirty-second chapter, where Jacob wrestled with God, had God’s name revealed to him, and his own name changed from Jacob to Israel, in consequence of which he built an altar, and dedicated it to God, who had appeared to him under the name of Elohey-Israel, the strong God of Israel; which circumstance led him to use the term Rock, which, as an emblem of power, is frequently given to God in the sacred writings, and may here refer to the stone which Jacob set up. It is very probable that the word shepherd is intended to apply to our blessed Lord, who is the Shepherd of Israel, the good Shepherd, John 10:11-17; and who, beyond all controversy, was the person with whom Jacob wrestled. See Clarke on “Genesis 16:7” and “Genesis 32:24”.

Verse 24. But his bow abode in strength — His faith did not fail; he kept his ground, and came off conqueror. The arms of his hands were made strong — That is, his other graces did their part, his wisdom, courage, patience, which are better than weapons of war: by the hands of the mighty God — Who was therefore able to strengthen him; and the God of Jacob, a God in covenant with him. From thence — From this strange method of Providence, he became the shepherd and stone — The feeder and supporter of Israel, Jacob, and his family. Herein Joseph was a type of Christ; who was shot at and hated, but borne up under his sufferings, and was afterward advanced to be the shepherd and stone: and of the church in general; hell shoots its arrows against her, but heaven protects and strengthens her. But perhaps by the shepherd and stone, Joshua, a descendant of Joseph, by Ephraim, may be here primarily intended. He, as a good shepherd, brought into the pastures of Canaan that flock of the Lord which Moses had indeed led forth from Egypt, but which he had left in a barren wilderness. Thus by Joshua also was Christ typified, whose name he bears, who is the foundation-stone laid in Zion, and the good shepherd, that leads his sheep into the heavenly Canaan, and gives them eternal life.

24. His bow — He turned archer in another way, and was empowered by a supernatural energy, against which all lords of the bow found it folly to contend. He proved an unconquerable hero. This part of the prophecy, based also on Joseph’s personal experience, was further illustrated and confirmed, but not entirely fulfilled, in Joshua, who sprang from Ephraim, and led all Israel to the conquest of the land of promise. The description throughout is true to the general character of the tribe of Joseph. The arms of his hands — The expression is peculiarly significant when speaking of an archer, whose pliant hand must be supported by a firm arm in order to be effective. The designation of God as the Mighty One, or the Might of Jacob; the Shepherd, (compare Genesis 48:15,) and Stone (compare Deuteronomy 32:4; 2 Samuel 22:3; 23:3,) is peculiarly appropriate and suggestive. µvm is rendered from thence in the common version, and this is sustained by the Masoretic punctuation, the Sept., Vulg., and most expositors. But it is in more perfect analogy with the word ydym, of the previous line, and the harmony of parallelism, to translate as we have done from the name; perhaps an allusion to Genesis 32:29. So the Syriac, Dathe, Turner, and others. In this way, the strength, triumphs, and blessings of Joseph are attributed to God as the Shepherd and Stone of Israel. The attempt to make Joseph and Joshua the shepherd and stone, or to render Shepherd of the stone of Israel, and understand it of God watching the stone on which Jacob slept at Bethel, seems far fetched and unnatural.

V. 25. Even by the God of thy father Jacob, who shall help thee-Our experiences of God’s power and goodness in strengthning us hitherto, are encouragements still to hope for help from him. He that has helped us, will.

And by the Almighty, who shall bless thee; and he only blesseth indeed. Observe the blessings conferred on Joseph;

First, Various and abundant blessings. Blessings of heaven above, rain in its season, and fair weather in its season; blessings of the deep that lies under this earth, or with subterraneous mines and springs. Blessings of the womb and the breasts are given when children are safely born and comfortably nursed.

Secondly, Eminent and transcendent blessings, which prevail above the blessings of my progenitors-His father Isaac had but one blessing, and when he had given that to Jacob, he was at a loss for a blessing to bestow upon Esau; but Jacob had a blessing for each of his twelve sons, and now at the latter end, a copious one for Joseph.

Thirdly, Durable and extensive blessings: unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills-Including all the products of the most fruitful hills, and lasting as long as they last. Of these blessings it is here said they shall be, so it is a promise; or, let them be, so it is a prayer, on the head of Joseph, to which let them be as a crown to adorn it, and a helmet to protect it.

Verse 25. The God of thy father] How frequently God is called the God of Jacob none needs be told who reads the Bible.

God All-sufficient] Instead of ydv ta ETH Shaddai, THE Almighty or All-sufficient; I read ylv la EL Shaddai, GOD All-sufficient; which is the reading of the Samaritan, Septuagint, Syriac, and Coptic, and of three reputable MSS. In the collections of Kennicott and Deuteronomy Rossi. The copies used by those ancient versions had evidently la EL, God, and not ta eth, THE, a mistake produced in later times. On the word ydv la El Shaddai, See Clarke on “Genesis 17:1”.

The blessing of the heavens from above] A generally pure, clear, serene sky, frequently dropping down fertilizing showers and dews, so as to make a very fruitful soil and salubrious atmosphere.

Blessings lying in the deep beneath] Whatever riches could be gained from the sea or rivers, from mines and minerals in the bowels of the earth, and from abundant springs in different parts of his inheritance. Our translation of this line is excessively obscure: Blessings of the deep that lieth under. What is it that lies under the deep: By connecting tkrb bircoth, blessings, with txbr robetseth, lying, all ambiguity is avoided, and the text speaks a plain and consistent sense.

The blessings of the breasts and of the womb.] A numerous offspring, and an abundance of cattle. The progeny of Joseph, by Ephraim and Manasseh, amounted at the first census or enumeration (Num. i.) to 75,900 men, which exceeded the sum of any one tribe; Judah, the greatest of the others, amounting to no more than 74,600. Indeed, Ephraim and Manasseh had multiplied so greatly in the days of Joshua, that a common lot was not sufficient for them. See their complaint, Joshua 17:14.

Verses 25, 26. Even by the God of thy father Jacob, who shall help thee — Our experiences of God’s power and goodness, in strengthening us hitherto, are encouragements still to hope for help from him. He that has helped us, will. And by the Almighty, who shall bless thee — And he only blesseth indeed. Observe the blessings conferred on Joseph: 1st, Various and abundant blessings. Blessings of heaven above — Rain in its season, and fair weather in its season; blessings of the deep that lies under — This earth, or with subterraneous mines and springs. Blessings of the womb and the breasts are given when children are safely born and comfortably nursed. 2d, Eminent and transcendent blessings, which prevail above the blessings of my progenitors — His father Isaac had but one blessing, and when he had given that to Jacob, he was at a loss for a blessing to bestow upon Esau; but Jacob had a blessing for each of his twelve sons, and now, at the latter end, a copious one for Joseph. 3d, Durable and extensive blessings: unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills — Including all the products of the most fruitful hills, and lasting as long as they last. Of these blessings it is here said, they shall be — So it is a promise; or, let them be, so it is a prayer, on the head of Joseph — To which let them be a crown to adorn it, and a helmet to protect it.

25. The Almighty — Hebrews Shaddai, who had appeared so often to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Comp. Genesis 17:1; 28:3; 35:11; 43:14; 48:3. The blessings so variously enhanced by the terms of this verse and the following, indicate the glory of the birthright given to Joseph, and his future eminence and prosperity among the tribes.

Verse 26. The blessing of thy father, &c.] The blessings which thy father now prays for and pronounces are neither temporal nor transitory; they shall exceed in their duration the eternal mountains, and in their value and spiritual nature all the conveniences, comforts, and delicacies which the everlasting hills can produce. They shall last when the heavens and the earth are no more, and shall extend throughout eternity. They are the blessings which shall be communicated to the world by means of the Messiah.

The Jerusalem Targum paraphrases the place thus: “The blessing of this father shall be added unto the blessings wherewith thy fathers Abraham and Isaac, who are likened to mountains, have blessed thee; and they shall exceed the blessings of the four mothers, Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, and Leah, who are likened to the hills: all these blessings shall be a crown of magnificence on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him who was a prince and governor in the land of Egypt.”

27. Benjamin is a ravenous wolf: In the morning

he shall devour the prey, And in the evening

he shall divide the spoil.

This tribe is very fitly compared to a ravenous wolf, because of the rude courage and ferocity which they have invariably displayed, particularly in their war with the other tribes, in which they killed more men than the whole of their own numbers amounted to.

“This last tribe,” says Dr. Hales, “is compared to a wolf for its ferocious and martial disposition, such as was evinced by their contests with the other tribes, in which, after two victories, they were almost exterminated, Judges 20:18-48.” Its union with the tribe of Judah seems to be intimated in their joint conquests, expressed nearly in the same terms: “Judah went up from the prey;” “Benjamin devoured the prey.” Moses in his parallel prophecy, Deuteronomy 33:12, confirms this by signifying that the sanctuary should be fixed in his lot, and that he should continue as long as the existence of the temple itself:—

THE BELOVED OF THE LORD shall dwell with him in safety,

And shall cover him all the day long,

And shall dwell between his shoulders.

Deuteronomy 33:12.

In the morning, &c.] These expressions have been variously understood. The sense given above is that in which the principal interpreters agree; but Houbigant protests against the prophecy signifying the continuance of this tribe, as the words, “in the morning devouring the prey,” and “in the evening dividing the spoil,” are supposed to imply; “because,” he observes, “after the return from the Babylonish captivity, this tribe is no more mentioned.” But this may be accounted for from the circumstance of its being associated with that of Judah, (see 1 Kings 12:21-24,) after which it is scarcely ever mentioned but in that union. Being thus absorbed in the tribe of Judah, it continued from the morning till the evening of the Jewish dispensation, and consequently till the Lion of the tribe of Judah was seen in the wilderness of Israel.

In the morning, according to Mr. Ainsworth, “signifies the first times; for Ehud of Benjamin was the second judge that saved the Israelites from the hands of the Moabites, Judges 3:15, &c. Saul of Benjamin was the first king of Israel; he and his son were great warriors, making a prey of many enemies, 1 Samuel 11:6, 7, 11; 14:13, 15, 47, 48. And the evening, the latter times; for Mordecai and Esther of Benjamin delivered the Jews from a great destruction, and slew their enemies, Esther 8:7, 9, 11; 9:5, 6, 15, 16.”

Verses 25, 26. Even by the God of thy father Jacob, who shall help thee — Our experiences of God’s power and goodness, in strengthening us hitherto, are encouragements still to hope for help from him. He that has helped us, will. And by the Almighty, who shall bless thee — And he only blesseth indeed. Observe the blessings conferred on Joseph: 1st, Various and abundant blessings. Blessings of heaven above — Rain in its season, and fair weather in its season; blessings of the deep that lies under — This earth, or with subterraneous mines and springs. Blessings of the womb and the breasts are given when children are safely born and comfortably nursed. 2d, Eminent and transcendent blessings, which prevail above the blessings of my progenitors — His father Isaac had but one blessing, and when he had given that to Jacob, he was at a loss for a blessing to bestow upon Esau; but Jacob had a blessing for each of his twelve sons, and now, at the latter end, a copious one for Joseph. 3d, Durable and extensive blessings: unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills — Including all the products of the most fruitful hills, and lasting as long as they last. Of these blessings it is here said, they shall be — So it is a promise; or, let them be, so it is a prayer, on the head of Joseph — To which let them be a crown to adorn it, and a helmet to protect it.

26. Enduring mountains… everlasting hills — This version adheres strictly to the natural meaning of the words, sustains the parallelism, and seems, therefore, much preferable to the more common reading, blessings of my progenitors unto the bounds of the everlasting hills. To sustain this latter we must derive yrwh from hrh, and use it in a sense which has no parallel or support elsewhere in Hebrew; and also use hwat in a sense which it nowhere else has. The parallel passage (Deuteronomy 33:15, 16) is also against this interpretation. The blessings of the mountains, and the desire (or desirable things) of the hills, poetically denote all natural beauties, products, health-fulness and defences which one might desire in a pleasant land; and the thought here is, that Jacob’s blessing pronounced on Joseph surpasses all such blessings of the hills. They shall be for the head — They are destined to the head, or shall come upon the head, of Joseph; allusion to the custom of putting the hand upon one’s head in blessing. The consecrated ryzn, the Nazir, the separated one. From this root we have the word Nazarite, one consecrated and set apart by some sacred vow. Joseph was the separated one among his brothers.

V. 27. Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf-It is plain, Jacob was guided in what he said by a spirit of prophecy, and not by natural affection, else he would have spoken with more tenderness of his beloved son Benjamin, concerning whom he only foretells, that his posterity should be a warlike tribe, strong and daring, and that they should enrich themselves with the spoil of their enemies, that they should be active in the world, and a tribe as much feared by their neighbours as any other; in the morning he shall devour the prey which he seized and divided over night.

Verse 27. Benjamin shall raven as a wolf — It is plain Jacob was guided in what he said by a spirit of prophecy, and not by natural affection, else he would have spoken with more tenderness of his beloved son Benjamin, concerning whom he only foretels that his posterity should be a warlike tribe, strong and daring; and that they should enrich themselves with the spoil of their enemies; that they should be active in the world, and a tribe as much feared by their neighbours as any other: in the morning he shall devour the prey — Which he seized and divided over night.

Ver. 27. Benjamin was to have a warlike posterity, as appears realized from sacred history, and the character of Saul. How remarkably does Jacob express the character of his sons by beasts, by a serpent, and a vine: and happy if the fine endowments of nature had been a figure of the nobler and more excellent ornaments of the mind. Then their coat of arms would have been worthy of the heavenly court and society.

27. Let him tear in pieces — We prefer this jussive rendering as being in the most perfect keeping with the spirit of the entire prophecy, and as giving the passage greater expressiveness. The verse portrays the warlike and furious character of the tribe of Benjamin, and the history of the tribal war, in Judges 20, affords its best illustration. From this tribe came the daring Ehud (Judges 3:15) and the warlike Saul. Benjamin is portrayed under two characters, a beast of prey and a victorious warrior. Like a wolf that has prowled all night (comp. 1 Samuel 14:36) and taken prey, he devours it in the morning; like a warrior who has won conquests through the day, he divides the spoil, or booty, at evening. In this imagery Lange sees the outlines of “a wild, turbulent youth and an old age full of the blessing of sacrifice for others. That dividing the spoil in the evening is a feature that evidently passes over into a spiritual allusion. Our first thought would be of the dividing of the prey among the young ones, but for this alone the expression is too strong. He rends all for himself in the morning, he yields all in the evening. This is not a figure of Benjamin only, but of the theocratic Israel; and, therefore, a most suitable close. See Isaiah 53:12.”

Verse 28. Every one according to his blessing] That is, guided by the unerring Spirit of prophecy, Jacob now foretold to each of his sons all the important events which should take place during their successive generations, and the predominant characteristic of each tribe; and, at the same time, made some comparatively obscure references to the advent of the Messiah, and the redemption of the world by him.

Ver. 28. Blessed them every one. Yea, but he blessed some of them with hard rebukes for past sins.

THE DEATH OF JACOB, 28-33.

28. All these are the twelve tribes — The sacred historian, having inserted in his book the prophetic words which the sons and sons’ sons had been careful to preserve, thus resumes his narrative, and now proceeds to add an account of the patriarch’s last charge and death.

V. 29. I am to be gathered unto my people-Though death separate us from our children, and our people in this world, it gathers us to our fathers, and to our people in the other world. Perhaps Jacob useth this expression concerning death, as a reason why his sons should bury him in Canaan, for (saith he) I am to be gathered unto my people, my soul must be gone to the spirits of just men made perfect, and therefore bury me with my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and their wives.

Verse 29. Bury me with my fathers, &c.] From this it appears that the cave at Machpelah was a common burying-place for Hebrews of distinction; and indeed the first public burying-place mentioned in history. From Genesis 49:31 we find that Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, and Leah, had been already deposited there, and among them Jacob wished to have his bones laid; and he left his dying charge with his children to bury him in this place, and this they conscientiously performed. See Genesis 50:13.

Verse 29. I am to be gathered unto my people — Though death separate us from our children, and our people in this world, it gathers us to our fathers and to our people in the other world. Perhaps Jacob useth this expression concerning death, as a reason why his sons should bury him in Canaan: For (he saith) I am to be gathered unto my people — My soul must go to the spirits of just men made perfect, and therefore bury me with my fathers — Abraham and Isaac, and their wives.

29. Bury me with my fathers — The great prophet has spoken his last oracle; his sons have received his dying benedictions; and now his heart turns to his fathers, to whom he is about to be gathered. There is a touching beauty and tenderness in the allusion to Machpelah (on which see notes at Genesis 23:9, 19) and Mamre — to Abraham and Sarah, and Isaac and Rebekah, and Leah. He would have his body repose along with theirs, as, also, he expected his immortal part would be “gathered unto his people” in Sheol. See on Genesis 37:35, and 25:8.

THE DEATH OF JACOB, 28-33.

28. All these are the twelve tribes — The sacred historian, having inserted in his book the prophetic words which the sons and sons’ sons had been careful to preserve, thus resumes his narrative, and now proceeds to add an account of the patriarch’s last charge and death.

THE DEATH OF JACOB, 28-33.

28. All these are the twelve tribes — The sacred historian, having inserted in his book the prophetic words which the sons and sons’ sons had been careful to preserve, thus resumes his narrative, and now proceeds to add an account of the patriarch’s last charge and death.

THE DEATH OF JACOB, 28-33.

28. All these are the twelve tribes — The sacred historian, having inserted in his book the prophetic words which the sons and sons’ sons had been careful to preserve, thus resumes his narrative, and now proceeds to add an account of the patriarch’s last charge and death.

V. 33. And when Jacob had made an end of commanding of his sons-He addressed himself to his dying work. He put himself into a posture for dying; having sat upon the bed-side to bless his sons, the spirit of prophecy bringing fresh oil to his expiring lamp, when that work was done, he gathered up his feet into the bed, that he might lie along, not only as one patiently submitting to the stroke, but as one chearfully composing himself to rest. He then freely resigned his spirits into the hand of God, the father of spirit; he yielded up the ghost; and his separated soul went to the assembly of the souls of the faithful, who after they are delivered from the burden of the flesh are in joy and felicity; he was gathered to his people.

Verse 33. He gathered up his feet into the bed] It is very probable that while delivering these prophetic blessings Jacob sat upon the side of his bed, leaning upon his staff; and having finished, he lifted up his feet into the bed, stretched himself upon it, and expired!

And was gathered unto his people.] The testimony that this place bears to the immortality of the soul, and to its existence separate from the body, should not be lightly regarded. In the same moment in which Jacob is said to have gathered up his feet into the bed, and to have expired, it is added, and was gathered unto his people. It is certain that his body was not then gathered to his people, nor till seven weeks after; and it is not likely that a circumstance, so distant in point both of time and place, would have been thus anticipated, and associated with facts that took place in that moment. I cannot help therefore considering this an additional evidence for the immateriality of the soul, and that it was intended by the Holy Spirit to convey this grand and consolatory sentiment, that when a holy man ceases to live among his fellows, his soul becomes an inhabitant of another world, and is joined to the spirits of just men made perfect.

1. IT has been conjectured (See Clarke “Genesis 37:9”) that the eleven stars that bowed down to Joseph might probably refer to the signs of the Zodiac, which were very anciently known in Egypt, and are supposed to have had their origin in Chaldea. On this supposition Joseph’s eleven brethren answered to eleven of these signs, and himself to the twelfth. General Vallancy has endeavoured, in his Collectanea de Rebus Hibernicis, vol. vi., part. ii., p. 343, to trace out the analogy between the twelve sons of Jacob and the twelve signs of the Zodiac, which Dr. Hales (Analysis, vol. ii., p. 165) has altered a little, and placed in a form in which it becomes more generally applicable. As this scheme is curious, many readers who may not have the opportunity of consulting the above works will be pleased to find it here. That there is an allusion to the twelve signs of the Zodiac, and probably to their ancient asterisms, may be readily credited; but how far the peculiar characteristics of the sons of Jacob were expressed by the animals in the Zodiac, is a widely different question.

1. RUBEN-“Unstable (rather pouring out) as waters”-the sign AQUARIUS, represented as a man pouring out waters from an urn.

2. SIMEON and LEVI-“The united brethren” the sign GEMINI or the Twins.

3. JUDAH-“The strong lion”-the sign LEO.

4. ASHER-“His bread shall be fat”-the sign VIRGO or the Virgin, generally represented as holding a full ear of corn.

5. ISSACHAR-“A strong ass” or ox, both used in husbandry-the sign TAURUS or the Bull.

6. and 7. DAN-“A serpent biting the horse’s heels”-Scorpio, the Scorpion. On the celestial sphere the Scorpion is actually represented as biting the heel of the horse of the archer Sagittarius; and Chelae, “his claws,” originally occupied the space of Libra.

8. JOSEPH-“His bow remained in strength”-the sign SAGITTARIUS, the archer or bowman; commonly represented, even on the Asiatic Zodiacs, with his bow bent, and the arrow drawn up to the head-the bow in full strength.

9. NAPHTALI-by a play on his name, hlc taleh, the ram-the sign ARIES, according to the rabbins.

10. ZEBULUN-“A haven for ships”-denoted by CANCER, the crab.

11. GAD-“A troop or army”-reversed, dag, a fish-the sign PISCES.

12. BENJAMIN-“A ravening wolf”-CAPRICORN, which on the

Egyptian sphere was represented by a goat led by Pan, with a wolf’s head.

What likelihood the reader may see in all this, I cannot pretend to say; but that the twelve signs were at that time known in Egypt and Chaldea, there can be little doubt.

2. We have now seen the life of Jacob brought to a close; and have carefully traced it through all its various fortunes, as the facts presented themselves in the preceding chapters. Isaac his father was what might properly be called a good man; but in strength of mind he appears to have fallen far short of his father Abraham, and his son Jacob. Having left the management of his domestic concerns to Rebekah his wife, who was an artful and comparatively irreligious woman, the education of his sons was either neglected or perverted. The unhappy influence which the precepts and example of his mother had on the mind of her son we have seen and deplored. Through the mercy of God Jacob outlived the shady part of his own character, and his last days were his brightest and his best. He had many troubles and difficulties in life, under which an inferior mind must have necessarily sunk; but being a worker together with the providence of God, his difficulties only served in general to whet his invention, and draw out the immense resources of his own mind. He had to do with an avaricious, procrastinating relative, as destitute of humanity as he was of justice. Let this plead something in his excuse. He certainly did outwit his father-in-law; and yet, probably, had no more than the just recompense of his faithful services in the successful issue of all his devices. From the time in which God favoured him with that wonderful manifestation of grace at Peniel, Genesis 32:24-30, he became a new man. He had frequent discoveries of God before, to encourage him in journeys, secular affairs, &c.; but none in which the heart-changing power of Divine grace was so abundantly revealed. Happy he whose last days are his best! We can scarcely conceive a scene more noble or dignified than that exhibited at the deathbed of Jacob. This great man was now one hundred and forty-seven years of age; though his body, by the waste of time, was greatly enfeebled, yet with a mind in perfect vigour, and a hope full of immortality, he calls his numerous family together, all of them in their utmost state of prosperity, and gives them his last counsels, and his dying blessing. His declarations show that the secret of the Lord was with him, and that his candle shone bright upon his tabernacle. Having finished his work, with perfect possession of all his faculties, and being determined that while he was able to help himself none should be called in to assist, (which was one of the grand characteristics of his life,) he, with that dignity which became a great man and a man of God stretched himself upon his bed, and rather appears to have conquered death than to have suffered it. Who, seeing the end of this illustrious patriarch, can help exclaiming, There is none like the God of Jeshurun! Let Jacob’s God be my God! Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his! Reader, God is still the same: and though he may not make thee as great as was Jacob, yet he is ready to make thee as good; and, whatever thy past life may have been, to crown thee with loving-kindness and tender mercies, that thy end also may be peace.

GENESIS

Verse 33. And when Jacob had made an end of commanding of his sons — He put himself in a posture for dying; having sat upon the bed-side to bless his sons, the spirit of prophecy bringing fresh oil to his expiring lamp, when that work was done, he gathered up his feet into the bed — That he might lie along, not only as one patiently submitting to the stroke, but as one cheerfully composing himself to rest. He then freely resigned his spirit into the hand of God, the Father of spirits; he yielded up the ghost — And his separated soul went to the assembly of the souls of the faithful, who, after they are delivered from the burden of the flesh, are in joy and felicity; he was gathered to his people.

33. Gathered up his feet into the bed — While uttering his prophecy he had strengthened himself and sat upon his bed, (comp. Genesis 48:2;) now he replaces his feet on the bed, and calmly breathes out his life.