The Blessing of Jacob

¹Jacob called for his sons and said, “Gather together so I can tell you what will happen to you in the future.[#tn After the imperative, the cohortative with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose/result.; #tn The expression “in the future” (אַחֲרִית הַיָּמִים, ’akharit hayyamim, “in the end of days”) is found most frequently in prophetic passages; it may refer to the end of the age, the eschaton, or to the distant future. The contents of some of the sayings in this chapter stretch from the immediate circumstances to the time of the settlement in the land to the coming of Messiah. There is a great deal of literature on this chapter, including among others C. Armerding, “The Last Words of Jacob: Genesis 49,” BSac 112 (1955): 320-28; H. Pehlke, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Genesis 49:1-28” (Th.D. dissertation, Dallas Theological Seminary, 1985); and B. Vawter, “The Canaanite Background of Genesis 49,” CBQ 17 (1955): 1-18.]

²“Assemble and listen, you sons of Jacob;

listen to Israel, your father.

³Reuben, you are my firstborn,

my might and the beginning of my strength,

outstanding in dignity, outstanding in power.

⁴You are destructive like water and will not excel,[#tn The Hebrew noun פַּחַז (pakhaz) only occurs here in the OT. A related verb occurs twice in the prophets (Jer 23:32; Zeph 3:4) for false prophets inventing their messages, and once in Judges for unscrupulous men bribed to murder (Judg 9:4). It would describe Reuben as being “frothy, boiling, turbulent” as water. The LXX has “run riot,” the Vulgate has “poured out,” and Tg. Onq. has “you followed your own direction.” It is a reference to Reuben’s misconduct in Gen 35, but the simile and the rare word invite some speculation. H. Pehlke suggests “destructive like water,” for Reuben acted with pride and presumption; see his “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Genesis 49:1-28” (Th.D. dissertation, Dallas Theological Seminary, 1985).; #tn Heb “Do not excel!” The Hiphil of the verb יָתַר (yatar) has this meaning only here. The negated jussive is rhetorical here. Rather than being a command, it anticipates what will transpire. The prophecy says that because of the character of the ancestor, the tribe of Reuben would not have the character to lead (see 1 Chr 5:1).]

for you got on your father’s bed,

then you defiled it – he got on my couch!

⁵Simeon and Levi are brothers,

weapons of violence are their knives!

⁶O my soul, do not come into their council,

do not be united to their assembly, my heart,

for in their anger they have killed men,

and for pleasure they have hamstrung oxen.

⁷Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce,

and their fury, for it was cruel.

I will divide them in Jacob,

and scatter them in Israel!

⁸Judah, your brothers will praise you.[#sn There is a wordplay here; the name Judah (יְהוּדָה, yÿhudah) sounds in Hebrew like the verb translated praise (יוֹדוּךָ, yodukha). The wordplay serves to draw attention to the statement as having special significance.]

Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies,

your father’s sons will bow down before you.

⁹You are a lion’s cub, Judah,

from the prey, my son, you have gone up.

He crouches and lies down like a lion;

like a lioness – who will rouse him?

¹⁰The scepter will not depart from Judah,

nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,

until he comes to whom it belongs;

the nations will obey him.

¹¹Binding his foal to the vine,

and his colt to the choicest vine,

he will wash his garments in wine,

his robes in the blood of grapes.

¹²His eyes will be dark from wine,

and his teeth white from milk.

¹³Zebulun will live by the haven of the sea[#tn The verb שָׁכַן (shakhan) means “to settle,” but not necessarily as a permanent dwelling place. The tribal settlements by the sea would have been temporary and not the tribe’s territory.]

and become a haven for ships;

his border will extend to Sidon.

¹⁴Issachar is a strong-boned donkey

lying down between two saddlebags.

¹⁵When he sees a good resting place,[#tn The verb forms in this verse (“sees,” “will bend,” and “[will] become”) are preterite; they is used in a rhetorical manner, describing the future as if it had already transpired.]

and the pleasant land,

he will bend his shoulder to the burden

and become a slave laborer.

¹⁶Dan will judge his people[#sn The name Dan (דָּן, dan) means “judge” and forms a wordplay with the following verb.; #tn Or “govern.”]

as one of the tribes of Israel.

¹⁷May Dan be a snake beside the road,

a viper by the path,

that bites the heels of the horse

so that its rider falls backward.

¹⁸I wait for your deliverance, O Lord .[#sn I wait for your deliverance, O Lord. As Jacob sees the conflicts that lie ahead for Dan and Gad (see v. 19), he offers a brief prayer for their security.]

¹⁹Gad will be raided by marauding bands,

but he will attack them at their heels.

²⁰Asher’s food will be rich,[#tc Heb “from Asher,” but the initial mem (מ) of the MT should probably be moved to the end of the preceding verse and taken as a plural ending on “heel.”; #tn The Hebrew word translated “rich,” when applied to products of the ground, means abundant in quantity and quality.]

and he will provide delicacies to royalty.

²¹Naphtali is a free running doe,[#tn Heb “a doe set free.”]

he speaks delightful words.

²²Joseph is a fruitful bough,[#tn The Hebrew text appears to mean “[is] a son of fruitfulness.” The second word is an active participle, feminine singular, from the verb פָּרָה (parah, “to be fruitful”). The translation “bough” is employed for בֵּן (ben, elsewhere typically “son”) because Joseph is pictured as a healthy and fruitful vine growing by the wall. But there are difficulties with this interpretation. The word “son” nowhere else refers to a plant and the noun translated “branches” (Heb “daughters”) in the third line is a plural form whereas its verb is singular. In the other oracles of Gen 49 an animal is used for comparison and not a plant, leading some to translate the opening phrase בֵּן פָּרָה (ben parah, “fruitful bough”) as “wild donkey” (JPS, NAB). Various other interpretations involving more radical emendation of the text have also been offered.]

a fruitful bough near a spring

whose branches climb over the wall.

²³The archers will attack him,[#tn The verb forms in vv. 23-24 are used in a rhetorical manner, describing future events as if they had already taken place.]

they will shoot at him and oppose him.

²⁴But his bow will remain steady,

and his hands will be skillful;

because of the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,

because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,

²⁵because of the God of your father,

who will help you,

because of the sovereign God,

who will bless you

with blessings from the sky above,

blessings from the deep that lies below,

and blessings of the breasts and womb.

²⁶The blessings of your father are greater

than the blessings of the eternal mountains

or the desirable things of the age-old hills.

They will be on the head of Joseph

and on the brow of the prince of his brothers.

²⁷Benjamin is a ravenous wolf;

in the morning devouring the prey,

and in the evening dividing the plunder.”

²⁸These are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them when he blessed them. He gave each of them an appropriate blessing.[#tn Heb “All these.”; #tn Heb “and he blessed them, each of whom according to his blessing, he blessed them.”]

²⁹Then he instructed them, “I am about to go to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite.[#tn The Hebrew text adds “and he said to them,” which is not included in the translation because it is redundant in English.; #tn Heb “I am about to be gathered” The participle is used here to describe what is imminent.]

³⁰It is the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought for a burial plot from Ephron the Hittite.

³¹There they buried Abraham and his wife Sarah; there they buried Isaac and his wife Rebekah; and there I buried Leah.

³²The field and the cave in it were acquired from the sons of Heth.”[#tn Some translate the Hebrew term “Heth” as “Hittites” here (see also Gen 23:3), but this gives the impression that these people were the classical Hittites of Anatolia. However, there is no known connection between these sons of Heth, apparently a Canaanite group (see Gen 10:15), and the Hittites of Asia Minor. See H. A. Hoffner, Jr., “Hittites,” Peoples of the Old Testament World, 152-53.]

³³When Jacob finished giving these instructions to his sons, he pulled his feet up onto the bed, breathed his last breath, and went to his people.[#tn Heb “was gathered.”]