*Genesis 49:1-33
On his deathbed, Jacob blesses his sons, predicting their futures and expressing favor for Joseph and Judah.
- Jacob’s Prophetic Blessings:
- As Jacob nears the end of his life, he gathers his sons to offer them prophetic blessings, which also serve as reflections on their personalities and future destinies.
- Reuben, Simeon, and Levi:
- Reuben: Once Jacob’s firstborn, he is admonished for his instability and an incident involving Bilhah, which disqualifies him from the preeminence due to the firstborn.
- Simeon and Levi: Criticized for their cruelty in the massacre of Shechem, Jacob declares that their descendants will be scattered within Israel.
- Judah:
- Judah: Receives the strongest blessing—his brothers will praise him, and he will conquer his enemies. Jacob prophesies that Judah will hold the scepter until “Shiloh” comes, indicating leadership and messianic expectations tied to his lineage. He also uses vivid imagery, like a lion and lush vineyards, to depict Judah’s strength and prosperity.
- Zebulun, Issachar, Dan, Gad, Asher, and Naphtali:
- Zebulun: Will dwell by the seashore and become a haven for ships.
- Issachar: Compared to a strong donkey, he sees the benefit of the land but will become a servant due to his preference for rest.
- Dan: Described as a judge for his people, like a serpent on the path that bites the horse’s heels.
- Gad: Will be attacked by raiders but will attack them at their heels.
- Asher: His territory will produce rich food and provide delicacies fit for a king.
- Naphtali: Described as a free-running deer who delivers beautiful fawns (or beautiful words).
- Joseph:
- Joseph: Receives the most comprehensive blessing, described as a fruitful vine by a well, whose branches climb over a wall. Despite being attacked and afflicted, he remains strong, assisted by God. Jacob blesses him abundantly, wishing him the blessings of heaven above and the deep, blessings of the breast and womb, and the blessings of his ancestors.
- Benjamin:
- Benjamin: Portrayed as a ravenous wolf, he will devour his prey in the morning and divide the plunder at night.
- Jacob’s Death Instructions:
- After blessing his sons, Jacob instructs them to bury him with his ancestors in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite, alongside Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, and Leah.
- Jacob’s final words complete his instructions regarding his burial, after which he draws up his feet into the bed, breathes his last, and is gathered to his people.
49:1 And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days.
49:2 Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father.
49:3 Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power: 49:4 Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to thy father’s bed; then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch.
49:5 Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations.
49:6 O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their selfwill they digged down a wall.
49:7 Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.
49:8 Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father’s children shall bow down before thee.
49:9 Judah is a lion’s whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? 49:10 The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.
49:11 Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass’s colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes: 49:12 His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.
49:13 Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and he shall be for an haven of ships; and his border shall be unto Zidon.
49:14 Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens: 49:15 And he saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant; and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute.
49:16 Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.
49:17 Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward.
49:18 I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD.
49:19 Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last.
49:20 Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties.
49:21 Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words.
49:22 Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall: 49:23 The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him: 49:24 But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:) 49:25 Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb: 49:26 The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.
49:27 Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.
49:28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: and this is it that their father spake unto them, and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them.
49:29 And he charged them, and said unto them, I am to be gathered unto my people: bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 49:30 In the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a buryingplace.
49:31 There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah.
49:32 The purchase of the field and of the cave that is therein was from the children of Heth.
49:33 And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people.