Israel’s Prophecy concerning His Sons
Then Jacob called for his sons and said, “Assemble yourselves around me that I may tell you what will happen to you and your descendants 1ain the days to come.See Deut 33, where Moses blesses the same tribes in a similar prophetic way.Num 24:14
2 “Gather together and hear, O sons of Jacob;And alisten to Israel your father.Ps 34:11
3 “Reuben, you are my 1firstborn;My might, athe beginning of my strength and vigor,Preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power that should have been your birthright.Reuben was the eldest of Jacob’s twelve sons and therefore entitled to the birthright, which would make him successor to his father as head of the family or tribe, and inheritor of a double portion of his father’s estate. But Reuben forfeited all this by his conduct with Bilhah, his father’s concubine (35:22). By adopting Joseph’s two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, and giving each of them a portion of the inheritance, Jacob virtually gave Joseph the extra portion of the land that would have gone to Reuben. Judah became the tribal leader in Reuben’s place (49:8-10).Deut 21:17; Ps 78:51; 105:364 “But unstable and reckless and boiling over like water in sinful lust, you shall 1not excel or have the preeminence of the firstborn,aBecause you went up to your father’s bed with Bilhah;You defiled it—he went up to my couch. Gen 35:22The fertile land once occupied by the tribe of Reuben was deserted by its settled inhabitants and given over to the tribal nomads of the desert. Because of his behavior, Reuben had forfeited his rights as the firstborn even before Jacob’s prophecy.Gen 35:22; Deut 27:20; 1 Chr 5:1
5 “aSimeon and Levi are brothers equally headstrong, deceitful, vindictive, and cruel;Their swords are weapons of violence and revenge. Gen 34:25-30Gen 34:25-306 “O amy soul, do not come into their secret council;Let not my glory be united with their assembly for I knew nothing of their plot;Because in their anger they killed men an honored man, Shechem, and the Shechemites,And in their self-will they lamed oxen.Ps 64:27 “Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce;And their wrath, for it was cruel.aI will divide and disperse them in Jacob,And 1scatter them in the midst of the land of Israel.This prophecy was fulfilled when the tribe of Levi received no inheritance except forty-eight towns scattered throughout different parts of Canaan. The tribe of Simeon was originally given only a few towns and villages in the midst of the inheritance of the tribe of Judah (Josh 19:1).Josh 19:1, 9; 21:1-42
8 “Judah, you are the one whom your brothers shall praise;Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies;aYour father’s sons shall bow down to you.Gen 27:29; 1 Chr 5:29 “Judah, a alion’s cub;With the prey, my son, you have gone high up the mountain.bHe stooped down, he crouched like a lion,And like a lion—who dares rouse him? Rev 5:5Ezek 19:5-7; Mic 5:8Num 24:910 “aThe scepter of royalty shall not depart from Judah,Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,Until Shiloh the Messiah, the Peaceful One comes,And bto Him shall be the obedience of the peoples. Num 24:17; Ps 60:7; Ezek 21:27Num 24:17; Ps 60:7; 108:8Ps 2:6-9; 72:8-11; Is 42:1, 4; 49:611 “aTying 1his foal to the strong vineAnd his donkey’s colt to the choice vine,bHe washes his clothing in wine because the grapevine produces abundantly,And his robes in the blood of grapes. Is 63:1-3; Zech 9:9; Rev 19:11-16I.e. the tribe of Judah.Deut 8:7, 8; 2 Kin 18:32Is 63:212 “His eyes are darker and sparkle more than wine,And his teeth whiter than milk.
13 “aZebulun shall dwell at the seashore;And he shall be a haven for ships,And his flank shall be toward Sidon.Deut 33:18, 19
14 “Issachar is like a strong-boned donkey,aCrouching down between the sheepfolds.Judg 5:16; Ps 68:1315 “When he saw that the resting place was goodAnd that the land was pleasant,He bowed his shoulder to bear burdens,And became a servant at forced labor.
16 “aDan shall bjudge his people,As one of the tribes of Israel.Deut 33:22; Judg 18:26, 27Gen 30:617 “Dan shall be a venomous serpent in the way,A fanged snake in the path,That bites the horse’s heels,So that his rider falls backward.18 “aI wait for Your salvation, O LORD.Ex 15:2; Ps 25:5; 40:1-3; 119:166, 174; Is 25:9; Mic 7:7
19 “As for 1aGad—a raiding troop shall raid him,But he shall raid at their heels and assault them victoriously.The Hebrew word from which the name “Gad” is derived has two meanings. In this verse the Hebrew meaning is associated with a “raiding troop” but in 30:11 it is associated with “good fortune.”Deut 33:20
20 “aAsher’s food supply shall be rich and bountiful,And he shall yield and deliver royal delights.Gen 30:13; Deut 33:24, 25
21 “aNaphtali is a doe let loose, a swift warrior,Which yields branched antlers .Deut 33:23
22 “aJoseph is a fruitful bough ,A fruitful bough by a spring ;Its branches run over the wall influencing others.Deut 33:13-1723 “The skilled archers have bitterly attacked and provoked him;They have shot at him and harassed him.24 “But his abow remained firm and steady in the Strength that does not fail,For bhis arms were made strong and agileBy the hands of the cMighty One of Jacob,(By the name of dthe Shepherd, ethe Stone of Israel), Gen 48:15; Deut 32:4; Is 9:6; 49:26Job 29:20Ps 18:34; 73:23; Is 41:10Ps 132:2, 5; Is 1:24; 49:26Ps 23:1; 80:1Ps 118:22; Is 28:16; 1 Pet 2:6-825 By athe God of your father who will help you,And bby the 1Almighty who blesses youWith cblessings of the heavens above,Blessings lying in the deep that couches beneath,Blessings of the nursing breasts and of the fertile womb.Heb Shaddai.Gen 28:13; 32:9Gen 28:3; 48:3Gen 27:2826 “The blessings of your fatherAre greater than the blessings of my ancestors Abraham and IsaacUp to the utmost bound of athe everlasting hills;They shall be on the head of Joseph,Even on the crown of the head of him who was the distinguished one and the one who is prince among his brothers.Deut 33:15, 16
27 “Benjamin is a 1ravenous wolf;In the morning he devours the prey,And at night he divides the spoil.”The tribe of Benjamin invariably displayed courage and ferocity, particularly in their war with the other tribes. The tribe of Benjamin was absorbed by the tribe of Judah and is not mentioned after the return from the Babylonian captivity, except in connection with its former land or as the source of some individual person. Ehud, Saul, Jonathan, and the apostle Paul were Benjamites.
28 All these are the beginnings of the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each one according to the blessing appropriate to him. 29 He charged them and said to them, “I am to be agathered to my people; bbury me with my fathers in the cave that is in cthe field of Ephron the Hittite,Gen 25:8Gen 47:30Gen 23:16-20; 50:13 30 in the acave in the field at Machpelah, east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, that Abraham bought, along with the field from Ephron the Hittite, to possess as a burial site. Gen 23:17-20Gen 23:3-20 31 There they buried aAbraham and bSarah his wife, there they buried cIsaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah—Gen 25:9Gen 23:19Gen 35:29 32 the field and the cave that is in it was purchased from the sons of Heth.” 33 When Jacob had finished commanding his sons, he drew his feet into the bed and abreathed his last, and was 1bgathered to his people who had preceded him in death.See note 25:8.Gen 25:8; Acts 7:15Gen 49:29