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Text -- Genesis 49:1-33 (NET)
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Strongs On/Off
Context
The Blessing of Jacob
49:1 Jacob called for his sons and said , “Gather together so I can tell you what will happen to you in the future .
49:2 “Assemble and listen , you sons of Jacob ; listen to Israel , your father .
49:3 Reuben , you are my firstborn , my might and the beginning of my strength , outstanding in dignity , outstanding in power .
49:4 You are destructive like water and will not excel , for you got on your father’s bed , then you defiled it– he got on my couch !
49:5 Simeon and Levi are brothers , weapons of violence are their knives !
49:6 O 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 .
49:7 Cursed 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 !
49:8 Judah , your brothers will praise you . Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies , your father’s sons will bow down before you.
49:9 You 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?
49:10 The 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.
49:11 Binding 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 .
49:12 His eyes will be dark from wine , and his teeth white from milk .
49:13 Zebulun will live by the haven of the sea and become a haven for ships ; his border will extend to Sidon .
49:14 Issachar is a strong-boned donkey lying down between two saddlebags .
49:15 When he sees a good resting place , and the pleasant land , he will bend his shoulder to the burden and become a slave laborer .
49:16 Dan will judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel .
49:17 May 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 .
49:18 I wait for your deliverance , O Lord .
49:19 Gad will be raided by marauding bands , but he will attack them at their heels .
49:20 Asher’s food will be rich , and he will provide delicacies to royalty .
49:21 Naphtali is a free running doe , he speaks delightful words .
49:22 Joseph is a fruitful bough , a fruitful bough near a spring whose branches climb over the wall .
49:23 The archers will attack him, they will shoot at him and oppose him.
49:24 But 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 ,
49:25 because 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 .
49:26 The 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 .
49:27 Benjamin is a ravenous wolf ; in the morning devouring the prey , and in the evening dividing the plunder .”
49:28 These 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 .
49:29 Then 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 .
49:30 It 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 .
49:31 There they buried Abraham and his wife Sarah ; there they buried Isaac and his wife Rebekah ; and there I buried Leah .
49:32 The field and the cave in it were acquired from the sons of Heth .”
49:33 When 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 .
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Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics
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Names, People and Places:
Dictionary Themes and Topics:
Death |
Israel |
GENESIS, 1-2 |
APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE, 2 |
Will |
Intercession |
CAIN |
GENESIS, 4 |
GENEALOGY, 8 part 1 |
Benedictions |
JACOB (1) |
Jacob |
Parents |
Bless |
Judah |
Ephron |
Levi |
Simeon |
Quotations and Allusions |
Cave |
more
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expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes
NET Notes -> Gen 49:1; Gen 49:1; Gen 49:4; Gen 49:4; Gen 49:4; Gen 49:4; Gen 49:5; Gen 49:6; Gen 49:7; Gen 49:8; Gen 49:10; Gen 49:10; Gen 49:10; Gen 49:11; Gen 49:12; Gen 49:13; Gen 49:13; Gen 49:15; Gen 49:15; Gen 49:16; Gen 49:16; Gen 49:17; Gen 49:18; Gen 49:19; Gen 49:19; Gen 49:20; Gen 49:20; Gen 49:20; Gen 49:21; Gen 49:21; Gen 49:21; Gen 49:22; Gen 49:22; Gen 49:23; Gen 49:24; Gen 49:24; Gen 49:24; Gen 49:25; Gen 49:25; Gen 49:25; Gen 49:25; Gen 49:26; Gen 49:26; Gen 49:26; Gen 49:28; Gen 49:28; Gen 49:29; Gen 49:29; Gen 49:32; Gen 49:33
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NET Notes: Gen 49:4 The last verb is third masculine singular, as if for the first time Jacob told the brothers, or let them know that he knew. For a discussion of this p...
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NET Notes: Gen 49:5 The meaning of the Hebrew word מְכֵרָה (mÿkherah) is uncertain. It has been rendered (1) “habitat...
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NET Notes: Gen 49:6 The Hebrew text reads “my glory,” but it is preferable to repoint the form and read “my liver.” The liver was sometimes viewed...
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NET Notes: Gen 49:7 Divide…scatter. What is predicted here is a division of their tribes. Most commentators see here an anticipation of Levi being in every area but...
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NET Notes: Gen 49:8 There is a wordplay here; the name Judah (יְהוּדָה, yÿhudah) sounds in Hebrew like the verb trans...
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NET Notes: Gen 49:10 “and to him [will be] the obedience of the nations.” For discussion of this verse see J. Blenkinsopp, “The Oracle of Judah and the M...
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NET Notes: Gen 49:11 The perfect verbal form is used rhetorically, describing coming events as though they have already taken place.
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NET Notes: Gen 49:12 Some translate these as comparatives, “darker than wine…whiter than milk,” and so a reference to his appearance (so NEB, NIV, NRSV)....
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NET Notes: Gen 49:15 The oracle shows that the tribe of Issachar will be willing to trade liberty for the material things of life. Issachar would work (become a slave labo...
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NET Notes: Gen 49:17 The comparison of the tribe of Dan to a venomous serpent is meant to say that Dan, though small, would be potent, gaining victory through its skill an...
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NET Notes: Gen 49:18 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 securi...
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NET Notes: Gen 49:19 In Hebrew the name Gad (גָּד, gad ) sounds like the words translated “raided” (יְגוּ...
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NET Notes: Gen 49:20 The word translated “delicacies” refers to foods that were delightful, the kind fit for a king.
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NET Notes: Gen 49:21 Almost every word in the verse is difficult. Some take the imagery to mean that Naphtali will be swift and agile (like a doe), and be used to take goo...
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NET Notes: Gen 49:23 The verb forms in vv. 23-24 are used in a rhetorical manner, describing future events as if they had already taken place.
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NET Notes: Gen 49:25 Jacob envisions God imparting both agricultural (blessings from the sky above, blessings from the deep that lies below) and human fertility (blessings...
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NET Notes: Gen 49:26 For further discussion of this passage, see I. Sonne, “Genesis 49:24-26,” JBL 65 (1946): 303-6.
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NET Notes: Gen 49:28 Heb “and he blessed them, each of whom according to his blessing, he blessed them.”
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NET Notes: Gen 49:29 Heb “I am about to be gathered” The participle is used here to describe what is imminent.
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NET Notes: Gen 49:32 Some translate the Hebrew term “Heth” as “Hittites” here (see also Gen 23:3), but this gives the impression that these people ...
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