Text -- Genesis 49:10 (NET)

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.

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)

Wesley: Gen 49:10

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, Luk 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, Gen 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. 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. He is the lion of the tribe of Judah, as he is called with reference to this, Rev 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. 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, Hag 2:7, who being lifted up from the earth should draw all men unto him, Joh 12:32, and in whom the children of God that are scattered abroad should meet as the centre of their unity, Joh 11:52. 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, Isa 55:1.

JFB: Gen 49:10

JUDAH--A high pre-eminence is destined to this tribe (Num 10:14; Jdg 1:2). Besides the honor of giving name to the Promised Land, David, and a greater than David--the Messiah--sprang from it. Chief among the tribes, "it grew up from a lion's whelp"--that is, a little power--till it became "an old lion"--that is, calm and quiet, yet still formidable. (Gen 49:8-12)

JFB: Gen 49:10

Shiloh--this obscure word is variously interpreted to mean "the sent" (Joh 17:3), "the seed" (Isa 11:1), the "peaceable or prosperous one" (Eph 2:14) --that is, the Messiah (Isa 11:10; Rom 15:12); and when He should come, "the tribe of Judah should no longer boast either an independent king or a judge of their own" [CALVIN]. The Jews have been for eighteen centuries without a ruler and without a judge since Shiloh came, and "to Him the gathering of the people has been."

Clarke: Gen 49:10

From Judah the scepter shall not depart - The Jews have a quibble on the word שבט shebet , which we translate scepter; 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 kazeeb , a rod; but in a very ancient MS. of the Pentateuch in my own possession the word 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

Clarke: Gen 49:10

Nor a teacher from his offspring - I am sufficiently aware that the literal meaning of the original מבין רגליו 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.

Calvin: Gen 49:10

10.The scepter shall not depart. Though this passage is obscure, it would not have been very difficult to elicit its genuine sense, if the Jews, with their accustomed malignity, had not endeavored to envelop it in clouds. It is certain that the Messiah, who was to spring from the tribe of Judah, is here promised. But whereas they ought willingly to run to embrace him, they purposely catch at every possible subterfuge, by which they may lead themselves and others far astray in tortuous by-paths. It is no wonder, then, if the spirit of bitterness and obstinacy, and the lust of contention have so blinded them, that, in the clearest light, they should have perpetually stumbled. Christians, also, with a pious diligence to set forth the glory of Christ, have, nevertheless, betrayed some excess of fervor. For while they lay too much stress on certain words, they produce no other effect than that of giving an occasion of ridicule to the Jews, whom it is necessary to surround with firm and powerful barriers, from which they shall be unable to escape. Admonished, therefore, by such examples, let us seek, without contention, the true meaning of the passage. In the first place, we must keep in mind the true design of the Holy Spirit, which, hitherto, has not been sufficiently considered or expounded with sufficient distinctness. After he has invested the tribe of Judah with supreme authority, he immediately declares that God would show his care for the people, by preserving the state of the kingdom, till the promised felicity should attain its highest point. For the dignity of Judah is so maintained as to show that its proposed end was the common salvation of the whole people. The blessing promised to the seed of Abraham (as we have before seen) could not be firm, unless it flowed from one head. Jacob now testifies the same thing, namely, that a King should come, under whom that promised happiness should be complete in all its parts. Even the Jews will not deny, that while a lower blessing rested on the tribe of Judah, the hope of a better and more excellent condition was herein held forth. They also freely grant another point, that the Messiah is the sole Author of full and solid happiness and glory. We now add a third point, which we may also do, without any opposition from them; namely, that the kingdom which began from David, was a kind of prelude, and shadowy representation of that greater grace which was delayed, and held in suspense, until the advent of the Messiah. They have indeed no relish for a spiritual kingdom; and therefore they rather imagine for themselves wealth and power, and propose to themselves sweet repose and earthly pleasures, than righteousness, and newness of life, with free forgiveness of sins. They acknowledge, nevertheless, that the felicity which was to be expected under the Messiah, was adumbrated by their ancient kingdom. I now return to the words of Jacob.

Until Shiloh come, he says, the scepter, or the dominion, shall remain in Judah. We must first see what the word שילוה ( shiloh) signifies. Because Jerome interprets it, “He who is to be sent,” some think that the place has been fraudulently corrupted, by the letter ה ( he) substituted for the letter ח ( cheth;) which objection, though not firm, is plausible. That which some of the Jews suppose, namely, that it denotes the place ( Shiloh) where the ark of the covenant had been long deposited, because, a little before the commencement of David’s reign, it had been laid waste, is entirely destitute of reason. For Jacob does not here predict the time when David was to be appointed king; but declares that the kingdom should be established in his family, until God should fulfill what he had promised concerning the special benediction of the seed of Abraham. Besides the form of speech, “until Shiloh come,” for “until Shiloh come to an end,” would be harsh and constrained. Far more correctly and consistently do other interpreters take this expression to mean “his son,” for among the Hebrews a son is called שיל ( shil.) They say also that ה ( he) is put in the place of the relative ו ( waw;) and the greater part assent to this signification. ²⁰⁵ But again, the Jews dissent entirely from the meaning of the patriarch, by referring this to David. For (as I have just hinted) the origin of the kingdom in David is not here promised, but its absolute perfection in the Messiah. And truly an absurdity so gross, does not require a lengthened refutation. For what can this mean, that the kingdom should not come to an end in the tribe of Judah, till it should have been erected? Certainly the word depart means nothing else than to cease. Further, Jacob points to a continued series, when he says the scribe ²⁰⁶ shall not depart from between his feet. For it behaves a king so to be placed upon his throne that a lawgiver may sit between his feet. A kingdom is therefore described to us, which after it has been constituted, will not cease to exist till a more perfect state shall succeed; or, which comes to the same point; Jacob honors the future kingdom of David with this title, because it was to be the token and pledge of that happy glory which had been before ordained for the race of Abraham. In short, the kingdom which he transfers to the tribe of Judah, he declares shall be no common kingdom, because from it, at length, shall proceed the fullness of the promised benediction. But here the Jews haughtily object, that the event convicts us of error. For it appears that the kingdom by no means endured until the coming of Christ; but rather that the scepter was broken, from the time that the people were carried into captivity. But if they give credit to the prophecies, I wish, before I solve their objection, that they would tell me in what manner Jacob here assigns the kingdom to his son Judah. For we know, that when it had scarcely become his fixed possession, it was suddenly rent asunder, and nearly its whole power was possessed by the tribe of Ephraim. Has God, according to these men, here promised, by the mouth of Jacob, some evanescent kingdom? If they reply, the scepter was not then broken, though Rehoboam was deprived of a great part of his people; they can by no means escape by this cavil; because the authority of Judah is expressly extended over all the tribes, by these words, “Thy mother’s sons shall bow their knee before thee.” They bring, therefore, nothing against us, which we cannot immediately, in turn, retort upon themselves

Yet I confess the question is not yet solved; but I wished to premise this, in order that the Jews, laying aside their disposition to calumniate, may learn calmly to examine the matter itself, with us. Christians are commonly wont to connect perpetual government with the tribe of Judah, in the following manner. When the people returned from banishment, they say, that, in the place of the royal scepter, was the government which lasted to the time of the Maccabees. That afterwards, a third mode of government succeeded, because the chief power of judging rested with the Seventy, who, it appears by history, were chosen out of the regal race. Now, so far was this authority of the royal race from having fallen into decay, that Herod, having been cited before it, with difficulty escaped capital punishment, because he contumaciously withdrew from it. Our commentators, therefore, conclude that, although the royal majesty did not shine brightly from David until Christ, yet some preeminence remained in the tribe of Judah, and thus the oracle was fulfilled. Although these things are true, still more skill must be used in rightly discussing this passage. And, in the first place, it must be kept in mind, that the tribe of Judah was already constituted chief among the rest, as preeminent in dignity, though it had not yet obtained the dominion. And, truly, Moses elsewhere testifies, that supremacy was voluntarily conceded to it by the remaining tribes, from the time that the people were redeemed out of Egypt. In the second place, we must remember, that a more illustrious example of this dignity was set forth in that kingdom which God had commenced in David. And although defection followed soon after, so that but a small portion of authority remained in the tribe of Judah; yet the right divinely conferred upon it, could by no means be taken away. Therefore, at the time when the kingdom of Israel was replenished with abundant opulence, and was swelling with lofty pride, it was said, that the lamp of the Lord was lighted in Jerusalem. Let us proceed further: when Ezekiel predicts the destruction of the kingdom, (Eze 21:26,) he clearly shows how the scepter was to be preserved by the Lord, until it should come into the hands of Christ: “Remove the diadem, and take off the crown; this shall not be the same: I will overturn, overturn, overturn it, until he come whose right it is.” It may seem at first sight that the prophecy of Jacob had failed when the tribe of Judah was stripped of its royal ornament. But we conclude hence, that God was not bound always to exhibit the visible glory of the kingdom on high. Otherwise, those other promises which predict the restoration of the throne, which was cast down and broken, were false. Behold the days come in which I will

“raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof, and I will raise up his ruins.” (Amo 9:11.)

It would be absurd, however, to cite more passages, seeing this doctrine occurs frequently in the prophets. Whence we infer, that the kingdom was not so confirmed as always to shine with equal brightness; but that, though, for a time, it might lie fallen and defaced, it should afterwards recover its lost splendor. The prophets, indeed, seem to make the return from the Babylonian exile the termination of that ruin; but since they predict the restoration of the kingdom no otherwise than they do that of the temple and the priesthood, it is necessary that the whole period, from that liberation to the advent of Christ, should be comprehended. The crown, therefore, was cast down, not for one day only, or from one single head, but for a long time, and in various methods, until God placed it on Christ, his own lawful king. And truly Isaiah describes the origin of Christ, as being very remote from all regal splendor:

“There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.” (Isa 11:1.)

Why does he mention Jesse rather than David, except because Messiah was about to proceed from the rustic hut of a private man, rather than from a splendid palace? Why from a tree cut down, having nothing left but the root and the trunk, except because the majesty of the kingdom was to be almost trodden under foot till the manifestation of Christ? If any one object, that the words of Jacob seem to have a different signification; I answer, that whatever God has promised at any time concerning the external condition of the Church, was so to be restricted, that, in the mean time, he might execute his judgments in punishing men, and might try the faith of his own people. It was, indeed, no light trial, that the tribe of Judah, in its third successor to the throne, should be deprived of the greater portion of the kingdom. Even a still more severe trial followed, when the sons of the king were put to death in the sight of their father, when he, with his eyes thrust out, was dragged to Babylon, and the whole royal family was at length given over to slavery and captivity. But this was the most grievous trial of all; that when the people returned to their own land, they could in no way perceive the accomplishment of their hope, but were compelled to lie in sorrowful dejection. Nevertheless, even then, the saints, contemplating, with the eyes of faith, the scepter hidden under the earth, did not fail, or become broken in spirit, so as to desist from their course. I shall, perhaps, seem to grant too much to the Jews, because I do not assign what they call a real dominion, in uninterrupted succession, to the tribe of Judah. For our interpreters, to prove that the Jews are still kept bound by a foolish expectation of the Messiah, insist on this point, that the dominion of which Jacob had prophesied, ceased from the time of Herod; as if, indeed, they had not been tributaries five hundred years previously; as if, also, the dignity of the royal race had not been extinct as long as the tyranny of Antiochus prevailed; as if, lastly, the Asmonean race had not usurped to itself both the rank and power of princes, until the Jews became subject to the Romans. And that is not a sufficient solution which is proposed; namely, that either the regal dominion, or some lower kind of government, are disjunctively promised; and that from the time when the kingdom was destroyed, the scribes remained in authority. For I, in order to mark the distinction between a lawful government and tyranny, acknowledge that counselors were joined with the king, who should administer public affairs rightly and in order. Whereas some of the Jews explain, that the right of government was given to the tribe of Judah, because it was unlawful for it to be transferred elsewhere, but that it was not necessary that the glory of the crown once given should be perpetuated, I deem it right to subscribe in part to this opinion. I say, in part, because the Jews gain nothing by this cavil, who, in order to support their fiction of a Messiah yet to come, postpone that subversion of the regal dignity which, in fact, long ago occurred. ²⁰⁷ For we must keep in memory what I have said before, that while Jacob wished to sustain the minds of his descendants until the coming of the Messiah; lest they should faint through the weariness of long delay, he set before them an example in their temporal kingdom: as if he had said, that there was no reason why the Israelites, when the kingdom of David fell, should allow their hope to waver; seeing that no other change should follow, which could answer to the blessing promised by God, until the Redeemer should appear. That the nation was grievously harassed, and was under servile oppression some years before the coming of Christ happened, through the wonderful counsel of God, in order that they might be urged by continual chastisements to wish for redemption. Meanwhile, it was necessary that some collective body of the nation should remain, in which the promise might receive its fulfillment. But now, when, through nearly fifteen centuries, they have been scattered and banished from their country, having no polity, by what pretext can they fancy, from the prophecy of Jacob, that a Redeemer will come to them? Truly, as I would not willingly glory over their calamity; so, unless they, being subdued by it, open their eyes, I freely pronounce that they are worthy to perish a thousand times without remedy. It was also a most suitable method for retaining them in the faith, that the Lord would have the sons of Jacob turn their eyes upon one particular tribe, that they might not seek salvation elsewhere; and that no vague imagination might mislead them. For which end, also, the election of this family is celebrated, when it is frequently compared with, and preferred to Ephraim and the rest, in the Psalms. To us, also, it is not less useful, for the confirmation of our faith, to know that Christ had been not only promised, but that his origin had been pointed out, as with a finger, two thousand years before he appeared. ²⁰⁸

And unto him shall the gathering of the people be. Here truly he declares that Christ should be a king, not over one people only, but that under his authority various nations shall be gathered, that they might coalesce together. I know, indeed, that the word rendered “gathering” is differently expounded by different commentators; but they who derive it from the root ( קהה ,) to make it signify the weakening of the people, rashly and absurdly misapply what is said of the saving dominion of Christ, to the sanguinary pride with which they puffed up. If the word obedience is preferred, (as it is by others,) the sense will remain the same with that which I have followed. For this is the mode in which the gathering together will be effected; namely, that they who before were carried away to different objects of pursuit, will consent together in obedience to one common Head. Now, although Jacob had previously called the tribes about to spring from him by the name of peoples, for the sake of amplification, yet this gathering is of still wider extent. For, whereas he had included the whole body of the nation by their families, when he spoke of the ordinary dominion of Judah, he now extends the boundaries of a new king: as if he would say, “There shall be kings of the tribe of Judah, who shall be preeminent among their brethren, and to whom the sons of the same mother shall bow down: but at length He shall follow in succession, who shall subject other peoples unto himself.” But this, we know, is fulfilled in Christ; to whom was promised the inheritance of the world; under whose yoke the nations are brought; and at whose will they, who before were scattered, are gathered together. Moreover, a memorable testimony is here borne to the vocation of the Gentiles, because they were to be introduced into the joint participation of the covenant, in order that they might become one people with the natural descendants of Abraham, under one Head.

Defender: Gen 49:10

This important prophecy has been strikingly fulfilled. Although Judah was neither Jacob's firstborn son nor the son who would produce the priestly tribe, he was the son through whom God would fulfill His promises to Israel and to the world. The leadership, according to Jacob, was to go to Judah, but this did not happen for over 600 years. Moses came from Levi, Joshua from Ephraim, Gideon from Manasseh, Samson from Dan, Samuel from Ephraim and Saul from Benjamin. But when David finally became king, Judah held the scepter and did not relinquish it until after Shiloh came. "Shiloh" is a name for the Messiah, probably related to the Hebrew word for "peace" (shalom) and meaning in effect, "the one who brings peace.""

TSK: Gen 49:10

sceptre : Num 24:17; Psa 60:7; Jer 30:21; Hos 11:12; Eze 19:11, Eze 19:14; Zec 10:11

lawgiver : Num 21:18; Psa 60:7, Psa 108:8; Isa 33:22

between : Deu 28:57

until : Isa 9:6, Isa 11:1-5, Isa 62:11; Jer 23:5, Jer 23:6; Eze 21:27; Dan 9:25; Mat 1:21; Mat 17:5, Mat 21:9; Luk 1:32, Luk 1:33; Joh 9:7, Joh 18:31, Joh 19:12, Joh 19:15

the gathering : Psa 72:8-11; Isa 2:2, Isa 11:10, Isa 11:12, Isa 11:13, Isa 42:1, Isa 42:3, Isa 42:4, Isa 49:6, Isa 49:7, Isa 49:22, Isa 49:23, Isa 55:4, Isa 55:5; Isa 60:1, Isa 60:3-5; Eze 21:27; Hag 2:7; Zec 2:11, Zec 8:20-23; Mat 25:32; Luk 1:32, Luk 1:33, Luk 2:30-32; Joh 12:32; Rom 15:12; 2Co 5:10; Heb 7:14; Rev 11:15

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)

Barnes: Gen 49:1-33

- Jacob Blesses His Sons

5. מכרה m^e kêrāh , "weapon;"related: כיר kārar or כרה kārāh dig. "Device, design?"related: מכר mākar "sell,"in Arabic "take counsel. Habitation."

10. מחקק m^e choqēq , "lawgiver, judge, dispenser of laws."This word occurs in six other places - Num 21:18; Deu 33:21; Jud. Deu 5:14; Psa 60:9; Psa 108:9; Isa 33:22; in five of which it clearly denotes ruler, or judge. The meaning "sceptre"is therefore doubtful. שׁילה shı̂ylôh , Shiloh, a softened form of שׁילון shı̂ylôn , a derivative of שׁל shol , the ultimate root of שׁלה shālâh , שׁלם shālam , and possibly שׁלט shālaṭ , and hence, denoting "the peacemaker, the prince of peace."It is not employed as an appellative noun. But it is used afterward as the name of a town, now identified as Seilun. This town probably had its name, like many other ancient places from a person of the same name who built or possessed it.

From the special conference with Joseph we now pass to the parting address of Jacob to his assembled sons. This is at the same time prophetic and benedictory. Like all prophecy, it starts from present things, and in its widest expanse penetrates into the remotest future of the present course of nature.

Gen 49:1-2

And Jacob called his sons - This is done by messengers going to their various dwellings and pasture-grounds, and summoning them to his presence. And he said. These words introduce his dying address. "Gather yourselves together."Though there is to be a special address to each, yet it is to be in the audience of all the rest, for the instruction of the whole family. "That which shall befall you in the after days."The after days are the times intervening between the speaker and the end of the human race. The beginning of man was at the sixth day of the last creation. The end of his race will be at the dissolution of the heavens and the earth then called into being, and the new creation which we are taught will be consequent thereupon. To this interval prophecy has reference in general, though it occasionally penetrates beyond the veil that separates the present from the future creation.

The prophet has his mind filled with the objects and events of the present and the past, and from these he must draw his images for the future, and express them in the current language of his day. To interpret his words, therefore, we must ascend to his day, examine his usage of speech, distinguish the transient forms in which truth may appear, and hold fast by the constant essence which belongs to all ages. "Hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken to Israel your father."This is a specimen of the synthetic or synonymous parallel. It affords a good example of the equivalence, and at the same time the distinction, of Jacob and Israel. They both apply to the same person, and to the race of which he is the head. The one refers to the natural, the other to the spiritual. The distinction is similar to that between Elohim and Yahweh: the former of which designates the eternal God, antecedent to all creation, and therefore, equally related to the whole universe; the latter, the self-existent God, subsequent to the creation of intelligent beings, and especially related to them, as the moral Governor, the Keeper of covenant, and the Performer of promise.

Gen 49:3-4

Reuben, as the first-born by nature, has the first place in the benedictory address. My might. In times and places in which a man’ s right depends on his might, a large family of sons is the source of strength and safety. "The excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power"- the rank and authority which belong to the first-born. "Boiling over as water."That which boils over perishes at the same time that it is pernicious. This is here transferred in a figure to the passionate nature of Reuben. "Thou shalt not excel."There is here an allusion to the excellency of dignity and power. By the boiling over of his unhallowed passions Reuben lost all the excellence that primogeniture confers. By the dispensation of Providence the double portion went to Joseph, the first-born of Rachel; the chieftainship to Judah; and the priesthood to Levi. The cause of this forfeiture is then assigned. In the last sentence the patriarch in a spirit of indignant sorrow passes from the direct address to the indirect narrative. "To my couch he went up."The doom here pronounced upon Reuben is still a blessing, as he is not excluded from a tribe’ s share in the promised land. But, as in the case of the others, this blessing is abated and modified by his past conduct. His tribe has its seat on the east of the Jordan, and never comes to any eminence in the commonwealth of Israel.

Gen 49:5-7

"Simon and Levi are brethren,"by temper as well as by birth. Their weapons. This word is rendered plans, devices, by some. But the present rendering agrees best with the context. Weapons may be properly called instruments of violence; but not so plots. "Habitations"requires the preposition in before it, which is not in the original, and is not to be supplied without necessity. "Into their counsel."This refers to the plot they formed for the destruction of the inhabitants of Shekem. "They houghed an ox."The singular of the original is to be understood as a plural denoting the kind of acts to which they were prompted in their passion for revenge. Jacob pronounces a curse upon their anger, not because indignation against sin is unwarrantable in itself, but because their wrath was marked by deeds of fierceness and cruelty. "I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel."He does not cut them off from any part in the promised inheritance; but he divides and scatters them.

Accordingly they are divided from one another in their after history, the tribe of Simon being settled in the southwest corner of the territory of Judah, and Levi having no connected territory, but occupying certain cities and their suburbs which were assigned to his descendants in the various provinces of the land. They were also scattered in Israel. For Simon is the weakest of all the tribes at the close of their sojourn in the wilderness Num 26:14; he is altogether omitted in the blessing of Moses Deut. 33, and hence, obtains no distinct territory, but only a part of that of Judah Jos 19:1-9; and he subsequently sends out two colonies, which are separated from the parent stock, and from one another 1 Chr. 4:24-43. And Levi received forty-eight towns in the various districts of the land, in which his descendants dwelt, far separated from one another. This prediction was therefore, fulfilled to the letter in the history of these brothers. Their classification under one head is a hint that they will yet count but as one tribe.

Gen 49:8-12

Judah, the fourth son of Jacob, comes in for the supremacy after the three former have been set aside. His personal prowess, the perpetuity of his dominion, and the luxuriance of his soil are then described. "Thee shall thy brethren praise."This is an allusion to his name, which signifies praise Gen 29:35. As his mother praised the Lord for her fourth son, so shall his brethren praise him for his personal excellence. Ardor of temperament, decision of character, and frankness of acknowledgment are conspicuous even in the blemishes of his early life. Tenderness of conscience, promptitude in resolve, capacity for business, and force of eloquence come out in his riper years. These are qualities that win popular esteem. "Thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies."They shall flee before him, but shall not escape his powerful grasp. They shall be compelled to yield to his overwhelming power. "Thy father’ s sons shall bow down to thee."Not only his enemies, but his friends, shall acknowledge his sway. The similar prediction concerning Joseph Gen 37:6-8 was of a personal nature, and referred to a special occasion, not to a permanent state of affairs. It had already received its main fulfillment, and would altogether terminate with the lifetime of Joseph. The present announcement refers to Judah not as an individual, but as the head of a tribe in Israel, and will therefore, correspond in duration with that commonwealth.

Gen 49:9

A lion’ s whelp is Judah. - In physical strength Judah is compared to the lion, the king of beasts. At first he is the lion’ s whelp, the young lion, giving promise of future vigor; then the full-grown lion, exulting in his irresistible force, seizing and overmastering the prey, and after reaping the fruits of his victory, ascending to his mountain lair and reposing in undisturbed security. The lioness is brought into the comparison with propriety, as in defense of her cubs she is even more dangerous than the male to the unwary assailant. After being satiated with prey, the lion, reposing in his majesty, will not disturb the passer-by; but who shall rouse him up and escape?

Gen 49:10

From his physical force we now pass to his moral supremacy. "The sceptre,"the staff of authority. "Shall not depart from Judah."The tribe scepter did not leave Judah so long as there was a remnant of the commonwealth of Israel. Long after the other tribes had lost their individuality, Judah lingered in existence and in some measure of independence; and from the return his name supplanted that of Israel or Jacob, as the common designation of the people. "Nor the lawgiven from between his feet."This is otherwise rendered, "nor the judicial staff from between his feet;"and it is argued that this rendering corresponds best with the phrase "between his feet"and with the parallel clause which precedes. It is not worth while contending for one against the other, as the meaning of both is precisely the same. But we have retained the English version, as the term מחקק m^e choqēq has only one clear meaning; "between the feet"may mean among his descendants or in his tribe; and the synthetic parallelism of the clauses is satisfied by the identity of meaning.

Lawgiver is to be understood as judge, dispenser or administrator of law. Judah had the forerank among the tribes in the wilderness, and never altogether lost it. Nahshon the son of Amminadab, the prince of his tribe, was the ancestor of David, who was anointed as the rightful sovereign of all Israel, and in whom the throne became hereditary. The revolt of the ten tribes curtailed, but did not abolish the actual sovereignty of Rehoboam and his successors, who continued the acknowledged sovereigns until some time after the return from the captivity. From that date the whole nation was virtually absorbed in Judah, and whatever trace of self-government remained belonged to him until the birth of Jesus, who was the lineal descendant of the royal line of David and of Judah, and was the Messiah, the anointed of heaven to be king of Zion and of Israel in a far higher sense than before. "Until Shiloh come."

This is otherwise translated, "until he come to Shiloh,"the place so called. This is explained of the time when "the whole assembly of the children of Israel was convened at Shiloh, and set up the tent of meeting there"Jos 18:1. We hold by the former translation:

1. Because Shiloh has not yet been named as a known locality in the land of promise.

2. Judah did not come to Shiloh in any exclusive sense.

3. His coming thither with his fellows had no bearing whatever on his supremacy.

4. He did not come to Shiloh as the seat of his government or any part of his territory; and

5. The real sovereignty of Judah took place after this convention at Shiloh, and not before it.

After the rejection of the second translation on these grounds, the former is accepted as the only tenable alternative.

6. Besides, it is the natural rendering of the words.

7. Before the coming of Shiloh, the Prince of Peace, the highest pitch of Judah’ s supremacy in its primary form has to be attained.

8. On the coming of Shiloh the last remnant of that supremacy was removed, only to be replaced by the higher form of pre-eminence which the Prince of Peace inaugurates.

And unto him be the obedience of the peoples. - "Unto him"means naturally unto Shiloh. "The obedience"describes the willing submission to the new form of sovereignty which is ushered in by Shiloh. The word is otherwise rendered "gathering;"but this does not suit the usage in Pro 30:17. "The obedience"intimates that the supremacy of Judah does not cease at the coming of Shiloh, but only assumes a grander form.

Of the peoples. - Not only the sons of Israel, but all the descendants of Adam will ultimately bow down to the Prince of Peace. This is the seed of the woman, who shall bruise the serpent’ s head, the seed of Abraham, in whom all the families of the earth shall be blessed, presented now under the new aspect of the peacemaker, whom all the nations of the earth shall eventually obey as the Prince of Peace. He is therefore, now revealed as the Destroyer of the works of evil, the Dispenser of the blessings of grace, and the King of peace. The coming of Shiloh and the obedience of the nations to him will cover a long period of time, the close of which will coincide with the limit here set to Judah’ s earthly supremacy in its wider and loftier stage. This prediction therefore, truly penetrates to the latter days.

Gen 49:11-12

The exuberant fertility of Judah’ s province is now depicted. We now behold him peacefully settled in the land of promise, and the striking objects of rural plenty and prosperity around him. The quiet ass on which he perambulates is tied to the vine, the juice of whose grapes is as copious as the water in which his robes are washed. The last sentence is capable of being rendered, "Red are his eyes above wine, and white his teeth above milk."But a connection as well as a comparison seems to be implied in the original. Judea is justly described as abounding in the best of wine and milk. This fine picture of Judah’ s earthly abode is a fitting emblem of the better country where Shiloh reigns.

Gen 49:13

Zebulun means "dwelling,"to which there is an allusion in the first clause of the verse. "At the haven of seas."This tribe touched upon the coast of the sea of Kinnereth and of the Mediterranean. It probably possessed some havens for shipping near the promontory of Karmel: and its northwestern boundary touched upon Phoenicia, the territory of Zidon. He is placed before Issakar, who was older, because the latter sank into a subordinate position.

Gen 49:14-15

"An ass of bone,"and therefore, of strength. "Couching between the hurdles"- the pens or stalls in which the cattle were lodged. Rest in a pleasant land he felt to be good; and hence, rather than undertake the struggle for liberty and independence, he became like the strong ass a bearer of burdens, and a payer of tribute. He is thus a hireling by disposition as well as by name Gen 30:18.

Gen 49:16-18

The sons of the handmaids follow those of Leah. "Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel."He will maintain his position as a tribe in the state. When threatened by overwhelming power he will put forth his native force for the discomfiture of the foe. The adder is the cerastes or horned serpent, of the color of the sand, and therefore, not easily recognized, that inflicts a fatal wound on him that unwarily treads on it. The few facts in the history of Dan afterward given correspond well with the character here drawn. Some of its features are conspicuous in Samson Judg. 13\endash 16. "For thy salvation have I waited, O Lord."The patriarch, contemplating the power of the adversaries of his future people, breaks forth into the expression of his longing desire and hope of that salvation of the Almighty by which alone they can be delivered. That salvation is commensurate with the utmost extent and diversity of these adversaries.

Gen 49:19

Gad also shall be subject to the assaults of the enemy. But he shall resist the foe and harass his rear. This brief character agrees with his after history. He is reckoned among the valiant men in Scripture 1Ch 5:18.

Gen 49:20

Asher shall have a soil abounding in wheat and oil. He occupies the low lands along the coast north of Karmel. Hence, the products of his country are fit to furnish the table of kings. Gad and Asher are placed before Naphtali, the second son of Bilhah. We cannot tell whether they were older, or for what other reason they occupy this place. It may be that Naphtali was of a less decisive or self-reliant character.

Gen 49:21

Naphtali is a hind let loose. The hind or "gazelle"is agile and nimble. When free on its native hills, it roams with instinctive confidence and delight. It is timid and irresolute in confinement. This is probably the character of Naphtali. "He giveth goodly words."Here we pass from the figure to the reality. Eloquence in prose and verse was characteristic of this particular tribe. The only important historical event in which they are concerned is the defeat of Jabin’ s host, which is celebrated in the song of Deborah and Barak Jdg 4:5. In this passage we may study the character of the tribe.

Gen 49:22-26

Jacob had doubtless been made acquainted with the history of his beloved son Joseph from the time of his disappearance until he met him on the borders of Egypt. It had been the meditation and the wonder of his last seventeen years. When he comes to Joseph, therefore, the mingled emotions of affection and gratitude burst forth from his heart in language that cannot be restrained by the ordinary rules of speech. The first thing connected with Joseph in the patriarch’ s mind is fruitfulness. The image is vivid and striking. "Son of a fruitful tree."A branch or rather a shoot transplanted from the parent stem. "By a well;"from which it may draw the water of life. "Whose daughters"- luxuriant branches. Run over a wall - transcend all the usual boundaries of a well-enclosed garden. This fruitfulness attaches to Joseph in two respects. First, he is the prudent gatherer and the inexhaustible dispenser of the produce of Egypt, by which the lives of his father and brethren were preserved. And then he is in prospect the twofold tribe, that bursts the bounds assigned to a twelfth of the chosen people, and overspreads the area of two tribes.

Gen 49:23-24

The memory then reverts to the past history of Joseph. A new figure is now called up. A champion is assailed by a host of archers. They vex him, shoot at him, and in every way act the part of an enemy. But his bow continues elastic, and his arms are enabled to bend it, because he receives strength from the God of his fathers, "the Might of Jacob, the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel."Such is the rich and copious imagery that flows from the lips of Jacob. "The Might,"the exalted upholder; "the Shepherd, the Stone,"the fostering guardian as well as the solid foundation of his being. His great hands upheld Joseph against the brother and the stranger. "From him."This seems the free rendering of the word requisite to bring the two members of the parallel into harmony.

Gen 49:25-26

These two thoughts - the peaceful abundance of his old age, which he owed to Joseph, and the persecutions his beloved son had endured - stir the fountains of his affections until they overflow with blessings. "From the God of thy father"- the Eternal One who is the source of all blessing. "And the Almighty,"who is able to control all adverse influences. "Blessings of heaven above"- the air, the rain, and the sun. "Blessings of the deep"- the springs and streams, as well as the fertile soil. "Blessings of the breasts and the womb"- the children of the home and the young of the flocks and herds. "Have prevailed."The benedictions of Jacob pronounced upon Joseph exceed those that came upon Jacob himself from his fathers. To Joseph is given a double portion, with a double measure of affection from a father’ s heart. "Unto the bound of the perpetual hills."Like an overflowing flood they have risen to the very summits of the perpetual hills in the conceptions of the venerable patriarch. "Of him who was distinguished from his brethren;"not only by a long period of persecution and humiliation, but by a subsequent elevation to extraordinary dignity and pre-eminence.

It is to be noted that this benediction, when fairly interpreted, though it breathes all the fondness of a father’ s heart, yet contains no intimation that the supremacy or the priesthood were to belong to Joseph, or that the Messiah was to spring from him. At the same time Joseph was in many events of his history a remarkable type of the Messiah, and by intermarriage he, as well as many foreigners, was no doubt among the ancestors of the Messiah 2Ki 8:18, 2Ki 8:26.

Gen 49:27

Benjamin is described as a wolf who is engaged morning and evening, that is, all day long, in hunting after prey. He was warlike by character and conduct Judg. 20\endash 21, and among his descendants are Ehud, Saul, and Jonathan.

Gen 49:28-33

After the benediction Jacob gives directions concerning his burial. "All these are the twelve tribes". This implies that the benedictions refer not to the heads only, but to the whole tribes. "Each according to his blessing."All are blessed, but the form of the blessing is suited to the character of the individual "Bury me with my fathers"- with Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, and Leah. This dying command he now lays on the twelve, as he had before bound Joseph by oath to its performance. "Gathered up his feet into the bed."He had been sitting upright while pronouncing the benedictory address and giving his last directions. He now lies down and calmly breathes his last.

Poole: Gen 49:10

The secptre i.e. the dominion or government, which is oft expressed by this word, as Num 24:17 Psa 45:6 Isa 14:5 Eze 19:11,14 Am 1:5,8 Zec 10:11 , because it is an ensign of government, Est 4:11 . So it is a figure called a metonomy of the sign, than which nothing more frequent. The sense is, That superiority or dominion over his brethren, which I said he should obtain Gen 49:8 he shall keep; it shall not depart from him. Others, the tribe, as the word shebet signifies, 1Sa 10:19-21 1Ki 11:32 , &c. So the sense is this, Whereas the other tribes shall be captivated, dispersed, and confounded, the tribe of Judah shall be kept entire and distinct until Christ come. This is a great and important truth, and a singular demonstration of the all-disposing providence of God, and of the truth and Divine authority of the Scriptures; but it seems not to be the meaning of this place,

1. Because both the foregoing and following words do evidently speak of Judah’ s power and greatness, and particularly this shebet, or sceptre, is explained and restrained by the following lawgiver.

2. Because this renders the phrase improper and absurd; for the tribe had not departed from Judah, nor had they ceased to be a tribe, if the other tribes had been mixed with them in their land, as indeed they were sometimes. See 2Ch 11:16 .

3. Because this is not peculiar to the tribe of Judah; for in this sense the tribe did not depart from Levi, nay, that tribe was kept more distinct than that of Judah; thus also the tribe did not depart from Benjamin, as appears from Ezr 1:5 10:9 Neh 11:4 . Nay, it is questionable whether in this sense the tribe departed from any of the other tribes, not only because there is a distinct mention of the several tribes, Eze 48:1-35 , which was written after the dispersion and supposed confusion of the other tribes, and which speaks of the times after the coming of the Messiah, but also because of the great care which the Israelites generally took in distinguishing, not only their tribes, but their several families, in exact genealogies, of which we have many proofs and instances, as 1Ch 4:33 5:1,7,17 7:7,9,40 9:1,22 Ezr 2:62 8:1,3 Ne 7:5,64 . The Jews indeed have another device to avoid the force of this text. They say shebet signifies a rod, to wit, a rod of correction, as the word is taken Pro 22:15 . And so they say the sense is, The tyrannical sceptre, or the rod of the oppressor, shall not cease or depart from Israel till the Messiah come, who shall save them from all their oppressors and enemies. But this is a vain and frivolous conceit; for,

1. The following sentence, which expounds the former, as it is usual in Scripture, plainly shows that this shebet, or rod, is such as is proper to the lawgiver, and therefore is a rod of authority, or a sceptre, which is called also a rod, Eze 19:14 , and not a rod of affliction.

2. This is contrary to the whole context, wherein there is nothing prophesied of Judah, but honour, and dominion, and victory, and safety.

3. There was no reason why the rod of affliction should be appropriated to Judah, which was common to all the tribes, and came sooner, and fell heavier, and abode longer upon the other tribes than upon Judah.

4. This interpretation is confuted by the event or history, both because the rod of correction did depart from Judah, and from them more than from the other tribes, for many generations before the coming of the Messiah; and because that rod is not removed from them, but hath continued longer and more dreadfully upon them since the coming of the Messias than ever before; which one consideration hath been the occasion of the conversion of many Jews.

5. Howsoever the modern Jews pervert this word and text out of enmity to Christ and Christians, it is certain that the ancient Jews, the LXX., and the Chaldee Paraphrast, with many others, take the word as we do, as the learned have proved out of their own writings. See my Latin Synopsis.

A lawgiver so the Hebrew word signifies, as here, so also Num 21:18 Deu 33:21 Psa 60:7 108:8 Isa 33:22 . And the verb from whence this word comes signifies to make laws, as Pro 8:15 , &c.; and the Hebrew word chok, which comes from the same root, constantly signifies a law or statute. Some render it the scribe, and that either the civil scribe, who belongs to the ruler; or the ecclesiastical scribe, the interpreter of the law; and so it signifies, that both the civil and the ecclesiastical power should continue in Judah till Christ came, and then should be taken away, both which the event did verify. But indeed the Hebrew word for scribe is sopher, not mechokek, which never is so used in Scripture, but always for a lawgiver, as I have showed; and so Kimchi and Aben Ezra, two late and learned Jews, with others, expound it.

From between his feet from his posterity, or from those that come from between his feet, i.e. that are begotten and born of that tribe. And thus Kimchi, and the Chaldee Paraphrast, and other ancient Jews, understand this place. And the truth of this interpretation may appear, by comparing this with other texts of Scripture, as Deu 28:57 , where

the young one is described to be one that cometh from between her (the woman’ s) feet; and Eze 16:25 , and with those places where the word feet is used for the secret parts, as Isa 7:20 , the hair of the feet, not properly so called, for hair seldom grows there; and 2Ki 18:27 Isa 36:12 , where the water which comes from the secret parts is called the water of the feet. And possibly that phrase of covering the feet, applied to them that eased their bellies, may note so much, because the Jews in that action were not to hide their feet properly so called, but their secret parts, which without due care might be discovered upon that occasion.

Shiloh i.e. the Messias; which we need not stand to prove, because it is so expounded by all the three Chaldee Paraphrasts, and by the Jewish Talmud, and by divers of the latter Jews themselves. And the word signifies, either a peace-maker, or saviour; or, as others, her son, or one that came out of the woman’ s womb, or out of that skin in which the child in the womb is wrapped, which this word, or one near akin to it, signifies. So it notes that the Messias should be born of a woman, though without the help of man. Or, as others, the sent, he who was oft promised and to be sent. And this signification may seem to be warranted by comparing Joh 9:7 , with those places of the New Testament in which the Messias is described by that periphrasis of one sent, or to be sent, as Joh 3:34 , &c. And the phrase here used is remarkable, till the Shiloh come, for the Shiloh, or Messiah, oft goeth under the name of him that was to come, as Mat 21:9 Luk 7:20 13:35 . And hence the kingdom of the Messiah is called the world or kingdom to come, i.e. of him who was to come, Heb 2:5 6:5 .

Unto him shall the gathering of the people be they shall be gathered together, or united both among themselves, and with the Jews, under him as their Head. Others, the reverence, obedience, or worship; which comes to the same thing, for they that are gathered to him, do also reverence, obey, and worship him. The Hebrew word is used only here and Pro 30:17 .

The people i.e. the Gentiles, as the Jews themselves understand it. And so it is a plain prophecy of the conversion of the Gentiles by and under the Messiah; signifying, that whereas the ordinances of God, and means of worship and salvation, were confined to the Jews before Christ’ s coming, Psa 147:19,20 , when the Messiah should come, the pale of the church should be enlarged, the partition-wall between Jews and Gentiles taken down, and the Gentiles should worship the true God and the Messias. And this is no more than is foretold and promised in other prophecies, as we shall see hereafter. The sum of this verse is, The sceptre or dominion shall be seated in the tribe of Judah, though he doth not determine when it shall come thither; but when once it shall come, it shall not depart from thence till the Messiah come; and then Judah shall lose this sceptre and other privileges, and the Gentiles shall come into the stead of the Jews, and shall embrace that Messiah whom they shall reject. So now here is an undeniable argument to prove against the Jews that the Messiah is already come, and that the Lord Jesus Christ is he, because he was to come during the time wherein the sceptre was in the hands of Judah; and about that time when Jesus Christ came the sceptre was taken away from Judah and the Jews, and hath now been lost for sixteen hundred years together. The Jews are mightily perplexed and confounded with this argument; one evidence whereof is their various and contradictory expositions of the place, whilst some of them affirm this Shiloh to be Moses, others Saul, others Jeroboam, others Nebuchadnezzar, which neither need nor deserve confutation; others David; which, though some of the acutest of the Jewish doctors assert, is as contemptible as any of the rest, it being ridiculous to say the sceptre departed from Judah under him by whom it first came into that tribe, having been till David’ s time in other tribes. But the great difficulty is, how this was accomplished; for if the event fully agrees with this prophecy, the cause of the Jews is lost, and Christ must be owned as the true Messias. The sceptre was for a time in other tribes; as in Moses of the tribe of Levi; in divers of the judges, who were of several tribes; and lastly in the tribe of Benjamin under Saul; but the sceptre departed from all these. But this is prophesied as Judah’ s privilege, that when once the sceptre or government came into that tribe, which it did in David’ s time, it should not depart from it till Christ came, and then it should depart. And thus it came to pass. Concerning the time from David unto the captivity of Babylon there is no dispute, there being a constant succession of kings in that tribe all that time. For the time of the Babylonish captivity, wherein there may seem to be more difficulty, it is to be considered,

1. That the sceptre or government was not lost or departed from Judah, but only interrupted, and that but for seventy years at most, which in so long a space of time as above a thousand years is little to be regarded. As none will say the kingdom was departed from the house of David, because of those interreigns or interruptions which sometimes fell out in that family. Add to this, that God hath given them an absolute promise and assured hope of the restoration of Judah’ s sceptre; so that this was rather a sleep than the death of that government.

2. That within these seventy years there were some remainders and beams of Judah’ s sovereignty in Jehoiachin, 2Ki 25:27 ; in Daniel, who was of that tribe, Dan 2:25 5:13 , and of the king’ s seed, Dan 1:3 ; and in the successive heads or governors of the exiles, of whom the Jewish writers say so much; and they affirm that they were always of the house of David, and were more honourable than the governors of the Jews which were left in the land of Israel.

3. All that was then left of the sceptre of the Jews was in the tribe of Judah; nor was the sceptre departed from Judah to any other tribe; and that is the thing which seems especially to be respected in this prophecy: for Judah is here compared with the rest of the tribes; and it is here signified, that the power and dominion which was in Judah, when once it came thither, should not shift from tribe to tribe, as it had done, but whilst there was any sceptre or supreme government among the Jews, it should be in that tribe, even till the coming of the Messias. But if there should happen any total, but temporary intercision or cessation of the government among all the tribes, which now was the case, that was no prejudice to the truth of this promise, nor to the privilege granted to Judah above the rest of the tribes. After the captivity, the state of the Jews was very various. Sometimes they had governors put in by the Persian king, as Zorobabel, who was also of the tribe of Judah, and, as it is supposed, nephew of Jehoiachin; and Nehemiah, whom Eusebius affirms to have been of the tribe of Judah. And though he may seem to be numbered among the priests, Neh 10:8 , yet a diligent reader will find that he is even there distinguished from them by his title the Tirshatha, Gen 49:1 , and the word priests, Gen 49:8 , relateth only to the rest there mentioned besides him; especially if this be compared with Neh 9:38 , where the princes (among whom surely Nehemiah was the chief) are distinguished from the priests. And sometimes the people chose governors, or captain-generals, as the Maccabees, and others. But under all their vicissitudes, after their return from Babylon, the chief government was evidently and unquestionably seated in the great council called Sanhedrim or Synedrium, wherein, though some of the tribe of Levi were mixed with those of the tribe of Judah, yet because they, together with other members of that council, had their power both from that tribe by which they were chosen, and in it, and for it, the sceptre did truly remain in the tribe of Judah; even as it was rightly called the Roman empire, when Trajan a Spaniard, or other foreigners, administered it; or as we call it the kingdom of Poland, when they choose a king of another nation. How great and venerable the authority of this council was among the Jews, may easily be gathered,

1. From the Divine institution of it, Num 11:16 , whereby indeed it was at first to consist of persons indifferently chosen out of all the tribes; but now the other tribes being banished and dispersed in unknown places, and Benjamin and Levi being as it were accessions to the tribe of Judah, and in a sort incorporated with it, it now becomes as it were appropriated to the tribe of Judah, as acting in its name, and by its authority; and the whole land is called Judea, and all the people Jews, from the predominancy of that tribe above the rest.

2. From the great power and privileges anciently granted to it, Deu 17:8 , &c.; 2Ch 19:8,11 Ps 122:5 .

3. From the testimony of Josephus, and other Jewish writers, which is most considerable in this argument, who largely describe and magnify the power and authority of it; who tell us that the power of their king was subject to that of this council; and therefore one of them addressing his speech to that council, where also the king himself was present, first salutes the senators, and after them the king. They affirm also that the power of making war or peace was vested in that council, and that Herod was tried for his life by it. If it be said that the power of this council was in a great measure taken away, which the Jews confess, Joh 18:31 , and that the sceptre of Judea was in the hand of the Romans, and by them given to Herod, who was no Jew, but an Idumean, and this before the coming of the Messias, which is the only remaining difficulty; to this many things may be said:

1. That this happened but a few years before the coming of Christ, when Christ was even at the doors, and about to come, and therefore might well be said to be come; especially in the prophetical style, whereby things are oft said to be done which are near doing.

2. That the Jewish senators did long struggle with Herod about the government, and did not yield it up to him till his last year, when they took an oath of fealty to him, which was after Christ was born. Nor indeed was the sceptre quite gone from them then, for that council still had the power, though not of life and death, yet of civil and ecclesiastical matters. See Joh 18:31 . So that if the sceptre was gone, the

lawgiver remained there still. Nor was their government and commonwealth quite destroyed until the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus. And therefore some translate the place thus, and that with great probability, The sceptre shall not depart— until the Shiloh come, and until (which word is repeated out of the former member, as it is most usual in the Scripture)

the gathering of the people be to him, i.e. until the Gentiles be converted and brought in to Christ. And this interpretation receiveth countenance from Mat 24:14 , The gospel shall be preached in all the world, — and then shall the end come; not the end of the whole world, as it is evident, but the end of the commonwealth and government of the Jews, when the sceptre and lawgiver should be wholly taken away from that tribe and people.

Haydock: Gen 49:10

The sceptre. Almost every word in this verse has been explained in a different manner. But all the ancient Jews agree with Christians, that it contains a prediction of the Messias, and points out the period of his coming. Whether this was verified when Herod, a foreigner, got possession of the throne, and was acknowledged by the Jews, just about the time of our Saviour's nativity, as most of the fathers suppose; or it only took its full effect when Agrippa II lost all his power, the temple and the city were laid in ruins, and the whole nation dispersed for ever, it is not perhaps so easy to determine. In either supposition, the Messias has long since come. Jacob foretels, either that Christ would make his appearance as soon as the Jews should fall under a foreign yoke, and in this sense he was born about the 37th year of Herod the great ---

or he should come just before the kingdom of Juda should have an end, which took place in the 70th year of the Christian era, or about 37 years after the public appearance and death of our Saviour. The sceptre shall not depart irrevocably from the Jews; over whom the tribe of Juda had always the greatest authority in appointing the princes, when they were not selected from the tribe itself, or from his thigh; till the Messias, who has been expected so long, shall come and gather all nations into his Church. Then the designs of Providence, in watching over the Jews, being accomplished, their republic shall be dissolved, because they have shed his blood, instead of acknowledging his celestial beauty, ver. 12. The evident signs of decay in the kingdom of the Jews, were sufficient to excite the attention of all to look for the Messias; and we read, both in St. John iv. 25, in Tacitus, and Suetonius, that his appearance was fully expected about that time. The sceptre is the emblem of sovereign, though not always independent, power. Juda and his posterity were always at the head of their brethren. They marched first in the wilderness; two of the judges were of this tribe. But their chief glory began with David, whose posterity the whole nation obeyed, till Jeroboam tore away the ten tribes. Still the tribe of Benjamin and the Levites adhered to Juda. During the captivity there were judges admitted to superintend over their brethren; and King Joakim was raised to high authority. The rulers who came into power after the return of the Jews, were either of this tribe, at least by the mother's side, or were chosen and recognized by the tribe of Juda. Even Herod, in this sense, might be considered as a Jewish king, though a foreigner, as well as a Thracian might be counted a Roman emperor, without any diminution of the imperial authority of Rome. Perhaps, indeed, he was an usurper, till the nation acknowledged his authority two years after the birth of Christ. (Philo, de Temp. ii; Josephus, Antiquities xvii. 3.) "Herod was the first foreign king admitted by the Jews." (St. Augustine, City of God xviii. 45.) If, therefore, no stranger was to be acknowledged by the nation, till He came, who was to establish a spiritual and everlasting kingdom, the moment was arrived, when the Jews submitted to Herod, and Christ had actually been born two years. ---

From Juda, or from that tribe; for Jacob gave peculiar blessings to each; (ver. 28) and hence the fathers gather, that the Messias should spring from Juda. ---

Ruler from his thigh, lineally descended from him, or acknowledged at least by his posterity, as all the legal princes were till the coming of Christ. ---

Mechokek might also signify a teacher or scribe expounding the law of Moses, which subsisted for the same period; but this is more probably a farther explication of the sceptre, &c. (Calmet) ---

Till had ci, which words being joined together, are always taken in this sense. (Helvicus.) ---

Sent. Schiloach (or Ssolue ) seems to have been in St. Jerome's copy, though we now read Shiloh (or Ssole ) "to whom" the authority belongs; Septuagint, "to whom all things are reserved; or till the things arrive, which are laid up for him. (Calmet) ---

Expectation, or congregation of nations, as Aggeus afterwards foretold, ii. 8. If we examine all the plausible explications which have been given to this verse, we shall find that they all tend to convey the same truth. "The sceptre (ssebet, rod, crook, power or tribe) shall not depart (cease, be taken off) from Juda, (the tribe or the Jews) nor a leader (scribe, lawyer, or legislator) from his thigh, (between his feet, or from his banners) till He, who shall be sent, (shio, the pacific, his son, to whom it is, or the things are, reserved) arrive; and Him shall the nations expect, (and obey) to Him they shall look up (and be gathered). Whom will the Jews point out to whom all these characters agree, except our divine Lord, whom they also must one day adore? (Haydock)

Gill: Gen 49:10

The sceptre shall not depart from Judah,.... Which some understand of the tribe, that Judah should not cease from being a tribe, or that it should continue a distinct tribe until the coming of the Messiah, who was to be of it, and was, and that it might appear he sprung from it; but this was not peculiar to this tribe, for the tribe of Benjamin continued, and so did the tribe of Levi unto the coming of Christ: besides, by Judah is meant the tribe, and to say a tribe shall not depart from the tribe, is not only a tautology, but scarcely sense; it rather signifies dominion, power, and authority, as the sceptre always does, it being an emblem of it, see Num 24:17 and this intends either the government, which was in the heads and princes of the tribe, which commenced as soon as it became a tribe, and lasted as long as it remained one, even unto the times of the Messiah; or kingly power and government, which the sceptre is generally thought to be an emblem of, and which first commenced in David, who was of the tribe of Judah, and continued unto the Babylonish captivity, when another sort of governors and government took place, designed in the next clause:

nor a lawgiver from between his feet; which may be rendered disjunctively, "or a lawgiver"; any ruler or governor, that has jurisdiction over others, though under another, as the word is used, Jdg 5:14 and the sense is, that till the Messiah came there should be in the tribe of Judah, either a king, a sceptre bearer, as there was unto the captivity; or a governor, though under others, as there were unto the times of Christ under the Babylonians, Persians, Grecians, and Romans; such as Gedaliah, Zorobabel, &c. and particularly the sanhedrim, a court of judicature, the members of which chiefly consisted of the tribe of Judah, and the נשיא, or prince of it, was always of that tribe, and which retained its power to the latter end of Herod's reign, when Christ was come; and though it was greatly diminished, it had some power remaining, even at the death of Christ, but quickly after had none at all: and if by the "lawgiver" is meant a scribe or a teacher of the law, as all the Targums, Aben Ezra, Ben Melech, and others interpret it, who used to sit at the feet of a ruler, judge, or prince of the sanhedrim; it is notorious there were of these unto, and in the times of the Messiah: in short, it matters not for the fulfilment of this prophecy what sort of governors those were after the captivity, nor of what tribe they were; they were in Judah, and their government was exercised therein, and that was in the hands of Judah, and they and that did not depart from thence till Shiloh came; since those that were of the other tribes, after the return from the captivity all went by the name of Judah:

until Shiloh come; which all the three Targums interpret of the Messiah, as do many of the Jewish writers, ancient and modern ^p; and is the name of the Messiah in their Talmud ^q, and in other writings ^r; and well agrees with him, coming from a root which signifies to be "quiet", "peaceable", and "prosperous"; as he was of a quiet and peaceable disposition, came to make peace between God and men, and made it by the blood of his cross, and gives spiritual peace to all his followers, and brings them at length to everlasting peace and happiness; having prospered and succeeded in the great work of their redemption and salvation he undertook:

and unto him shall the gathering of the people be; not of the Jews, though there were great gatherings of them to hear him preach, and see his miracles; as there were of all his people to him at his death, and in him as their head and representative, Eph 1:10 but of the Gentiles; upon his death, the Gospel being preached to all nations, multitudes among them were converted to Christ, embraced his doctrines, professed his religion, and abode by him, see Isa 11:10 some render it, the obedience of the people ^s, from the use of the word in Pro 30:17, which sense agrees with the former; for those who are truly gathered by the ministry of the word yield an obedience to his doctrines and ordinances; and others read, "the expectation of the people" ^t; the Messiah being the desire of all nations, Hag 2:6 this, with what goes before, clearly shows that the Messiah must be come, since government in every sense has departed from Judah for 1900 years or thereabout, and the Gentiles have embraced the Messiah and his Gospel the Jews rejected: the various contradictory senses they put upon this prophecy show the puzzle and confusion they are in about it, and serve to confirm the true sense of it: some apply it to the city Shiloh, others to Moses, others to Saul, others to David; nay, some will have Shiloh to be Jeroboam, or Ahijah the Shilonite, and even Nebuchadnezzar: there are two senses they put upon it which deserve the most notice, the one is, that "Shebet", we render "sceptre", signifies a "rod"; and so it does, but such a rod as is an ensign of government, as it must here, by what follows, see Eze 19:11, but they would have it to signify either a rod of correction ^u, or a staff of support; but what correction or affliction has befallen the tribe of Judah peculiar to it? was it not in a flourishing condition for five hundred years, under the reign of David's family? and when the rest of the tribes were carried captive and never returned, Judah remained in its own land, and, when carried captive, after seventy years returned again to it; add to which, that this is a prediction, not of affliction and distress, that should abide in the tribe of Judah, but of honour and glory to it: and besides, Judah has had a far greater share of correction since the coming of the true Messiah than ever it had before: and what support have the Jews now, or have had for many hundred years, being out of their land ^v, destitute of their privileges, living among other nations in disgrace, and for the most part in poverty and distress? the other sense is this, "the sceptre and lawgiver shall not depart from Judah for ever, when Shiloh comes ^w"; but this is contrary to the accents which separate and divide the phrase, "between his feet", from that, "for ever", as this version renders the word; though עד never signifies "for ever", absolutely put, without some antecedent noun or particle; nor does כי signify "when", but always "until", when it is joined with the particle עד, as it is here; besides, this sense makes the prophecy to pass over some thousands of years before any notice is taken of Judah's sceptre, which, according to the Jews, it had thousands of years ago, as well as contradicts a received notion of their own, that the Messiah, when he comes, shall not reign for ever, but for a certain time, and even a small time; some say forty years, some seventy, and others four hundred ^x.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Gen 49:10

¹ tn Or perhaps “from his descendants,” taking the expression “from between his feet” as a euphemism referring to the genitals. In this case the phrase refers by metonymy to those who come forth from his genitals, i.e., his descendants.

² tn The Hebrew form שִׁילֹה (shiloh) is a major interpretive problem. There are at least four major options (with many variations and less likely alternatives): (1) Some prefer to leave the text as it is, reading “Shiloh” and understanding it as the place where the ark rested for a while in the time of the Judges. (2) By repointing the text others arrive at the translation “until the [or “his”] ruler comes,” a reference to a Davidic ruler or the Messiah. (3) Another possibility that does not require emendation of the consonantal text, but only repointing, is “until tribute is brought to him” (so NEB, JPS, NRSV), which has the advantage of providing good parallelism with the following line, “the nations will obey him.” (4) The interpretation followed in the present translation, “to whom it [belongs]” (so RSV, NIV, REB), is based on the ancient versions. Again, this would refer to the Davidic dynasty or, ultimately, to the Messiah.

³ tn “and to him [will be] the obedience of the nations.” For discussion of this verse see J. Blenkinsopp, “The Oracle of Judah and the Messianic Entry,” JBL 80 (1961): 55-64; and E. M. Good, “The ‘Blessing’ on Judah,” JBL 82 (1963): 427-32.

Geneva Bible: Gen 49:10

The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until ^{( i )} Shiloh come; and unto him [shall] the gathering of the people [be].

^{( i )} Which is Christ the Messiah, the giver of prosperity who will call the Gentiles to salvation.

Commentary -- Verse Range Notes

TSK Synopsis: Gen 49:1-33

1 Jacob calls his sons to bless them.

3 Their blessing in particular.

29 He charges them about his burial.

33 He dies.

MHCC: Gen 49:8-12

Judah's name signifies praise. God was praised for him, Gen 29:35, praised by him, and praised in him; therefore his brethren shall praise him. Judah should be a strong and courageous tribe. Judah is compared, not to a lion raging and ranging, but to a lion enjoying the satisfaction of his power and success, without creating vexation to others; this is to be truly great. Judah should be the royal tribe, the tribe from which Messiah the Prince should come. Shiloh, that promised Seed in whom the earth should be blessed, " that peaceable and prosperous One," or " Saviour," he shall come of Judah. Thus dying Jacob at a great distance saw Christ's day, and it was his comfort and support on his death-bed. Till Christ's coming, Judah possessed authority, but after his crucifixion this was shortened, and according to what Christ foretold, Jerusalem was destroyed, and all the poor harassed remnant of Jews were confounded together. Much which is here said concerning Judah, is to be applied to our Lord Jesus. In him there is plenty of all which is nourishing and refreshing to the soul, and which maintains and cheers the Divine life in it. He is the true Vine; wine is the appointed symbol of his blood, which is drink indeed, as shed for sinners, and applied in faith; and all the blessings of his gospel are wine and milk, without money and without price, to which every thirsty soul is welcome. Isa 55:1.

Matthew Henry: Gen 49:8-12

Glorious things are here said of Judah. The mention of the crimes of the three elder of his sons had not so put the dying patriarch out of humour but that he had a blessing ready for Judah, to whom blessings belonged. Judah's name signifies praise, in allusion to which he says, Thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise, Gen 49:8. God was praised for him (Gen 29:35), praised by him, and praised in him; and therefore his brethren shall praise him. Note, Those that are to God for a praise shall be the praise of their brethren. It is prophesied that, 1. The tribe of Judah should be victorious and successful in war: Thy hand shall be in the neck of thy enemies. This was fulfilled in David, Psa 18:40. 2. It should be superior to the rest of the tribes; not only in itself more numerous and illustrious, but having a dominion over them: Thy father's children shall bow down before thee. Judah was the lawgiver, Psa 60:7. That tribe led the van through the wilderness, and in the conquest of Canaan, Jdg 1:2. The prerogatives of the birthright which Reuben had forfeited, the excellence of dignity and power, were thus conferred upon Judah. Observe, "Thy brethren shall bow down before thee, and yet shall praise thee, reckoning themselves happy in having so wise and bold a commander."Note, Honour and power are then a blessing to those that have them when they are not grudged and envied, but praised and applauded, and cheerfully submitted to. 3. It should be a strong and courageous tribe, and so qualified for command and conquest: Judah is a lion's whelp, Gen 49:9. The lion is the king of beasts, the terror of the forest when he roars; when he seizes his prey, none can resist him; when he goes up from the prey, none dare 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 and quietly enjoy what was obtained by those victories - that they should make war, not for the sake of war, but for the sake of peace. Judah is compared, not to a lion rampant, always tearing, always raging, always ranging; but to a lion couchant, enjoying the satisfaction of his power and success, without creating vexation to others: this is to be truly great. 4. It should be the royal tribe, and the tribe from which Messiah the Prince should come: The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, till Shiloh come, Gen 49:10. Jacob here foresees and 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 - his seed, that promised seed, in whom the earth should be blessed: that peaceable and prosperous one, or the Saviour, so others translate it, he shall come of Judah. Thus dying Jacob, at a great distance, saw Christ's day, and it was his comfort and support on his death-bed. (3.) That after the coming of the sceptre into the tribe of Judah it should continue in that tribe, at least a government of their own, 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 subsequently the governors of Judea were 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, Luk 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 he that should come, and that we are to look for no other; for he came exactly at the time appointed. Many excellent pens have been admirable well employed in explaining and illustrating this famous prophecy of Christ. 5. It should be a very fruitful tribe, especially that it should abound with milk for babes, and wine to make glad the heart of strong men (Gen 49:11, Gen 49:12) - vines so common in the hedge-rows and so strong that they should tie 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 what 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 prophecy (Rev 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 (Hag 2:7), who, being lifted up from the earth, should draw all men unto him (Joh 12:32), and in whom the children of God that are scattered abroad should meet as the centre of their unity, Joh 11:52. (4.) In him 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, Isa 55:1.

Keil-Delitzsch: Gen 49:8-12

Judah, the fourth son, was the first to receive a rich and unmixed blessing, the blessing of inalienable supremacy and power. " Judah thou, thee will thy brethren praise! thy hand in the neck of thy foes! to thee will thy father's sons bow down! " אתּה , thou, is placed first as an absolute noun, like אני in Gen 17:4; Gen 24:27; יודוּך is a play upon יהוּדה like אודה in Gen 29:35. Judah, according to Gen 29:35, signifies: he for whom Jehovah is praised, not merely the praised one. "This nomen , the patriarch seized as an omen , and expounded it as a presage of the future history of Judah."Judah should be in truth all that his name implied (cf. Gen 27:36). Judah had already shown to a certain extent a strong and noble character, when he proposed to sell Joseph rather than shed his blood (Gen 37:26.); but still more in the manner in which he offered himself to his father as a pledge for Benjamin, and pleaded with Joseph on his behalf (Gen 43:9-10; Gen 44:16.); and it was apparent even in his conduct towards Thamar. In this manliness and strength there slumbered the germs of the future development of strength in his tribe. Judah would put his enemies to flight, grasp them by the neck, and subdue them (Job 16:12, cf. Exo 23:27; Psa 18:41). Therefore his brethren would do homage to him: not merely the sons of his mother, who are mentioned in other places (Gen 27:29; Jdg 8:19), i.e., the tribes descended from Leah, but the sons of his father-all the tribes of Israel therefore; and this was really the case under David (2Sa 5:1-2, cf. 1Sa 18:6-7, and 1Sa 18:16). This princely power Judah acquired through his lion-like nature.

Gen 49:9-10

" A young lion is Judah; from the prey, my son, art thou gone up: he has lain down; like a lion there he lieth, and like a lioness, who can rouse him up! "Jacob compares Judah to a young, i.e., growing lion, ripening into its full strength, as being the "ancestor of the lion-tribe."But he quickly rises "to a vision of the tribe in the glory of its perfect strength,"and describes it as a lion which, after seizing prey, ascends to the mountain forests (cf. Son 4:8), and there lies in majestic quiet, no one daring to disturb it. To intensify the thought, the figure of a lion is followed by that of the lioness, which is peculiarly fierce in defending its young. The perfects are prophetic; and עלה relates not to the growth or gradual rise of the tribe, but to the ascent of the lion to its lair upon the mountains. "The passage evidently indicates something more than Judah's taking the lead in the desert, and in the wars of the time of the Judges; and points to the position which Judah attained through the warlike successes of David"( Knobel ). The correctness of this remark is put beyond question by Gen 49:10, where the figure is carried out still further, but in literal terms. "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, till Shiloh come and the willing obedience of the nations be to him." The sceptre is the symbol of regal command, and in its earliest form it was a long staff, which the king held in his hand when speaking in public assemblies (e.g., Agamemnon, Il. 2, 46, 101); and when he sat upon his throne he rested in between his feet, inclining towards himself (see the representation of a Persian king in the ruins of Persepolis, Niebuhr Reisebeschr . ii. 145). מחקק the determining person or thing, hence a commander, legislator, and a commander's or ruler's staff (Num 21:18); here in the latter sense, as the parallels, "sceptre"and "from between his feet,"require. Judah - this is the idea - was to rule, to have the chieftainship, till Shiloh came, i.e., for ever. It is evident that the coming of Shiloh is not to be regarded as terminating the rule of Judah, from the last clause of the verse, according to which it was only then that it would attain to dominion over the nations. כּי עד has not an exclusive signification here, but merely abstracts what precedes from what follows the given terminus ad quem , as in Gen 26:13, or like אשׁר עד Gen 28:15; Psa 112:8, or עד Psa 110:1, and ἕως Mat 5:18.

But the more precise determination of the thought contained in Gen 49:10 is dependent upon our explanation of the word Shiloh . It cannot be traced, as the Jerusalem Targum and the Rabbins affirm, to the word שׁיל filius with the suffix ה = ו " his son, "since such a noun as שׁיל is never met with in Hebrew, and neither its existence nor the meaning attributed to it can be inferred from שׁליה , afterbirth, in Deu 28:57. Nor can the paraphrases of Onkelos ( donec veniat Messias cujus est regnum ), of the Greek versions ( ἕως ἐὰν ἔλθη τὰ ἀποκείμενα αὐτῷ ; or ᾧ ἀπόκειται , as Aquila and Symmachus appear to have rendered it), or of the Syriac , etc., afford any real proof, that the defective form שׁלה , which occurs in 20 MSS, was the original form of the word, and is to be pointed שׁלּה for שׁלּו = לו אשׁר . For apart from the fact, that שׁ for אשׁר would be unmeaning here, and that no such abbreviation can be found in the Pentateuch, it ought in any case to read הוּא שׁלּו "to whom it (the sceptre) is due,"since שׁלּו alone could not express this, and an ellipsis of הוּא in such a case would be unparalleled. It only remains therefore to follow Luther , and trace שׁילה to שׁלה , to be quiet, to enjoy rest, security. But from this root Shiloh cannot be explained according to the analogy of such forms כּידור קימשׁ For these forms constitute no peculiar species, but are merely derived from the reduplicated forms, as קמּשׁ , which occurs as well as קימשׁ , clearly shows; moreover they are none of them formed from roots of ה. ל שׁילה points to שׁילון , to the formation of nouns with the termination ôn , in which the liquids are eliminated, and the remaining vowel ו is expressed by ה ( Ew . §84); as for example in the names of places, שׁלה or שׁלו , also שׁילו (Jdg 21:21; Jer 7:12) and גּלה (Jos 15:51), with their derivatives שׁלני (1Ki 11:29; 1Ki 12:15) and גּלני (2Sa 15:12), also אבדּה (Pro 27:20) for אבדּון (Pro 15:11, etc.), clearly prove. Hence שׁילון either arose from שׁליון ( שׁלה ), or was formed directly from שׁוּל = שׁלה , like גּלון from גּיל . But if שׁילון is the original form of the word, שׁילה cannot be an appellative noun in the sense of rest, or a place of rest, but must be a proper name. For the strong termination ôn loses its n after o only in proper names, like שׁלמה , מגדּו by the side of מגדּון (Zec 12:11) and דּודו (Jdg 10:1). אבדּה forms no exception to this; for when used in Pro 27:20 as a personification of hell, it is really a proper name. An appellative noun like שׁילה , in the sense of rest, or place of rest, "would be unparalleled in the Hebrew thesaurus ; the nouns used in this sense are שׁלו , שׁלוה , שׁלום , מנוּחה "For these reasons even Delitzsch pronounces the appellative rendering, "till rest comes,"or till "he comes to a place of rest,"grammatically impossible. Shiloh or Shilo is a proper name in every other instance in which it is used in the Old Testament, and was in fact the name of a city belonging to the tribe of Ephraim, which stood in the midst of the land of Canaan, upon an eminence above the village of Turmus Aya , in an elevated valley surrounded by hills, where ruins belonging both to ancient and modern times still bear the name of Seilûn . In this city the tabernacle was pitched on the conquest of Canaan by the Israelites under Joshua, and there it remained till the time of Eli (Jdg 18:31; 1Sa 1:3; 1Sa 2:12.), possibly till the early part of Saul's reign.

Some of the Rabbins supposed our Shiloh to refer to the city. This opinion has met with the approval of most of the expositors, from Teller and Eichhorn to Tuch , who regard the blessing as a vaticinium ex eventu , and deny not only its prophetic character, but for the most part its genuineness. Delitzsch has also decided in its favour, because Shiloh or Shilo is the name of a town in every other passage of the Old Testament; and in 1Sa 4:12, where the name is written as an accusative of direction, the words are written exactly as they are here. But even if we do not go so far as Hoffmann , and pronounce the rendering "till he (Judah) come to Shiloh"the most impossible of all renderings, we must pronounce it utterly irreconcilable with the prophetic character of the blessing. Even if Shilo existed in Jacob's time (which can neither be affirmed nor denied), it had acquired no importance in relation to the lives of the patriarchs, and is not once referred to in their history; so that Jacob could only have pointed to it as the goal and turning point of Judah's supremacy in consequence of a special revelation from God. But in that case the special prediction would really have been fulfilled: not only would Judah have come to Shiloh, but there he would have found permanent rest, and there would the willing subjection of the nations to his sceptre have actually taken place. Now none of these anticipations and confirmed by history. It is true we read in Jos 18:1, that after the promised land had been conquered by the defeat of the Canaanites in the south and north, and its distribution among the tribes of Israel had commenced, and was so far accomplished, that Judah and the double tribe of Joseph had received their inheritance by lot, the congregation assembled at Shilo, and there erected the tabernacle, and it was not till after this had been done, that the partition of the land was proceeded with and brought to completion. But although this meeting of the whole congregation at Shilo, and the erection of the tabernacle there, was generally of significance as the turning point of the history, it was of equal importance to all the tribes, and not to Judah alone. If it were to this event that Jacob's words pointed, they should be rendered, "till they come to Shiloh,"which would be grammatically allowable indeed, but very improbable with the existing context. And even then nothing would be gained. For, in the first place, up to the time of the arrival of the congregation at Shilo, Judah did not possess the promised rule over the tribes. The tribe of Judah took the first place in the camp and on the march (Num 2:3-9; Num 10:14), - formed in fact the van of the army; but it had no rule, did not hold the chief command. The sceptre or command was held by the Levite Moses during the journey through the desert, and by the Ephraimite Joshua at the conquest and division of Canaan. Moreover, Shilo itself was not the point at which the leadership of Judah among the tribes was changed into the command of nations. Even if the assembling of the congregation of Israel at Shiloh (Jos 18:1) formed so far a turning point between two periods in the history of Israel, that the erection of the tabernacle for a permanent continuance at Shilo was a tangible pledge, that Israel had now gained a firm footing in the promised land, had come to rest and peace after a long period of wandering and war, had entered into quiet and peaceful possession of the land and its blessings, so that Shilo, as its name indicates, became the resting-place of Israel; Judah did not acquire the command over the twelve tribes at that time, nor so long as the house of God remained at Shilo, to say nothing of the submission of the nations. It was not till after the rejection of "the abode of Shiloh,"at and after the removal of the ark of the covenant by the Philistines (1 Sam 4), with which the "tabernacle of Joseph"as also rejected, that God selected the tribe of Judah and chose David (Psa 78:60-72). Hence it was not till after Shiloh had ceased to be the spiritual centre for the tribes of Israel, over whom Ephraim had exercised a kind of rule so long as the central sanctuary of the nation continued in its inheritance, that by David's election as prince ( נגיד ) over Israel the sceptre and the government over the tribes of Israel passed over to the tribe of Judah. Had Jacob, therefore, promised to his son Judah the sceptre or ruler's staff over the tribes until he came to Shiloh, he would have uttered no prophecy, but simply a pious wish, which would have remained entirely unfulfilled.

With this result we ought not to rest contented; unless, indeed, it could be maintained that because Shiloh was ordinarily the name of a city, it could have no other signification. But just as many other names of cities are also names of persons, e.g., Enoch (Gen 4:17), and Shechem (Gen 34:2); so Shiloh might also be a personal name, and denote not merely the place of rest, but the man, or bearer, of rest. We regard Shiloh , therefore, as a title of the Messiah, in common with the entire Jewish synagogue and the whole Christian Church, in which, although there may be uncertainty as to the grammatical interpretation of the word, there is perfect agreement as to the fact that the patriarch is here proclaiming the coming of the Messiah. "For no objection can really be sustained against thus regarding it as a personal name, in closest analogy to שׁלמה "( Hoffmann ). The assertion that Shiloh cannot be the subject, but must be the object in this sentence, is as unfounded as the historiological axiom, "that the expectation of a personal Messiah was perfectly foreign to the patriarchal age, and must have been foreign from the very nature of that age,"with which Kurtz sets aside the only explanation of the word which is grammatically admissible as relating to the personal Messiah, thus deciding, by means of a priori assumptions which completely overthrow the supernaturally unfettered character of prophecy, and from a one-sided view of the patriarchal age and history, how much the patriarch Jacob ought to have been able to prophesy. The expectation of a personal Saviour did not arise for the first time with Moses, Joshua, and David, or first obtain its definite form after one man had risen up as the deliverer and redeemer, the leader and ruler of the whole nation, but was contained in the germ in the promise of the seed of the woman, and in the blessing of Noah upon Shem. It was then still further expanded in the promises of God to the patriarchs. - "I will bless thee ; be a blessing, and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed,"- by which Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (not merely the nation to descend from them) were chosen as the personal bearers of that salvation, which was to be conveyed by them through their seed to all nations. When the patriarchal monad was expanded into a dodekad, and Jacob had before him in his twelve sons the founders of the twelve-tribed nation, the question naturally arose, from which of the twelve tribes would the promised Saviour proceed? Reuben had forfeited the right of primogeniture by his incest, and it could not pass over to either Simeon or Levi on account of their crime against the Shechemites. Consequently the dying patriarch transferred, both by his blessing and prophecy, the chieftainship which belonged to the first-born and the blessing of the promise to his fourth son Judah, having already, by the adoption of Joseph's sons, transferred to Joseph the double inheritance associated with the birthright. Judah was to bear the sceptre with victorious lion-courage, until in the future Shiloh the obedience of the nations came to him, and his rule over the tribes was widened into the peaceful government of the world. It is true that it is not expressly stated that Shiloh was to descend from Judah; but this follows as a matter of course from the context, i.e., from the fact, that after the description of Judah as an invincible lion, the cessation of his rule, or the transference of it to another tribe, could not be imagined as possible, and the thought lies upon the surface, that the dominion of Judah was to be perfected in the appearance of Shiloh .

Thus the personal interpretation of Shiloh stands in the most beautiful harmony with the constant progress of the same revelation. To Shiloh will the nations belong. ולו refers back to שׁילה . יקּהת , which only occurs again in Pro 30:17, from יקהה with dagesh forte euphon ., denotes the obedience of a son, willing obedience; and עמּים in this connection cannot refer to the associated tribes, for Judah bears the sceptre over the tribes of Israel before the coming of Shiloh , but to the nations universally. These will render willing obedience to Shiloh , because as a man of rest He brings them rest and peace.

As previous promises prepared the way for our prophecy, so was it still further unfolded by the Messianic prophecies which followed; and this, together with the gradual advance towards fulfilment, places the personal meaning of Shiloh beyond all possible doubt. - In the order of time, the prophecy of Balaam stands next, where not only Jacob's proclamation of the lion-nature of Judah is transferred to Israel as a nation (Num 23:24; Num 24:9), but the figure of the sceptre from Israel, i.e., the ruler or king proceeding from Israel, who will smite all his foes (Gen 24:17), is taken verbatim from Gen 49:9, Gen 49:10 of this address. In the sayings of Balaam, the tribe of Judah recedes behind the unity of the nation. For although, both in the camp and on the march, Judah took the first place among the tribes (Num 2:2-3; Num 7:12; Num 10:14), this rank was no real fulfilment of Jacob's blessing, but a symbol and pledge of its destination to be the champion and ruler over the tribes. As champion, even after the death of Joshua, Judah opened the attack by divine direction upon the Canaanites who were still left in the land (Jdg 1:1.), and also the war against Benjamin (Jdg 20:18). It was also a sign of the future supremacy of Judah, that the first judge and deliverer from the power of their oppressors was raised up to Israel from the tribe of Judah in the person of the Kenizzite Othniel (Jdg 3:9.). From that time forward Judah took no lead among the tribes for several centuries, but rather fell back behind Ephraim, until by the election of David as king over all Israel, Judah was raised to the rank of ruling tribe, and received the sceptre over all the rest (1Ch 28:4). In David, Judah grew strong (1Ch 5:2), and became a conquering lion, whom no one dared to excite. With the courage and strength of a lion, David brought under his sceptre all the enemies of Israel round about. But when God had given him rest, and he desired to build a house to the Lord, he received a promise through the prophet Nathan that Jehovah would raise up his seed after him, and establish the throne of his kingdom for ever (2Sa 7:13.). "Behold, a son shall be born to thee, who shall be a man of rest; and I (Jehovah) will give him rest from all his enemies round about; for Solomon (i.e., Friederich , Frederick, the peaceful one) shall be his name, and I will give peace and rest unto Israel in his days...and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel for ever."Just as Jacob's prophecy was so far fulfilled in David, that Judah had received the sceptre over the tribes of Israel, and had led them to victory over all their foes; and David upon the basis of this first fulfilment received through Nathan the divine promise, that the sceptre should not depart from his house, and therefore not from Judah;so the commencement of the coming of Shiloh received its first fulfilment in the peaceful sway of Solomon, even if David did not give his son the name Solomon with an allusion to the predicted Shiloh, which one might infer from the sameness in the meaning of שׁלמה and שׁילה when compared with the explanation given of the name Solomon in 1Ch 28:9-10. But Solomon was not the true Shiloh . His peaceful sway was transitory, like the repose which Israel enjoyed under Joshua at the erection of the tabernacle at Shiloh (Jos 11:23; Jos 14:15; Jos 21:44); moreover it extended over Israel alone. The willing obedience of the nations he did not secure; Jehovah only gave rest from his enemies round about in his days, i.e., during his life.

But this first imperfect fulfilment furnished a pledge of the complete fulfilment in the future, so that Solomon himself, discerning in spirit the typical character of his peaceful reign, sang of the King's Son who should have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth, before whom all kings should bow, and whom all nations should serve (Ps 72); and the prophets after Solomon prophesied of the Prince of Peace, who should increase government and peace without end upon the throne of David, and of the sprout out of the rod of Jesse, whom the nations should seek (Isa 9:5-6; Isa 11:1-10); and lastly, Ezekiel, when predicting the downfall of the Davidic kingdom, prophesied that this overthrow would last until He should come to whom the right belonged, and to whom Jehovah would give it (Eze 21:27). Since Ezekiel in his words, "till He come to whom the right belongs,"takes up, and is generally admitted, our prophecy "till Shiloh come,"and expands it still further in harmony with the purpose of his announcement, more especially from Psa 72:1-5, where righteousness and judgment are mentioned as the foundation of the peace which the King's Son would bring; he not only confirms the correctness of the personal and Messianic explanation of the word Shiloh , but shows that Jacob's prophecy of the sceptre not passing from Judah till Shiloh came, did not preclude a temporary loss of power. Thus all prophecies, and all the promises of God, in fact, are so fulfilled, as not to preclude the punishment of the shins of the elect, and yet, notwithstanding that punishment, assuredly and completely attain to their ultimate fulfilment. And thus did the kingdom of Judah arise from its temporary overthrow to a new and imperishable glory in Jesus Christ (Heb 7:14), who conquers all foes as the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Rev 5:5), and reigns as the true Prince of Peace, as "our peace"(Eph 1:14), for ever and ever.

Gen 49:11-12

In Gen 49:11 and Gen 49:12 Jacob finishes his blessing on Judah by depicting the abundance of his possessions in the promised land. "Binding his she-ass to the vine, and to the choice vine his ass's colt; he washes his garment in wine, and his cloak in the blood of the grape: dull are the eyes with wine, and white the teeth with milk." The participle אסרי has the old connecting vowel, i, before a word with a preposition (like Isa 22:16; Mic 7:14, etc.); and בּני in the construct state, as in Gen 31:39. The subject is not Shiloh, but Judah, to whom the whole blessing applies. The former would only be possible, if the fathers and Luther were right in regarding the whole as an allegorical description of Christ, or if Hoffmann's opinion were correct, that it would be quite unsuitable to describe Judah, the lion-like warrior and ruler, as binding his ass to a vine, coming so peacefully upon his ass, and remaining in his vineyard. But are lion-like courage and strength irreconcilable with a readiness for peace? Besides, the notion that riding upon an ass is an image of a peaceful disposition seems quite unwarranted; and the supposition that the ass is introduced as an animal of peace, in contrast with the war-horse, is founded upon Zec 9:9, and applied to the words of the patriarch in a most unhistorical manner. This contrast did not exist till a much later period, when the Israelites and Canaanites had introduced war-horses, and is not applicable at all to the age and circumstances of the patriarchs, since at that time the only animals there were to ride, beside camels, were asses and she-asses (Gen 22:3 cf. Exo 4:20; Num 22:21); and even in the time of the Judges, and down to David's time, riding upon asses was a distinction of nobility or superior rank (Jdg 1:14; Jdg 10:4; Jdg 12:14; 2Sa 19:27). Lastly, even in Gen 49:9, Gen 49:10 Judah is not depicted as a lion eager for prey, or as loving war and engaged in constant strife, but, according to Hoffmann's own words, "as having attained, even before the coming of Shiloh, to a rest acquired by victory over surrounding foes, and as seated in his place with the insignia of his dominion."Now, when Judah's conflicts are over, and he has come to rest, he also may bind his ass to the vine and enjoy in peaceful repose the abundance of his inheritance. Of wine and milk, the most valuable productions of his land, he will have such a superabundance, that, as Jacob hyperbolically expresses it, he may wash his clothes in the blood of the grape, and enjoy them so plentifully, that his eyes shall be inflamed with wine, and his teeth become white with milk.

(Note: Jam de situ regionis loquitur, quae sorte filiis Judae obtigit. Significat autem tantam illic fore vitium copiam, ut passim obviae prostent non secus atque alibi vepres vel infrugifera arbusta. Nam quum ad sepes ligari soleant asini, vites ad hunc contemptibilem usum aeputat. Eodem pertinet quae sequuntur hyperbolicae loquendi formae, quod Judas lavabit vestem suam in vino, et oculis eritrubicundus. Tantam enim vini abundantiam fore intelligit, ut promiscue ad lotiones, perinde ut aqua effundi queat sine magno dispendio; assiduo autem largioreque illius potu rubedinem contracturi sint oculi . Calvin.)

The soil of Judah produced the best wine in Canaan, near Hebron and Engedi (Num 13:23-24; Son 1:4; 2Ch 26:10 cf. Joe 1:7.), and had excellent pasture land in the desert by Tekoah and Carmel, to the south of Hebron (1Sa 25:2; Amo 1:1; 2Ch 26:10). סוּתה : contracted from סווּתה , from סוה to envelope, synonymous with מסוה a veil (Exo 34:33).

Constable: Gen 11:27--Exo 1:1

II. PATRIARCHAL NARRATIVES 11:27--50:26

One of the significant changes in the emphasis that occurs at this point in Genesis is from cursing in the primeval record to blessing in the patriarchal narratives. The Abrahamic Covenant is most important in this respect. How Abram's family gained these blessings unfolds. Israel could, and we can, identify with their experiences.

"Chapters 1-11 are set in Babylonia; chs. 12-36 are set in Palestine; chs. 37-50 are set in Egypt. (The same kind of tripartite geographical focus emerges from Exodus: [1] 1:1-12:36, in Egypt; [2] 12:37-18:27, to Sinai; [3] 19:1-40:38, at Sinai.) In other words, each part of the Mediterranean world is highlighted in some part of Genesis. The crucial center section of Genesis (chs. 12-36) is bracketed geographically by two sections of the Near Eastern world with whose history that of Israel would be constantly interlocked. . . .

"In chs. 1-11 we read of individuals who had land, but are either losing it or being expelled from it. In chs. 12-50 the emphasis is on individuals who do not have land, but are on the way toward it. One group is losing; another group is expecting.

"Genesis is moving us progressively from generation (chs. 1-2), to degeneration (chs. 3-11), to regeneration (chs. 12-50)."³⁹³

Chapters 1-11 present a structural pattern that carries over into the rest of the Pentateuch.

"The importance of Genesis 1-11 for the rest of the Pentateuch can be seen in the fact that its narrative structure provides a pattern by which the author often shapes subsequent pentateuchal narratives. Thus the order and arrangement of the Creation accounts in Genesis 1-2 exhibit the same pattern as the description of the building of the tabernacle (Ex 25-31); the tabernacle is portrayed as a return to the Garden of Eden. The instructions given to Noah for building the ark foreshadow those given to Moses for building the tabernacle. Furthermore, one can demonstrate that whole sections of laws in the Pentateuch have been grouped and arranged in patterns that parallel the narrative structure of Genesis 1-11."³⁹⁴

"The ancient oriental background to Gen 1-11 shows it to be concerned with rather different issues from those that tend to preoccupy modern readers. It is affirming the unity of God in the face of polytheism, his justice rather than his caprice, his power as opposed to his impotence, his concern for mankind rather than his exploitation. And whereas Mesopotamia clung to the wisdom of primeval man, Genesis records his sinful disobedience. Because as Christians we tend to assume these points in our theology, we often fail to recognize the striking originality of the message of Gen 1-11 and concentrate on subsidiary points that may well be of less moment."³⁹⁵

Some notable changes take place in the second part of Genesis. Instead of the genealogies being prominent and the stories secondary, as in chapters 1-11, the reverse becomes true now. God retreats farther into the background of the events recorded than was the case earlier, and there is corresponding emphasis on the personalities of the patriarchs. The promises to the patriarchs form the central theme of this section, especially those concerning descendants, land, and divine blessing. There also seems to be increasing depth in the moral awareness of the patriarchs as generation follows generation from Abram to Joseph.³⁹⁶

Constable: Gen 37:2--Exo 1:1

E. What Became of Jacob 37:2-50:26

Here begins the tenth and last toledot in Genesis. Jacob remains a major character throughout Genesis. Moses recorded his death in chapter 49. Nevertheless Joseph replaces him as the focus of the writer's attention at this point.⁷⁹⁵ These chapters are not entirely about Joseph, however. The writer showed interest in all the sons of Jacob.

"The emphasis now shifts from Jacob's personal struggles to receive the blessing promised to Abraham and Isaac, to the events in Jacob's life that lead up to the formation of Israel as a nation."⁷⁹⁶

The story of Joseph also links the history of the patriarchs with their settlement in Egypt.

"The Joseph story . . . develops the theme of the Pentateuch by showing the gradual fulfillment of the promises made to Abraham in 12:1-3. In particular, it shows how God blesses the nations through the descendants of Abraham [cf. 50:20]."⁷⁹⁷

"The theme of the Joseph narrative concerns God's hidden and decisive power which works in and through but also against human forms of power. A soft' word for that reality is providence. A harder word for the same reality is predestination. Either way God is working out his purpose through and in spite of Egypt, through and in spite of Joseph and his brothers."⁷⁹⁸

Human responsibility is as much a revelation of this section as divine sovereignty.

Constable: Gen 49:1-28

14. Jacob's blessing of his sons 49:1-28

Jacob blessed all 12 of his sons and foretold what would become of each of them and their descendants. He disqualified Reuben, Simeon, and Levi from leadership and gave that blessing to Judah. He granted the double portion to Joseph. This chapter is the last one in Genesis that gives the destinies of the family members of Abraham's chosen line. It contains blessings, curses, judgments, and promises, all of which are prominent in Genesis.

"These chapters, then, take the story from the first mention of Abram in 11:26 to the first mention of Israel as a people, a people blessed by God with a special blessing."⁹²¹

The writer of Genesis called this section Jacob's blessing (v. 28). Isaac had prophetically outlined the future of his two sons' families (ch. 27). Earlier Noah had prophesied the future of Canaan's descendants (9:25-27). Likewise Jacob by divine inspiration foretold major characteristics of each of the twelve tribes that would issue from his twelve sons (v. 1). Each blessing contains at least one of these elements: 1) a synopsis of the son's personality, 2) a hint as to his potential, and 3) a prophecy of his future.

"Jacob predicted how things would turn out for each of his sons and their descendants, should they continue to display the character they had displayed thus far."⁹²²

This is the first long poem in the Bible.

"This chapter, in that it is poetry, seems to be intended to be a high point of the toledot ya'aqob (i.e., chaps. 37-50), if not the whole book of Genesis."⁹²³

This blessing rested on God's promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Each son learned how his branch of the family would benefit from and be a channel of blessing relative to the patriarchal promises. The natural character of each son and the consequences of that character would have their outcome in the future of the Israelites. The choices and consequently the characters of the patriarchs affected their descendants for generations to come.

"The Spirit of God revealed to the dying patriarch Israel the future history of his seed, so that he discovered in the character of his sons the future development of the tribes proceeding from them, and with prophetic clearness assigned to each of them its position and importance in the nation into which they were to expand in the promised inheritance."⁹²⁴

Jacob assumed in his blessing that his family would increase and possess the land of Canaan. This optimism reveals his faith.

"God gave His people this prophecy to bear them through the dismal barrenness of their experiences and to show them that He planned all the future. For Jacob's family, the future lay beyond the bondage of Egypt in the land of promise. But the enjoyment of the blessings of that hope would depend on the participants' faithfulness. So from the solemnity of his deathbed Jacob evaluated his sons one by one, and carried his evaluation forward to the future tribes."⁹²⁵

The scope of his prophecy extends into the millennial age. God did not fulfill these prophecies completely during the lifetime of Jacob's sons. He did not do so during Israel's years in the land beginning with the conquest of Joshua and ending with the captivities. Moreover He has not done so since then.

"Jacob's last words to his sons have become the occasion for a final statement of the book's major theme: God's plan to restore the lost blessing [lost in the Fall] through the offspring of Abraham.

"By framing Jacob's last words between v. 1 and v. 28, the writer shows where his interests lie. Jacob's words look to the future--'in days to come'--and draw on the past, viz., God's blessing of mankind. It is within that context we are to read and understand Jacob's words in this chapter."⁹²⁶

49:1-4 Reuben. As the first-born, Reuben could have anticipated preeminence among his brothers, leadership of the tribes, priesthood within the family, and the double portion of the birthright. However, he forfeited these blessings preferring rather to give free reign to his lust (35:22; cf. Esau). The leadership of the tribes therefore went to Judah, the priesthood to Levi eventually (cf. Exod. 32:25-29; Num. 3:12-13), and the double portion to Joseph. Joseph was the first-born of the favored Rachel whereas Reuben was Leah's first-born. Joseph's priority was not due solely to Jacob's preference, however, but to the will of God as revealed in Joseph's dreams.

"About no other tribe do we know so little as about Reuben. . . . The tribe produced no significant man, no judge, no king, no prophet."⁹²⁷

Irresolution marked the Reubenites in the time of Israel's judges (Judg. 5:15-16).

"This forfeiture is fulfilled historically in later times when the Reubenites living in Transjordan are integrated into the tribe of Gad.

"From this first oracle the teaching is clear that the behavior of one individual affects the destiny of his descendants."⁹²⁸

49:5-7 Simeon and Levi. These two were brothers not only by blood but also in disposition. They were violent, wicked men (34:25-31). Because of their wickedness they would have no independent tribal territory, but their descendants would live scattered among the other tribes. By the second census, just before the Israelites entered Canaan, the Simeonites had become the weakest tribe (Num. 26:14). Moses passed over the Simeonites in his blessing of the Israelites (Deut. 33). This tribe received only a few cities within the allotment of Judah rather than a separate geographical territory (Josh. 19:1-9). The Simeonites eventually lost their tribal identity among the other tribes, especially Judah (cf. 1 Chron. 4:27, 38-43).

The Levites also received no large land grant, but Joshua gave them several cities in which they lived among the other tribes (Josh. 21:1-40). The Levites gained a special blessing at Mt. Sinai by siding with Moses when the other Israelites apostatized (Exod. 32:26-28; Num. 3:5-13; 18:6-32).

Even though these first three tribes suffered punishment for their sins, Jacob's prophecies about them were still a blessing. They retained a place in the chosen family and enjoyed the benefits of the patriarchal promises as Jacob's heirs.

49:8-12 Judah. Judah possessed a lion-like nature. As such he became the leader of the other tribes (43:3-10; Judg. 1:1-2; 3:9; 20:18; etc.). Through him came David and Messiah, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. Judah led the other tribes in the march through the wilderness (Num. 2:1-3) and in the monarchy.

The scepter (v. 10) was and is the symbol of royal command, the right to rule. Judah was to exercise leadership among the tribes until Shiloh came at which time Shiloh would extend Judah's rule to worldwide dominion. Judah's leadership was not consistently preeminent in the history of Israel, however.

Shiloh (lit. the "bearer of rest") is a proper name. It refers here not to the city in Canaan of that name but to a person who would arise in the tribe of Judah and bring peace to the world, namely, Messiah (cf. 3:15; Num. 24:17). We should probably translate it "whose it (the ruler's staff) is" or "to whom it belongs" rather than transliterate it "Shiloh" (cf. Ezek. 21:26-27).⁹²⁹ Another live option is "until tribute is brought to him."⁹³⁰

"Whichever of these interpretations is adopted, . . . all at least agree that this line is predicting the rise of the Davidic monarchy and the establishment of the Israelite empire, if not the coming of a greater David. And if the primary reference is to David, traditional Jewish and Christian exegetes would agree that like other Davidic promises it has a greater fulfillment in the Messiah."⁹³¹

Because Reuben, Simeon, and Levi had disqualified themselves Judah received the leadership of the tribes and the blessing that normally went to the first-born. This is how the leadership of the tribes and the Messianic line fell to Judah.

Everything after "Until" (v. 10) describes millennial conditions.

"No Judean would tie his ass to a vine [v. 11], for it would be eaten up, of course. Anyone who can be so careless and who can wash his garments in wine, lives in paradisiacal abundance."⁹³²

"The sense of the imagery is that wine, the symbol of prosperity and blessing, will be so plentiful that even the choicest vines will be put to such everyday use as tethering the animals of burden and vintage wine will be as commonplace as wash water. Verse 12 returns to the picture of the king of Judah. His eyes are darker than wine and his teeth whiter than milk. He is a picture of strength and power."⁹³³

This prophecy is the first of many that associate bumper crops with the golden age of future blessing that follow in the Old Testament.

49:13-21 These verses contain Jacob's shorter blessings on the other sons except Joseph and Benjamin whose blessings follow these.

"True to the poetic qualities of the text, the images of the destiny of the remaining sons are, in most cases, based on a wordplay of the son's name. The central theme uniting each image is that of prosperity."⁹³⁴

Zebulun (v. 13) later obtained territory between the Mediterranean Sea and the Sea of Galilee. This was a thriving commercial area though Zebulun never had permanent "waterfront property." Perhaps the men of Zebulun worked for the Phoenicians in their maritime trade (cf. Deut. 33:19). Zebulun will extend to the sea in the Millennium when his borders will extend as far as Sidon on the Mediterranean (cf. Ezek. 48:1-8, 23-27). An important caravan route from Mesopotamia to Egypt passed through his territory.

Issachar (vv. 14-15) would prefer an agricultural way of life and what it produced rather than political supremacy among the tribes. Lower Galilee including the valley of Jezreel, which Issachar obtained, was a pleasant and productive farming area.⁹³⁵

Dan (vv. 16-18) would be a judge in Israel. This prophecy came to reality partially during Samson's judgeship. Dan's victories benefited all Israel. Yet this tribe led Israel into idolatry (Judg. 18) and was therefore similar to a serpent (v. 17). Jacob asked Yahweh to deliver his descendants in the future (v. 18).

"Jacob's heartfelt aside in 18 is enigmatic: it could arise from a father's prayer, like Abraham's for Ishmael (17:18), or possibly from the sudden memory of his own treachery, long renounced, called up by the acts and the words (heel[s], 17, 19) associated with his own name."⁹³⁶

Gad (v. 19) would also be effective in battle.

Asher (v. 20) would enjoy very fruitful soil, namely, the lowlands of the Carmel range north along the Mediterranean coast. This area contained some of the most fertile land in Canaan.

Naphtali (v. 21) evidently would enjoy the admiration and appreciation of the other tribes in a special way (cf. Judg. 4 and 5). Jacob could have meant that Naphtali would exchange his freedom for a more sedentary domesticated lifestyle in the land, or that he would accommodate to the Canaanites.⁹³⁷

49:22-26 Joseph's blessing was especially abundant. The two tribes that bore his sons' names would see its fulfillment even though during his lifetime Joseph had faced much opposition. Judah received the leadership of the tribes, but Joseph obtained the double portion of the birthright (cf. 1 Chron. 5:2).

Jacob's names for God in this blessing are noteworthy: "the Mighty One of Jacob" (cf. Isa. 1:24; et al.), "the Shepherd" (48:15), and "the Stone of Israel" (cf. Deut. 32:4, 18, et al.).

"Blessing is one of the key words of Genesis . . . occurring some eighty-eight times in the book. Here in two verses [25 and 26], like the finale of a fireworks display, the root occurs six times (verb 1x, noun 5x) making a brilliant climax to the last words of Jacob. The God-given blessings of the future will far outshine those already experienced."⁹³⁸

49:27 Benjamin produced many warriors in Israel's history (e.g., Ehud, Saul, Jonathan, et al.) and demonstrated a warlike character among the tribes (Judg. 5:14; 20:16; 1 Chron. 8:40; ch. 12; 2 Chron. 14:8; 17:17; et al.).

49:28 In his twelve sons Jacob blessed all the future tribes of Israel.⁹³⁹ This is the first mention of the 12 tribes in the Bible. This was the third of Jacob's blessings, the first being on Pharaoh (ch. 47) and the second on Joseph's sons (ch. 48).

"Within Jacob's words to each of the sons (after Judah), the theme of blessing has been evident in two primary images. First, the reverse side of the blessing is stressed in the imagery of the victorious warrior. The defeat of the enemy is the prelude to the messianic peace. Second, the positive side of the blessing is stressed in the imagery of great prosperity and abundance. Behind such imagery of peace and prosperity lies the picture of the Garden of Eden--the Paradise lost. The focus of Jacob's words has been the promise that when the one comes to whom the kingship truly belongs, there will once again be the peace and prosperity that God intended all to have in the Garden of Eden."⁹⁴⁰

Sailhamer also proposed that this poetic section plays a significant role in the larger structure of the Pentateuch.

"At three macrostructural junctures in the Pentateuch, the author has spliced a major poetic discourse onto the end of a large unit of narrative (Ge 49; Nu 24; Dt 31). A close look at the material lying between and connecting the narrative and poetic sections reveals the presence of a homogeneous composition stratum. It is most noticeably marked by the recurrence of the same terminology and narrative motifs. In each of the three segments, the central narrative figure (Jacob, Balaam, Moses) calls an audience together (imperative: Ge 49:1; Nu 24:14; Dt 31:28) and proclaims (cohortative: Ge 49:1; Nu 24:14; Dt 31:28) what will happen (Ge 49:1; Nu 24:14; Dt 31:29) in the end of days' (Ge 49:1; Nu 24:14; Dt 31:29). . . .

In sum, the apparent overall strategy of the author in these three segments suggests that one of the central concerns lying behind the final shape of the Pentateuch is an attempt to uncover an inherent relationship between the past and the future. That which happened to God's people in the past portends of future events. To say it another way, the past is seen as a lesson for the future. . . .

"The narrative texts of past events are presented as pointers to future events. Past events foreshadow the future. It is not hard to see that such a hermeneutic leads to a form of narrative typology. We should, then, look for signs of such a typology in the composition of the smaller units of narrative in the Pentateuch as well as in the arrangement of the legal material."⁹⁴¹

A believer's works during this life significantly determine the extent of divine blessing he and his descendants will receive in the future.

Guzik: Gen 49:1-33

Genesis 49 - The Blessing of the Sons of Jacob

A. The cryptic blessings.

1. (1-2) What will befall the sons of Jacob in the last days.

And Jacob called his sons and said, "Gather together, that I may tell you what shall befall you in the last days:

Gather together and hear, you sons of Jacob,

And listen to Israel your father."

a. Jacob called his sons: Jacob, in what amounts to his last significant act as a patriarch and as the heir to Isaac and Abraham, will one-by-one pronounce a "blessing" upon each son.

b. What shall befall you in the last days: Some of these are not so much "blessings" as they are prophecies regarding what God will do with these tribes in the future.

i. This is the first conscious prophecy spoken by man in the Bible. There were many prophecies announced by God (such as the promise of the triumph of the seed of the woman in Genesis 3:15), and other veiled prophecies by men, but this is the first knowing prophecy of the Bible.

ii. Jewish traditions say as Jacob was about to bless his sons, he was ready to tell them the "great secret concerning the end of time." But at that moment, the glory of God visited and left just as quickly, taking all trace of the knowledge of the great mystery, so he couldn't tell them.

c. You sons of Jacob, and listen to Israel your father: At the very beginning of the blessing, Jacob realized he was both Jacob and Israel, and his sons are sons of each. This was a place of spiritual maturity, realizing both what God made him (Israel) and what he had to battle against (Jacob).

2. (3-4) Reuben: You shall not excel.

"Reuben, you are my firstborn,

My might and the beginning of my strength,

The excellency of dignity and the excellency of power.

Unstable as water, you shall not excel,

Because you went up to your father's bed;

Then you defiled it;

He went up to my couch."

a. You are my firstborn: As the firstborn of the family Reuben had claim to the inheritance rights of the firstborn, but he forfeited it through pride (The excellency of dignity) and immorality (you defiled it).

i. Reuben's immorality with his father's concubine Bilhah (the mother of his brothers Dan and Naphtali) is recorded in Genesis 35:22.

b. Unstable as water, you shall not excel: Because of Reuben's instability the birthright ends up being divided. Usually the firstborn was the spiritual and social leader of the "clan"; but the rights of blessing, priesthood, and ruling authority were divided among the sons of Israel rather than being centralized in one.

i. Though we see the great wisdom of God in "decentralizing" authority among the sons of Israel, Reuben paid a high price for his instability. As much as anything, God looks for stable character in those who will lead His people.

c. You shall not excel: The tribe of Reuben never did excel. No prophet, no judge, or no king came from the tribe of Reuben. Reuben is a great example of how the first can be last (Matthew 19:30).

3. (5-7) Simeon and Levi: I will . . . scatter them in Israel.

"Simeon and Levi are brothers;

Instruments of cruelty are in their dwelling place.

Let not my soul enter their council;

Let not my honor be united to their assembly;

For in their anger they slew a man,

And in their self-will they hamstrung an ox.

Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce;

And their wrath, for it is cruel!

I will divide them in Jacob

And scatter them in Israel."

a. Simeon and Levi are brothers: The second-born son Simeon and the third-born son Levi received the same "blessing" for the same evil deed. They were instruments of cruelty when they wiped out all the men of Shechem in retaliation for the rape of their sister Dinah (Genesis 34:25-29).

i. Jacob, perhaps in weakness, did nothing at the time except register a small, self-centered complaint (Genesis 34:30). Yet he (and the LORD) remembered this event.

ii. The sins of our past can come back and haunt us. Even when forgiven, they may carry consequences we must face for a lifetime.

b. Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce: The real problem with Simeon and Levi was their anger (in their anger they slew a man). Their anger was sin because it was rooted in self-will (in their self-will they hamstrung an ox).

i. The Bible speaks of a godly anger (Be angry and do not sin, Ephesians 4:26) and an ungodly anger (Let all bitterness, wrath, anger . . . be put away from you, Ephesians 4:31). Often, the difference between a godly, righteous anger and an ungodly anger is self-will.

c. I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel: The prophecy of dividing and scattering turned out to be a curse for Simeon. The tribe of Simeon was the weakest numerically of the 12 (Numbers 26:14) and shared an allotment of land with Judah (Joshua 19:1).

i. In fact, the tribe of Simeon became small during the wilderness wanderings. They started out from Egypt being the third largest tribe (Numbers 1:23), but some 35 years later, at the second wilderness census of Israel, 63% of the tribe perished and they became the smallest tribe (Numbers 26:14).

d. I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel: The prophecy of dividing and scattering became a blessing for Levi. Because of the faithfulness of this tribe during the rebellion of the golden calf (Exodus 32:26-28), it was scattered as a blessing throughout the whole nation of Israel. They received no large tract of land, for the LORD was their inheritance, not land (Joshua 13:33).

i. So both Simeon and Levi were scattered, but one as a blessing and the other as a curse.

ii. Washington Irving, the American writer, said: "It lightens the stroke to draw near to him who handles the rod." When we suffer from our sin, we should draw near to God and anticipate that in mercy He will turn suffering into blessing.

4. (8-12) Judah: The scepter shall not depart from Judah.

"Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise;

Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;

Your father's children shall bow down before you.

Judah is a lion's whelp;

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

He bows down, he lies down as a lion;

And as a lion, who shall rouse him?

The scepter shall not depart from Judah,

Nor a lawgiver from between his feet,

Until Shiloh comes;

And to Him shall be the obedience of the people.

Binding his donkey to the vine,

And his donkey's colt to the choice vine,

He washed his garments in wine,

And his clothes in the blood of grapes.

His eyes are darker than wine,

And his teeth whiter than milk."

a. Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise: Judah wasn't a completely exemplary character. He suggested a profit motive in getting rid of Joseph (Genesis 37:26). He did not deal faithfully with his daughter-in-law Tamar (Genesis 38:26), and he had sex with her as a prostitute (Genesis 38:18). But he did shine when he interceded and offered himself as a substitute for Joseph (Genesis 44:18-34). Overall, this blessing is an example of the riches of God's grace.

i. Jewish tradition says after Judah heard what Jacob had to say to Reuben, Simeon, and Levi, he was afraid because of the evil he did.

b. You are he whom your brothers shall praise . . . as a lion . . . the scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet . . . to Him shall be the obedience of the people: Each of these refer to the ruling position Judah will have among his brethren. He inherited the leadership aspect of the firstborn's inheritance.

i. In Revelation 5:5, Jesus is called the Lion of the tribe of Judah.

ii. "The firstborn normally had two rights. First, he became the leader of the family, the new patriarch. Second, he was entitled to a double share of the inheritance, receiving twice as much as any of the other brothers." (Boice)

c. Until Shiloh comes: The "leadership" prophecy took some 640 years to fulfill in part (with the reign of David, first of Judah's dynasty of kings), and some 1600 years to fulfill in Jesus. Jesus is referred to as Shiloh, the name meaning, "He whose right it is" and a title anciently understood to speak of the Messiah.

i. From David until the Herods, a prince of Judah was head over Israel (even Daniel in captivity). The promise was that Israel would keep this scepter until Shiloh comes. Even under their foreign masters during this period, Israel had a limited right to self-rule, until 7 A.D. Then under Herod and the Romans, their right to capital punishment was taken away.

ii. At the time, the rabbis considered it a disaster of unfulfilled Scripture. Seemingly, the last vestige of the scepter had passed from Judah, and they did not see the Messiah. Rabbis walked the streets of Jerusalem and said, "Woe unto us, for the scepter has been taken away from Judah, and Shiloh has not come." Yet God's word had not been broken.

iii. Certainly, Jesus was alive then. Perhaps this was the very year He was 12 years old and discussed God's Word in the temple with the scholars of His day. Perhaps He impressed them with His understanding of this very issue.

c. Binding his donkey to the vine: This blessing also contains a description of Judah's material abundance (the vine . . . the choice vine). Judah's land was great wine-growing country.

5. (13) Zebulun: A haven for ships.

"Zebulun shall dwell by the haven of the sea;

He shall become a haven for ships,

And his border shall adjoin Sidon."

a. Zebulun: Jacob now skipped the birth order, moving to the tenth-born and ninth-born sons, but staying with the sons born of Leah.

i. The tribe of Zebulun was noted for its faithfulness to David, supplying the largest number of soldiers to David's army of any single tribe: of Zebulun there were fifty thousand who went out to battle, expert in war with all weapons of war, stouthearted men who could keep ranks (1 Chronicles 12:33).

b. He shall become a haven for ships: The tribe of Zebulun seems to settle the piece of land sitting between the Mediterranean Sea and the Sea of Galilee. Literally, shall dwell by the haven of the sea can be rendered "looking towards the sea." Zebulun did look to the sea, both to the East and West.

6. (14-15) Issachar: A strong donkey.

"Issachar is a strong donkey,

Lying down between two burdens;

He saw that rest was good,

And that the land was pleasant;

He bowed his shoulder to bear a burden,

And became a band of slaves."

a. Issachar is a strong donkey: Issachar was a large tribe - third in size according to the Numbers 26 census. Because of their size and abundance, they were often targets of oppressive foreign armies who put them into servitude. Thus, they became a band of slaves.

i. "The meaning seems to be that Issachar was strong, but docile and lazy. He would enjoy the good land assigned him but would not strive for it. Therefore, eventually he would be pressed into servitude and the mere bearing of burdens for his masters." (Leupold)

7. (16-18) Dan: A serpent by the way.

"Dan shall judge his people

As one of the tribes of Israel.

Dan shall be a serpent by the way,

A viper by the path,

That bites the horse's heels

So that its rider shall fall backward.

I have waited for your salvation, O LORD!"

a. Dan shall judge his people: The tribe of Dan did judge his people. They supplied one of the most prominent of the Judges, Samson (Judges 13:2).

b. Dan shall be a serpent by the way: But Dan was a troublesome tribe. They introduced idolatry into Israel (Judges 18:30). Jeroboam set up one of his idolatrous golden calves in Dan (1 Kings 12:26-30) and later Dan became a center of idol worship in Israel (Amos 8:14).

i. Some think the serpent by the way refers to the idea that the Antichrist comes from the tribe of Dan (based on Daniel 11:37 and Jeremiah 8:16).

ii. Dan is left out of the listing of tribes regarding the 144,000 in Revelation 7:5-8. But Dan is the first tribe listed in Ezekiel's millennial roll call of the tribes (Ezekiel 48). This is a remarkable sign of God's redemption.

c. I have waited for your salvation, O LORD: The Hebrew word for salvation is "yeshuwah." At this point in the prophecy, when Jacob is so near death, he called out for God's salvation. He called out for Jesus.

8. (19) Gad: He shall triumph at last.

"Gad, a troop shall tramp upon him,

But he shall triumph at last."

a. Gad: The tribe of Gad supplied many fine troops for David (1 Chronicles 12:14).

b. A troop shall tramp upon him: In the days of Jeremiah (among other times) foreign armies oppressed Gad (Jeremiah 49:1).

9. (20) Asher: He shall yield royal dainties.

"Bread from Asher shall be rich,

And he shall yield royal dainties."

a. Bread from Asher shall be rich: In Deuteronomy 33:24, Moses again took up this prophecy regarding Asher: Asher is most blessed of sons; let him be favored by his brothers, and let him dip his foot in oil.

10. (21) Naphtali: He gives goodly words.

"Naphtali is a deer let loose;

He uses beautiful words."

a. Naphtali: Naphtali's land was in a key portion near the Sea of Galilee, the region where Jesus did much of His teaching and ministry. It is fittingly said of him that he gives goodly words.

i. Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee. And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: "The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned" (Matthew 4:12-16).

11. (22-26) Joseph: A fruitful bough.

"Joseph is a fruitful bough,

A fruitful bough by a well;

His branches run over the wall.

The archers have bitterly grieved him,

Shot at him and hated him.

But his bow remained in strength,

And the arms of his hands were made strong

By the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob

(From there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel),

By the God of your father who will help you,

And by the Almighty who will bless you

With blessings of heaven above,

Blessings of the deep that lies beneath,

Blessings of the breasts and of the womb.

The blessings of your father

Have excelled the blessings of my ancestors,

Up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills.

They shall be on the head of Joseph,

And on the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers."

a. Joseph is a fruitful bough: This is more of an accounting of his life and a personal blessing. In a sense, Joseph's tribes were already blessed when his sons received their blessing in Genesis 48.

b. The archers have bitterly grieved him: Though Joseph was shot at and hated, he was still a fruitful bough. This is because the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob. The idea is that God's hands were on Joseph's hands, giving him strength and skill to work the bow expertly. God was there, even when Joseph did not know it.

c. The Almighty who will bless you: Joseph was certainly blessed in his posterity. His tribes were some of the most populous. In this sense, he received the "material blessing," the double portion aspect of the inheritance of the firstborn.

d. The blessings of your father have excelled the blessings of my ancestors: Jacob could say this because he was, for much of his life, a scoundrel. Now, at the end of his days, he saw just how good God was to him. He was forgiven much and loved much (Luke 7:47).

e. The Mighty God of Jacob: In his words about Joseph, Jacob listed five great titles for God. These titles show that Jacob did come to an understanding of who God is.

· The Mighty God of Jacob

· The Shepherd

· The Stone of Israel

· The God of your father

· The Almighty

i. This is much better than when Jacob referred to God as the God of Abraham or the Fear of his father Isaac (Genesis 31:53). Now he knows who God is for himself.

12. (27) Benjamin: a ravenous wolf.

"Benjamin is a ravenous wolf;

In the morning he shall devour the prey,

And at night he shall divide the spoil."

a. Benjamin is a ravenous wolf: This was the tribe with a reputation for fierceness. To see the great extent of this, look at Ehud (Judges 3:15-23), Saul (1 Samuel 9:1, 14:47-52), and Paul (Acts 8:1-3). The cruelty of the tribe in general is seen in Judges 19 and 20.

13. (28) Jacob concludes his blessing of the sons.

All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father spoke to them. And he blessed them; he blessed each one according to his own blessing.

a. And he blessed them: Some of the things mentioned regarding these tribes may seem a bit cloudy, but only because we may not know exactly their fulfillment until the age to come.

B. Jacob's death.

1. (29-32) Jacob makes his sons promise to bury him in Canaan.

Then he charged them and said to them: "I am to be gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 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 as a possession for a burial place. There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife, there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah. The field and the cave that is there were purchased from the sons of Heth."

a. Bury me with my fathers: Though Jacob is now in Egypt, he knew he was not an Egyptian. He was a son of the promise, an heir of God's covenant with Abraham, and he will be buried in the land promised to Abraham by covenant.

b. In the cave that is in the field of Machpelah: Egypt was filled with magnificent tombs, and because of the respect Jacob had he could have been buried like a Pharaoh. But he wanted to be buried in an obscure cave in Canaan, because Canaan was the land of promise.

2. (33) The death of Jacob.

And when Jacob had finished commanding his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed and breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.

a. Breathed his last: This ends the life of the last of the great patriarchs, of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But God can and will raise up other great men to use after them.

b. And was gathered to his people: There are said to be three basic attitudes towards death. Among the ancient Greeks, they held to what can be called the death-accepting view. Our modern world is sold out to a death-denying approach. The Biblical approach is the death-defying attitude.

© 2006 David Guzik - No distribution beyond personal use without permission

Commentary -- Other

Bible Query: Gen 49:10

Q: Since Gen 49:10 says the scepter will not depart until "Shiloh" comes, how could this be the Messiah?

A: The Greek and Latin translations have "the one to whom it belongs." This was understood to be Messianic by historic Jewish interpreters, as the Aramaic targum translates this "Messiah". This is also Messianic according to the Targum Jonathan and the Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (=Targum Yerushalmi I, = Targum Ezez). The Jews lost the right to capital punishment in 11 A.D., as the Babylonian Talmud mentions in Sanhedrin chapter 4 following 51b; chapter 4 following 37; recto. Ezekiel 21:27 has a parallel construction as Genesis 49:10.

Others would see this as the official ruler of Palestine. Under the Romans, the Jewish king Archelaus was dethroned and the Roman procurator Coponius replaced him.

As a side note, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary vol.1 p.224 says the Babylonian Talmud states the Targum Jonathan was written by Jonathan bin Uzziel, who lived in the first century B.C. and was Hillel’s most prominent pupil.

In a Dead Sea Scroll Commentary on Genesis (4Q252 [=4QpGena), fragment 2 in discussing Genesis 49:10, says "Whenever Israel rules, there shall [not] fail to be a descendant of David upon the throne. For the ruler’s staff is the Covenant of kingship, [and the clans] of Israel are the divisions, until the Messiah of Righteousness comes, the Branch of David. The Dead Sea Scrolls in English 4th ed. p.300-302 also points out that this commentary sees the Jewish Hasmonean kings as illegitimate rulers, since they were not from Judah.

Josephus in his book, Wars of the Jews (93-94 A.D.) book 2 chapter 8 says, "And now Archelaus’ part of Judea was reduced into a province, and Caponius, one of the Equestrian order of the Romans, was sent as a procurator, having the power of life and death put into his hands by Caesar." Josephus also mentions that the Sanhedrin lost power over capital cases in Antiquities of the Jews 20.9. (written about 93-94 A.D.)

The Jews themselves understood this as a Messianic prophecy. In the Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin, chapter 4 following 37, recto. Rabbi Rachman said, "When the members of the Sanhedrin found themselves deprived of the/their right over life and death, a general consternation took possession of them; they covered their heads with ashes, and their bodies with sackcloth, exclaiming: ‘Woe unto us, for the scepter has departed from Judah, and the Messiah has not come!’" This happened around 7 A.D. (Taken from Josh McDowell’s Evidence That Demands a Verdict vol.1 p.169., and Jesus Before the Sanhedrin by Augustin Lemann, 1886 translated by Julius Magath, NL#0239683, Library of Congress # 15-24973. See also Pugio Fidei, Martini, Raymundus, published by De Vosin in 1651. (p.148)

Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 98b, Rabbi Johanan wrote, "The world was created for the sake of the Messiah, what is this Messiah’s name" The school of Rabbi Shila said ‘his name is Shiloh, for it is written; until Shiloh come." (p.147)

Talmud "A little more than forty years before the destruction of the Temple, the power of pronouncing capital sentences was taken away from the Jews." Jerusalem Talmud, Sanhedrin folio 24. (p.147)

Targum Onkelos says, "The transmission of dominion shall not cease from the house of Judah, nor the scribe from his children’s children, forever, until Messiah comes." (The Messiah: An Aramaic Interpretation; The Messianic Exegesis of the Targum, Samson H. Levy (Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College Jewish Institute of Religion 1974) p.2 (p.146)

Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on Genesis 49:11a, "Kings and rulers shall not cease from the house of Judah … until King Messiah comes" ibid p.7

An additional Jewish source that indicates the Jews understood this was a Messianic prophecy are Targum Jonathan on Genesis 49:10,11a. (See Evidence That Demands a Verdict vol.1 p.148 for more info.) Justin Martyr (wrote about 138-165 A.D.) mentions this as referring to Christ in his First Apology ch.32.   See Hard Sayings of the Bible p.134-135 and The Creator Beyond Time and Space by Mark Eastman and Chuck Missler for more info.

Bible Query: Gen 49:10

Q: In Gen 49:10 what exactly does the Hebrew word Shiloh mean here?

A: The original Hebrew text did not have vowels, and because of that there is some uncertainty.

a) It could be a name referring to a person: Shiloh

b) It could mean "whose it is" or "belonging to him" siloh / selloh. The NIV uses it this way. There is some support for this from the Septuagint, Syriac Peshitta. Ezekiel 21:26-27 relates to this.

c) It could mean "tribute to him" say loh. This is in the NIV margin. This would be a parallel to the verse after this.

d) It could be the name of a place: Shiloh, according to the New Geneva Study Bible p.87

e) Finally, as The New International Bible Commentary p.146 reminds us, there are many wordplays in the Bible. so it could be more than one of these.

See also The Bible Knowledge Commentary : Old Testament p.98 for more info.

Bible Query: Gen 49:10

Q: In Gen 49:10 says of the royal scepter, until "Shiloh" comes. How could this warlike prophecy refer to Jesus?

A: Jesus was spiritually warlike in defeating Satan in His first coming. In addition, Jesus will be warlike and kill many in His Second Coming in Revelation 19:11-16.

Bible Query: Gen 49:10

Q: In Gen 49:10, since the scepter would not depart from Judah until the Messiah came, why were there no kings from Judah after the exile except the Maccabees?

A: Genesis 49:10 did not guarantee there would be independent kings. It only says there would be a ruler, and Gedaliah and many others did so as governors under Babylon, Persia, and other governments.

Bible Query: Gen 49:10

Q: In Gen 49:10, since Judah was to reign until the Messiah came, why was Saul from the tribe of Benjamin?

A: There was no king when this prophecy was given. Saul was rejected as king, but once David (from Judah) was king, it was recognized that Judah was the royal line until the Messiah came. Jesus was from Judah "legally" as Joseph was his legal father, and biologically, as Mary was also from Judah. See When Critics Ask p.62 for more info.

Critics Ask: Gen 49:10

GENESIS 49:10 —Who or what is “Shiloh” in this verse?

PROBLEM: The word “Shiloh” is often understood to be a reference to Jesus Christ as the coming Messiah. The word appears in a phrase which is part of the prophetic pronouncements of Jacob upon his son Judah. It is through the tribe of Judah that the Messiah will come (cf. 2 Sam. 7 ; Mic. 5:2 ), so it seems appropriate to understand this verse as a reference to the Messiah, Jesus Christ. However, the NT does not make any reference to this prophecy as being fulfilled in Christ, nor to the name Shiloh.

SOLUTION: The solution to this problem involves the vowel pointing of the Masoretic Text (MT) of the OT (see Appendix 1). The New King James Version translates this portion of verse 10 as follows: “Until Shiloh comes.” This version follows the vowel pointing of the MT and translates the Hebrew word shylh as the proper name “Shiloh.” Shiloh was the name of a town situated approximately ten miles northeast of Bethel. Although some interpreters take the statement in Genesis 49:10 as a reference to this town, others have taken it to be a proper name for Messiah.

However, the majority of scholars propose a different vowel pointing and understand the word to mean “to whom it belongs.” This proposal has the support of ancient translations, such as the Greek and Syriac versions of the OT, and others. These ancient versions, being much older than the MT, also render the phrase, “he to whom they belong.” This reading is also supported by Ezekiel 21:27 which states, “Until He comes whose right it is.” When this part of verse 10 is taken this way, the passage reads, “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor a lawgiver’s staff from between his feet, Until He comes to whom it belongs, And to Him shall be the obedience of the people.” In light of this, the Messianic significance of the verse is much clearer. For it is fulfilled in the NT Messiah (Christ), as indicated by such passages as Matthew 2:6 , Luke 1:30-33 , Revelation 5:5 , and 19:11-16 .

GENESIS 49:10 b—If Judah was to reign until the Messiah, why was Israel’s first king from the tribe of Benjamin?

PROBLEM: Genesis 49:10 indicates that “the scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor a lawgiver from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes.” But history records that the first king of Israel (Saul) was from “the tribe of Benjamin” ( Acts 13:21 ; cf. 1 Sam. 9:1-2 ).

SOLUTION: This problem is predicated on the assumption that “Shiloh” is a reference to the Messiah. Some scholars take it to refer to the city in Ephraim where the Tabernacle of Moses was erected. On this interpretation, Judah was to be the leader of the 12 tribes all during the wilderness, until they came into the Promised Land.

Even if “Shiloh” is a reference to the Messiah, there is no real problem here, since the Messiah came from the tribe of Judah (cf. Matt. 1:1-3 , 16 ; Rev. 5:5 ). In God’s eyes David (from the tribe of Judah), not Saul, was His choice for the first king of Israel (cf. 1 Sam. 15-16 ). So, the tribe of Judah was always the ruling line from which the Messiah was to come.   

Evidence: Gen 49:10-12

It seems that Hollywood blew it with their blond and blue-eyed Jesus. In verse 12 we have what is possibly a physical description of Jesus of Nazareth.

Introduction / Outline

JFB: Genesis (Book Introduction)

GENESIS, the book of the origin or production of all things, consists of two parts: the first, comprehended in the first through eleventh chapters, gives a general history; the second, contained in the subsequent chapters, gives a special history. The two parts are essentially connected; the one, which sets out with an account of the descent of the human race from a single pair, the introduction of sin into the world, and the announcement of the scheme of divine mercy for repairing the ruins of the fall, was necessary to pave the way for relating the other, namely, the call of Abraham, and the selection of his posterity for carrying out the gracious purpose of God. An evident unity of method, therefore, pervades this book, and the information contained in it was of the greatest importance to the Hebrew people, as without it they could not have understood the frequent references made in their law to the purposes and promises of God regarding themselves. The arguments that have been already adduced as establishing the Mosaic origin of the Pentateuch prove of course that Moses was the author of Genesis. The few passages on which the rationalists grounded their assertions that it was the composition of a later age have been successfully shown to warrant no such conclusion; the use of Egyptian words and the minute acquaintance with Egyptian life and manners, displayed in the history of Joseph, harmonize with the education of Moses, and whether he received his information by immediate revelation, from tradition, or from written documents, it comes to us as the authentic work of an author who wrote as he was inspired by the Holy Ghost (2Pe 1:21).

JFB: Genesis (Outline)

• THE CREATION OF HEAVEN AND EARTH. (Gen 1:1-2)
• THE FIRST DAY. (Gen 1:3-5)
• SECOND DAY. (Gen 1:6-8)
• THIRD DAY. (Gen 1:9-13)
• FOURTH DAY. (Gen 1:14-19)
• FIFTH DAY. The signs of animal life appeared in the waters and in the air. (Gen 1:20-23)
• SIXTH DAY. A farther advance was made by the creation of terrestrial animals, all the various species of which are included in three classes: (1) cattle, the herbivorous kind capable of labor or domestication. (Gen 1:24-31)
• THE NARRATIVE OF THE SIX DAYS' CREATION CONTINUED. The course of the narrative is improperly broken by the division of the chapter. (Gen 2:1)
• THE FIRST SABBATH. (Gen 2:2-7)
• THE GARDEN OF EDEN. ( Gen 8-17)
• THE MAKING OF WOMAN, AND INSTITUTION OF MARRIAGE. (Gen 2:18-25)
• THE TEMPTATION. (Gen 3:1-5)
• THE FALL. (Gen 3:6-9)
• THE EXAMINATION. (Gen 3:10-13)
• THE SENTENCE. (Gen 3:14-24)
• BIRTH OF CAIN AND ABEL. (Gen. 4:1-26)
• GENEALOGY OF THE PATRIARCHS. (Gen. 5:1-32)
• WICKEDNESS OF THE WORLD. (Gen. 6:1-22)
• ENTRANCE INTO THE ARK. (Gen. 7:1-24)
• ASSUAGING OF THE WATERS. (Gen 8:1-14)
• DEPARTURE FROM THE ARK. (Gen 8:15-22)
• COVENANT. (Gen 9:1-7)
• RAINBOW. (Gen. 9:8-29)
• GENEALOGIES. (Gen. 10:1-32)
• CONFUSION OF TONGUES. (Gen. 11:1-32) the whole earth was of one language. The descendants of Noah, united by the strong bond of a common language, had not separated, and notwithstanding the divine command to replenish the earth, were unwilling to separate. The more pious and well-disposed would of course obey the divine will; but a numerous body, seemingly the aggressive horde mentioned (Gen 10:10), determined to please themselves by occupying the fairest region they came to.
• CALL TO ABRAM. (Gen. 12:1-20)
• RETURN FROM EGYPT. (Gen. 13:1-18)
• WAR. (Gen. 14:1-24)
• DIVINE ENCOURAGEMENT. (Gen. 15:1-21)
• BESTOWMENT OF HAGAR. (Gen. 16:1-16)
• RENEWAL OF THE COVENANT. (Gen. 17:1-27)
• ENTERTAINMENT OF ANGELS. (Gen 18:1-8)
• REPROOF OF SARAH. An inquiry about his wife, so surprising in strangers, the subject of conversation, and the fulfilment of the fondly cherished promise within a specified time, showed Abraham that he had been entertaining more than ordinary travellers (Heb 13:2). (Gen 18:9-15)
• DISCLOSURE OF SODOM'S DOOM. (Gen 18:16-22)
• ABRAHAM'S INTERCESSION. (Gen 18:23-33)
• LOT'S ENTERTAINMENT. (Gen. 19:1-38)
• ABRAHAM'S DENIAL OF HIS WIFE. (Gen. 20:1-18)
• BIRTH OF ISAAC. (Gen 21:1-13)
• EXPULSION OF ISHMAEL. (Gen 21:14-21)
• COVENANT. (Gen 21:22-34)
• OFFERING ISAAC. (Gen. 22:1-19)
• AGE AND DEATH OF SARAH. (Gen 23:1-2)
• PURCHASE OF A BURYING-PLACE. (Gen. 23:3-20)
• A MARRIAGE COMMISSION. (Gen 24:1-9)
• THE JOURNEY. (Gen. 24:10-67)
• SONS OF ABRAHAM. (Gen 25:1-6)
• DEATH OF ABRAHAM. (Gen 25:7-11)
• DESCENDANTS OF ISHMAEL. Before passing to the line of the promised seed, the historian gives a brief notice of Ishmael, to show that the promises respecting that son of Abraham were fulfilled--first, in the greatness of his posterity (compare Gen 17:20); and, secondly, in their independence. (Gen 25:12-18)
• HISTORY OF ISAAC. (Gen 25:19-34)
• SOJOURN IN GERAR. (Gen. 26:1-35)
• INFIRMITY OF ISAAC. (Gen. 27:1-27)
• THE BLESSING. (Gen. 27:28-46)
• JACOB'S DEPARTURE. (Gen. 28:1-19)
• JACOB'S VOW. (Gen 28:20-22)
• THE WELL OF HARAN. (Gen. 29:1-35)
• DOMESTIC JEALOUSIES. (Gen. 30:1-24)
• JACOB'S COVENANT WITH LABAN. (Gen. 30:25-43)
• ENVY OF LABAN AND SONS. (Gen. 31:1-21)
• LABAN PURSUES JACOB--THEIR COVENANT AT GILEAD. (Gen. 31:22-55)
• VISION OF ANGELS. (Gen 32:1-2)
• MISSION TO ESAU. (Gen 32:3-32)
• KINDNESS OF JACOB AND ESAU. (Gen 33:1-11)
• THE PARTING. (Gen 33:12-20)
• THE DISHONOR OF DINAH. (Gen. 34:1-31) Though freed from foreign troubles, Jacob met with a great domestic calamity in the fall of his only daughter. According to JOSEPHUS, she had been attending a festival; but it is highly probable that she had been often and freely mixing in the society of the place and that she, being a simple, inexperienced, and vain young woman, had been flattered by the attentions of the ruler's son. There must have been time and opportunities of acquaintance to produce the strong attachment that Shechem had for her.
• REMOVAL TO BETHEL. (Gen 35:1-15)
• BIRTH OF BENJAMIN--DEATH OF RACHEL, &c. (Gen 35:16-27)
• DEATH OF ISAAC. (Gen 35:28-29)
• POSTERITY OF ESAU. (Gen. 36:1-43)
• PARENTAL PARTIALITY. (Gen 37:1-4)
• THE DREAMS OF JOSEPH. (Gen. 37:5-36)
• JUDAH AND FAMILY. (Gen. 38:1-30)
• JOSEPH IN POTIPHAR'S HOUSE. (Gen. 39:1-23)
• TWO STATE PRISONERS. (Gen 40:1-8)
• THE BUTLER'S DREAM. (Gen 40:9-15)
• THE BAKER'S DREAM. (Gen 40:16-23)
• PHARAOH'S DREAM. (Gen. 41:1-24)
• JOSEPH INTERPRETS PHARAOH'S DREAMS. (Gen 41:25-36)
• JOSEPH MADE RULER OF EGYPT. (Gen. 41:37-57)
• JOURNEY INTO EGYPT. (Gen. 42:1-38)
• PREPARATIONS FOR A SECOND JOURNEY TO EGYPT. (Gen 43:1-14)
• ARRIVAL IN EGYPT. (Gen. 43:15-30)
• THE DINNER. (Gen 43:31-34)
• POLICY TO STAY HIS BRETHREN. (Gen. 44:1-34)
• JOSEPH MAKING HIMSELF KNOWN. (Gen. 45:1-28)
• SACRIFICE AT BEER-SHEBA. (Gen 46:1-4)
• IMMIGRATION TO EGYPT. (Gen. 46:5-27)
• ARRIVAL IN EGYPT. (Gen 46:28-34)
• JOSEPH'S PRESENTATION AT COURT. (Gen. 47:1-31)
• JOSEPH'S VISIT TO HIS SICK FATHER. (Gen. 48:1-22)
• PATRIARCHAL BLESSING. (Gen. 49:1-33)
• MOURNING FOR JACOB. (Gen. 50:1-26)

TSK: Genesis (Book Introduction)

The Book of Genesis is the most ancient record in the world; including the History of two grand and stupendous subjects, Creation and Providence; of each of which it presents a summary, but astonishingly minute and detailed accounts. From this Book, almost all the ancient philosophers, astronomers, chronologists, and historians have taken their respective data; and all the modern improvements and accurate discoveries in different arts and sciences, have only served to confirm the facts detailed by Moses, and to shew, that all the ancient writers on these subjects have approached, or receded from, truth and the phenomena of Nature, in exactly the same proportion as they have followed or receded from, the Mosaic history. The great fact of the deluge is fully confirmed by the fossilised remains in every quarter of the globe. Add to this, that general traditions of the deluge have been traced among the Egyptians, Chinese, Japanese, Hindoos, Burmans, ancient Goths and Druids, Mexicans, Peruvians, Brazilians, North American Indians, Greenlanders, Otaheiteans, Sandwich Islanders, and almost every nation under heaven; while the allegorical turgidity of these distorted traditions sufficiently distinguishes them from the unadorned simplicity of the Mosaic narrative. In fine, without this history the world would be in comparative darkness, not knowing whence it came, nor whither it goeth. In the first page, a child may learn more in an hour, than all the philosophers in the world learned without it in a thousand years. (The original publisher remembers these words addressed to him and other boys in the year 1780, by his excellent tutor, the later Rev. John Ryland, of Northampton.)

TSK: Genesis 49 (Chapter Introduction)

Overview

Gen 49:1, Jacob calls his sons to bless them; Gen 49:3, Their blessing in particular; Gen 49:29, He charges them about his burial; Gen 49:33, He dies.

Poole: Genesis 49 (Chapter Introduction)

CHAPTER 49

Jacob calls his sons to bless them before his death, Gen 49:1 . Bespeaks their attention, Gen 49:2 . Condemns Reuben’ s incest, Gen 49:3,4 ; Simeon’ s and Levi’ s cruelty, Gen 49:5-7 . Extols Judah; prophesieth of Christ, and the calling of the Gentiles, Gen 49:9-12 . Of Zebulun, Gen 49:13 ; Issachar, Gen 49:14,15 ; Dan, Gen 49:16,17 . Expresses his faith on God’ s salvation, Gen 49:18 . Of Gad, Gen 49:19 ; Asher, Gen 49:20 ; Naphtali, Gen 49:21 . Joseph’ s peculiar blessing, Gen 49:22-26 . Of Benjamin, Gen 49:27 . His charge eoncerning his burial and death, Gen 49:28-33 .

Or, in the following times, or latter days, when you shall enter into and be settled in the Land of Promise. Hereby he signifies, that he speaks here of things which concern not so much their persons as their posterity.

MHCC: Genesis (Book Introduction)

Genesis is a name taken from the Greek, and signifies " the book of generation or production;" it is properly so called, as containing an account of the origin of all things. There is no other history so old. There is nothing in the most ancient book which exists that contradicts it; while many things recorded by the oldest heathen writers, or to be traced in the customs of different nations, confirm what is related in the book of Genesis.

MHCC: Genesis 49 (Chapter Introduction)

(Gen 49:1, Gen 49:2) Jacob calls his sons to bless them.

(Gen 49:3-7) Reuben, Simeon, Levi.

(Gen 49:8-12) Judah.

(Gen 49:13-18) Zebulun, Issachar, Dan.

(Gen 49:19-21) Gad, Asher, Naphtali.

(Gen 49:22-27) Joseph and Benjamin.

(Gen 49:28-33) Jacob's charge respecting his burial, his death.

Matthew Henry: Genesis (Book Introduction)

An Exposition, with Practical Observations, of The First Book of Moses, Called Genesis

We have now before us the holy Bible, or book, for so bible signifies. We call it the book, by way of eminency; for it is incomparably the best book that ever was written, the book of books, shining like the sun in the firmament of learning, other valuable and useful books, like the moon and stars, borrowing their light from it. We call it the holy book, because it was written by holy men, and indited by the Holy Ghost; it is perfectly pure from all falsehood and corrupt intention; and the manifest tendency of it is to promote holiness among men. The great things of God's law and gospel are here written to us, that they might be reduced to a greater certainty, might spread further, remain longer, and be transmitted to distant places and ages more pure and entire than possibly they could be by report and tradition: and we shall have a great deal to answer for if these things which belong to our peace, being thus committed to us in black and white, be neglected by us as a strange and foreign thing, Hos 8:12. The scriptures, or writings of the several inspired penmen, from Moses down to St. John, in which divine light, like that of the morning, shone gradually (the sacred canon being now completed), are all put together in this blessed Bible, which, thanks be to God, we have in our hands, and they make as perfect a day as we are to expect on this side of heaven. Every part was good, but all together very good. This is the light that shines in a dark place (2Pe 1:19), and a dark place indeed the world would be without the Bible.

We have before us that part of the Bible which we call the Old Testament, containing the acts and monuments of the church from the creation almost to the coming of Christ in the flesh, which was about four thousand years - the truths then revealed, the laws then enacted, the devotions then paid, the prophecies then given, and the events which concerned that distinguished body, so far as God saw fit to preserve to us the knowledge of them. This is called a testament, or covenant ( diatheke ), because it was a settled declaration of the will of God concerning man in a federal way, and had its force from the designed death of the great testator, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, Rev 8:8. It is called the Old Testament, with relation to the New, which does not cancel and supersede it, but crown and perfect it, by the bringing in of that better hope which was typified and foretold in it; the Old Testament still remains glorious, though the New far exceeds in glory, 2Co 3:9.

We have before us that part of the Old Testament which we call the Pentateuch, or five books of Moses, that servant of the Lord who excelled all the other prophets, and typified the great prophet. In our Saviour's distribution of the books of the Old Testament into the law, the prophets, and the psalms, or Hagiographa , these are the law; for they contain not only the laws given to Israel, in the last four, but the laws given to Adam, to Noah, and to Abraham, in the first. These five books were, for aught we know, the first that ever were written; for we have not the least mention of any writing in all the book of Genesis, nor till God bade Moses write (Exo 17:14); and some think Moses himself never learned to write till God set him his copy in the writing of the ten Commandments upon the tables of stone. However, we are sure these books are the most ancient writings now extant, and therefore best able to give us a satisfactory account of the most ancient things.

We have before us the first and longest of those five books, which we call Genesis, written, some think, when Moses was in Midian, for the instruction and comfort of his suffering brethren in Egypt: I rather think he wrote it in the wilderness, after he had been in the mount with God, where, probably, he received full and particular instructions for the writing of it. And, as he framed the tabernacle, so he did the more excellent and durable fabric of this book, exactly according to the pattern shown him in the mount, into which it is better to resolve the certainty of the things herein contained than into any tradition which possibly might be handed down from Adam to Methuselah, from him to Shem, from him to Abraham, and so to the family of Jacob. Genesis is a name borrowed from the Greek. It signifies the original, or generation: fitly is this book so called, for it is a history of originals - the creation of the world, the entrance of sin and death into it, the invention of arts, the rise of nations, and especially the planting of the church, and the state of it in its early days. It is also a history of generations - the generations of Adam, Noah, Abraham, etc., not endless, but useful genealogies. The beginning of the New Testament is called Genesis too (Mat 1:1), Biblos geneseos the book of the genesis, or generation, of Jesus Christ. Blessed be God for that Book which shows us our remedy, as this opens our wound. Lord, open our eyes, that we may see the wondrous things both of thy law and gospel!

Matthew Henry: Genesis 49 (Chapter Introduction)

This chapter is a prophecy; the likest to it we have yet met with was that of Noah, Gen 9:25, etc. Jacob is here upon his death-bed, making his will. He put it off till now, because dying men's words are apt to make deep impressions, and to be remembered long: what he said here, he could not say when he would, but as the Spirit gave him utterance, who chose this time, that divine strength might be perfected in his weakness. The twelve sons of Jacob were, in their day, men of renown, but the twelve tribes of Israel, which descended and were denominated from them, were much more renowned; we find their names upon the gates of the New Jerusalem, Rev 21:12. In the prospect of this their dying father says something remarkable of each son, or of the tribe that bore his name. Here is, I. The preface (Gen 49:1, Gen 49:2). II. Th prediction concerning each tribe (v. 3-28). III. The charge repeated concerning his burial (Gen 49:29-32). IV. His death (Gen 49:33).

Constable: Genesis (Book Introduction)

Introduction

Title

Each book of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament, called the Torah [instruction] by the Jews) originally received its title in the Hebrew Bible from the first word or words in the book.¹ The Hebrew word translated "in the beginning" is beresit. The English title "Genesis," however, has come to us from the Latin Vulgate translation of Jerome (Liber Genesis). The Latin title came from the Septuagint translation (the Greek translation of the Old Testament made about 300 years before Christ). "Genesis" is a transliteration of the Greek word geneseos, the Greek word that translates the Hebrew toledot. This Hebrew word is the key word in identifying the structure of Genesis, and the translators have usually rendered it "account" or "generations" (2:4; 5:1; 6:9; 10:1; 11:10, 27; 25:12, 19; 36:1, 9; 37:2).

Date

The events recorded date back to the creation of the world.

Many Christians believe the earth is millions of years old. They base this belief on the statements of scientists and understand Scripture in the light of these statements. Likewise, many Christians believe that the human race began hundreds of thousands of years ago for the same reason.

Most evangelicals who take the Scriptures seriously believe that the earth is not much older than 10, 000 years. They base this on the genealogies in Scripture (Gen. 5; 10; 11; et al.), which they understand to be "open" (i.e., not complete). Evangelicals usually hold to a more recent date for man's creation, also for the same reason.

A smaller group of evangelicals believes that the genealogies are either "closed" (i.e., complete) or very close to complete. This leads us to date the creation of the world and man about 6, 000 years ago.²

Liberal interpreters have placed the date of composition of Genesis much later than Moses' lifetime.

If one accepts Mosaic authorship, as most conservative evangelicals do, the date of composition of Genesis must be within Moses' lifetime (ca. 1525-1405 B.C.). This book was perhaps originally intended to encourage the Israelites to trust in their faithful, omnipotent God as they anticipated entrance into the Promised Land from Kadesh Barnea or from the Plains of Moab.³ Moses may have written it earlier to prepare them for the Exodus,⁴ but this seems less likely.

Writer

The authorship of the Pentateuch has been the subject of great controversy among professing Christians since Spinoza introduced "higher criticism" of the Bible in the seventeenth century. The "documentary hypothesis," which developed from his work, is that Moses did not write the Pentateuch, as most scholars in Judaism and the church until that day believed. Instead, it was the product of several writers who lived much later than Moses. A redactor (editor) or redactors combined these several documents into the form we have now. These documents (J, E, D, P, and others) represent a Yahwistic tradition, an Elohistic tradition, a Deuteronomic tradition, a Priestly tradition, etc.⁵

The evidence that Moses wrote the Pentateuch is conclusive if one believes that Jesus Christ spoke the truth when He attributed authorship to Moses (Matt. 19:8; Mark 7:10; Luke 18:29-31; 20:37; 24:27; John 7:19). Jesus Christ did not specifically say that Moses wrote Genesis, but in our Lord's day the Jews regarded the Pentateuch (Torah) as a whole unit. They recognized Moses as the author of all five books. Consequently they would have understood what Jesus said about any of the five books of Moses as an endorsement of the Mosaic authorship of them all.⁶

Scope

The events recorded in Genesis stretch historically from Creation to Joseph's death, a period of at least 2500 years. The first part of the book (ch. 1-11) is not as easy to date precisely as the second part (ch. 12-50). The history of the patriarchs recorded in this second main division of the text covers a period of about 300 years.

The scope of the book progressively and consistently narrows. The selection of content included in Genesis points to the purpose of the divine author: to reveal the history of and basic principles involved in God's relationship with people.⁷

Purpose

Genesis provides the historical basis for the rest of the Bible and the Pentateuch, particularly the Abrahamic Covenant. Chapters 1-11 give historical background essential to understanding that covenant, and chapters 12-50 record the covenant and its initial outworking. The Abrahamic Covenant continues to be the basic arrangement by which God operates in dealing with humanity throughout the Pentateuch and the rest of the Bible.

"The real theme of the Pentateuch is the selection of Israel from the nations and its consecration to the service of God and His Laws in a divinely appointed land. The central event in the development of this theme is the divine covenant with Abraham and its . . . promise to make his offspring into the people of God and to give them the land of Canaan as an everlasting inheritance."⁸

Genesis provides an indispensable prologue to the drama that unfolds in Exodus and the rest of the Pentateuch. The first 11 chapters constitute a prologue to the prologue.

"Two opposite progressions appear in this prologue [chs. 1-11]: (a) God's orderly Creation with its climax in His blessing of man, and (b) the totally disintegrating work of sin with its two greatest curses being the Flood and the dispersion at Babel.⁹ The first progression demonstrates God's plan to bring about perfect order from the beginning in spite of what the reader may know of man's experience. The second progression demonstrates the great need of God's intervention to provide the solution for the corrupt human race."¹⁰

Theology

"The subject matter of the theology in Genesis is certainly God's work in establishing Israel as the means of blessing the families of the earth. This book forms the introduction to the Pentateuch's main theme of the founding of the theocracy, that is, the rule of God over all Creation. It presents the origins behind the founding of the theocracy: the promised blessing that Abraham's descendants would be in the land.

"Exodus presents the redemption of the seed out of bondage and the granting of a covenant to them. Leviticus is the manual of ordinances enabling the holy God to dwell among His people by making them holy. Numbers records the military arrangement and census of the tribes in the wilderness, and shows how God preserves His promised blessings from internal and external threats. Deuteronomy presents the renewal of the covenant.

"In the unfolding of this grand program of God, Genesis introduces the reader to the nature of God as the sovereign Lord over the universe who will move heaven and earth to establish His will. He seeks to bless mankind, but does not tolerate disobedience and unbelief. Throughout this revelation the reader learns that without faith it is impossible to please God' (Heb. 11:6)."¹¹

Message¹²

The message of the Bible might be the best place to begin our study of the Old Testament. What is the Bible all about? We could state it as follows: God desires to glorify Himself by blessing humankind.

The message of the Pentateuch (Torah) is that people can experience God's blessing by trusting Him (believing His word) and by obeying Him (following His initiative).

Genesis is in the Bible primarily to teach us this lesson. People can enjoy a personal relationship with God and thereby realize their own fulfillment as human beings only through trust in God and obedience to God. This is the message statement. Genesis reveals that God is faithful to His promises and powerful enough to bring them to fulfillment.

Genesis reveals that God originally intended people to have an immediate relationship with their Creator. Evidences for this are as follows.

1. God made man as a special creation (2:7).

2. He made man with special care (2:7).

3. He made man in His own image (1:26-27).

4. He regarded man as His son (1:28-30).

5. He consistently demonstrated concern for man's welfare (3:9).

God's immediate relationship with Adam was broken by the Fall (ch. 3). In the Fall man did two things.

1. He failed to trust God's goodness with his mind.

2. He rebelled against God's government with his will (3:6).

God then took the initiative to re-establish the relationship with man that He had created man to enjoy. He provided a covering for man's sin until He would finally remove it. This temporary covering came through the sacrificial system.

Throughout Genesis we see that people in general consistently failed to trust and obey God (e.g., in Noah's day, at Babel, in the patriarchal period).

Genesis also records what God has done to encourage people to trust and obey Him. It is only by living by these two principles that people can enjoy a relationship with God and realize all that God created them to experience.

On the one hand, Genesis reveals much about the person and work of God. This revelation helps us trust and obey Him. It is through His personal revelations to the main characters in Genesis that God revealed Himself initially (e.g., Adam and Eve, Noah, the patriarchs).

On the other hand, Genesis reveals much about the nature of man. Not only did God reveal the perversity of man, but He also identified positive examples of faith and obedience in the lives of the godly.

In Genesis we learn that faith in God is absolutely essential if we are to have fellowship with Him and realize our potential as human beings.

Faith is the law of life. If one lives by faith he flourishes, but if he does not, he fails. The four patriarchs are primarily examples of what faith is and how it manifests itself. In each of their lives we learn something new about faith.

Abraham's faith demonstrates unquestioning obedience. When God told him to do something, he did it. This is the most basic characteristic of faith. That is one reason why Abraham is "the father of the faithful." God revealed Himself nine times to Abraham and each time Abraham's response was unquestioning obedience.

Isaac's faith helps us see the quality of passive acceptance that characterizes true faith in God. This was his response to God's two revelations to him.

Jacob's story is one of conflict with God until he came to realize his own limitations. Then he trusted God. We can see his faith in his acknowledged dependence on God. God's seven revelations to him eventually led him to this position.

Joseph's life teaches us what God can do with a person who trusts Him consistently in the face of adversity. The outstanding characteristic of Joseph's life was his faithful loyalty to God. He believed God's two revelations to him in dreams even though God's will did not seem to be working out as he thought it would. Patient faith and its reward shine through the story of Joseph.

Faith, the key concept in Genesis, means trusting that what God has prescribed is indeed best for me and waiting for God to provide what He has promised. A person of faith is one who commits to acting on this basis even though he or she may not see how it is best.

The Pentateuch is all about God, man, and our relationship. In our study of it, we will be building a model to show how each new book builds on what has preceded. The key concept in Genesis is faith.

Constable: Genesis (Outline)

Outline

The structure of Genesis is very clear. The phrase "the generations of" (toledot in Hebrew, from yalad meaning "to bear, to generate") occurs ten times (really eleven times since 36:9 repeats 36:1), and in each case it introduces a new section of the book.¹³ The first part of Genesis is introductory and sets the scene for what follows. An outline of Genesis based on this structure is as follows.

1. Introduction 1:1-2:3

2. The generations of heaven and earth 2:4-4:26

3. The generations of Adam 5:1-6:8

4. The generations of Noah 6:9-9:29

5. The generations of the sons of Noah 10:1-11:9

6. The generations of Shem 11:10-26

7. The generations of Terah 11:27-25:11

8. The generations of Ishmael 25:12-18

9. The generations of Isaac 25:19-35:29

10. The generations of Esau 36:1-43

11. The generations of Jacob 37:1-50:26

A full expository outline designed to highlight the relative emphases of the book follows. We shall follow this outline in these notes as we seek to unpack the message of the book.

I. Primeval events 1:1-11:26

A. The story of creation 1:1-2:3

1. An initial statement of creation 1:1

2. Conditions at the time of creation 1:2

3. The six days of creation 1:3-31

4. The seventh day 2:1-3

B. What became of the creation 2:4-4:26

1. The garden of Eden 2:4-3:24

2. The murder of Abel 4:1-16

3. The spread of civilization and sin 4:17-26

C. What became of Adam 5:1-6:8

1. The effects of the curse on humanity ch. 5

2. God's sorrow over man's wickedness 6:1-8

D. What became of Noah 6:9-9:29

1. The Flood 6:9-8:22

2. The Noahic Covenant 9:1-17

3. The curse on Canaan 9:18-29

E. What became of Noah's sons 10:1-11:9

1. The table of nations ch. 10

2. The dispersion at Babel 11:1-9

F. What became of Shem 11:10-26

II. Patriarchal narratives 11:27-50:26

A. What became of Terah 11:27-25:11

1. Terah and Abraham's obedience 11:27-12:9

2. Abram in Egypt 12:10-20

3. Abram's separation from Lot ch. 13

4. Abram's military victory ch. 14

5. The Abrahamic covenant ch. 15

6. The birth of Ishmael ch. 16

7. The sign of circumcision ch. 17

8. Yahweh's visit to Abraham 18:1-15

9. Abraham's intercession for Lot 18:16-33

10. The destruction of Sodom ch. 19

11. Abraham's sojourn at Gerar ch. 20

12. The birth of Isaac 21:1-21

13. Abimelech's treaty with Abraham 21:22-34

14. The sacrifice of Isaac 22:1-19

15. The descendants of Nahor 22:20-24

16. The purchase of Sarah's tomb ch. 23

17. The choice of a bride for Isaac ch. 24

18. Abraham's death 25:1-11

B. What became of Ishmael 25:12-18

C. What became of Isaac 25:19-35:29

1. Isaac's twin sons 25:19-26

2. The sale of the birthright 25:27-34

3. Isaac and Abimelech 26:1-11

4. Isaac's wells 26:12-33

5. Jacob's deception for Isaac's blessing 26:34-28:9

6. Jacob's vision at Bethel 28:10-22

7. Jacob's marriages and Laban's deception 29:1-30

8. Jacob's mishandling of God's blessings 29:31-30:24

9. Jacob's new contract with Laban 30:25-43

10. Jacob's flight from Haran ch. 31

11. Jacob's attempt to appease Esau 32:1-21

12. Jacob at the Jabbok 32:22-32

13. Jacob's meeting with Esau and his return to Canaan ch. 33

14. The rape of Dinah and the revenge of Simeon and Levi ch. 34

15. Jacob's return to Bethel ch. 35

D. What became of Esau 36:1-37:1

E. What became of Jacob 37:2-50:26

1. God's choice of Joseph 37:2-11

2. The sale of Joseph into Egypt 37:12-36

3. Judah and Tamar ch. 38

4. Joseph in Potiphar's house ch. 39

5. The prisoners' dreams and Joseph's interpretations ch. 40

6. Pharaoh's dreams and Joseph's interpretation ch. 41

7. Joseph's brothers' first journey into Egypt ch. 42

8. Joseph's brothers' second journey into Egypt ch. 43

9. Joseph's last test and its results ch. 44

10. Joseph's reconciliation with his brothers 45:1-15

11. Israel's move to Egypt 45:16-46:30

12. Joseph's wise leadership 46:31-47:27

13. Jacob's worship in Egypt 47:28-48:22

14. Jacob's blessing of his sons 49:1-28

15. Deaths and a promise yet to be fulfilled 49:29-50:26¹⁴

Constable: Genesis

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Copyright 2003 by Thomas L. Constable

Haydock: Genesis (Book Introduction)

THE BOOK OF GENESIS.

INTRODUCTION.

The Hebrews now entitle all the Five Books of Moses, from the initial words, which originally were written like one continued word or verse; but the Septuagint have preferred to give the titles the most memorable occurrences of each work. On this occasion, the Creation of all things out of nothing, strikes us with peculiar force. We find a refutation of all the heathenish mythology, and of the world's eternity, which Aristotle endeavoured to establish. We behold the short reign of innocence, and the origin of sin and misery, the dispersion of nations, and the providence of God watching over his chosen people, till the death of Joseph, about the year of the world 2369 (Usher) 2399 (Salien and Tirinus), the year before Christ 1631. We shall witness the same care in the other Books of Scripture, and adore his wisdom and goodness in preserving to himself faithful witnesses, and a true Holy Catholic Church, in all ages, even when the greatest corruption seemed to overspread the land. (Haydock)

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This Book is so called from its treating of the Generation, that is, of the Creation and the beginning of the world. The Hebrews call it Bereshith, from the word with which it begins. It contains not only the History of the Creation of the World, but also an account of its progress during the space of 2369 years, that is, until the death of Joseph.

Gill: Genesis (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS

This book, in the Hebrew copies of the Bible, and by the Jewish writers, is generally called Bereshith, which signifies "in the beginning", being the first word of it; as the other four books of Moses are also called from their initial words. In the Syriac and Arabic versions, the title of this book is "The Book of the Creation", because it begins with an account of the creation of all things; and is such an account, and so good an one, as is not to be met with anywhere else: the Greek version calls it Genesis, and so we and other versions from thence; and that because it treats of the generation of all things, of the heavens, and the earth, and all that are in them, and of the genealogy of men: it treats of the first men, of the patriarchs before the flood, and after it to the times of Joseph. It is called the "first" book of Moses, because there are four more that follow; the name the Jewish Rabbins give to the whole is חמשה חומשי תורה, "the five fifths of the law", to which the Greek word "pentateuch" answers; by which we commonly call these books, they being but one volume, consisting of five parts, of which this is the first. And that they were all written by Moses is generally believed by Jews and Christians. Some atheistical persons have suggested the contrary; our countryman Hobbes ^a would have it, that these books are called his, not from his being the author of them, but from his being the subject of them; not because they were written by him, but because they treat of him: but certain it is that Moses both wrote them, and was read, as he was in the Jewish synagogues, every sabbath day, which can relate to no other writings but these, Joh 1:45. And Spinosa, catching at some doubts raised by Aben Ezra on Deu 1:1 concerning some passages which seemed to him to have been added by another hand, forms objections against Moses being the author of the book of Genesis; which are sufficiently answered by Carpzovius ^b. Nor can Ezra be the author of the Pentateuch, as Spinosa suspects; since it is plain these writings were in being before his time, in the times of Josiah, Amaziah, yea, of David, and also of Joshua, 2Ch 34:14 nay, they are even referred to in the book of Ezra as the writings of Moses, Ezr 3:2 to which may be added, in proof of the same, Deu 31:9. Nor are there any other writings of his authentic; what are ascribed to him, as the Analepsis of Moses, his Apocalypse, and his Last Will and Testament, are apocryphal. That this book of Genesis particularly was written by him, is evident from the testimony of Philip, and even of our Lord Jesus Christ, who both testify that he wrote concerning the Messiah, Joh 1:45 as he did in this book, where he speaks of him as the seed of the woman that should break the serpent's head; as the seed of Abraham, in whom all the nations of the earth should be blessed; and as the Shiloh, to whom the gathering of the people should be, Gen 3:15. Nor is there any reason to believe that he wrote this book from the annals of the patriarchs, since it does not appear, nor is it very probable, that they had any; nor from traditions delivered down from one to another, from father to son, which is more probable, considering the length of the lives of the patriarchs: but yet such a variety of particulars respecting times, places, persons, their genealogies and circumstances, so nicely and exactly given, can scarcely be thought to be the fruit of memory; and much less is it to be imagined that he was assisted in it by Gabriel, when he lived in solitude in Midian: but it is best of all to ascribe it to divine inspiration, as all Scripture is by the apostle, 2Ti 3:16 for who else but God could have informed him of the creation, and the manner and order in which every creature was brought into being, with a multitude of things recorded in this book? the design of which is to lead men into the knowledge and worship of the one true God, the Creator of all things, and of the origin of mankind, the fall of our first parents, and their posterity in them; and to point at the means and method of the recovery of man by the Messiah, the promised seed; and to give an account of the state and case of the church of God, in the times of the patriarchs, both before and after the flood, from Adam, in the line of Seth, to Noah; and from Noah to the times of Joseph, in whose death it ends: and, according to Usher ^c, it contains an history of two thousand, three hundred, and sixty nine years.

Gill: Genesis 49 (Chapter Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 49

This chapter contains a prophecy of future things, relating to the twelve sons of Jacob, and to the twelve tribes, as descending from them, and which he delivered to his sons on his death bed, having called them together for that purpose, Gen 49:1, he begins with Reuben his firstborn, whose incest he takes notice of, on which account he should not excel, Gen 49:3, next Simeon and Levi have a curse denounced on them for their cruelty at Shechem, Gen 49:5, but Judah is praised, and good things prophesied of him; and particularly that Shiloh, or the Messiah, should spring from him, the time of whose coming is pointed at, Gen 49:7, the predictions concerning Zebulun, Issachar, and Dan, follow, at the close of which Jacob expresses his longing expectation of God's salvation, Gen 49:13 and after foretelling what should befall Gad, Asher, and Naphtali, Gen 49:19, a large account is given of Joseph, his troubles, his trials, and his blessings, Gen 49:22, and Benjamin the youngest son is taken notice of last of all, all the tribes being blessed in their order according to the nature of their blessing, Gen 49:27, and the chapter is closed with a charge of Jacob's to his sons to bury him in Canaan, which having delivered, he died, Gen 49:29.