49:1 Jacob called for his sons and said, “Gather together so I can tell you 1 what will happen to you in the future. 2
49:24 But his bow will remain steady,
and his hands 3 will be skillful;
because of the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,
because of 4 the Shepherd, the Rock 5 of Israel,
49:25 because of the God of your father,
who will help you, 6
because of the sovereign God, 7
who will bless you 8
with blessings from the sky above,
blessings from the deep that lies below,
and blessings of the breasts and womb. 9
49:26 The blessings of your father are greater
than 10 the blessings of the eternal mountains 11
or the desirable things of the age-old hills.
They will be on the head of Joseph
and on the brow of the prince of his brothers. 12
1 tn After the imperative, the cohortative with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose/result.
2 tn The expression “in the future” (אַחֲרִית הַיָּמִים, ’akharit hayyamim, “in the end of days”) is found most frequently in prophetic passages; it may refer to the end of the age, the eschaton, or to the distant future. The contents of some of the sayings in this chapter stretch from the immediate circumstances to the time of the settlement in the land to the coming of Messiah. There is a great deal of literature on this chapter, including among others C. Armerding, “The Last Words of Jacob: Genesis 49,” BSac 112 (1955): 320-28; H. Pehlke, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Genesis 49:1-28” (Th.D. dissertation, Dallas Theological Seminary, 1985); and B. Vawter, “The Canaanite Background of Genesis 49,” CBQ 17 (1955): 1-18.
3 tn Heb “the arms of his hands.”
4 tn Heb “from there,” but the phrase should be revocalized and read “from [i.e., because of] the name of.”
5 tn Or “Stone.”
6 tn Heb “and he will help you.”
7 tn Heb “Shaddai.” See the note on the title “sovereign God” in Gen 17:1. The preposition אֵת (’et) in the Hebrew text should probably be emended to אֵל (’el, “God”).
8 tn Heb “and he will bless you.”
9 sn Jacob envisions God imparting both agricultural (blessings from the sky above, blessings from the deep that lies below) and human fertility (blessings of the breasts and womb) to Joseph and his family.
10 tn Heb “have prevailed over.”
11 tn One could interpret the phrase הוֹרַי (horay) to mean “my progenitors” (literally, “the ones who conceived me”), but the masculine form argues against this. It is better to emend the text to הַרֲרֵי (harare, “mountains of”) because it forms a better parallel with the next clause. In this case the final yod (י) on the form is a construct plural marker, not a pronominal suffix.
12 tn For further discussion of this passage, see I. Sonne, “Genesis 49:24-26,” JBL 65 (1946): 303-6.