Genesis 49:1

The Blessing of Jacob

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 

Isaiah 2:1-3

The Future Glory of Jerusalem

2:1 Here is the message about Judah and Jerusalem ³  that was revealed to Isaiah son of Amoz. ⁴ 

2:2 In the future ⁵ 

the mountain of the Lord’s temple will endure ⁶ 

as the most important of mountains,

and will be the most prominent of hills. ⁷ 

All the nations will stream to it,

2:3 many peoples will come and say,

“Come, let us go up to the Lord’s mountain,

to the temple of the God of Jacob,

so ⁸  he can teach us his requirements, ⁹ 

and ¹⁰  we can follow his standards.” ¹¹ 

For Zion will be the center for moral instruction; ¹² 

the Lord will issue edicts from Jerusalem. ¹³ 

Jeremiah 48:47

48:47 Yet in days to come

I will reverse Moab’s ill fortune.” ¹⁴ 

says the Lord. ¹⁵ 

The judgment against Moab ends here.

Ezekiel 38:16

38:16 You will advance ¹⁶  against my people Israel like a cloud covering the earth. In the latter days I will bring you against my land so that the nations may acknowledge me, when before their eyes I magnify myself ¹⁷  through you, O Gog.

Daniel 2:28

2:28 However, there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, ¹⁸  and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the times to come. ¹⁹  The dream and the visions you had while lying on your bed ²⁰  are as follows.

Daniel 10:14

10:14 Now I have come to help you understand what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision pertains to future days.”

Hosea 3:5

3:5 Afterward, the Israelites will turn and seek the Lord their God and their Davidic king. ²¹  Then they will submit to the Lord in fear and receive his blessings ²²  in the future. ²³ 

Acts 2:17

2:17 ‘And in the last days ²⁴  it will be,’ God says,

‘that I will pour out my Spirit on all people, ²⁵ 

and your sons and your daughters will prophesy,

and your young men will see visions,

and your old men will dream dreams.

Hebrews 1:2

1:2 in these last days he has spoken to us in a son, ²⁶  whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he created the world. ²⁷ 

Hebrews 1:2

1:2 in these last days he has spoken to us in a son, ²⁸  whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he created the world. ²⁹ 

Hebrews 3:3

3:3 For he has come to deserve greater glory than Moses, just as the builder of a house deserves greater honor than the house itself!

[49:1]  ¹ tn After the imperative, the cohortative with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose/result.

[49:1]  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.

[2:1]  ³ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[2:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “the word which Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.”

[2:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “in the end of the days.” This phrase may refer generally to the future, or more technically to the final period of history. See BDB 31 s.v. ַאחֲרִית. The verse begins with a verb that functions as a “discourse particle” and is not translated. In numerous places throughout the OT, the “to be” verb with a prefixed conjunction (וְהָיָה [vÿhayah] and וַיְהִי [vayÿhi]) occurs in this fashion to introduce a circumstantial clause and does not require translation.

[2:2]  ⁶ tn Or “be established” (KJV, NIV, NRSV).

[2:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “as the chief of the mountains, and will be lifted up above the hills.” The image of Mount Zion being elevated above other mountains and hills pictures the prominence it will attain in the future.

[2:3]  ⁸ tn The prefixed verb form with simple vav (ו) introduces a purpose/result clause after the preceding prefixed verb form (probably to be taken as a cohortative; see IBHS 650 §39.2.2a).

[2:3]  ⁹ tn Heb “his ways.” In this context God’s “ways” are the standards of moral conduct he decrees that people should live by.

[2:3]  ¹⁰ tn The cohortative with vav (ו) after the prefixed verb form indicates the ultimate purpose/goal of their action.

[2:3]  ¹¹ tn Heb “walk in his ways.”

[2:3]  ¹² tn Heb “for out of Zion will go instruction.”

[2:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”

[48:47]  ¹⁴ tn See 29:14; 30:3 and the translator’s note on 29:14 for the idiom used here.

[48:47]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[38:16]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “come up.”

[38:16]  ¹⁷ tn Or “reveal my holiness.”

[2:28]  ¹⁸ tn Aram “a revealer of mysteries.” The phrase serves as a quasi-title for God in Daniel.

[2:28]  ¹⁹ tn Aram “in the latter days.”

[2:28]  ²⁰ tn Aram “your dream and the visions of your head upon your bed.”

[3:5]  ²¹ tn Heb “David their king”; cf. NCV “the king from David’s family”; TEV “a descendant of David their king”; NLT “David’s descendant, their king.”

[3:5]  ²² tn Heb “his goodness”; NLT “his good gifts.”

[3:5]  ²³ tn Heb “in the end of the days.” Cf. NAB, NASB, NIV, NCV, NLT “in the last days.”

[2:17]  ²⁴ sn The phrase in the last days is not quoted from Joel, but represents Peter’s interpretive explanation of the current events as falling “in the last days.”

[2:17]  ²⁵ tn Grk “on all flesh.”

[1:2]  ²⁶ tn The Greek puts an emphasis on the quality of God’s final revelation. As such, it is more than an indefinite notion (“a son”) though less than a definite one (“the son”), for this final revelation is not just through any son of God, nor is the emphasis specifically on the person himself. Rather, the focus here is on the nature of the vehicle of God’s revelation: He is no mere spokesman (or prophet) for God, nor is he merely a heavenly messenger (or angel); instead, this final revelation comes through one who is intimately acquainted with the heavenly Father in a way that only a family member could be. There is, however, no exact equivalent in English (“in son” is hardly good English style).

[1:2]  ²⁷ tn Grk “the ages.” The temporal (ages) came to be used of the spatial (what exists in those time periods). See Heb 11:3 for the same usage.

[1:2]  ²⁸ tn The Greek puts an emphasis on the quality of God’s final revelation. As such, it is more than an indefinite notion (“a son”) though less than a definite one (“the son”), for this final revelation is not just through any son of God, nor is the emphasis specifically on the person himself. Rather, the focus here is on the nature of the vehicle of God’s revelation: He is no mere spokesman (or prophet) for God, nor is he merely a heavenly messenger (or angel); instead, this final revelation comes through one who is intimately acquainted with the heavenly Father in a way that only a family member could be. There is, however, no exact equivalent in English (“in son” is hardly good English style).

[1:2]  ²⁹ tn Grk “the ages.” The temporal (ages) came to be used of the spatial (what exists in those time periods). See Heb 11:3 for the same usage.