Genesis 49:13-21

49:13 Zebulun will live ¹  by the haven of the sea

and become a haven for ships;

his border will extend to Sidon. ² 

49:14 Issachar is a strong-boned donkey

lying down between two saddlebags.

49:15 When he sees ³  a good resting place,

and the pleasant land,

he will bend his shoulder to the burden

and become a slave laborer. ⁴ 

49:16 Dan ⁵  will judge ⁶  his people

as one of the tribes of Israel.

49:17 May Dan be a snake beside the road,

a viper by the path,

that bites the heels of the horse

so that its rider falls backward. ⁷ 

49:18 I wait for your deliverance, O Lord. ⁸ 

49:19 Gad will be raided by marauding bands,

but he will attack them at their heels. ⁹ 

49:20 Asher’s ¹⁰  food will be rich, ¹¹ 

and he will provide delicacies ¹²  to royalty.

49:21 Naphtali is a free running doe, ¹³ 

he speaks delightful words. ¹⁴ 

[49:13]  ¹ tn The verb שָׁכַן (shakhan) means “to settle,” but not necessarily as a permanent dwelling place. The tribal settlements by the sea would have been temporary and not the tribe’s territory.

[49:13]  ² map For location see Map1 A1; JP3 F3; JP4 F3.

[49:15]  ³ tn The verb forms in this verse (“sees,” “will bend,” and “[will] become”) are preterite; they is used in a rhetorical manner, describing the future as if it had already transpired.

[49:15]  ⁴ sn The oracle shows that the tribe of Issachar will be willing to trade liberty for the material things of life. Issachar would work (become a slave laborer) for the Canaanites, a reversal of the oracle on Canaan. See C. M. Carmichael, “Some Sayings in Genesis 49,” JBL 88 (1969): 435-44; and S. Gevirtz, “The Issachar Oracle in the Testament of Jacob,” ErIsr 12 (1975): 104-12.

[49:16]  ⁵ sn The name Dan (דָּן, dan) means “judge” and forms a wordplay with the following verb.

[49:16]  ⁶ tn Or “govern.”

[49:17]  ⁷ sn The comparison of the tribe of Dan to a venomous serpent is meant to say that Dan, though small, would be potent, gaining victory through its skill and shrewdness. Jewish commentators have linked the image in part with Samson. That link at least illustrates the point: Though a minority tribe, Dan would gain the upper hand over others.

[49:18]  ⁸ sn I wait for your deliverance, O Lord. As Jacob sees the conflicts that lie ahead for Dan and Gad (see v. 19), he offers a brief prayer for their security.

[49:19]  ⁹ tc Heb “heel.” The MT has suffered from misdivision at this point. The initial mem on the first word in the next verse should probably be taken as a plural ending on the word “heel.”

[49:20]  ¹⁰ tc Heb “from Asher,” but the initial mem (מ) of the MT should probably be moved to the end of the preceding verse and taken as a plural ending on “heel.”

[49:20]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew word translated “rich,” when applied to products of the ground, means abundant in quantity and quality.

[49:20]  ¹² tn The word translated “delicacies” refers to foods that were delightful, the kind fit for a king.

[49:21]  ¹³ tn Heb “a doe set free.”

[49:21]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the one who gives words of beauty.” The deer imagery probably does not continue into this line; Naphtali is the likely antecedent of the substantival participle, which is masculine, not feminine, in form. If the animal imagery is retained from the preceding line, the image of a talking deer is preposterous. For this reason some read the second line “the one who bears beautiful fawns,” interpreting אִמְרֵי (’imre) as a reference to young animals, not words (see HALOT 67 s.v. *אִמֵּר).