Discovery BoxGenesis 49:23-33
Context49:23 The archers will attack him, 1
they will shoot at him and oppose him.
49:24 But his bow will remain steady,
and his hands 2 will be skillful;
because of the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,
because of 3 the Shepherd, the Rock 4 of Israel,
49:25 because of the God of your father,
who will help you, 5
because of the sovereign God, 6
who will bless you 7
with blessings from the sky above,
blessings from the deep that lies below,
and blessings of the breasts and womb. 8
49:26 The blessings of your father are greater
than 9 the blessings of the eternal mountains 10
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. 11
49:27 Benjamin is a ravenous wolf;
in the morning devouring the prey,
and in the evening dividing the plunder.”
49:28 These 12 are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them when he blessed them. He gave each of them an appropriate blessing. 13
49:29 Then he instructed them, 14 “I am about to go 15 to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite. 49:30 It is the cave in the field of Machpelah, near Mamre in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought for a burial plot from Ephron the Hittite. 49:31 There they buried Abraham and his wife Sarah; there they buried Isaac and his wife Rebekah; and there I buried Leah. 49:32 The field and the cave in it were acquired from the sons of Heth.” 16
49:33 When Jacob finished giving these instructions to his sons, he pulled his feet up onto the bed, breathed his last breath, and went 17 to his people.
[49:23] 1 tn The verb forms in vv. 23-24 are used in a rhetorical manner, describing future events as if they had already taken place.
[49:24] 2 tn Heb “the arms of his hands.”
[49:24] 3 tn Heb “from there,” but the phrase should be revocalized and read “from [i.e., because of] the name of.”
[49:25] 5 tn Heb “and he will help you.”
[49:25] 6 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”).
[49:25] 7 tn Heb “and he will bless you.”
[49:25] 8 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.
[49:26] 9 tn Heb “have prevailed over.”
[49:26] 10 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.
[49:26] 11 tn For further discussion of this passage, see I. Sonne, “Genesis 49:24-26,” JBL 65 (1946): 303-6.
[49:28] 12 tn Heb “All these.”
[49:28] 13 tn Heb “and he blessed them, each of whom according to his blessing, he blessed them.”
[49:29] 14 tn The Hebrew text adds “and he said to them,” which is not included in the translation because it is redundant in English.
[49:29] 15 tn Heb “I am about to be gathered” The participle is used here to describe what is imminent.
[49:32] 16 tn Some translate the Hebrew term “Heth” as “Hittites” here (see also Gen 23:3), but this gives the impression that these people were the classical Hittites of Anatolia. However, there is no known connection between these sons of Heth, apparently a Canaanite group (see Gen 10:15), and the Hittites of Asia Minor. See H. A. Hoffner, Jr., “Hittites,” Peoples of the Old Testament World, 152-53.
