The Bible

The Bible › Genesis

Genesis 49

1Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather together, so that I may tell you what will happen to you in the days to come. 2Assemble and listen, sons of Jacob; listen to Israel your father.

3“Reuben, you are my firstborn, my strength and the first of my vigor, excelling in dignity and excelling in power. 4Turbulent as water, you will not excel, because you went up to your father's bed. Then you defiled it—he went up to my couch!

5“Simeon and Levi are brothers; their weapons are instruments of violence. 6Let my life not enter their council; let my honor not join their assembly. For in their anger they killed a man, and in their pleasure they hamstrung an ox. 7Cursed be their anger, because it is fierce, and their fury, because it is cruel. I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.

8“Judah, your brothers will praise you. Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies; your father's sons will bow down to you. 9Judah is a lion's cub. From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He crouches, he lies down like a lion, like a lioness—who will rouse him? 10The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes, and the obedience of peoples will be his. 11He binds his donkey's foal to the vine, his she-donkey's colt to the choice vine. He washes his clothes in wine and his garment in the blood of grapes. 12His eyes are dark from wine, and his teeth white from milk.

13“Zebulun will dwell by the shore of the seas; he will be a haven for ships, and his flank will reach toward Sidon.

14“Issachar is a strong-boned donkey, lying down between the saddlebags. 15He saw that rest was good and that the land was pleasant. He bent his shoulder to bear the burden and became a laborer under forced service.

16“Dan will judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel. 17May Dan be a snake beside the road, a viper beside the path, biting the horse's heels so that its rider falls backward. 18I wait for your deliverance, Yahweh.

19“Gad—a raiding band will raid him, but he will raid at their heel.

20“From Asher comes rich bread, and he will provide a king's delicacies.

21“Naphtali is a doe set free; he gives beautiful words.

22“Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough beside a spring; its branches climb over the wall. 23The archers embittered him, shot at him, and bore a grudge against him. 24But his bow remained firm, and the arms of his hands were agile, by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob—from there comes the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel— 25from the God of your father, who will help you, and with Shaddai, who will bless you with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep crouching below, blessings of breasts and womb. 26Your father's blessings have prevailed over the blessings of my parents, reaching to the bounty of the everlasting hills. May they be on Joseph's head, on the crown of the one set apart among his brothers.

27“Benjamin is a wolf that tears prey. In the morning he eats the prey, and in the evening he divides the plunder.”

28All these are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them when he blessed them; he blessed each with his own blessing. 29He instructed them and said to them, “I am being gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30in the cave in the field of Machpelah, opposite Mamre in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite as a burial holding. 31There they buried Abraham and his wife Sarah; there they buried Isaac and his wife Rebekah; and there I buried Leah. 32The field and the cave in it were purchased from the sons of Heth.” 33When Jacob finished instructing his sons, he gathered his feet onto the bed, breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.

Translation notes 8

49:1–4 — Days and Reuben. “The days to come” introduces the future described in these sayings without specifying one final historical period for all of them. Reuben's turbulent-water image and the abrupt shift from “you” to “he” are retained. The bed language recalls his act in 35:22.

49:5–7 — Violence and weapons. The word rendered “weapons” is uncertain; proposals include swords, plans, and dwelling places. “My honor” follows the pointed Hebrew, though some read “my liver,” an image for the inner self. The killing and hamstringing are preserved, as is the curse upon anger rather than an explicit curse upon the brothers themselves.

49:8–12 — Judah, wine, and abundance. Judah's name is associated with praise. The lion, scepter, donkey, vine, wine, and milk images are retained without identifying their details with later events. In verse 12 the comparisons may instead mean eyes darker than wine and teeth whiter than milk.

49:10 — Shiloh. This is an especially uncertain expression. The written form and traditional reading differ in their final letter; the traditional reading is transliterated here. Major alternatives include “until he comes to Shiloh,” “until tribute comes to him,” and “until the one to whom it belongs comes.” The last two make good sense of royal authority and the obedience of peoples, and ancient translations reflect related interpretations. The text does not itself identify a person named Shiloh or explicitly supply the word “Messiah.” The retained wording is provisional, not a settled identification.

49:11 — His foal and garment. The traditional readings give the masculine suffix “his” in both expressions, where the written forms end differently. The verse pictures abundant wine through extravagant use; “blood of grapes” is the source's own image.

49:14–21 — Animals and wordplay. The location of Issachar's resting place may be between saddlebags, sheepfolds, or hearths. Dan and judging share a sound; Gad and the repeated raiding words also do so. Naphtali's second line follows “beautiful words”; an alternative understanding is “beautiful fawns.” The translation preserves the change from the doe image to the masculine speaker.

49:22–24 — Joseph's imagery. “Fruitful bough” and “branches” are traditional contextual readings of words ordinarily meaning “son” and “daughters.” A wild-donkey image has also been proposed. The difficult final phrase of verse 24 is retained as “from there”; others read “by the name of.” The draft understands Shepherd and Stone as divine designations; the following note discusses an alternative.

49:24–26 — Blessings and difficult Hebrew. In verse 24 “comes” supplies an unexpressed verb. Shepherd and Stone are understood here as divine titles, but the phrase may instead describe Joseph becoming Israel's shepherd and support. Shaddai is the divine designation traditionally rendered “Almighty.” Verse 25 has a difficult transition, preserved as “and with Shaddai”; many read “and from Shaddai.” The pointed Hebrew in verse 26 can refer to “my parents.” Another reading, favored for its parallel with hills, is “ancient mountains.” The translation retains the transmitted wording provisionally, including the breast and womb imagery and Joseph's position as one set apart among his brothers.