Genesis 49:8 | 99
48:17 j ver 14
48:19 k Ge 17:20 l Ge 25:23
48:20 m Nu 2:18 n Nu 2:20; Ru 4:11
48:21 o Ge 26:3; 46:4 p Ge 28:13; 50:24
48:22 q Jos 24:32; Jn 4:5 r Ge 37:8
49:1 s Nu 24:14; Jer 23:20
49:2 t Ps 34:11
49:3 u Ge 29:32 v Dt 21:17; Ps 78:51
49:4 w Isa 57:20 x Ge 35:22; Dt 27:20
49:5 y Ge 34:25; Pr 4:17
49:6 z Pr 1:15; Eph 5:11 a Ge 34:26
49:7 b Jos 19:1, 9; 21:1‐42
49:8 c Dt 33:7; 1Ch 5:2
17 When Jo seph saw his fa ther plac ing his right hand on Ephra im’ s head j he was displeased; so he took hold of his fa ther’ s hand to move it from Ephra im’ s head to Ma nas seh’ s head. 18 Jo seph said to him,“ No, my fa ther, this one is the first born; put your right hand on his head.”
19 But his fa ther re fused and said,“ I know, my son, I know. He too will be come a people, and he too will be come great. k Nev er the less, his youn ger brother will be greater than he, l and his de scen dants will be come a group of na tions.” 20 He blessed them that day and said,
“ In your a name will Israel pronounce this blessing:‘ May God make you like Ephraim m and Manasseh. n’”
So he put Ephraim ahead of Ma nas seh. 21 Then Is rael said to Jo seph,“ I am about to die, but God will be with you b o and take you b back to the land of your b fathers. p
22 And to you I give one more ridge of land c q than to your brothers, r the ridge I took from the Am o rites with my sword and my bow.”
Jacob Blesses His Sons
49:1-28Ref— Dt 33:1-29
Then Ja cob called for his sons and said:“ Gather around so I can tell you what will hap pen to you in days to come. s
49
2“ Assemble and listen, sons of Jacob; listen to your father Israel. t
3“ Reuben, you are my firstborn, u my might, the first sign of my strength, v excelling in honor, excelling in power.
4 Turbulent as the waters, w you will no longer excel, for you went up onto your father’ s bed, onto my couch and defiled it. x
5“ Simeon and Levi are brothers— their swords d are weapons of violence. y
6 Let me not enter their council, let me not join their assembly, z for they have killed men in their anger a and hamstrung oxen as they pleased.
7 Cursed be their anger, so fierce, and their fury, so cruel!
I will scatter them in Jacob and disperse them in Israel. b
8“ Judah, e your brothers will praise you; your hand will be on the neck of your enemies; your father’ s sons will bow down to you. c
a 20 The Hebrew is singular. b 21 The Hebrew is plural. c 22 The Hebrew for ridge of land is identical with the place
name Shechem. d 5 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain. e 8 Judah sounds like and may be derived from the Hebrew for praise.
48:21 – 22 Jacob expresses confidence that God will bring his descendants back to the land God promised to his fathers, Abraham and Isaac. 48:22 one more ridge of land. Jacob uses the Hebrew term šĕkem( see NIV text note). Later, Joseph’ s bones are buried at Shechem( Josh 24:32), where Jacob lived for a period of time( 33:19— 34:31).
49:1 – 28 Jacob Blesses His Sons. After blessing Joseph’ s sons, Jacob blesses his 12 sons in order of their birth, apart from placing Zebulun before Issachar. These blessings are more than simply predictions of what will happen in the future. They assess each son’ s character based on what they have done in the past. These judgments in turn influence what will happen in the future. Consequently, Jacob anticipates that Judah and Joseph will be preeminent among his sons; their blessings are the longest and most positive. Due to the poetic nature of the blessings and the use of wordplays, Jacob’ s statements may in places be interpreted in different ways. However, it undoubtedly makes sense to understand these blessings in line with how the unified story that runs through the books of Genesis through Kings presents the history of each tribe. 49:1 in days to come. Jacob does more than merely predict the future. His blessings have the power to shape what will happen to his descendants. For this reason, Jacob himself was prepared to deceive his own father in order to get the blessing of the firstborn( 27:1 – 29). 49:3 – 4 As firstborn, Reuben ought to have enjoyed preeminence over his brothers. However, due to his inappropriate relationship with Bilhah( v. 4; see 35:22 and note), Jacob gave Reuben’ s status as firstborn to Joseph( 1 Chr 5:1 – 2). 49:5 – 7 Jacob addresses Simeon and Levi together, reflecting their violent, joint action against the Shechemites after Shechem raped their sister Dinah( ch. 34). Denouncing their violent disposition, Jacob predicts that they will be scattered among the other tribes in order to dissipate their anger-fueled, warlike behavior( v. 7). After the Israelites settle in the land of Canaan, the Levites dwell mainly in 48 cities located throughout all of the tribal areas( Num 18:23 – 24; 35:1 – 8; Josh 21:1 – 45). God places the Simeonites within the territory of the more powerful tribe of Judah( Josh 19:1 – 9). This prevents the tribes of Simeon and Levi from jointly dominating others. 49:8 – 12 Jacob’ s positive blessing of Judah reflects the special standing that Judah