_AND JACOB CALLED UNTO HIS SONS, AND SAID, GATHER YOURSELVES TOGETHER, THAT I MAY TELL YOU THAT WHICH SHALL BEFALL YOU IN THE LAST DAYS._ Jacob called unto his sons. It is not to the sayings of the dying saint, so much as of the inspired prophet, that attention is called in this chapter. Jacob is p... [ Continue Reading ]
_GATHER YOURSELVES TOGETHER, AND HEAR, YE SONS OF JACOB; AND HEARKEN UNTO ISRAEL YOUR FATHER._ No JFB commentary on this verse.... [ Continue Reading ]
_REUBEN, THOU ART MY FIRSTBORN, MY MIGHT, AND THE BEGINNING OF MY STRENGTH, THE EXCELLENCY OF DIGNITY, AND THE EXCELLENCY OF POWER:_ Reuben, thou art my first-born. In polygamous families there are sometimes several first-borns; and Jacob, had he been at liberty to follow his own predilections, wou... [ Continue Reading ]
_UNSTABLE AS WATER, THOU SHALT NOT EXCEL; BECAUSE THOU WENTEST UP TO THY FATHER'S BED; THEN DEFILEDST THOU IT: HE WENT UP TO MY COUCH._ Unstable as water - a boiling up as of water (art thou); i:e., thou didst boil up with lust and passion-referring to his incest (Gesenius). THOU SHALT NOT EXCEL... [ Continue Reading ]
_SIMEON AND LEVI ARE BRETHREN; INSTRUMENTS OF CRUELTY ARE IN THEIR HABITATIONS._ Simeon and Levi are brethren - i:e., united by similar dispositions as by blood relationship. INSTRUMENTS OF CRUELTY ARE IN THEIR HABITATIONS. The meaning of this last word х_ MªKEEROTEEYHEM_ (H4380)] has been much d... [ Continue Reading ]
_O MY SOUL, COME NOT THOU INTO THEIR SECRET; UNTO THEIR ASSEMBLY, MINE HONOUR, BE NOT THOU UNITED: FOR IN THEIR ANGER THEY SLEW A MAN, AND IN THEIR SELFWILL THEY DIGGED DOWN A WALL._ Into their secret, х_ COWD_ (H5475)] - a divan, a conclave of wicked conspirators. MINE HONOUR, х_ KªBODIY_ (H3519... [ Continue Reading ]
_CURSED BE THEIR ANGER, FOR IT WAS FIERCE; AND THEIR WRATH, FOR IT WAS CRUEL: I WILL DIVIDE THEM IN JACOB, AND SCATTER THEM IN ISRAEL._ No JFB commentary on this verse.... [ Continue Reading ]
_JUDAH, THOU ART HE WHOM THY BRETHREN SHALL PRAISE: THY HAND SHALL BE IN THE NECK OF THINE ENEMIES; THY FATHER'S CHILDREN SHALL BOW DOWN BEFORE THEE._ Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise - literally, 'Judah, thou!' The name was significant of blessings (Gen. 9:35); and there is a para... [ Continue Reading ]
_BINDING HIS FOAL UNTO THE VINE, AND HIS ASS'S COLT UNTO THE CHOICE VINE; HE WASHED HIS GARMENTS IN WINE, AND HIS CLOTHES IN THE BLOOD OF GRAPES:_ Binding his foal unto the vine ..., х_ `AYIR_ (H5895)] - a young but full-grown donkey (Genesis 32:16; Isaiah 30:6; Zechariah 9:9). Gesenius renders it,... [ Continue Reading ]
_HIS EYES SHALL BE RED WITH WINE, AND HIS TEETH WHITE WITH MILK._ No JFB commentary on this verse.... [ Continue Reading ]
_ZEBULUN SHALL DWELL AT THE HAVEN OF THE SEA; AND HE SHALL BE FOR AN HAVEN OF SHIPS; AND HIS BORDER SHALL BE UNTO ZIDON._ Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea. Although Issachar was older than Zebulun, and they were destined to occupy contiguous settlements, Jacob, foreseeing the political s... [ Continue Reading ]
_ISSACHAR IS A STRONG ASS COUCHING DOWN BETWEEN TWO BURDENS:_ Issachar is a strong ass - literally, a male donkey of bone; i:e., stout, strong-bodied. COUCHING DOWN BETWEEN TWO BURDENS, х_ ROBEETS_ (H7257) _ BEEYN_ (H996) _ HAMISHPªTAAYIM_ (H4942)] - reclining among the folds or enclosures. The wo... [ Continue Reading ]
_AND HE SAW THAT REST WAS GOOD, AND THE LAND THAT IT WAS PLEASANT; AND BOWED HIS SHOULDER TO BEAR, AND BECAME A SERVANT UNTO TRIBUTE._ He saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant. The plain of Esdraelon, on which they settled, formed as it were a deep and spacious valley, separatin... [ Continue Reading ]
_DAN SHALL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE, AS ONE OF THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL._ Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan, though the son of a secondary wife, was to be put on a footing of exact equality with the children of Rachel and Leah. He was to be constituted one of the tribes of Israel,... [ Continue Reading ]
_DAN SHALL BE A SERPENT BY THE WAY, AN ADDER IN THE PATH, THAT BITETH THE HORSE HEELS, SO THAT HIS RIDER SHALL FALL BACKWARD._ An adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels - х_ SHªPIYPON_ (H8207)] Coluber cerastes, or horned snake, very common in Egypt and the desert, of from eighteen inches t... [ Continue Reading ]
_I HAVE WAITED FOR THY SALVATION, O LORD._ I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord. The connection of this clause with the preceding context has greatly perplexed critics. Some maintain that it is an interpolation; but its genuineness is attested by the most ancient MSS. and versions. Various hypot... [ Continue Reading ]
_GAD, A TROOP SHALL OVERCOME HIM: BUT HE SHALL OVERCOME AT THE LAST._ Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last. х_ `AAQEEB_ (H6119) is here improperly rendered, "at the last:" it signifies "heel;" and by shifting mem (m) from _ 'AASHEER_ (H836), at the beginning of the fol... [ Continue Reading ]
_OUT OF ASHER HIS BREAD SHALL BE FAT, AND HE SHALL YIELD ROYAL DAINTIES._ Out of Asher his bread shall be fat. [Considering mem (m), as we have done, as connected with the last word in the previous verse, we render this clause-Asher, fatness shall be his bread - i:e., the rich soil of his settlemen... [ Continue Reading ]
_NAPHTALI IS A HIND LET LOOSE: HE GIVETH GOODLY WORDS._ Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words, х_ 'AYAALAAH_ (H355) _ SHªLUCHAAH_ (H7971)] - a hind stretched out; i:e., slender in form: х_ HANOTEEN_ (H5414) _ 'IMREEY_ (H561) _ SHAAPER_ (H8233)] giving forth words of grace - i:e., ple... [ Continue Reading ]
_JOSEPH IS A FRUITFUL BOUGH, EVEN A FRUITFUL BOUGH BY A WELL; WHOSE BRANCHES RUN OVER THE WALL:_ Joseph is a fruitful bough ... - literally, 'the son of a fruitful tree (a vine) is Joseph; the son of a fruitful tree by a fountain, whose branches (daughters) mount upon a wall.' When Jacob arrived, i... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE ARCHERS HAVE SORELY GRIEVED HIM, AND SHOT AT HIM, AND HATED HIM:_ The archers have sorely grieved him ... The image is here changed to that of a warrior engaged in a deadly contest. The "archers" denote the adversaries of Joseph-his brothers, as well as Potiphar and his wife; and the arrows sh... [ Continue Reading ]
_BUT HIS BOW ABODE IN STRENGTH, AND THE ARMS OF HIS HANDS WERE MADE STRONG BY THE HANDS OF THE MIGHTY GOD OF JACOB; (FROM THENCE IS THE SHEPHERD, THE STONE OF ISRAEL:)_ But his bow abode in strength. The bow is used metaphorically as the symbol of strength and power (Job 39:20; Jeremiah 49:35; Hose... [ Continue Reading ]
_EVEN BY THE GOD OF THY FATHER, WHO SHALL HELP THEE; AND BY THE ALMIGHTY, WHO SHALL BLESS THEE WITH BLESSINGS OF HEAVEN ABOVE, BLESSINGS OF THE DEEP THAT LIETH UNDER, BLESSINGS OF THE BREASTS, AND OF THE WOMB:_ Blessings of heaven above - i:e., copious descents of rain and dew, which are so necessa... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE BLESSINGS OF THY FATHER HAVE PREVAILED ABOVE THE BLESSINGS OF MY PROGENITORS UNTO THE UTMOST BOUND OF THE EVERLASTING HILLS: THEY SHALL BE ON THE HEAD OF JOSEPH, AND ON THE CROWN OF THE HEAD OF HIM THAT WAS SEPARATE FROM HIS BRETHREN._ The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the bless... [ Continue Reading ]
_BENJAMIN SHALL RAVIN AS A WOLF: IN THE MORNING HE SHALL DEVOUR THE PREY, AND AT NIGHT HE SHALL DIVIDE THE_ _ SPOIL._ Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf. This tribe, whose settlement was to lie on the border, should be characterized by impetuosity, fierceness, stealthy measures, and a warlike appetite... [ Continue Reading ]
_ALL THESE ARE THE TWELVE TRIBES OF ISRAEL: AND THIS IS IT THAT THEIR FATHER SPAKE UNTO THEM, AND BLESSED THEM; EVERY ONE ACCORDING TO HIS BLESSING HE BLESSED THEM._ All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, х_ SHIBTEEY_ (H7626), stems that spring from a common root] - metaphorically used for the... [ Continue Reading ]
_AND HE CHARGED THEM, AND SAID UNTO THEM, I AM TO BE GATHERED UNTO MY PEOPLE: BURY ME WITH MY FATHERS IN THE CAVE THAT IS IN THE FIELD OF EPHRON THE HITTITE,_ And he charged them ... - most probably on some other occasion. Indeed, the charge had already been given to Joseph, and solemnly undertaken... [ Continue Reading ]