GENESIS CHAPTER 49 Jacob calls his sons to bless them before his death, GENESIS 49:1. Bespeaks their attention, GENESIS 49:2. Condemns Reuben's incest, GENESIS 49:3,4; Simeon's and Levi's cruelty, GENESIS 49:5. Extols Judah; prophesieth of Christ, and the calling of the Gentiles, GENESIS 49:9. Of Ze... [ Continue Reading ]
No text from Poole on this verse.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE BEGINNING OF MY STRENGTH; the first instance or evidence of my might or strength, or of that masculine rigour whereby God enabled me to beget a child. Compare DEUTERONOMY 21:17 PSALMS 105:36. Or the first of my children, which are the strength, the stays, and supports of a father, and of his fam... [ Continue Reading ]
UNSTABLE AS WATER: this may concern either, 1. Something past, or Reuben's fault; and so he is said to have been UNSTABLE, or _light, _ and _vain, _ as the word is used, JUDGES 9:4 ZEPHANIAH 3:4; _like water, _ moved with every little wind of temptation, and unbounded in thy lust; as water of itsel... [ Continue Reading ]
SIMEON AND LEVI ARE BRETHREN; not only by nature, but in iniquity; of like cruel and bloody disposition, confederate in the same wicked design, GENESIS 34:25. So the word _brother_ is elsewhere used, for him that agrees much with another in his temper, or employment, or designs, as JOB 30:29 PROVERB... [ Continue Reading ]
THEIR SECRET; or, _counsel, _ or _company, _ as the word is used, PSALMS 64:2 JEREMIAH 15:17; i.e. do not partake with them in their secret and wicked designs. Hereby he signifies to all posterity, that that bloody enterprise was undertaken without his consent or approbation, and that he could not t... [ Continue Reading ]
CURSED BE THEIR ANGER, or, _cursed_ was. It was execrable and abominable both before God and men; such as deserved and brought the curse of God upon themselves, which I, as God's instrument, am now to pronounce against them. I do here declare, in the name of God, that they shall be divided and dispe... [ Continue Reading ]
Or rather, THOU art JUDAH, THY BRETHREN SHALL PRAISE or _celebrate_ thee. So the expression is like that 1 SAMUEL 25:25. _As his name is, so_ is _he; Nabal_ is _his name, and folly_ is _with him, _ or _in him._ So here the sense is, As thy name signifies _praise,_ GENESIS 29:35, so shalt thou have p... [ Continue Reading ]
JUDAH IS as A LION'S WHELP, or _as a young lion, _ for courage, and strength, and terror to his enemies. The particle _as_ is here wanting, as also GENESIS 49:14,17,21,22, and in many other places, as PSALMS 11:1, PSALMS 12:6 22:6, &c. And he is rightly compared first to a lion's whelp, then to an o... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SECPTRE, i.e. the dominion or government, which is oft expressed by this word, as NUMBERS 24:17 PSALMS 45:6 ISAIAH 14:5 EZEKIEL 19:11,14 AM 1:5,8 ZEC 10:11, because it is an ensign of government, ESTHER 4:11. So it is a figure called a metonomy of the sign, than which nothing more frequent. The... [ Continue Reading ]
He signifies the plenty of vines in Judah's portion, that they shall be planted every where, even in the commons and highways where men travel, and where upon occasion they use to tie the beasts on which they ride to any tree which is near them. Such shall be the plenty of it, that if it were conven... [ Continue Reading ]
Which shows not only the plenty of wine, but also the excellency and strength of it, which, though not drunk in great quantity, or to excess, will make the eyes red. See PROVERBS 23:29.... [ Continue Reading ]
Acknowledge here and adore the Divine Providence, which directed Jacob thus exactly to foretell the portion of Zebulun, which fell to them two hundred years after this, and that not by choice, or any design of men, but merely by lot. His portion was extended from the sea of Galilee to the great Medi... [ Continue Reading ]
A STRONG ASS, Heb. _an ass of bone, _ i.e. of great bulk and bones, and strength of body, but of little spirit and courage, COUCHING DOWN BETWEEN TWO BURDENS, which are laid upon his back, and which he is contented to bear. Or, _lying down, _ i.e. enjoying his ease and rest, _between the borders, _... [ Continue Reading ]
REST, or rather, his _resting-place, _ as this very word signifies, GENESIS 8:9 PSALMS 116:7, PSALMS 132:8 ISAIAH 11:10, i.e. his portion or habitation, as the Chaldee and Syriac translate it. So this agrees with the following member, where, after the manner of the Hebrews, the same thing is repeate... [ Continue Reading ]
i.e. Rule and govern them. Though he be the son of my concubine, yet he shall not be subject to any other tribe, but shall have an absolute power within himself. What is said of him is to be understood of the rest of the sons of the concubines, and hereby all difference between the sons of the wives... [ Continue Reading ]
AN ADDER IN THE PATH, which covereth and hideth itself in the sand or dust of the highway, watching for men or beasts that pass that way. He notes the subtlety of that tribe, which should conquer their enemies more by craft and cmlning, than by strength or force of arms.... [ Continue Reading ]
I do earnestly wait, and hope, and pray for thy helping hand to save me and my posterity from the manifold temporal calamities which I foresee will come upon them, and especially from spiritual and eternal mischiefs, by that Messiah which thou hast promised. Jacob in the midst of his great work doth... [ Continue Reading ]
i.e. _Troops_ of enemies shall frequently invade his country, and for a time conquer and spoil it. And so it came to pass, because the inheritance of that tribe lay beyond Jordan, near to the Ammonites and Moabites, two inveterate enemies of Israel, and to other hostile nations on the east. BUT HE S... [ Continue Reading ]
i.e. Out of the land of ASHER. Or, _As for_ or _concerning Asher, _ his bread-corn shall be fuller and sweeter and better than ordinary; _and he shall yield royal dainties; _ not only oil for ointments, but also delicious and excellent fruits, fit to be presented to a king. See DEUTERONOMY 33:24,25.... [ Continue Reading ]
A HIND LET LOOSE; not pursued by hunters, nor shut up in some little enclosure, but wholly left to its own freedom, to feed upon the best pastures: see DEUTERONOMY 33:23. Or, free from the yoke which they, together with the other tribes, did bear in Egypt; free from its former restraints, which make... [ Continue Reading ]
A FRUITFUL BOUGH, in regard of those two numerous tribes which proceeded from his two sons. BY A WELL, or _fountain, _ or water-course, which situation doth much further the growth of trees. See PSALMS 1:3 EZEKIEL 19:10. WHOSE BRANCHES RUN OVER THE WALL, i. e: which is planted by a wall, whose heat... [ Continue Reading ]
i.e. His adversaries, as well his own brethren as his master and mistress; with their scoffs, and slanders, and injuries, which in the Scripture are oft compared to _arrows._... [ Continue Reading ]
HIS BOW, wherewith he opposed his enemies; which was no military bow, but that which he opposed to all their injuries, to wit, his own virtue, his innocence, his patience, his temperance, his faith and hope in God, whereby he resisted and vanquished all the temptations and difficulties which he met... [ Continue Reading ]
Here he explains and determines that doubtful expression _from these_, by adding even _by_ (or rather _from_ as this particle _mem_ properly signifies, and was just now used) THE GOD OF THY FATHER, i.e. who hath chosen and loved they father, and made a league with him, and blessed him with all manne... [ Continue Reading ]
THE BLESSINGS which I THY FATHER have conferred upon thee, are much more considerable than those which I received from my father Isaac, or from my grandfather Abraham This was true, 1. In the extent of the blessings; Ishmael was excluded from Abraham's blessing, and my brother excluded from Isaac's... [ Continue Reading ]
He notes the warlike and fierce disposition and carriage of that tribe. Instances whereof we have JUDGES 3:15, JUDGES 19:1-20:48 1 SAMUEL 13:1:35. This may be understood, either of the same wolf, which in the morning, being more hungry and greedy, devours his prey alone; but in the evening, being in... [ Continue Reading ]
THE TWELVE TRIBES, i.e. the heads and parents of the twelve tribes. A metonomy of the effect. The tribes are generally accounted twelve, though they were thirteen, because the land was divided only into twelve parts, Levi having no distinct part of his own. EVERY ONE ACCORDING TO HIS BLESSING, i.e.... [ Continue Reading ]
In Canaan. Whereby he designed to withdraw their minds from Egypt, and fix them upon Canaan.... [ Continue Reading ]
He describes it so particularly, both for their direction, because they had been some years absent thence; and to express how much his heart was set upon this matter; and thereby to oblige them to the more careful performance of his command.... [ Continue Reading ]
No text from Poole on this verse.... [ Continue Reading ]
No text from Poole on this verse.... [ Continue Reading ]
COMMANDING HIS SONS, to wit, concerning the place of his burial. Whilst he was employed in that most solemn and religious work of blessing his children in the name and by the Spirit of God, he used as reverent a posture as his infirm body would permit, and therefore is supposed to sit upon his bedsi... [ Continue Reading ]