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. Ver. 1. _Gather yourselves together._] This is Jacob's swan-like song, _a_ his last bequeath, his farewell to the world; and it is a most heavenly one. The wine... [ Continue Reading ]
_Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father._ Ver. 2. _Hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken._] Draw up the ears of your souls to the ears of your bodies, that one sound may pierce both at once. "Let him that hath an ear to hear, hear": not only with t... [ Continue Reading ]
Reuben, thou [art] my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power: Ver. 3. _My might, and beginning of my strength._] _Nate meae vires … _ The word here used signifieth the straining of the body forcibly to effect a thing much desire... [ 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. Ver. 4. _Unstable as water._] Easily drawn to sin, and suddenly down from his dignity. Reuben, for a short sinful pleasure, lost great privileges and blessings. So... [ Continue Reading ]
Simeon and Levi [are] brethren; instruments of cruelty [are in] their habitations. Ver. 5. _Simeon and Levi are brethren._] _Nobile par fratrum_ _a_ not more in nature than in iniquity. Here Moses blancheth not over the blemishes of his progenitors, but wrote as he was inspired by the impartial Spi... [ 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. Ver. 6. _O my soul, come not thou, &c._] Jacob here meaneth that neither should any, neither would he approve of their... [ 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. Ver. 7. _Cursed be their anger._] Of the mischief of rash anger, and means to repress it. _See Trapp on "_ Gen 34:7 _"_ See my "Commonplace of Anger." _ I will... [ 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. Ver. 8. _Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren._] All this is chiefly verified in Christ, and of him to be understood. In him is beauty, bounty, go... [ Continue Reading ]
Judah [is] a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? Ver. 9. Judah is a lion's whelp.] Many lionlike Lysimachusses came of this tribe, that, as Samson and David, first fought with lions, and then with... [ Continue Reading ]
The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him [shall] the gathering of the people [be]. Ver. 10. _Until Shiloh come._] Shiloh is by some expounded, the son of his secundines. _a_ The Hebrew word implies His son, and, Her son; that is,... [ 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: Ver. 11. _Binding his foal unto the vine._] Vines shall be so plentiful, that as countrymen tie their asses to briers and shrubs, so shall Judah to the vi... [ Continue Reading ]
His eyes [shall be] red with wine, and his teeth white with milk. Ver. 12. _His eyes shall be red, &c._] Wine and milk are used to signify plenty of spiritual blessings in heavenly things. Isaiah 55:1 _; _ Isa 25:6... [ 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. Ver. 13. _Zebulun shall dwell, &c._] It is God that "appoints us the bounds of our habitations." Act 17:26 Be content therefore; and although we have not all things to our min... [ Continue Reading ]
Issachar [is] a strong ass couching down between two burdens: Ver. 14. _Issachar is a strong ass, &c._] He so commends his strength, that, with it, he condemns his dulness. This Christ can so little abide, that he said even to Judas, "That thou doest, do quickly." God utterly refused an ass in sacr... [ 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. Ver. 15. _And he saw that rest was good._] He submitted to any burdens and hard conditions for a quiet life. This was a low poor spirit; and his posterity were, f... [ Continue Reading ]
Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel. Ver. 16. _Dan shall judge._] Here is an allusion to his name in the original; q.d., the Judger shall judge. This is a high honour, to sit in the seat of judicature, and no less a burden: _Fructus honos oneris, fructus honoris onus._ They t... [ 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. Ver. 17. _Dan shall be a serpent by the way._] He shall subtly set upon his enemies, and suddenly surprise them: as they did the men of Laish; and as Samson, of this tribe, d... [ Continue Reading ]
_I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD._ Ver. 18. _I have waited for thy salvation._] A sudden and sweet ejaculation; either, as, feeling himself faint and spent with speaking, he desires to be dissolved, and so to be freed from all infirmities; or else, foreseeing the defection of this tribe to... [ Continue Reading ]
_Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last._ Ver. 19. Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but.] This is every good Christian's case in the spiritual warfare; he conquers, Joh 16:33 but comes to it through many conflicts and counter buffs. He "made war upon the saints, and over... [ Continue Reading ]
Out of Asher his bread [shall be] fat, and he shall yield royal dainties. Ver. 20. _Out of Asher his bread shall be fat._] The "heart of the wheat," as the psalmist hath it. Psa 81:16 Or, choicest bread corn. Moses expoundeth this; Asher shall "dip his foot in oil." Deu 33:24 That is, he shall dwel... [ Continue Reading ]
Naphtali [is] a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words. Ver. 21. _Naphtali is a hind let loose._] Swift of foot; and which, when it flieth, looketh behind it, saith the Chaldee Paraphrast on Song of Solomon 8:14. This was fulfilled in Barak of this tribe, who "went up on his feet" against Sisera's... [ Continue Reading ]
_Joseph [is] a fruitful bough, [even] a fruitful bough by a well; [whose] branches run over the wall:_ Ver. 22. _Joseph is a fruitful bough._] Of the vine, saith the Chaldee Paraphrast. But it may be, Jacob meant it of the Egyptian fig tree, whereof Solinus reporteth that it beareth fruit seven tim... [ Continue Reading ]
_The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot [at him], and hated him:_ Ver. 23. _The archers have sorely grieved him._] These were his barbarous brethren, that sold him; his adulterous mistress, that, harlot-like, hunted for his precious life; his injurious master, that, without any desert of his... [ 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:) Ver. 24. _But his bow abode in strength._] He "gave not place to them by subjection, no, not for an hour." Gal 2:5 "If thou fain... [ Continue Reading ]
__ Genesis 49:25 _[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:_ Ver. 25. _Who shall help thee._] God hath, God shall, - is an ordina... [ 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. Ver. 26. _Above the blessings of my progenitors._] Chiefly b... [ Continue Reading ]
Benjamin shall ravin [as] a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil. Ver. 27. _Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf._] There are that think that this ought to be applied to St Paul the Benjamite; _a_ who while he was Saul, not content to consent to St Stephen... [ 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. Ver. 28. _Blessed them; every one according, &c._] These hard blessings, to some of them especially, hindered not the covenant. Sti... [ 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, Ver. 29. _I am to be gathered, &c._] That is, I am now going to heaven; whereof being so well assured, what wonder though he were so willing... [ Continue Reading ]
In the cave that [is] in the field of Machpelah, which [is] before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a buryingplace. Ver. 30. _In the cave that is in the field of Machpelah._] Mercer thinketh that this cave is here so copious... [ Continue Reading ]
There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah. Ver. 31. _There they buried Abraham and Sarah, &c._] It is observed by an interpreter, that these here mentioned, and Jacob himself the sixth, buried in one grove, the first letters... [ Continue Reading ]
The purchase of the field and of the cave that [is] therein [was] from the children of Heth. Ver. 32. _The purchase of the field, &c._] _See Trapp on "_ Gen 49:30 _"_... [ Continue Reading ]
And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people. Ver. 33. _He gathered up his feet._] He quietly composed himself, as it were, to sleep in Jesus. He had stretched out himself before, saith Muscul... [ Continue Reading ]