Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament · Genesis Chapter 49

Zebulun, to the shore of the ocean will he dwell, and indeed ( והוּא isque) towards the coast of ships, and his side towards Zidon (directed up to Zidon).” This blessing on Leah's sixth son interprets the name Zebulun (i.e., dwelling) as an omen, not so much to show the tribe its dwelling-place in Canaan, as to point out the blessing which it would receive from the situation of its inheritance (compare Deuteronomy 33:19). So far as the territory allotted to the tribe of Zebulun under Joshua can be ascertained from the boundaries and towns mentioned in Joshua 19:10-16, it neither reached to the Mediterranean, nor touched directly upon Zidon (see my Comm. on Joshua). It really lay between the Sea of Galilee and the Mediterranean, near to both, but separated from the former by Naphtali, from the latter by Asher. So far was this announcement, therefore, from being a vaticinium ex eventu taken from the geographical position of the tribe, that it contains a decided testimony to the fact that Jacob's blessing was not written after the time of Joshua. ימּים denotes, not the two seas mentioned above, but, as Judges 5:17 proves, the Mediterranean, as a great ocean (Genesis 1:10). “The coast of ships:” i.e., where ships are unloaded, and land the treasures of the distant parts of the world for the inhabitants of the maritime and inland provinces (Deuteronomy 33:19). Zidon, as the old capital, stands for Phoenicia itself.

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But this manifestation of strength, which Jacob expected from Dan and promised prophetically, presupposed that severe conflicts awaited the Israelites. For these conflicts Jacob furnished his sons with both shield and sword in the ejaculatory prayer, “ I wait for Thy salvation, O Jehovah! ” which was not a prayer for his own soul and its speedy redemption from all evil, but in which, as Calvin has strikingly shown, he expressed his confidence that his descendants would receive the help of his God. Accordingly, the later Targums ( Jerusalem and Jonathan) interpret these words as Messianic, but with a special reference to Samson, and paraphrase Genesis 49:18 thus: “Not for the deliverance of Gideon, the son of Joash, does my soul wait, for that is temporary; and not for the redemption of Samson, for that is transitory; and not for the redemption of Samson, for that is transitory; but for the redemption of the Messiah, the Son of David, which Thou through Thy word hast promised to bring to Thy people the children of Israel: for this Thy redemption my soul waits.”

(Note: This is the reading according to the text of the Jerusalem Targum, in the London Polyglot as corrected from the extracts of Fagius in the Critt. Sacr., to which the Targum Jonathan also adds, “for Thy redemption, O Jehovah, is an everlasting redemption.” But whilst the Targumists and several fathers connect the serpent in the way with Samson, by many others the serpent in the way is supposed to be Antichrist. On this interpretation Luther remarks: Puto Diabolum hujus fabulae auctorem fuisse et finxisse hanc glossam, ut nostras cogitationes a vero et praesente Antichristo abduceret .)

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“Gad - a press presses him, but he presses the heel.” The name Gad reminds the patriarch of גּוּד to press, and גּדוּד the pressing host, warlike host, which invades the land. The attacks of such hosts Gad will bravely withstand, and press their heel, i.e., put them to flight and bravely pursue them, not smite their rear-guard; for עקב does not signify the rear-guard even in Joshua 8:13, but only the reserves (see my commentary on the passage). The blessing, which is formed from a triple alliteration of the name Gad, contains no such special allusions to historical events as to enable us to interpret it historically, although the account in 1 Chronicles 5:18. proves that the Gadites displayed, wherever it was needed, the bravery promised them by Jacob. Compare with this 1 Chronicles 12:8-15, where the Gadites who come to David are compared to lions, and their swiftness to that of roes.

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“ Out of Asher (cometh) fat, his bread, and he yieldeth royal dainties.” לחמו is in apposition to שׁמנה , and the suffix is to be emphasized: the fat, which comes from him, is his bread, his own food. The saying indicates a very fruitful soil. Asher received as his inheritance the lowlands of Carmel on the Mediterranean as far as the territory of Tyre, one of the most fertile parts of Canaan, abounding in wheat and oil, with which Solomon supplied and household of king Hiram (1 Kings 5:11).

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“ Naphtali is a hind let loose, who giveth goodly words.” The hind or gazelle is a simile of a warrior who is skilful and swift in his movements (2 Samuel 2:18; 1 Chronicles 12:8, cf. Psalms 18:33; Habakkuk 3:19). שׁלהה here is neither hunted, nor stretched out or grown slim; but let loose, running freely about (Job 39:5). The meaning and allusion are obscure, since nothing further is known of the history of the tribe of Naphtali, than that Naphtali obtained a great victory under Barak in association with Zebulun over the Canaanitish king Jabin, which the prophetess Deborah commemorated in her celebrated song (Judg 4 and 5). If the first half of the verse be understood as referring to the independent possession of a tract of land, upon which Naphtali moved like a hind in perfect freedom, the interpretation of Masius (on Josh 19) is certainly the correct one: “ Sicut cervus emissus et liber in herbosa et fertili terra exultim ludit, ita et in sua fertili sorte ludet et excultabit Nephtali .” But the second half of the verse can hardly refer to “beautiful sayings and songs, in which the beauty and fertility of their home were displayed.” It is far better to keep, as Vatablius does, to the general thought: tribus Naphtali erit fortissima, elegantissima et agillima et erit facundissima .

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“Benjamin - a world, which tears in pieces; in the morning he devours prey, and in the evening he divides spoil.” Morning and evening together suggest the idea of incessant and victorious capture of booty ( Del.). The warlike character which the patriarch here attributes to Benjamin, was manifested by that tribe, not only in the war which he waged with all the tribes on account of their wickedness in Gibeah (Judg 20), but on other occasions also (Judges 5:14), in its distinguished archers and slingers (Judges 20:16; 1 Chronicles 8:40, 1 Chronicles 8:12; 2 Chronicles 14:8; 2 Chronicles 17:17), and also in the fact that the judge Ehud (Judges 3:15.), and Saul, with his heroic son Jonathan, sprang from this tribe (1 Samuel 11:1-15 and 13; 2 Samuel 1:19.).

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The concluding words in Genesis 49:28, “ All these are the tribes of Israel, twelve, ” contain the thought, that in his twelve sons Jacob blessed the future tribes. “ Every one with that which was his blessing, he blessed them, ” i.e., every one with his appropriate blessing ( אשׁר accus. dependent upon בּרך which is construed with a double accusative); since, as has already been observed, even Reuben, Simeon, and Levi, though put down through their own fault, received a share in the promised blessing.

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