Genesis 49: What the Passage Says

The Chapter in a Sentence

Jacob calls his twelve sons together and tells each of them what will happen to them in the days to come, speaking in turn about Reuben, Simeon and Levi, Judah, Zebulun, Issachar, Dan, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Joseph, and Benjamin. He then gives them instructions to bury him with his fathers in the cave in the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite. When he finishes speaking, he pulls his feet up into the bed and dies.

Claim by Claim

1. 49:1
   • Jacob called his sons to him.
   • Jacob told them to gather themselves together.
   • Jacob said he would tell them what would happen to them in the last days.
2. 49:2
   • Jacob told the sons of Jacob to assemble and listen.
   • Jacob told them to listen to Israel their father.
3. 49:3
   • Jacob said Reuben was his firstborn.
   • Jacob said Reuben was his might and the first of his procreative strength.
   • Jacob said Reuben had surpassing dignity.
   • Jacob said Reuben had surpassing power.
4. 49:4
   • Jacob said Reuben was unstable, like water.
   • Jacob said Reuben would not excel.
   • Jacob gave the reason: Reuben went up to his father's bed.
   • Jacob said Reuben then defiled it.
   • Jacob said: he went up to my couch.
5. 49:5
   • Jacob said Simeon and Levi are brothers.
   • Jacob said their implements are instruments of violence; the word rendered 'habitations' is obscure and may mean their swords or their dwellings.
6. 49:6
   • Jacob said his soul should not enter their council.
   • Jacob said his honor should not be joined to their assembly.
   • Jacob said that in their anger they killed a man.
   • Jacob said that at their pleasure they hamstrung an ox.
7. 49:7
   • Jacob cursed their anger, because it was fierce.
   • Jacob cursed their wrath, because it was cruel.
   • Jacob said he would divide them in Jacob.
   • Jacob said he would scatter them in Israel.
8. 49:8
   • Jacob said Judah's brothers would praise him.
   • Jacob said Judah's hand would be on the neck of his enemies.
   • Jacob said his father's sons would bow down to Judah.
9. 49:9
   • Jacob said Judah is a lion's whelp.
   • Jacob said his son had gone up from the prey.
   • Jacob said he crouched and lay down like a lion.
   • Jacob said he lay down like a lioness.
   • Jacob asked who would rouse him up.
10. 49:10
    • Jacob said the scepter would not depart from Judah.
    • Jacob said the ruler's staff would not depart from between his feet.
    • Jacob said this would hold until Shiloh comes; the phrase may instead mean until he comes to whom it belongs.
    • Jacob said the gathering of the peoples would be to him.
11. 49:11
    • Jacob said he ties his foal to the vine.
    • Jacob said he ties his donkey's colt to the choice vine.
    • Jacob said he washed his garments in wine.
    • Jacob said he washed his robe in the blood of grapes.
12. 49:12
    • Jacob said his eyes are dark from wine.
    • Jacob said his teeth are white from milk.
13. 49:13
    • Jacob said Zebulun would dwell at the shore of the seas.
    • Jacob said Zebulun would be a haven for ships.
    • Jacob said Zebulun's flank would reach toward Sidon.
14. 49:14
    • Jacob said Issachar is a strong-boned donkey.
    • Jacob said Issachar lies down between the two sheepfolds; the word is obscure and may mean saddlebags or burdens.
15. 49:15
    • Jacob said he saw that resting place was good.
    • Jacob said he saw that the land was pleasant.
    • Jacob said he bowed his shoulder to bear a load.
    • Jacob said he became a slave at forced labor.
16. 49:16
    • Jacob said Dan would judge his people.
    • Jacob said Dan would do so as one of the tribes of Israel.
17. 49:17
    • Jacob said Dan would be a serpent by the way.
    • Jacob said Dan would be a horned viper in the path.
    • Jacob said it bites the horse's heels.
    • Jacob said its rider falls backward.
18. 49:18
    • Jacob said he had waited for the LORD's salvation.
19. 49:19
    • Jacob said a raiding troop would raid Gad.
    • Jacob said Gad would raid at their heel.
20. 49:20
    • Jacob said Asher's food would be rich.
    • Jacob said Asher would supply royal delicacies.
21. 49:21
    • Jacob said Naphtali is a doe let loose.
    • Jacob said he gives beautiful words; the Hebrew may instead mean he bears beautiful fawns.
22. 49:22
    • Jacob said Joseph is a fruitful bough; the phrase may instead mean a fruitful son.
    • Jacob said this bough is beside a spring.
    • Jacob said its branches climb over a wall.
23. 49:23
    • Jacob said archers grievously embittered him.
    • Jacob said they shot at him.
    • Jacob said they hated him.
24. 49:24
    • Jacob said his bow remained firm.
    • Jacob said the arms of his hands were made strong.
    • Jacob said this came from the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob.
    • Jacob said that from there comes the shepherd, the stone of Israel.
25. 49:25
    • Jacob said help would come from the God of his father.
    • Jacob said the Almighty would bless him.
    • Jacob named blessings of heaven above.
    • Jacob named blessings of the deep that lies beneath.
    • Jacob named blessings of the breasts and of the womb.
26. 49:26
    • Jacob said his own blessings had prevailed above the blessings of his progenitors.
    • Jacob said they reached to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills.
    • Jacob said the blessings would be on the head of Joseph.
    • Jacob said they would be on the crown of the head of the one set apart from his brothers.
27. 49:27
    • Jacob said Benjamin is a wolf that tears prey.
    • Jacob said in the morning he devours the prey.
    • Jacob said in the evening he divides the spoil.
28. 49:28
    • All these are the twelve tribes of Israel.
    • This is what their father spoke to them.
    • He blessed them.
    • He blessed each one with the blessing suited to him.
29. 49:29
    • Jacob charged his sons.
    • Jacob said he was about to be gathered to his people.
    • Jacob told them to bury him with his fathers.
    • Jacob said the burial place was the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite.
30. 49:30
    • The cave is in the field of Machpelah.
    • The field is before Mamre.
    • The field is in the land of Canaan.
    • Abraham bought the field from Ephron the Hittite.
    • Abraham bought it as a possession for a burial place.
31. 49:31
    • There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife.
    • There they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife.
    • Jacob said that there he buried Leah.
32. 49:32
    • The field and the cave in it were purchased from the sons of Heth.
33. 49:33
    • Jacob finished commanding his sons.
    • Jacob gathered his feet into the bed.
    • Jacob expired.
    • Jacob was gathered to his people.

Words Worth Explaining

Every language note in this chapter, gathered. These explain what a word meant, never what it means for the reader.

49:1

What follows is a poem, not ordinary speech. Each saying plays on the sound or meaning of the son's name, and describes not only the man but the tribe descended from him. "The days to come" translates a Hebrew phrase meaning literally "the after part of the days", the distant future, not necessarily the end of the world.

49:2

Israel is the second name given to Jacob (Genesis 32). Here it is used both for the man and, by implication, for the family that will carry the name.

49:3

"The first sign of my strength" means the first child a man fathered. A firstborn son normally received a double share of the inheritance and the leadership of the family after his father's death. Reuben has both of these, and the next verse takes them away.

49:4

This refers to Genesis 35:22, where Reuben slept with Bilhah, one of Jacob's concubines. Taking a man's woman was a recognized way of claiming his position, so the act was a grab at his father's authority as much as a sexual offense. Note also that the last clause switches from "you" to "he," as if Jacob turns away and speaks about Reuben instead of to him.

49:5

This looks back to Genesis 34, where Simeon and Levi killed the men of the town of Shechem after their sister Dinah was violated. The Hebrew word behind "tools" occurs nowhere else and its meaning is uncertain, guesses include weapons, swords, or plans.

49:6

"My soul" and "my honor" are Hebrew ways of saying simply "I myself." To hamstring an animal is to cut the tendon at the back of its leg, crippling it for life so it can never work again. The King James "digged down a wall" comes from reading one Hebrew word differently; the ox reading is now the usual one.

49:7

The tribe of Levi never received a block of territory of its own but lived in towns scattered among the other tribes; Simeon's land lay inside Judah's and its identity faded early. The words describe that outcome.

49:8

Judah's name sounds like the Hebrew verb "to praise." "Your hand on the neck of your enemies" pictures gripping a fleeing man from behind, a standard image of victory.

49:9

"Old lion" translates a poetic Hebrew word for a full-grown lion, which many take to mean a lioness. The picture is of an animal that has eaten and now lies down where no one dares disturb it.

49:10

A ruler's staff was an ornamented rod held as the visible sign of authority; a seated ruler rested it on the ground between his feet, which is what "from between his feet" most likely pictures, though some read it as meaning "from his descendants." "Until Shiloh comes" is one of the most disputed phrases in the Hebrew Bible: the same letters can be read as a personal name, as "until he comes to Shiloh" (a town in Israel), as "until tribute comes to him," or as "until the one to whom it belongs comes." Translators usually leave the word untranslated rather than choose.

49:11

Vines were valuable and easily damaged, and a tethered donkey would strip one. The image is of a place with so many grapes that ruining a vine does not matter, the same point as washing clothes in wine. "The blood of grapes" means their red juice.

49:12

The Hebrew is ambiguous in two ways: the word can mean "dark" or "red," and the grammar can mean either "red from wine" or "darker than wine," "whiter than milk." Both readings are ancient.

49:13

Zidon (usually spelled Sidon) was a Phoenician port on the Mediterranean coast north of Israel, standing here for the whole coastal trading region.

49:14

The Hebrew word rendered "two loads" occurs only here and in one other passage, and no one is certain what it means: the two packs slung over a pack donkey, two sheepfolds, or two campfires. All the suggested senses picture an animal settling down comfortably rather than moving on.

49:15

"Forced labor" means conscripted, unpaid work gangs. Conquered or subject populations were routinely drafted this way for a ruler's building projects and farm work.

49:16

Dan's name comes from the Hebrew verb "to judge." In Hebrew that verb means to govern and to secure justice for people generally, not only to decide court cases.

49:17

The Hebrew names a particular snake, probably the horned viper, which lies half-buried in sand beside a track and strikes at whatever passes.

49:18

This line interrupts the sayings about the tribes. It is addressed to God rather than to a son, and no one has explained with certainty why it stands here. "Salvation" in Hebrew means rescue or deliverance from danger, without any narrower sense.

49:19

The Hebrew packs three words that sound like Gad's name into one line: Gad, gedud (a raiding band), and the verb to raid. "At their heel" translates a word meaning heel; it can mean he strikes at their rear as they retreat, or, as the King James took it, that he wins in the end.

49:20

Asher's later territory lay on the fertile northern coastal plain, a region known for olive oil and rich produce.

49:21

This verse can be read two ways. The King James takes it as "he gives beautiful words"; with a different reading of the same consonants it becomes "a doe set loose, that bears beautiful fawns." Both are defensible and translations divide.

49:22

The Hebrew reads literally "son of a fruit-bearer," and the following phrase literally "daughters march over a wall." Some scholars read the same consonants as "a wild colt," which turns the whole picture into a young donkey beside a spring with wild asses on a hillside. The plant image is traditional; the animal image is a live alternative.

49:23

The archers are a metaphor. Joseph's real attackers were his brothers, who sold him, and the household of Potiphar in Egypt, who had him thrown in prison on a false accusation.

49:24

"The arms of his hands" is a word-for-word rendering of a Hebrew phrase meaning his forearms, that is, his grip. "Mighty" here translates a rare word meaning the Strong One, a term connected with bulls. "Shepherd" and "stone" are titles: a shepherd protects and leads, and a stone or rock is the standard image for something solid to stand on. The Hebrew of this line is damaged or compressed, which is why translations of it differ widely.

49:25

"The Almighty" translates the Hebrew name Shaddai, whose meaning is genuinely unknown; suggestions include "of the mountain" and "of the breast." "The deep that lies below" refers to the fresh water the ancient world pictured as lying under the earth and feeding springs and wells. "Blessings of the breasts and of the womb" means many children and young animals, and milk enough to raise them.

49:26

"My ancestors" and "the ancient mountains" differ in Hebrew only by vowels, which the oldest text did not write; the parallel with "everlasting hills" in the same line leads most modern translators to read mountains. "The one who was set apart" translates a word meaning someone singled out or consecrated; it is also used of a prince, one marked out from his fellows.

49:27

Benjamin was the smallest tribe but had a fighting reputation. "Morning" and "evening" together are a Hebrew way of saying "all day long."

49:28

"Blessed" here covers the whole set of pronouncements, including the harsh ones spoken over Reuben, Simeon and Levi. The Hebrew word means an authoritative word spoken over someone that fixes their future, not simply a good wish.

49:29

"Gathered to my people" is a set phrase for dying and joining one's ancestors. Here it is also literal: the dead of the family were laid in one tomb, so joining them meant being placed in the same cave.

49:30

The cave of Machpelah, near Mamre by the town of Hebron, is the burial plot Abraham bought in Genesis 23. It was the only piece of the land of Canaan the family actually owned, which is why its purchase and location are set out so carefully.

49:31

Leah was Jacob's first wife. Rachel, the wife he loved most, was buried somewhere else, on the road near Bethlehem.

49:32

The children of Heth are the Hittites, the local people Abraham dealt with when he bought the cave. Naming the sellers stresses that the sale was a public, legally binding transaction rather than a favor that could later be withdrawn.

49:33

He had been sitting up on the edge of the bed to speak to his sons; now he swings his legs back onto it and lies down. The King James "yielded up the ghost" is older English for breathing one's last.