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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.
Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father.
Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power:
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.
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.
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.
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 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?
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.
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:
His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.
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.
Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens:
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.
Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.
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.
I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD.
Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last.
Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties.
Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall:
The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him:
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:)
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:
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.

New Defender's Study Bible Notes

49:3 Reuben. No prophet, judge, king or other notable leader ever came from Reuben’s tribe. He lost his birthright because of incest with his father’s concubine.


49:7 divide them...and scatter. The tribe of Simeon had an inheritance surrounded by that of Judah except at the south, which opened on the Negev Desert. The tribe of Levi was scattered through all the tribes, having been designated as the priestly tribe because of their opposition to the golden calf (Exodus 32:26).


49:9 couched. That is, “crouched down” or “laid down.”


49:10 not depart from Judah. This important prophecy has been strikingly fulfilled. Although Judah was neither Jacob’s firstborn son nor his favorite son nor the son who would produce the priestly tribe, he was the son through whom God would fulfill His promises to Israel and to the world. The leadership, according to Jacob, was to go to Judah, but this did not happen for over six hundred years. Moses came from Levi, Joshua from Ephraim, Gideon from Manasseh, Samson from Dan, Samuel from Ephraim and Saul from Benjamin. But when David finally became king, Judah held the sceptre and did not relinquish it until after Shiloh came. Shiloh, of course, is a name for the Messiah, probably related to the Hebrew word for “peace” (shalom) and meaning in effect “the one who brings peace.”


49:13 at the haven. The word “at” is only inferred from the context, but could just as well be “toward.” That is Zebulun’s interests would lie toward the sea and trade from the sea, whether or not any of her borders would actually lie on the sea coast. The same applies to her northern border, not actually adjacent to Zidon, but with trade from Zidon. She did border in part on the Sea of Galilee, and encompassed the future cities of Cana and Nazareth in Galilee.


49:14 Issachar. The tribe of Issachar, like their father, was strong physically, but lethargic and led by others.


49:18 thy salvation. This is the first mention of the word “salvation” in the Bible. The Hebrew word, yeshua, is actually the same as the name “Jesus.” In the context, Jacob, in giving his prophetic comments concerning Dan, called the tribe “a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward” (Genesis 49:17). The prophecy probably had reference to the fact that it would be the Danites who first introduced the Satanic practice of idolatry into Israel on a regular official basis (Judges 18:30,31). As he uttered the prophecy, Jacob surely would have recalled the primeval promise of the coming Seed of the woman, whose heel would be bitten by the Serpent (Satan), but who would in turn finally crush the Serpent’s head and bring eternal salvation (Genesis 3:15). It was in reference to this Messianic promise that he had just spoken to Judah. It is natural, therefore, that right at this point, he would cry out: “I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD!” It might not be out of line to suggest that he was even personifying God’s coming salvation and saying: I have waited for Jesus, O LORD!”


49:19 Gad. Gad’s territory was on the east of the Jordan, often attacked by the warlike descendants of Ishmael, Esau and others. However, they were valiant fighters and usually prevailed.


49:20 Asher. Asher’s western border was the northern sea coast and the northern border near Sidon of the Phoenicians. These circumstances tended to produce both material prosperity and spiritual degeneracy.


49:21 Naphtali. Barak was probably the greatest leader from the tribe of Naphtali (Judges 4:6), but the tribe as a whole was characterized by both courage and eloquence. Note the song of Deborah and Barak (Judges 5).


49:26 everlasting hills. No hills could be everlasting, of course. The Hebrew word is olam, and is better translated “ancient.” The hills of Canaan presumably dated back some seven hundred years or more to the time of the great Flood.


49:26 head of Joseph. It is a significant fulfillment of prophecy that the two sons on whom Jacob pronounced the longest and fullest blessings later became the two dominant tribes in Israel, Judah and Ephraim.


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