Part 33 (1/2)

48:15. And Jacob blessed the sons of Joseph, and said: G.o.d, in whose sight my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, G.o.d that feedeth me from my youth until this day:

48:16. The angel that delivereth me from all evils, bless these boys: and let my name be called upon them, and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and may they grow into a mult.i.tude upon the earth.

48:17. And Joseph seeing that his father had put his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, was much displeased: and taking his father's hand, he tried to lift it from Ephraim's head, and to remove it to the head of Mana.s.ses.

48:18. And he said to his father: It should not be so, my father; for this is the firstborn, put thy right hand upon his head.

48:19. But he refusing, said: I know, my son, I know: and this also shall become a people, and shall be multiplied; but his younger brother shall be greater than he; and his seed shall grow into nations.

48:20. And he blessed them at that time, saying: In thee shall Israel be blessed, and it shall be said: G.o.d do to thee as to Ephraim, and as to Mana.s.ses. And he set Ephraim before Mana.s.ses.

48:21. And he said to Joseph, his son: Behold I die, and G.o.d will be with you, and will bring you back into the land of your fathers.

48:22. I give thee a portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorrhite with my sword and bow.

Genesis Chapter 49

Jacob's prophetical blessings of his twelve sons: his death.

49:1. And Jacob called his sons, and said to them: Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you the things that shall befall you in the last days.

49:2. Gather yourselves together, and hear, O ye sons of Jacob, hearken to Israel, your father:

49:3. Ruben, my firstborn, thou art my strength, and the beginning of my sorrow; excelling in gifts, greater in command.

My strength, etc... He calls him his strength, as being born whilst his father was in his full strength and vigour: he calls him the beginning of his sorrow, because cares and sorrows usually come on with the birth of children. Excelling in gifts, etc., because the firstborn had a t.i.tle to a double portion, and to have the command over his brethren, which Ruben forfeited by his sin; being poured out as water, that is, spilt and lost.

49:4. Thou art poured out as water, grow thou not; because thou wentest up to thy father's bed, and didst defile his couch.

Grow thou not... This was not meant by way of a curse or imprecation; but by way of a prophecy foretelling that the tribe of Ruben should not inherit the pre-eminences usually annexed to the first birthright, viz., the double portion, the being prince or lord over the other brethren, and the priesthood: of which the double portion was given to Joseph, the princely office to Juda, and the priesthood to Levi.

49:5. Simeon and Levi brethren: vessels of iniquity waging war.

49:6. Let not my soul go into their counsel, nor my glory be in their a.s.sembly: because in their fury they slew a man, and in their selfwill they undermined a wall.

Slew a man,... viz., Sichem the son of Hemor, with all his people, Gen.

34.; mystically and prophetically it alludes to Christ, whom their posterity, viz., the priests and the scribes, put to death.

49:7. Cursed be their fury, because it was stubborn: and their wrath, because it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and will scatter them in Israel.

49:8. Juda, thee shall thy brethren praise: thy hand shall be on the necks of thy enemies; the sons of thy father shall bow down to thee.

49:9. Juda is a lion's whelp: to the prey, my son, thou art gone up: resting thou hast couched as a lion, and as a lioness, who shall rouse him?

A lion's whelp, etc... This blessing of Juda foretelleth the strength of his tribe, the fertility of his inheritance; and princ.i.p.ally that the sceptre and legislative power should not be utterly taken away from his race till about the time of the coming of Christ: as in effect it never was: which is a demonstration against the modern Jews, that the Messiah is long since come; for the sceptre has long since been utterly taken away from Juda.

49:10. The sceptre shall not be taken away from Juda, nor a ruler from his thigh, till he come that is to be sent, and he shall be the expectation of nations.

49:11. Tying his foal to the vineyard, and his a.s.s, O my son, to the vine. He shall wash his robe in wine, and his garment in the blood of the grape.