Genesis 49 · The Lantern

Jacob Blesses His Sons

And Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather, and let me tell you what will happen to you in the last days.

Assemble and hear, sons of Jacob; hear Israel your father.

Reuben, you are my firstborn, my strength and the firstfruits of my vigor — excelling in dignity and excelling in power.

For there was a great display of strength made by God in behalf of His first-born people from Egypt. For in very many ways was the land of the Egyptians chastised. That first people of the circumcision is meant by "my strength, and the first of my children: "even as God gave the promise to Abraham and to his seed.

It seems to me that, according to the mystical interpretation, Reuben may play the role of the first Jewish people, that is, the firstborn and the beginning of the children, as the prophet says: "Israel is my firstborn." The words of God in fact were first addressed to that people. And the Scriptures relate that that people was hard and reckless.

(Chapter 49, verse 3) Reuben, my firstborn, you are my strength and the first of my sons, tough in bearing and tough in insolence and injury, like water that does not boil. You went up on your father's bed, then you defiled it when you went up. In Hebrew it is written: Reuben, my firstborn, you are my strength, and the first in power among my sons.

Unstable as water, you shall not excel — for you went up onto your father’s bed; then you defiled it. He went up onto my couch!

First he mentions the event,-that in the last days the people will assault the bed of the Father, that is, the bride,9 the Church, with intent to corrupt her; which thing, indeed, it does even at this present day, assaulting her by blasphemies.

Doesn't this seem to be a reproach rather than a blessing? Thus it really is more a prophecy than a blessing. For a prophecy is an announcement of events to come, whereas a blessing is the longed for bestowal of sanctification and of graces.The Jews suppose that the old man is saying these things to his son Reuben on this account, because the latter lay with Bilhah, his father'…

Carnal concupiscence took from us our noble generation, by which we would all be born innocent and heirs of paradise, and it makes us be born in death and guilt and the loss of the birthright.

Simeon and Levi are brothers; their knives are weapons of violence.

This he says regarding the conspiracy into which they were to enter against the Lord. And that he means this conspiracy, is evident to us. For the blessed David sings, Rulers have taken counsel together against the Lord, and so forth.

For the brothers supplied the reasons for their own misfortune when they claimed to their father that they, although young in years, were vindicators and avengers of a wrong done to the sense of respect and of a violation of chastity.

(Verses 5 and 6) Simeon and Levi, brothers, carried out the wickedness of their own invention. Let not my soul enter into their counsel, nor let my liver be involved in their assembly, because in their anger they killed men, and in their self-will they hamstrung oxen.

Let my soul not enter their council; let my honor not be joined to their assembly. For in their anger they killed a man, and at their pleasure they hamstrung an ox.

Read the gospel and you will find it written down; the scribes were from the tribe of Simeon, and the high priests from that of Levi.

Then, in a reference to their crimes Jacob applies a curse in the words "Cursed be their rage for its ferocity and their frenzy for its willfulness": this touches on the stratagem they employed in deceiving the inhabitants of Shechem and imposed on them by guile. Their rage was "ferocious," he says, headstrong, irrational.

As for the historical account, it seems that in this passage [Simeon and Levi] are reproached because, through deceit and fraud, they slaughtered Shechem, the son of Hamor, who after sleeping with their sister had tried to associate himself with the family of Israel.

Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce, and their fury, for it is hard. I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.

Judah — you your brothers shall praise. Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down to you.

But, one may say, why did it seem right to the prophet to impose on Judah such a blessing, when he had done nothing like that for the first ones?Now learn the reason.… In fact David had to be born from the tribe of Judah and Christ from David with regard to the flesh.

This can be referred to the historical Judah as well as to those kings who were his descendants. They broke the back of their enemies by administering the kingdom of that people. But this can also be fittingly referred to Christ, who is praised with good reason by his brothers, that is, by the apostles whom he himself called brothers in the Gospel.

In these blessings, the way that they expressly introduced the listeners to the prophecy concerning the incarnation of our Savior is extremely clear. At the beginning of the blessing the meaning of the name itself is set before the reader's eyes, and also the fact that the tribe of Judah was superior to all the others for its glory.

Judah is a lion’s cub; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He crouched, he lay down like a lion — and like a lioness, who will rouse him?

The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes — and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.

WHAT DOES THE BLESSING OF JACOB, WHICH HE GAVE TO HIS SONS (Gen. 48, 49), CONTAIN? — Jacob not only foretold, on the basis of present causes, the future of each tribe, but also, from future causes, future events whose shadow did not yet exist, and he signified these in the Jewish people.

This passage clearly refers to Judah. It appears that until the birth of Christ there was no lack of princes from the family of Judah or of heads from its sides, until Herod came, who according to the history written by Josephus was a foreigner and usurped the throne of Judea through his plots.

by whom also Jesus Christ is announced as the Lord of the promises in these words which he spake: Judah, thee shall thy brethren praise: Thy hand shall be on the neck of thine enemies; thy father's sons shall bow down before thee; Judah is a lion's whelp; from the branch, my son, hast thou ascended, he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as a lions whelp; who shall rouse hi…

Binding his colt to the vine, and his donkey’s foal to the choice vine, he washes his garment in wine, and his robe in the blood of grapes.

Again, it is said, "He tethers his colt to the vine." This means he united the simple, new people to the Word, whom the vine signifies. For the product of the vine is wine; of the Word, blood. Both are saving potions: wine, for the health of the body; the other, blood, for the salvation of the soul.

Let us be bound with bonds of a faith that is like a fruitful branch and cannot be undone, as it were, to that everlasting vine, that is, to the Lord Jesus, who says, "I am the vine; my Father is the gardener." This explains the mystery that the Lord Jesus in the Gospel ordered an ass's colt to be loosed and himself sat upon it; thus, like one that was bound to a vine, he could…

(Verse 11.) He ties his young donkey to the vine, and the colt of the donkey to the choice vine. In Hebrew it says, He ties his young donkey to the vine, and in Sorec, his donkey's colt to the choice vine: which colt of the donkey, that is, the Gentile people whom Jesus has taken over, that is, the Apostles' vineyard, who are from the Jews, he has joined together.

His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk.

Hipp. That is, his eyes are brilliant as with the word of truth; for they regard all who believe upon him. And his teeth are white as milk;-that denotes the luminous power of his words: for this reason he calls them white, and compares them to milk, as that which nourishes the flesh and the soul.

And therefore the prophet says, "His eyes are joyful from wine, and his teeth are whiter than milk," for he means the prophets and the apostles.

And also Christ's eyes will be like this, those eyes which bring the light of knowledge to the whole body, according to what is written in the Gospel: "The lamp of your body is the eye." Therefore these eyes are made graceful: a word of knowledge is seasoned with salt to be pleasing to the audience.

Zebulun shall dwell at the shore of the seas; he shall be a harbor for ships, and his flank shall be toward Sidon.

Through Zebulun he has metaphorically foretold the pagan nations, who live now in the world along the coast and are tormented by the storm of temptations as if they were in the sea. Therefore they move and look for refuge in harbors, that is, in churches.

The very interpretation of his name gives promise of better things, since in our tongue it means "freedom from the things of night," which is surely a good, and appropriate to one who trusts in the wings of the Lord. For the truth of the Lord encompasses him, so that he is not afraid of the terror of the night or of the thing that walks about in darkness.

But the fact that he extends as far as Sidon, that is, to the hunters, might mean that this man also tries to be among those to whom it was said, "Catch us the little foxes that spoil the vineyards." Therefore Zebulun extends to the hunters, so that he may learn to hunt, in case some wild animals or cunning foxes, that is, ferocious demons or damaging thoughts, should enter his…

Issachar is a strong-boned donkey, lying down between the sheepfolds.

And he saw that rest was good, and that the land was pleasant; and he bent his shoulder to bear, and became a slave at forced labor.

The text metaphorically and allegorically signifies the Savior through Issachar. Only this one, in fact, wished for the good since his childhood, as Isaiah confirms: "Before the child learned how to call mother and father, he said no to evil and chose the good." He has found his rest in the inheritance of the prophets, in order to accomplish what they had foretold.

"Issachar desired the good and rested in the midst of lots. And seeing the place of rest that it is good, and the land that it is rich, he bowed his shoulder to labor and became a husbandman." Issachar is called "reward," and therefore he represents Christ, who is our reward, because we buy him for ourselves for the hope of everlasting salvation, not with gold and silver but wi…

Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.

Hipp. The Lord is represented to us as a horseman; and the "heel" points us to the "last times." And His "falling" denotes His death; as it is written in the Gospel: "Behold, this (child) is set for the fall and rising again of many." We take the "robber" to be the traitor. Nor was there any other traitor to the Lord save the (Jewish) people.

The simple meaning of this is that Dan also gave a judge to Israel. For after Joshua, judges were appointed for the people from the various tribes. Indeed, Samson was also from the tribe of Dan, and he judged Israel for twenty years.

(Verses 16 and following.) And he shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel. Let Dan be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward: thy salvation, O Lord, I will wait for. Samson was a judge in Israel, from the tribe of Dan.

May Dan be a serpent by the road, a viper by the path, that bites the horse’s heels — and its rider falls backward.

The fact that the prophet says "biting the heel of the horse" signifies that Christ will test those who announce the way of the truth and salvation. So he also tested the apostles, cheated Judas and took hold of him; he took hold of him as of a horse and threw the rider who was on it to death.

The path indicates a more narrow way, which demonstrates that he does not walk along that wide and spacious way leading to death but along that narrow way full of obstacles leading to life.

In the third mystery, that of the calling of the fathers, the Antichrist is represented by Dan. And some commentators choose to say that he will literally belong to the tribe of Dan. I would not dare to assert that it will be so. And yet in the Apocalypse the tribe of Dan is not designated.

For your salvation I wait, O LORD.

Gad — raiders shall raid him, but he shall raid at their heel.

Through the expression "a gang of enemies" (or "a place of trial") the prophet signifies the evil Sanhedrin of the high priests and scribes, who tested the Savior with different pretenses in order to find some ground to move accusations against him and then take hold of him and execute him.

And therefore, according to a similar process, the moral sense develops: that man of ours, after confessing his error, by his repentance turns out to be converted through knowledge and shows a significant progress, so that he is tempted by the enemy and the strength of his soul and the soundness of his intentions are tested.

(Verse 19.) Gad the robber will rob him, and he himself will rob a plant. We are interpreted according to the Hebrew. But where we put the robber, it is written Gedud (), to allude to the name Gad, which can be more significantly expressed as εὔζωνος, that is, girded or ready.

From Asher: his bread shall be rich, and he shall yield delicacies fit for a king.

Here the prophet speaks obscurely either about the apostles, who had the duty to provide and distribute the bread of life, or about the Savior himself, since he foretells and let us know the bread descending from heaven, which is food and drink for the saints. In fact, Asher is interpreted as "richness," as he alone was so rich that he might satiate all those who came to him.

His bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties. The Latin interpretation of Aser signifies riches. Who then is rich, unless where the height of riches is wisdom and knowledge of God? Who is rich but the Lord Jesus, who always abounds, and never fails? The poor came into this world, and has abounded to all, and has filled all.

Since Asher means "blessed," the bread of that one whom, after being recalled from error to penitence, we lead step by step to the present state of blessedness, after his conversion, after the spiritual knowledge, after the victory over temptations, is, to be sure, called "fat." He eats that bread "which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world," and that bread is fat…

Naphtali is a doe set free, who gives beautiful words.

Hipp. Who is the son goodly and envied, even to this day, but our Lord Jesus Christ? An object of envy is He indeed to those who choose to hate Him, yet He is not by any means to be overcome.

With regard to the third explanation, the interpretation of the name Naphtali is that indicated by his father when he blesses him, that is, "leafy tree" or "vine." There was that man of ours, who a bit earlier fed on fat bread and offered food to princes (that bread that comforts the heart of people8).

(Verse 21.) The tribe of Naphtali, a spreading vine, producing beauty in the next generation. In Hebrew it is written: Naphtali is a fruitful land, producing words of beauty, signifying that hot springs are born within the tribe itself, or that the region around the Sea of Galilee, watered by the flow of the Jordan River, is fertile.

Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a spring; his branches climb over the wall.

The archers embittered him, and shot at him, and hated him.

But his bow stayed firm, and the arms of his hands were made agile — by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, from there, the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel,

by the God of your father, who helps you, and by the Almighty, who blesses you: blessings of the heavens above, blessings of the deep lying below, blessings of breasts and womb.

The blessings of your father have prevailed above the blessings of my ancestors, to the bounds of the everlasting hills. May they be on the head of Joseph, on the crown of the one set apart from his brothers.

Benjamin is a wolf that tears; in the morning he devours the prey, and in the evening he divides the spoil.”

All these are the tribes of Israel, twelve; and this is what their father spoke to them. And he blessed them — each one according to his blessing he blessed them.

The Death of Jacob

And he commanded them and said to them, “I am being gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers, in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite —

in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which faces Mamre, in the land of Canaan, the field Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite as a burial holding.

There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah —

the field, and the cave that is in it, purchased from the sons of Heth.”

And Jacob finished commanding his sons, and he drew his feet up into the bed, and breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.

Genesis49

Jacob Blesses His Sons

The Death of Jacob