Joseph Part 19: Jacob's Poem of Blessing

Yaaqov’s Blessing on His Twelve Sons

We're gonna move into Genesis 49 now, and this is the moment where Yaaqov is going to bring together not just Yoseph and his sons, but all of the tribes.

We are moving into part two of the center of the third and final act of the Yoseph story. And this chapter is so dense. 

It preserves a poem that the form of the Hebrew, I am told you can tell this is ancient, really ancient Hebrew. Because Hebrew developed like all the other languages, all languages do. And you can actually trace within the Hebrew Bible certain parts of it that have a more archaic, preserving older grammar forms and ways of wording things than later. 

Genesis 49 has some of the most ancient Hebrew in the Hebrew Bible, alongside Exodus 15, which is the Song of the Sea, alongside the Song of Deborah in Judges 5. 

So notice, all three are poems. And it kind of makes sense because poetry is already such a super intentional crafted form of language. And then when you memorize it or sing it, you're less likely to change it because of the musical form of it,

So this is the first one, Genesis 49.

Genesis 49:1–28 CSB

1 Then Jacob called his sons and said, “Gather around, and I will tell you what will happen to you in the days to come. 2 Come together and listen, sons of Jacob; listen to your father Israel: 3 Reuben, you are my firstborn, my strength and the firstfruits of my virility, excelling in prominence, excelling in power. 4 Turbulent as water, you will not excel, because you got into your father’s bed and you defiled it—he got into my bed. 5 Simeon and Levi are brothers; their knives are vicious weapons. 6 May I never enter their council; may I never join their assembly. For in their anger they kill men, and on a whim they hamstring oxen. 7 Their anger is cursed, for it is strong, and their fury, for it is cruel! I will disperse them throughout Jacob and scatter them throughout Israel. 8 Judah, your brothers will praise you. Your hand will be on the necks of your enemies; your father’s sons will bow down to you. 9 Judah is a young lion— my son, you return from the kill. He crouches; he lies down like a lion or a lioness—who dares to rouse him? 10 The scepter will not depart from Judah or the staff from between his feet until he whose right it is comes and the obedience of the peoples belongs to him. 11 He ties his donkey to a vine, and the colt of his donkey to the choice vine. He washes his clothes in wine and his robes in the blood of grapes. 12 His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth are whiter than milk. 13 Zebulun will live by the seashore and will be a harbor for ships, and his territory will be next to Sidon. 14 Issachar is a strong donkey lying down between the saddlebags. 15 He saw that his resting place was good and that the land was pleasant, so he leaned his shoulder to bear a load and became a forced laborer. 16 Dan will judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel. 17 Dan will be a snake by the road, a viper beside the path, that bites the horse’s heels so that its rider falls backward. 18 I wait for your salvation, Lord. 19 Gad will be attacked by raiders, but he will attack their heels. 20 Asher’s food will be rich, and he will produce royal delicacies. 21 Naphtali is a doe set free that bears beautiful fawns. 22 Joseph is a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine beside a spring; its branches climb over the wall. 23 The archers attacked him, shot at him, and were hostile toward him. 24 Yet his bow remained steady, and his strong arms were made agile by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, by the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel, 25 by the God of your father who helps you, and by the Almighty who blesses you with blessings of the heavens above, blessings of the deep that lies below, and blessings of the breasts and the womb. 26 The blessings of your father excel the blessings of my ancestors and the bounty of the ancient hills. May they rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince of his brothers. 27 Benjamin is a wolf; he tears his prey. In the morning he devours the prey, and in the evening he divides the plunder.” 28 These are the tribes of Israel, twelve in all, and this is what their father said to them. He blessed them, and he blessed each one with a suitable blessing.

It has a prologue, verses 1 and 2. Has a short epilogue, verse 28. 

And then you have gathered together four groups. 

The sons are gathered into four groups. You start first with the four sons of Leah, that were the first four that were born. Reuven. Shimon and Levi are together. What Yaaqov says about them, he says it once. And then you get Yehudah, so it's a little triad. Even though you're talking about four sons, it becomes a little triad. And Yehudah is very clearly, through some key repeated words, the inversion or the contrast to Reuven. And Yehudah gets the longest of those four.

Then you move into a group of three sons, sons of Bilhah and Leah. And then you get verse 18, which is the only word not addressed to any of the sons.

It's a prayer for deliverance addressed to Yahweh. And it's as if it comes right out of like a lament psalm.

"For your yeshu'ah, salvation, I am waiting, O Yahweh." And it's the literary center.

Then you get three more sons, sons of Bilhah and Zilpah. And then you get to the sons of Rachel. And even though there's only two, the length of those two matches the length of the Leah blessings. And of those, Yehudah and Yoseph have the longest of any of the sons in the chapter. 

And you're like, "Of course. Of course, they do."

So you have the rival between the first four of Leah and the sons of Rachel. There's the old Leah-Rachel rivalry rearing its head again. And then specifically, Judah and Joseph are still at it. And it's not hostile, but it is, they're lifted out from among the brothers and both put forward as an emblem of blessing and rule. And then this line right in the middle.

So here's the deathbed scene. 

The premise of this speech is that a person near death has clarity on matters that are usually opaque. As they draw near to the border of Heaven and Earth, they can see what is to come and anticipate the future. On his deathbed, Yaaqov gathers his sons and offers them a window into their future.

"And Yaaqov called for his sons and said, 'Gather together. Let me tell you all what will happen to you all at the end of days. Gather and listen, sons of Yaaqov, listen to Yisrael, your father.'"

So what the poems relate to is not just what happens tomorrow from Jacob's point of view, but he's thinking long-range. And think of the way this poem uniquely connects to the poem of Moses at the end of the Torah, who also says, "This is for forward." In effect, what this poem is doing with Deuteronomy 33, and then what both of them are doing with the prophets that will come after them, we're linking together long-range promises here. 

What is being promised here, Jacob, but also the reader of the Hebrew Bible is still awaiting your deliverance, O Lord. The ultimate fruition of these promises is something that the reader of the Hebrew Bible is still waiting for. And so Jacob's, right, cry for deliverance can become the reader's as you await and ponder these poems. 

Reuven

"Reuven, you are my firstborn, my strength and the beginning of my vigor, excelling in dignity, excelling in strength.

Uncontrollable like water, you will not excel because you went up on the bed of your father, then you profaned my couch; to my couch he went up."

Notice the three images of firstborn. My strength, beginning of my vigor.

The image, firstborn in the image. So you were supposed to be the one that carries on my strength and vigor.

“My firstborn” activates the “reversal of the firstborn” pattern: the beasts (Gen. 1-2), Cain (Gen. 4), Japheth (Gen. 9-10), Ishmael (Gen. 21), Yaaqov (Gen. 25, 27), and Yehudah/Yoseph.

The middle part, notice the inversion. You excel in this, you excel in that, but you are like the chaos waters, so you will not excel.

And in what way is he like the chaos waters? That thing that you did to Bilhah.

Notice how Yaaqov describes Reuven using the imagery and language of Genesis 1.

The word “beginning”and “uncontrollable waters” recalls (ראשית)  “tohu vavohu” (Gen. 1:2).

“You went up on the bed of your father” is a reference to the story in Genesis 35:22: “It came about while Israel was dwelling in that land, that Reuven went and lay with Bilhah, his father’s concubine, and Israel heard.” This was Reuven’s grab for power by sleeping with the slave of Yaaqov’s favorite wife Rachel after she died.

While Yaaqov does not curse Reuven, he certainly does not pass on the firstborn blessing to him.

The Chronicler reflected back on this story and retold it in this way.

1 Chronicles 5:1–2 CSB

1 These were the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel. He was the firstborn, but his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph son of Israel, because Reuben defiled his father’s bed. He is not listed in the genealogy according to birthright. 2 Although Judah became strong among his brothers and a ruler came from him, the birthright was given to Joseph.

“While Reuben is the biological oldest son, his corresponding rights of status were transferred to Joseph. Yet, even Joseph realized this birthright only to a certain extent, since ‘Judah became strong among his brothers.’ The author here suggests, then, three levels of priority among the sons of Jacob: the biological firstborn, the legally nominated elder, and the one who wielded actual authority. … In full accord with his general world-view, the Chronicler explains Reuben’s loss of his birthright as a punishment for sin, a theological conviction which is presented as an interpretation of texts in Genesis. … The transfer of the birthright to Joseph is the second stage of the midrashic course. The legal implication of Jacob’s words in Genesis 48:5, ‘And now, your two sons … Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are,’ is that these sons of Joseph are raised to the status of full membership among the tribes of Israel. In terms of inheritance, Joseph’s portion in Jacob’s inheritance was increased from one part (which would have been divided among his descendants) to two.”

Japhet, Sara (2013). I & II Chronicles: A Commentary. Westminster John Knox Press. 133.

The Curse on Shimon and Levi

"Shimon and Levi, brothers, their schemes are weapons of violence.

Into my council, may my life not even enter.

Into their assembly, may my honor never be joined." It's as if Levi and Shimon have like a little council meeting that represents, you know, them and who they are and what they're all about. And their dad is saying, "I want no part of your council. My honor, I don't even want my reputation to be associated with you guys."

"Because in their anger, they murdered men. In their pleasure, they hamstrung oxen."  "Cursed be their anger, for it is strong. Cursed be their wrath, it is harsh. I'll divide them up among Yaaqov, I will scatter them among Israel."

The poem reflects back on the narrative of Genesis 34, where Shimon and Levi led the massacre of the Canaanites in Shkhem. Even the vocabulary is linked to the narrative.

“in their anger”➞ “and they were very angry” (, (באפם) ויחר להם מאד Gen. 34:7)

“they killed a man”➞ “and they killed every male” (, (הרגו איש) ויהרגו כל זכר Gen. 34:25)

The curse (ארור) brought on Levi and Shimon sets them on analogy with Cain (Gen. 4:11) and with Ham (Gen. 9:25), who acted shamefully or murderously against their own family members and were exiled and cursed.

It is important to note, however, that the curse on Levi is reversed at Mount Sinai in the golden calf debacle, where Levi’s violence earns him a “blessing” (Exod. 32:29) as he executes the idolators who worshipped the golden calf.

The “angry murder” pattern is activated here, linking Shimon and Levi to Cain, Lamech, Esau, and the brothers of Yoseph.

Yaaqov says that Shimon and Levi will be “scattered” (פוץ) and “divided” (חלק). These are the same words associated with the division of the nations during the Babylon debacle (see Gen. 11:8-9 and Deut. 32:8-9). 

This is reflected in the biblical version of Israel's history, where Levi is selected out of the tribes and not counted among them.

As for Shimon, after the tribes go into the land under the leadership of Joshua, the tribe of Shimon is never heard of again (their appearance in Judges 1:3, 17 is their last in the Torah-Former Prophets).

Levi’s Curse Reversed

In the story of the golden calf, there's one tribe singled out as nonparticipants in the idolatry. 

Exodus 32:21–30 LEB

21 And Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you that you brought on them such a great sin?” 22 And Aaron said, “Let not my lord become angry. You yourself know the people, that they are intent on evil. 23 And they said to me, ‘Make for us gods who will go before us, because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ 24 And I said to them, ‘Whoever has gold, take it off.’ And they gave it to me, and I threw it in the fire, and out came this bull calf.” 25 And Moses saw the people, that they were running wild because Aaron had allowed them to run wild, for a laughingstock among their enemies. 26 And Moses stood at the entrance of the camp, and he said, “Whoever is for Yahweh, to me.” And all the sons of Levi were gathered to him. 27 And he said to them, “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Put each his sword on his side. Go back and forth from gate to gate in the camp, and kill, each his brother and each his friend and each his close relative.’ ” 28 And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses, and from the people on that day about three thousand persons fell. 29 And Moses said, “You are ordained today for Yahweh, because each has been against his son and against his brother and so bringing on you today a blessing.” 30 And the next day Moses said to the people, “You have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up to Yahweh. Perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.”

Moses says, "To me and the Israelites and who comes out of the idolatrous generation are the Levites." And then Moses says, "Turn your sword against your brother." It's a Cain and Abel, but inverted, because now the people being executed are the idolatrous.

And the moment Levi does that, what Moses says is he gains for himself a blessing. The curse turns into a blessing, but sadly, because now what Israel requires is like a violent hand to keep them to giving their allegiance to Yahweh. 

It's this sad, distorted Cain and Abel where now violence is the language that Israel recognizes to keep them loyal to Yahweh. And of course that's just gonna to continue to descend. 

But that's how Levi's curse turns into a blessing is by killing their brothers. 

Yehudah.

"Yehudah, as for you, your brothers will praise you.

Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies. The sons of your father will bow down to you." The word for "we praise you" is "yoduka." They will praise you. And then the word "your hand" is "yadeka." And all these letters match the letters of Judah's name. So Yehudah, yoduka, yadeka, it's all part of the, you know, he's a poet, it's poetry.

Yehudah as a New Yoseph Among the Brothers

Here Yehudah is named the leader among the brothers, and his role in the family is described with precisely the same language used in the blessing that Yaaqov received from Isaac (Gen. 27:29) and in the language used throughout Yoseph’s story about his elevation to a place of rule among the brothers.

your brothers are the ones who will bow down, the sons of your father. And you're like, "Wait a minute."

Thought it was Joseph.

This is of huge significance for thinking about, think where are we in the design of the Joseph story. If it's in three big acts, we're near the end of the third act, we're linking all the way back here to the thing at the beginning of the first act, which was a dream of ruling over your brothers. And do you remember what the brothers said? "Will we bow down to you? Will you rule as a king over us?" And then it turns out he does, right? And you remember how the narrative when the brothers came to Yoseph, it really drew attention to the bowing and he remembered the dreams and so on. 

But we've had this interplay of neck and neck, Yehudah and Yoseph here.

And though Yoseph is the ruler and is who saves his family, it is actually the, what Yoseph makes available is the salvation for the family, but the one who's actually the turn of the tide is Yehudah. And you remember that's the center of the center of the center of the Yoseph story is the pivot where he offers his life in the place of his brother. 

This is an argument from structural design and parallelism This that this is the outcome of the offering of his life. The moment that he made himself a servant is the moment that he becomes exalted as king over the brothers.

The pivot of his character is when he offers his life to become a slave, even unto death perhaps. And then that becomes the trigger that elevates him up to the place of royalty above the brothers. 

So think about how the analogies work when you have a son replaying the actions of their father, but with a twist where we've had the brothers imitating other brothers. And so here the analogy is this whole narrative about Yoseph and the role that he plays in the story has now become transferred to Yehudah.

The blessing that Isaac gave to Jacob in Genesis 27, which was the first blind father moment, was, "Peoples will serve you, people groups will bow down to you." This is Isaac talking to Jacob.

"You will be mighty for your brothers; the sons of your mother will bow down to you." Then in chapter 37 and 42, do you remember what Jacob said to Joseph? "Do you really think me and your mother and your brothers are gonna come and bow down to you?" And that's what they end up doing. So now those two promises that were attached to Jacob and then to Joseph are now being transferred or set on analogy to the future of Judah. And look at the promise here. It's about your brothers, the sons of your father, bowing down to you. 

The blessing of Yehudah says in no uncertain terms that a future seed will arise from his lineage and that ruler will receive the homage of the tribes of Israel and of the nations when he comes into his rule. And that homage is described in the language of the narrative about Yoseph and his brothers. In other words, the story of Yoseph’s rise to a place of rule among his brothers is here turned into a narrative analogy that is applied to the future rule of the seed of Yehudah. This poem shows how the author of Genesis wants us to read the Yoseph story through a messianic lens as a story that points forward to another future ruler from the tribe of Yehudah who will arise to rescue the tribes of Israel and the nations.

Now it is clear why the stories of David and Solomon, descendants from Yehudah, echo so powerfully in the Prophets and Psalms and are always being connected back to this promise and the imagery of the story of Yoseph.

Isaiah 2:1-4, 11:1-12, 49:1-8, 52:13-53:12,

Ezekiel 34, 36-37

Hosea 3

Amos 9:11-15

Micah 4:1-6, 5:1-10

Psalms 2, 20-22, 72, 89, 110, 132

Etc.

- Tim Mackie Bible Project

“Unlike the imagery used of the other sons, the words of Jacob regarding Judah are quite transparent, though they are, of course, made up of poetic images. Judah is described as a victorious warrior who returns home from battle and is greeted by the shouts of praise from his brothers. The parallelism … is extended by the statement, ‘Your father’s sons will bow down to you.’ It is difficult not to see in this statement an intentional allusion to the dream of Joseph (37:10) in which his father’s sons would come to bow down before him. In other words, what Joseph’s dreams predicted and then did happen in the course of the narrative (e.g., 42:6), these stories are here being transferred to the future of the house of Judah. That which happened to Joseph is portrayed as a picture of that which would happen to Judah ‘in the last days’ (49:1).”

Sailhamer, John H. (1995). The Pentateuch as Narrative: A Biblical-Theological Commentary. Zondervan Academic. 235.

“In this blessing Jacob depicts the coming Judahite with imagery that closely resembles the life of Joseph. … Indeed, the image of eleven brothers ‘bowing’ to their royal sibling in Genesis 49:8 reads like a summary of the preceding Joseph story. This similarity is deliberate. Joseph is a ‘narrative prefiguration’ of Judah’s seed ... the life of the future royal seed of Judah is patterned on the life of Joseph. Joseph is the type of king Israel will see again. ... In short, Jacob's prophecy is the most explicit evidence from Genesis that Joseph’s character functions typologically, his life is a pattern of things to come.”

Emadi, Samuel (2018). “Covenant, Typology, and the Story of Joseph”. Tyndale Bulletin, Volume 69.1. 79-81.

The word "typology" has an interesting history in the history of Bible interpretation in different Christian groups.

Sailhamer says it's a picture or an image; Emadi says that it's a prefiguration, and then he also uses the word "type" and, he use the word pattern too.

Think what else have we been tracing in Genesis except patterns? That's really all we're tracing. And so there is a position that would say, "Ah, now that Jesus of Nazareth has arrived, it's like we have the interpretive key and we can go back and we can see, fit Jesus to the the types." And so this is, it's like reading backward.

And so what I've been trying to show is a little bit different. It's reading forward.

And if you just trace the patterns, you see the argument of Genesis itself is pointing forward. 

In other words, what I'm saying is the composition of Genesis, by putting the Genesis story here, then applying it to Judah, whoever put this together, pre-Jesus, wants us to see the Joseph story as a pattern that will be fulfilled by the future seed of Judah. 

So in that sense, it's a prophecy. But it's a little bit different than like prediction fulfillment, because the narrative is the prediction. And so that's what the word "type" actually means is a pattern that gives you forward momentum. 

In many Christmas Christian traditions, we're reading messianic predictions from the prophets. It would take a really long time to read the Joseph story, you know, and be like, "See?" But the narratives are just as much forward-pointing patterns as are the individual promises that you can, you know, that we read during the weeks leading up to Christmas in church. 

So that's our argument here is that the narrative itself is the prefiguration.

And it makes sense. Narratives by nature are leading you forward, pointing you towards the future resolution. And that seems to be what's happening here. 

When you get to the stories of David, as they're designed in the scroll of Samuel, what you'll see is constant patterning of the life of David after the language and themes of the life of Joseph. Not Judah, Joseph.

Both are shepherds: 1 Samuel 16:11,19 // Genesis 37:2

Both selected over their brothers to a place of royal rule: 1 Samuel 16:6-13 // Genesis 37:5-11

Both were sent to assuage the troubled king of his “bad spirit”: 1 Sam. 16:16-18 // Genesis 41 and Pharaoh’s dreams.

Both were sent by their fathers to inquires about the shalom of their brothers: 1 Samuel 17:17-18 // Genesis 37:13-14; in both stories the brothers are hostile: 1 Samuel 17:28 // Genesis 37:18-28.

Both predict that a foreign leader will have their “head lifted off” (Goliath in 1 Sam. 17:46 // the Egyptian baker in Gen. 40:19).

Both are endowed with “understanding” ( ןובנ , Gen. 41:33, 39 // 1 Sam. 16:18) by the Spirit of God ( םיהלא חור , Gen. 41:38 // 1 Sam. 16:13) and “beautiful of appearance” ( הארמ הפי , Gen. 39:6 // 1 Sam. 16:12 and 17:42) and “a man of form” (1 Sam. 16:18, ראת שיא // “beautiful of form” Gen. 39:6, ראת הפי ).

Both are elevated by officials and kings who “set them over” responsibility: Yoseph is “appointed over” ( לע + דקפ ) the house of Potiphar (Gen. 39:4) // David, who is “set over” ( לע + םיש ) the army (1 Sam. 18:5).

“And Yahweh was/is with him” (1 Sam. 16:18,17:37,18:12,28 // Gen. 39:2,21).

Both are “clothed” ( שבל ) with royal garments by a king in their exaltation story (1 Sam. 17:38 // Gen. 41:42)

David is sent to Saul with a “young goat” (1 Sam. 16:20, םיזע ידג ), while Yoseph is replaced by his brothers with a “male goat” ( םיזע ריעש ) to trick Yaaqov (Gen. 37:31).

David the last-born is loved by Saul (1 Sam 16:21, בהא ), while Yoseph the 11th-born is loved by Yaaqov (Gen. 37:4).

David “finds favor in the eyes of Saul” (1 Sam. 16:22). // Yoseph find favor in the eyes of Potiphar (Gen. 39:4) and the prison officer (Gen. 39:21).

Jonathan son of Saul, of Binyamin brother of Yoseph “loves” ( בהא ) David of Yehudah, brother of Yoseph, and “his life is bound to David’s life” (1 Sam. 18:1, דוד שפנב הרשקנ ןתנוהי שפנ ), // Yehudah appeals to Yoseph concerning his brother Binyamin, saying that Yaaqov “loves” ( בהא , Gen. 44:20) him and that “his life is bound to his life” ( ושפנב הרושק ושפנ , Gen. 44:30).

Yoseph’s brothers, including Yehudah, “strip him” (טשפ) of his royal garment (Gen. 37:23), // Jonathan of Binyamin brother of Yoseph “strips off” (טשפ) his royal garment and gives it to David of Yehudah (1 Sam. 18:4).

The scene of Jonathan (son of Binyamin) parting with David (son of Yehudah) is modeled after the reunion scene of Yoseph and Yehudah and Binyamin, along with all the rest of the brothers

The narratives of Yoseph and David have been designed to portray David as a new Yoseph.

And that's what Genesis 49 verses 8 and 9 are all about is telling you the future seed from Judah will live out the Joseph story. And so you're reading David's story and you're like, "Oh my gosh, it's the Joseph story, but with the seed of Judah." And he almost makes it until his failure and then the failure of his kids.

The failure stories with Bathsheba and then Amnon and Tamar, those are all riddled with hyperlinks to the elicit sexual escapades of Judah in Genesis 38.

So David's failure is even mapped onto Judah's failure back from Genesis. 

This is how the Hebrew Bible works. It's like anytime you tug on something in one part of the collection, you notice something moving over here in the David story, you know? And you tug on David and there's something happening here in Genesis 38. And these things have been so coordinated with each other, but not randomly. It's all very intentional to point forward.

Early Jewish Interpretation of Genesis 49:8-10

“8. Judah, you will your brothers praise, and by your name shall all the Jews be called Jews. Your hands will avenge you of your enemies; all the sons of your father shall advance to salute you. 9. I shall compare you, Judah, to a lion’s whelp; you saved my son Joseph from his murderers. From the judgment of Tamar, my son, you are innocent; you will rest and dwell in the midst of battle, like the lion and like the lioness, and there is no nation nor kingdom that shall stand against you. 10. Kings shall not cease from among those of the house of Judah and neither (shall) scribes teaching the Law from his son’ sons unto the time King Messiah shall come, to whom the kingship belongs; to him shall all the kingdoms be subject. 11. How beautiful is King Messiah who is to arise from among those of the house of Judah. He girds his loins and goes forth to battle against those that hate him; and he kills kings with rulers, and makes the mountains red from the blood of their slain and makes the valleys white from the fat of their warriors. His garments are rolled in blood; he is like a presser of grapes. 12. How beautiful are the eyes of King Messiah; more than pure wine, lest he see with them the revealing of nakedness or the shedding of innocent blood. His teeth are purer than milk, lest he eat with them things that are stolen or robbed. The mountains will become red from his vines and the vats from wine; and the hills will become white from the abundance of grain and flocks of sheep.”

McNamara, Martin, translator (1991). Targum Neofiti 1: Genesis (The Aramaic Bible).. Liturgical Press.

“8. Judah, you confessed and were not embarrassed; {therefore} your brothers shall praise you. Your hand shall prevail against your adversaries; your enemies shall be shattered; they shall turn their nape from you. Your father’s sons shall come before you and salute you. 9. From the house of Judah dominion shall emerge in the beginning and a king shall be raised in the end; because you, my son, withdrew yourself from the sentence of death. He shall rest and dwell with strength like a lion and like a lioness, and there is no kingdom that could move him. 10. The ruler shall never depart from the House of Judah, nor the scribe from his children’s children for evermore, unto when the Messiah comes, to whom belongs the kingdom, and him shall nations obey. 11. He shall lead Israel round about his city; the people shall build his Temple; the righteous shall be round about him; and they that carry out the Law shall be with him in study. Let his raiment, be of fine purple, and his garment all woolen, crimson, and of bright sparkling colors. 12. His mountains shall be red with his vineyards; his vats shall be dripping with wine; his valleys shall be white with grain and with flocks of sheep.”

Grossfield, Bernard, translator (1988). The Targum Onqelos to Genesis (The Aramaic Bible). Liturgical Press.

“Rulers shall not cease from the house of Judah, nor teachers of the law from his posterity, until his descendant Messiah come, and the obedience of all peoples be unto him. How glorious is Messiah of the House of Judah! His loins girded, he will go out to do battle with his enemies. No king and no ruler will prevail against him. The mountains will be dyed red with their blood, and the garments of Messiah will be like the garments of him that presseth wine. The eyes of Messiah will be clearer than pure wine, for they will never behold unchastity and bloodshed; and his teeth will be whiter than milk, for never will they bite aught that is taken by violence.”

Ginzberg, Louis (2003). Legends of the Jews (2nd ed.). Jewish Publication Society. 408.

The Royal Rod of Yehudah

Genesis 49:8–12 CJB

8 “Y’hudah, your brothers will acknowledge you, your hand will be on the neck of your enemies, your father’s sons will bow down before you. 9 Y’hudah is a lion’s cub; my son, you stand over the prey. He crouches down and stretches like a lion; like a lioness, who dares to provoke him? 10 The scepter will not pass from Y’hudah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his legs, until he comes to whom [obedience] belongs; and it is he whom the peoples will obey. 11 Tying his donkey to the vine, his donkey’s colt to the choice grapevine, he washes his clothes in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes. 12 His eyes will be darker than wine, his teeth whiter than milk.

"Judah, as for you, your brothers will praise you. Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies. The sons of your father will bow down to you."

"A cub of a lion is Yehudah, from the prey, my son, you have gone up.

He crouches, he lies down like a lion, like a young lion. Who can make him rise up?" Not you, he'll rise when he's good and ready, when he like, bites off your head. 

Notice the military, militant imagery here, your hand on the neck of your enemies, a lion cub crouching. So powerful, violent, victorious. We're in the realm of ancient Near Eastern honor-shame through victory on the battlefield. 

Sounds a lot like somebody smashing a snake head. 

"The scepter will not depart from Yehudah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, unto when he comes to whom it belongs.

And the obedience of the peoples will belong to him."

"Binding his donkey to the vine, and a son of his mare to an offshoot, or a tendril, he washes his clothes in wine, his robe in the blood of grapes, eyes sparkle from wine, and teeth white from milk."

So we've talked about how verse 8 sets the future seed of Judah on analogy to the past story of Joseph.

Revelation 5:2–6 NASB95

2 And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals?” 3 And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the book or to look into it. 4 Then I began to weep greatly because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look into it; 5 and one of the elders said to me, “Stop weeping; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals.” 6 And I saw between the throne (with the four living creatures) and the elders a Lamb standing, as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth.

Lion of Judah

The phrase, "lion of Judah," this actually just comes from one place in the New Testament, it's in the heavenly throne room scene, when there's a scroll that represents the mysterious plan of God for the world that nobody can open. And then John the visionary looks and sees one coming to open it, and this is Revelation 5, verse 5, "It's the lion from the tribe of Judah." That's from Genesis 49. "The root of David," that phrase comes from Isaiah chapter 11, which is about the little shoot coming up out of the ground to rule the nations, and the lion and the lamb. 

The primary image to refer to Jesus in The Revelation is the lamb, the lamb that was slain. And it appears with blood all over its white wool.  

When he says, "Who's gonna open the scroll? Who's gonna unlock the purposes of God for all creation?" one of the elders says, in other words, what he hears, is a report. "It's going to be the lion from the tribe of Judah, it's going to be the root of David, he's going to open the book." So that's what he hears. But then what he sees is a lamb with a slit throat and blood all over it.

So what he hears and what he sees, that's a meaningful contrast. So what he hears is the Messiah, you know, Genesis 49, Isaiah chapter 11.   And what he sees is the snake-crushing victorious seed of David.  And what he sees is the crucified Jesus of Nazareth.

And it's a claim to say that the way that Messiah gained victory over his enemies was to, like Judah, to give his for for others. 

It's redefining the military imagery. So this is so important for The Revelation, 'cause The Revelation is filled with violent, militaristic imagery, and all of it gets, it's like re-tuned to the language of the four Gospels. And so the royal imagery of Jesus' crucifixion, how he gets the robe, and the rod, and a crown, but it's all these, it's the crown of thorns, and it's the robe over his bloody back, and this kind of thing.

So his losing is his victory. And so you have to keep reading into the Hebrew Bible to get that.

But I think that's where all this militaristic, violent imagery is going.

So the lion is the lamb, and it changes the whole game. Even in the book of Isaiah, it's like the butt-kicking seed of David in Isaiah 11 who strikes the wicked with the rod of his mouth. But you keep reading in Isaiah, and that is connected to the portrait of the suffering servant who gives his life for the sins of many. 

you have to hold them both. And the moment you lose one, you can get a pretty distorted view of the Messiah. 

Notice this, the language of going up, this is in contrast to Reuben. He said twice, "You went up into my bed." So that's in contrast to Judah, who will also go up, but to bring honor.

The Royal Rod of Yehudah

Verse 10

"the rod or the scepter won't depart from Judah." the Hebrew word "shevet." Shevet. And it refers to a wooden staff.

So the most common image is, the one who holds the staff is an image of royalty. This is where the translation "scepter" comes in. 

he basic meaning of shevet is a wooden stick that symbolizes authority. Often, because scepters, you know, had big things on top, or they were carved, they functioned as maybe what we might call like war hammers.

It can mean “one who holds the” shevet (Amos 1:5).

Shevet can also refer to a royal rod used to bring justice, so it is often used to describe a king “smashing with the rod,” that is, attacking with an army (see Isa. 10:15, 11:4, 28:27; Micah 4:4).

Connected to the above, the word “rod” can refer simply to punishment (see Isa. 11:4; Job 37:13; Ps. 89:32; Prov. 13:24, 26:3, 29:15).

It can also refer to a shepherd’s staff (Micah 7:14; Ps. 23:4). But because “shepherd” is a common biblical metaphor for “king,” these uses often have royal associations as well   (Ezek. 20:37).

In the proverbs, the rod becomes a metaphor for corporal punishment of a parent to their children.

So, you know, the image of the one who withholds the rod, you know, is a fool, this kind of thing.

Ah, there is no, "Spare the rod spoil the child," proverb in Proverbs, by the way. There are other proverbs about the rod, but that one is not one of them. Even though it's easy to see why you would think it would be in there, but it's not. 

the word "rod" can also just be a metaphor for punishment. 

So context can determine a lot of these things, but the point is it's a rich, dense image capable of multiple meanings, or multiple nuances. 

Ruler's Staff

The second one is called the ruler's staff, it's a less common word, "mekhoqeq." It's literally, "the one who carves decrees." And it refers to when a king would carve decrees into tablets and display them at the royal palace, the one who carves. (Mekhoqeq is Verb, Poel, Participle, Masculine, singular, absolute)

So to be the carver, the one who carves, can become an image, or a metaphor, for a ruler who brings order by making just decrees.

Judah is associated with the rod and with Torah teaching, teaching of covenant laws. 

And do you remember that little moment when he taught his family how to go down to Egypt? He was the instructor. 

The Hebrew word mekhoqeq (מחקק) means literally, “one who makes decrees and decisions.”

The basic meaning of mekhoqeq is a person who carves decrees into stone to enact a decree for a group of people. It’s a way to describe a ruler or leader in terms of their role in establishing order by way of legislation.

The word refers to a person who makes decrees (Judg. 5:14; Isa. 33:22).

However, thealso came to mean “staff of a legislative ruler,” and could be used as a synonym for “scepter” (see mekhoqeq  Num. 21:18; Ps. 60:9; Deut. 33:21).

From this point on, these two images (scepter and royal staff) become standard biblical metaphors to describe the future seed from the line of Yehudah who will arise to redeem Israel and the nations (see Isa. 11:1-11; Ps. 2 or 72, etc.).

“The Scepter/Rod Will Not Depart Unto/Until …”

"The rod, the shevet, will not depart from Judah, nor the mekhoqeq, the carving rod from between his feet."

Genesis 49:10 NIV

10 The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his.

If you look at different translations,

The NIV, "The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs will come."

So think of the function of that word, "until," and then, "until he comes." What that makes it sound like is Judah will be the tribe of royalty until somebody comes. And then, logically, the way the word "until" functions is he'll be the ruler until this happens, implication being, and then he won't be the ruler anymore. 

That's like the natural meaning of the word "until," something, like, holds for a period of time, until this happens, and then that doesn't hold anymore.

Genesis 49:10 CSB

10 The scepter will not depart from Judah or the staff from between his feet until he whose right it is comes and the obedience of the peoples belongs to him.

Genesis 49:10 LEB

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

Genesis 49:10 ESV

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

Genesis 49:10 CJB

10 The scepter will not pass from Y’hudah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his legs, until he comes to whom [obedience] belongs; and it is he whom the peoples will obey.

Genesis 49:10 KJV 1900

10 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.

And that's what almost all our English translations do here, "the scepter won't depart until,"

Cause like Isaiah and Ezekiel definitely did not think that's what it meant. 

it comes down to this, it's a two-letter Hebrew word, "'ad." 'Ad.

And it can be used, it's literally a preposition meaning "unto," like, directional unto. And it can be used as the word until, that functions very similarly to our word until.

Literally the phrase is "'ad ki," which is equivalent to until, but it's literally, "unto because." And that phrase 'ad ki, it's not very common, but it appears a few other times where it seems to mean until, but none of them are in poetry.

And poetry tends to use adapted forms of language on a regular basis. 

Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures according to the Masoretic Text (1917) Chapter 49

REHE10 The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, as long as men come to Shiloh; and unto him shall the obedience of the peoples be

But there's another meaning that the word 'ad has. And I am told it is the meaning that every ancient Jewish interpretation that we know of thinks that that's what it means. 

And they take that little word 'ad to be the last word about the promise here.

And 'ad can be used as a shorthand phrase meaning "ever" or "forever." This is not quite what it means, but it would be putting 'ad there. "The scepter will not depart from Judah until, or unto ..." meaning ever. And it is a poetic shorthand for the word "forever."

So it's very different meaning. Now it's, "The scepter won't depart from Judah ever," which is a very different.

The Rod of Punishment, Power, or Both?

Recall from the above discussion that the word “rod” (Heb. shevet) can refer to a royal rod that symbolizes (1) power or (2) royal power used to bring judgment.

When we combine both possible meanings for “rod” with option 2 above, an interesting interpretation emerges.

Meaning 1: Negative

“the rod (of God’s punishing justice) will not depart from Yehudah ever, for he will come, the one to whom that rod (of royal rule) truly belongs”

Meaning 2: Positive

“the rod (of royal rule) will not depart from Yehudah ever, for he will come, the one to whom that rod (of royal rule) truly belongs”

Meaning 2 is what underlies the repeated promise in the Prophets, of an eternal kingdom that will come from the line of David (see Isa. 9:1-7 or 11:1-11).

Meaning 1 is the clear meaning that Nathan the prophet saw in these words when he reflected them back to David on two occasions. The first occasion is in a promise found in 2 Samuel 7.

Steiner, Richard C. (2013) “Four Inner-Biblical Interpretations of Genesis 49:10: On the Lexical and Syntactic Ambiguities of עַד as Reflected in the Prophecies of Nathan, Ahijah, Ezekiel, and Zechariah.” Journal of Biblical Literature 132, no. 1. 33–60.

https://www.academia.edu/44014303/Richard_C_Steiner_Four_Inner_Biblical_Interpretations_of_Genesis_49_10_On_the_Lexical_and_Syntactic_Ambiguities_of_%D7%A2%D6%B7%D7%93_as_Reflected_in_the_Prophecies_of_Nathan_Ahijah_Ezekiel_and_Zechariah_Journal_of_Biblical_Literature_vol_132_no_1_2013_33_60

He argues that this little poetic line actually has a dual meaning intentionally, and that the rod never departing actually means both a punishing rod and a royal rod.

Think through where the story's gonna go from here.

The fulfillment within the Torah and the Prophets, the near fulfillment as it were, becomes David.

And how does it go with David? Well, he rises, and he has a lot of power, but then he blows it. 

And then all of his kids blow it after him.

And every generation keeps heaping up more and more divine judgment on the house of Judah until it collapses at God's decree, with Babylon coming to town. So in a sense, the house does stand under perpetual judgment, but it also is the place of royal rule. 

2 Samuel 7:12–16 LEB

12 When your days are full and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you who will go out from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He will build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom  (עד עולם) forever. 14 I will be a father to him, and he will be a son for me, whom I will punish when he does wrong, with a rod of men and with blows of human beings. 15 But my loyal love shall not depart from him as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 Your house and your kingdom shall endure forever before you; your throne shall be established forever.” ’ ”

the chapter where you read about the promised seed from the line of David is in 2 Samuel chapter 7, really important chapter in the Torah and the Prophets. And what you find riddled throughout this is the language of Genesis 49 verse 10. So this is what Nathan says to David here.

He says, "When your days are complete, and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your seed after you." And you're like, yeah, that's right. Genesis 3:15. That's exactly right. "Your seed will come out of you, and I will establish that seed's kingdom. He will build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom, 'ad, unto, 'olam, forever.

I will be a father to him. He will be a son to me."

 And at this point you're just like, Jesus!" But also remember, we're not just hopping forward. This is an introduction to the story of Kings, the scroll of Kings.

"When he," that is, however many generations of your seed, "When they commit iniquity, I will bring correction with a human rod," shevet, "And with strokes of the sons of humanity." In other words, other human kingdoms will become the rod that God uses to punish.

"But my loving kindness will never depart from him." It will not depart. 

"Like I did make it depart from Saul, whom I made to depart from before you. Your house and your kingdom will endure before me 'ad 'olam, unto forever. Your throne will be established unto forever."

So Steiner argues that Nathan is actually picking up on both meanings of the word "rod" here. The punishing rod will endure, but so will the promise. And the question is, what's going to overcome, the promise of redemption, or the promise of punishing human evil? 

And in a way, we're at the center of what the whole story is about, aren't we? God's purpose to elevate humans as a royal image of God, and human shortsightedness foolishness, stubbornness, willful, right, sinfulness. 

how is this gonna resolve itself? 

One of these has to give in some way. And so what a promise like this represents, what Genesis 49 verse 10 represents, and what the cross represents, is the moment where the blesser and the giver of royal power subjects himself to his own judgment.

In a way, the rod never does depart, because the lion of the tribe of Judah is the lamb who was slain for the sins of the world. 

So the judgment on sin is eternal in the form of the cross, but it is eternally taken in to God's own self as the one who wants to bless and give life. 

both are true. The rod of justice, divine justice, and the rod of royal rule, both are eternal. 

This is how the Hebrew Bible operates. There'll be these stories, poems, or moments where it all comes down to just one or two sentences, or one or two words. And you'll have to do a ton of work on these words to figure out what they mean. And then it's like the whole thing, you know, locks into clarity and focus.