Chapter XLIX
Ver. l-.'!3. Patuiarchal Blessing. 1. Jacob called «n«o his sons— It Is not to the .sayings of the dying saint, so much as of the inspired prophet, that att<>ntlon Is called
111 this chapter. Under the immediate Influence of the Holy Spirit he pronounced his prophetic benediction, and described the condition of their respective dtseeud-
19, 20), seed would be distributed for the first crop after the famine; and the people occupy them as tciiants-at-wUI on the pay.nentof a produce rent, almost the same rule as obtains In Egypt In the present day. 3!»-,31. tlie time drew nigli titat Israel must die—One only of liij; dying arrangements Is recorded; but that one reveals his whole character. It was the disposal of his remains, which were to be carried to Canaan, not from a mere romantic attachment to his native soil, nor, like his modern descend.-ints, from a superstitious feeling for the soil of the Holy Lund, but from faith In H>e promises. His address to Joseph— " If I Ii.'ive found grace In thy sight," t. e., as the vizier of Egypt— his exacting a solemn oath that his wishes would be fuHllled, and the peculiar form of that oath, all pointed slgnlllcantly to the promise, and showed the Intensity of his desire to enjoy Its blessings (cf. Numbers 10.2!)). Israel bowe<I himself upon the bed's head—Oriental beds are mere mats, having no head, and the tranRlat loii should be " the top of his staff," a.s the apostle renders It (Hebrews 11.21).
aiits in tlie last days, or future times.
3, 4. IvEUBKN forfeited by his crime the rights and honours of primogeniture. Ills posterity never made any figure-no judge, prophet, nor ruler, sprang from this
tribe.
5-7. Simeon and Levi were asBoclate In wickedness, and the same prediction would be equally applicable to both their tribes. Levi ha<l cities allotted to tliem(Josliun
21.) In every tribe. On account of their zeal against Idol-
atry, they were honourably "divided in Jacob;" whereas the tribe of Simeon, which was guilty of the grossest idol-
atry, and the vices Inseparable fl-om It were Iguomlnlously " Kcatt*red."
H-ia. JuDAH.—A high pre-eminence Is destined to this
tribe (Numbers 10. 14; Judges 1. 2). Besides the honour of giving name to the Promised Land—David, and a greater
tliaii David—the Messiah sprang from it. Chief amongst the trilxw, " it grew up fi"om a lion's whelp," i. f., a little power, till It b<!came " an old lion "— i. e., calm and iiulei..
bird's-eye view of EGYPT.
Tilt rnlriarchal Blessing, GENESIS L. Mourning for Jac(A>,
yet still formidable.* until Shiloli come—Sliiloh—this obscure word is variously interproled to mean " tlie sent (John 17. H), "the seed" (Xsaiali 11. 1>, the "peaceable or prosperous one" (Kijhesiaiis 2. 14)— i. e., the Messiah
able that he was supernatnrall.v strfn^thened for tliis last nionieiilous olHce of tlie palriaieli, and that when the Divine utllatus cea-sed, his e>kliausie<l powers giving way, he yielded up Ihegliosl, and was gmiiLied unto his people.
(Isaiah 11. lU; Homaiis 15. 12); and when He sliould come, "the tribe of Judah should no longer boast either an independent king or a judge of their own." L<-'alvin.J Tlie Jews have been for eighteen centuries without a ruler and without a judge since Shiloh came, and "to Him the gathering of tile people has been."