21 Naphtali H5321 is a hind H355 let loose: H7971 he giveth H5414 goodly H8233 words. H561
And of Naphtali H5321 he said, H559 O Naphtali, H5321 satisfied H7649 with favour, H7522 and full H4392 with the blessing H1293 of the LORD: H3068 possess H3423 thou the west H3220 and the south. H1864
The sixth H8345 lot H1486 came out H3318 to the children H1121 of Naphtali, H5321 even for the children H1121 of Naphtali H5321 according to their families. H4940 And their coast H1366 was from Heleph, H2501 from Allon H438 to Zaanannim, H6815 and Adami, H129 Nekeb, H5346 and Jabneel, H2995 unto Lakum; H3946 and the outgoings H8444 thereof were at Jordan: H3383 And then the coast H1366 turneth H7725 westward H3220 to Aznothtabor, H243 and goeth out H3318 from thence to Hukkok, H2712 and reacheth H6293 to Zebulun H2074 on the south side, H5045 and reacheth H6293 to Asher H836 on the west side, H3220 and to Judah H3063 upon Jordan H3383 toward the sunrising. H4217 H8121 And the fenced H4013 cities H5892 are Ziddim, H6661 Zer, H6863 and Hammath, H2575 Rakkath, H7557 and Chinnereth, H3672 And Adamah, H128 and Ramah, H7414 and Hazor, H2674 And Kedesh, H6943 and Edrei, H154 and Enhazor, H5877 And Iron, H3375 and Migdalel, H4027 Horem, H2765 and Bethanath, H1043 and Bethshemesh; H1053 nineteen H8672 H6240 cities H5892 with their villages. H2691 This is the inheritance H5159 of the tribe H4294 of the children H1121 of Naphtali H5321 according to their families, H4940 the cities H5892 and their villages. H2691
And she sent H7971 and called H7121 Barak H1301 the son H1121 of Abinoam H42 out of Kedeshnaphtali, H6943 and said H559 unto him, Hath not the LORD H3068 God H430 of Israel H3478 commanded, H6680 saying, Go H3212 and draw H4900 toward mount H2022 Tabor, H8396 and take H3947 with thee ten H6235 thousand H505 men H376 of the children H1121 of Naphtali H5321 and of the children H1121 of Zebulun? H2074
Zebulun H2074 and Naphtali H5321 were a people H5971 that jeoparded H2778 their lives H5315 unto the death H4191 in the high places H4791 of the field. H7704
He maketh H7737 my feet H7272 like hinds' H355 feet, and setteth H5975 me upon my high places. H1116 He teacheth H3925 my hands H3027 to war, H4421 so that a bow H7198 of steel H5154 is broken H5181 by mine arms. H2220
The land G1093 of Zabulon, G2194 and G2532 the land G1093 of Nephthalim, G3508 by the way G3598 of the sea, G2281 beyond G4008 Jordan, G2446 Galilee G1056 of the Gentiles; G1484 The people G2992 which G3588 sat G2521 in G1722 darkness G4655 saw G1492 great G3173 light; G5457 and G2532 to them which G3588 sat G2521 in G1722 the region G5561 and G2532 shadow G4639 of death G2288 light G5457 is sprung up. G393 G846
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Genesis 49
Commentary on Genesis 49 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 49
Ge 49:1-33. Patriarchal Blessing.
1. Jacob called unto his sons—It is not to the sayings of the dying saint, so much as of the inspired prophet, that attention is called in this chapter. Under the immediate influence of the Holy Spirit he pronounced his prophetic benediction and described the condition of their respective descendants in the last days, or future times.
Ge 49:3, 4. Reuben forfeited by his crime the rights and honors of primogeniture. His posterity never made any figure; no judge, prophet, nor ruler, sprang from this tribe.
Ge 49:5-7. Simeon and Levi were associate in wickedness, and the same prediction would be equally applicable to both their tribes. Levi had cities allotted to them (Jos 21:1-45) in every tribe. On account of their zeal against idolatry, they were honorably "divided in Jacob"; whereas the tribe of Simeon, which was guilty of the grossest idolatry and the vices inseparable from it, were ignominiously "scattered."
Ge 49:8-12. Judah—A high pre-eminence is destined to this tribe (Nu 10:14; Jud 1:2). Besides the honor of giving name to the Promised Land, David, and a greater than David—the Messiah—sprang from it. Chief among the tribes, "it grew up from a lion's whelp"—that is, a little power—till it became "an old lion"—that is, calm and quiet, yet still formidable.
10. until Shiloh come—Shiloh—this obscure word is variously interpreted to mean "the sent" (Joh 17:3), "the seed" (Isa 11:1), the "peaceable or prosperous one" (Eph 2:14)—that is, the Messiah (Isa 11:10; Ro 15:12); and when He should come, "the tribe of Judah should no longer boast either an independent king or a judge of their own" [Calvin]. The Jews have been for eighteen centuries without a ruler and without a judge since Shiloh came, and "to Him the gathering of the people has been."
Ge 49:13. Zebulun was to have its lot on the seacoast, close to Zidon, and to engage, like that state, in maritime pursuits and commerce.
Ge 49:14, 15. Issachar—
14. a strong ass couching down between two burdens—that is, it was to be active, patient, given to agricultural labors. It was established in lower Galilee—a "good land," settling down in the midst of the Canaanites, where, for the sake of quiet, they "bowed their shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute."
Ge 49:16-18. Dan—though the son of a secondary wife, was to be "as one of the tribes of Israel."
17. Dan—"a judge."
a serpent … an adder—A serpent, an adder, implies subtlety and stratagem; such was pre-eminently the character of Samson, the most illustrious of its judges.
Ge 49:19. Gad—This tribe should be often attacked and wasted by hostile powers on their borders (Jud 10:8; Jer 49:1). But they were generally victorious in the close of their wars.
Ge 49:20. Asher—"Blessed." Its allotment was the seacoast between Tyre and Carmel, a district fertile in the production of the finest corn and oil in all Palestine.
Ge 49:21. Naphtali—The best rendering we know is this, "Naphtali is a deer roaming at liberty; he shooteth forth goodly branches," or majestic antlers [Taylor, Scripture Illustrations], and the meaning of the prophecy seems to be that the tribe of Naphtali would be located in a territory so fertile and peaceable, that, feeding on the richest pasture, he would spread out, like a deer, branching antlers.
Ge 49:22-26. Joseph—
22. a fruitful bough, &c.—denotes the extraordinary increase of that tribe (compare Nu 1:33-35; Jos 17:17; De 33:17). The patriarch describes him as attacked by envy, revenge, temptation, ingratitude; yet still, by the grace of God, he triumphed over all opposition, so that he became the sustainer of Israel; and then he proceeds to shower blessings of every kind upon the head of this favorite son. The history of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh shows how fully these blessings were realized.
Ge 49:27-33. Benjamin
27. shall ravin like a wolf—This tribe in its early history spent its energies in petty or inglorious warfare and especially in the violent and unjust contest (Jud 19:1-20:48), in which it engaged with the other tribes, when, notwithstanding two victories, it was almost exterminated.
28. all these are the twelve tribes of Israel—or ancestors. Jacob's prophetic words obviously refer not so much to the sons as to the tribes of Israel.
29. he charged them—The charge had already been given and solemnly undertaken (Ge 47:31). But in mentioning his wishes now and rehearsing all the circumstances connected with the purchase of Machpelah, he wished to declare, with his latest breath, before all his family, that he died in the same faith as Abraham.
33. when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons—It is probable that he was supernaturally strengthened for this last momentous office of the patriarch, and that when the divine afflatus ceased, his exhausted powers giving way, he yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people.