6 My soul, don't come into their council; My glory, don't be united to their assembly; For in their anger they killed a man, In their self-will they hamstrung an ox.
Don't gather my soul with sinners, Nor my life with bloodthirsty men;
Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, "You have troubled me, to make me odious to the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I am few in number. They will gather themselves together against me and strike me, and I will be destroyed, I and my house."
Wake up, my glory! Wake up, psaltery and harp! I will wake up the dawn.
Therefore my heart is glad, and my tongue rejoices. My body shall also dwell in safety.
Don't be unequally yoked with unbelievers, for what fellowship have righteousness and iniquity? Or what communion has light with darkness?
I will tell my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years. Take your ease, eat, drink, be merry."'
My anguish, my anguish! I am pained at my very heart; my heart is disquieted in me; I can't hold my peace; because you have heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.
The thoughts of the righteous are just, But the advice of the wicked is deceitful.
If they say, "Come with us, Let's lay in wait for blood; Let's lurk secretly for the innocent without cause;
It happened on the third day, when they were sore, that two of Jacob's sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, each took his sword, came upon the unsuspecting city, and killed all the males. They killed Hamor and Shechem, his son, with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah out of Shechem's house, and went away.
Shall the throne of wickedness have fellowship with you, Which brings about mischief by statute? They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, And condemn the innocent blood.
Why are you in despair, my soul? Why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God! For I shall still praise him: My Savior, my helper, and my God.
Why are you in despair, my soul? Why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God! For I shall still praise him for the saving help of his presence.
To the end that my heart may sing praise to you, and not be silent. Yahweh my God, I will give thanks to you forever!
I have not sat with deceitful men, Neither will I go in with hypocrites. I hate the assembly of evil-doers, And will not sit with the wicked.
Hold them guilty, God. Let them fall by their own counsels; Thrust them out in the multitude of their transgressions, For they have rebelled against you.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Genesis 49
Commentary on Genesis 49 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 49
This chapter is a prophecy; the likest to it we have yet met with was that of Noah, ch. 9:25, etc. Jacob is here upon his death-bed, making his will. He put it off till now, because dying men's words are apt to make deep impressions, and to be remembered long: what he said here, he could not say when he would, but as the Spirit gave him utterance, who chose this time, that divine strength might be perfected in his weakness. The twelve sons of Jacob were, in their day, men of renown, but the twelve tribes of Israel, which descended and were denominated from them, were much more renowned; we find their names upon the gates of the New Jerusalem, Rev. 21:12. In the prospect of this their dying father says something remarkable of each son, or of the tribe that bore his name. Here is,
Gen 49:1-4
Here is,
Gen 49:5-7
These were next in age to Reuben, and they also had been a grief and shame to Jacob, when they treacherously and barbarously destroyed the Shechemites, which he here remembers against them. Children should be afraid of incurring their parents' just displeasure, lest they fare the worse for it long afterwards, and, when they would inherit the blessing, be rejected. Observe,
Gen 49:8-12
Glorious things are here said of Judah. The mention of the crimes of the three elder of his sons had not so put the dying patriarch out of humour but that he had a blessing ready for Judah, to whom blessings belonged. Judah's name signifies praise, in allusion to which he says, Thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise, v. 8. God was praised for him (ch. 29:35), praised by him, and praised in him; and therefore his brethren shall praise him. Note, Those that are to God for a praise shall be the praise of their brethren. It is prophesied that,
Gen 49:13-21
Here we have Jacob's prophecy concerning six of his sons.
Gen 49:22-27
He closes with the blessings of his best beloved sons, Joseph and Benjamin; with these he will breathe his last.
Gen 49:28-33
Here is,