The position of Zebulun and the following tribes in the land of promise is accurately foretold. Compare the allotments of Joshua 18:1-28. Notice the exclamation of the dying man in Genesis 49:18. Such a spirit of waiting cannot be disappointed. See Isaiah 26:8-9. Joseph's blessing is pre-eminently beautiful: Fruitful! This is mentioned twice, reminding us of John 15:8. But fruitfulness is only possible where there is the wall for separation, and the well for communion. When these are present, the branches droop over the wall with clusters of blessings to a thirsty world. Let us seek divine strength and ask that the mighty hands of the God of Jacob may be placed under our own poor weak hands! See Psalms 141:1. The separated life is the crowned life. To the heart of the dying man came the memory of his native land and its mountains. What mountains are to a country, God is to His people! [source]
Chapter Summary: Genesis 49
1Jacob calls his sons to bless them 3Their blessing in particular 29He charges them about his burial 33He dies
What do the individual words in Genesis 49:23 mean?
And have bitterly grieved himand shotand hated himthe ownersof arrows
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Piel, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine plural, third person masculine singular
Root: מָרַר
Sense: to be bitter.
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Qal, Consecutive imperfect, third person masculine plural, third person masculine singular
Root: שָׂטַם
Sense: to hate, oppose oneself to, bear a grudge, retain animosity against, cherish animosity against.