Hebrew-English Text

I. Summary

Jacob prophesies about each of his twelve sons; some will be wealthy and mighty while others will be weak and servile. Jacob commands his sons to bury him in the cave of Machpelah next to his wife Leah, his parents Isaac and Rebekah, and his grandparents Abraham and Sarah. Jacob dies when he finishes speaking to his sons.

II. Photo

Jacob characterizes Judah as a lion: “Judah is a lion’s whelp, from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He crouches down, he stretches out like a lion, like a lioness, who dares rouse him up?” (v. 9)

III. Outline

1-28. Jacob “blesses” his children

1-2. Jacob (called such) gathers his sons for a prophetic speech

3-4. The firstborn Reuben will lose his power because he went up to Jacob’s bed

5-7. Simeon and Levi will be divided and scattered in Israel because of their violence

8-10. Judah is like a lion and will be given rulership

11-12. Judah will have an abundance of grapes and beauty

13. Zebulun will settle along the Mediterranean near Sidon

14-15. Issachar will become a servant to shepherds [near Shechem; he “bowed his shoulder (Shechem)”]

16-17. Dan will become highway robbers

18. Declaration of faith: Jacob waits for Yahweh’s deliverance

19. Gad will be sea raiders

20. Asher shall produce an abundance of bread

21. Naphtali is a doe with lovely fawns (?)

22-26. Joseph is blessed with viticulture, military might, offspring, protection from the ancestral god, and separation from his brothers

27. Benjamin is a carniverous wolf (?)

28. Conclusion to the “blessings” (called such)

29-32. Jacob commands his sons to bury him the Machpelah cave with his parents, grandparents, and Leah [who we did not know had died]

33. Jacob dies

IV. Select Verses

1: And Jacob called his sons and said, “Come together that I may tell you what is to befall you in days to come.

8-10: You, O Judah, your brothers shall praise; Your hand shall be on the nape of your foes; Your father’s sons shall bow low to you. Judah is a lion’s whelp; On prey, my son, have you grown. He crouches, lies down like a lion, Like the king of beasts — who dare rouse him? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet; So that tribute shall come to him And the homage of peoples be his.

24-26: Yet his bow stayed taut, And his arms were made firm By the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob — There, the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel — The God of your father who helps you, And Shaddai who blesses you With blessings of heaven above, Blessings of the deep that couches below, Blessings of the breast and womb. The blessings of your father Surpass the blessings of my ancestors, To the utmost bounds of the eternal hills. May they rest on the head of Joseph, On the brow of the elect of his brothers.

28: All these were the tribes of Israel, twelve in number, and this is what their father said to them as he bade them farewell, addressing to each a parting word appropriate to him.

29-32: Then he instructed them, saying to them, “I am about to be gathered to my kin. Bury me with my fathers in the cave which is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, the cave which is in the field of Machpelah, facing Mamre, in the land of Canaan, the field that Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite for a burial site —  there Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried; there Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried; and there I buried Leah —  the field and the cave in it, bought from the Hittites.”

33: When Jacob finished his instructions to his sons, he drew his feet into the bed and, breathing his last, he was gathered to his people.

 

V. Comment

• There is tension between the introduction/conclusion to the “blessings” and the “blessings” themselves. In the introduction we are told of a prophetic speech, one that will reveal what is to happen in the future. While many of the statements can be read this way, such as Judah’s rulership and Joseph’s might and separation (the “house of Joseph” would eventually become the Northern Kingdom of Israel), other statements are more confusing. What does it mean that Naphtali is a doe with lovely fawns (v. 21)? What does it mean that Benjamin is a wolf that eats and shares its prey (v. 27)? Furthermore, the conclusion to Jacob’s speech (v. 28) mentions the “blessings” he gave to each son, but some of the statements are more like curses. Reuben’s role is diminished (vv. 3-4), Simeon and Levi will be scattered (vv. 5-7), and Issachar will become a servant in the region of Shechem (vv. 14-15). These are but some of the many difficulties in understanding this chapter.
• In v. 31 Jacob mentions burying Leah in the cave of Machpelah. We were not previously told that Leah had died. Similarly, although we had not been told that Jacob’s mother Rebekah had died, this is made explicit it v. 31: “There Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried.”
• In vv. 29-32 Jacob asks to be buried in the cave of Machpelah with his ancestors. Note that he refers to the acquisition of the cave from the Hittites three times, an emphasis that may suggest that the cave was disputed territory.

VI. Works Used

(see “Commentaries” page)

Photo copied from https://www.pinterest.com/explore/a-lion/?lp=true

Hebrew-English Text

I. Summary

Joseph brings his sons Ephraim and Manasseh to Jacob for a blessing. Jacob considers the boys his own and blesses them with his name and many offspring in the land. Despite Joseph’s protest, Jacob places his right hand on Ephraim, the younger of the two boys. Jacob grants Shechem to Joseph.

II. Photo

Jacob does not see well: “Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, and he could not see well. So Joseph brought [the boys] near him; and he kissed them and embraced them.” (v. 10)

III. Outline

1a. Joseph learns his father is ill

1b-2. Joseph brings Ephraim and Manasseh to Jacob (called such)

3-4. Jacob recounts El Shaddai’s (called such) promise at Bethel of land and offspring

5-6. Jacob considers Ephraim and Manasseh his own sons, but Joseph’s future children Joseph’s

7. Rationale: Joseph’s mother Rachel already died [so she could not give birth to more children]

8-10. Israel (called such), who has poor vision, has Ephraim and Manasseh brought close for a blessing

11. Israel is thankful for seeing Joseph’s children

12-13. Joseph presents Manasseh to Israel’s right and Ephraim to his left

14. Israel switches his hands, giving his right to Ephraim and left to Manasseh

15-16. Jacob blesses the boys with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob’s name as well as offspring in the land

17-18. Joseph confronts his father about his hands and attempts to switche them

19. Jacob does not budge, relating that Ephraim will be greater than Manasseh

20. Israel will be blessed “may God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh”

21-22. As death approaches, Jacob grants Joseph “one ridge (Shechem)” that he conquered from the Amorites

IV. Select Verses

3-4: And Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and he blessed me, and said to me, ‘I am going to make you fruitful and increase your numbers; I will make of you a company of peoples, and will give this land to your offspring after you for a perpetual holding.’

5-7: Therefore your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are now mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are. As for the offspring born to you after them, they shall be yours. They shall be recorded under the names of their brothers with regard to their inheritance. For when I came from Paddan, Rachel, alas, died in the land of Canaan on the way, while there was still some distance to go to Ephrath; and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem).

10: Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, and he could not see well. So Joseph brought them near him; and he kissed them and embraced them.

17-19: When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him; so he took his father’s hand, to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father! Since this one is the firstborn, put your right hand on his head.” But his father refused, and said, “I know, my son, I know; he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great. Nevertheless his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations.”

 

V. Comment

In verses 3-4, Jacob says:

El Shaddai appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and He blessed me, and said to me, ‘I will make you fertile and numerous, making of you a community of peoples; and I will assign this land to your offspring to come for an everlasting possession.’

This appears to refer to Jacob’s encounters with the divine at Bethel in 28:11-22 and 35:1-8. Although Bethel is not mentioned in our chapter, those passages make clear that Jacob changed the name Luz to Bethel (28:19, 35:6).

Verse 7, which mentions Rachel’s death, is referring to 35:16-20:

They set out from Bethel; but when they were still some distance short of Ephrath, Rachel was in childbirth, and she had hard labor. When her labor was at its hardest, the midwife said to her, “Have no fear, for it is another boy for you.” But as she breathed her last — for she was dying — she named him Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin. Thus Rachel died. She was buried on the road to Ephrath — now Bethlehem. Over her grave Jacob set up a pillar; it is the pillar at Rachel’s grave to this day.

VI. Works Used

(see “Commentaries” page)

Photo copied from http://trevinoeyeclinic.net/home/patient-education/3024-blurry-vision.html

Hebrew-English Text

I. Summary

Joseph’s family meets Pharaoh and settles in Goshen/Rameses. Due to the severity of the famine, the people of Egypt give all of their money, livestock, and land to Joseph and Pharaoh. Jacob makes Joseph promise to bury him with his ancestors in Hebron.

II. Photo

Joseph acquires all of the farmland in Egypt: “So Joseph gained possession of all the farm land of Egypt for Pharaoh, every Egyptian having sold his field because the famine was too much for them; thus the land passed over to Pharaoh.” (v. 20)

III. Outline

1-12. Joseph settles his family in Goshen

1-2. Joseph presents five of his brothers to Pharaoh, telling him they live in Goshen

3-6. Pharaoh permits Joseph’s brothers to live there and asks that they shepherd his flock

7-10. Jacob meets pharaoh, telling him he is only 130 years old

11-12. Summary: Joseph fed his family and settled them in the land of Rameses

13-26. Joseph acquires all of Egypt’s wealth and land for Pharaoh

13. Introduction: the famine was severe

14. Joseph collected all the money in the land as payment for rations

15-17. Joseph next collects livestock for rations

18-21. Joseph next acquires all the land in Egypt for rations

22. Note: Joseph did not collect land from the priests, who had been given land by Pharaoh

23-25. Joseph enters into a serf relationship with the people of Egypt, who must give 1/5 of their produce to Pharaoh

26. Joseph’s law of 1/5 is still

27-31. Jacob prepares to die

27. Israel’s (called such) family grew and prospered in Egypt

28. Jacob (called such) lived for 17 more years for a total of 147

29-31. Jacob has Joseph vow to bury him with his ancestors [in Hebron]

IV. Select Verses

5-6: Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “As regards your father and your brothers who have come to you, the land of Egypt is open before you: settle your father and your brothers in the best part of the land; let them stay in the region of Goshen. And if you know any capable men among them, put them in charge of my livestock.”

8-9: Pharaoh asked Jacob, “How many are the years of your life?” And Jacob answered Pharaoh, “The years of my sojourn [on earth] are one hundred and thirty. Few and hard have been the years of my life, nor do they come up to the life spans of my fathers during their sojourns.”

23-26: Then Joseph said to the people, “Whereas I have this day acquired you and your land for Pharaoh, here is seed for you to sow the land. And when harvest comes, you shall give one-fifth to Pharaoh, and four-fifths shall be yours as seed for the fields and as food for you and those in your households, and as nourishment for your children.”  And they said, “You have saved our lives! We are grateful to my lord, and we shall be serfs to Pharaoh.” And Joseph made it into a land law in Egypt, which is still valid, that a fifth should be Pharaoh’s; only the land of the priests did not become Pharaoh’s.

28-31: Jacob lived seventeen years in the land of Egypt, so that the span of Jacob’s life came to one hundred and forty-seven years. And when the time approached for Israel to die, he summoned his son Joseph and said to him, “Do me this favor, place your hand under my thigh as a pledge of your steadfast loyalty: please do not bury me in Egypt. When I lie down with my fathers, take me up from Egypt and bury me in their burial-place.” He replied, “I will do as you have spoken.” And he said, “Swear to me.” And he swore to him. Then Israel bowed at the head of the bed.

V. Comment

No comment today. Stay tuned.

VI. Works Used

(see “Commentaries” page)

Photo copied from

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/food/2013/06/small_scale_grain_farmers_can_local_grains_be_profitable.html