Genesis 49
Amplified Bible
Israel’s Prophecy concerning His Sons
49 Then Jacob called for his sons and said, “Assemble yourselves [around me] that I may tell you what will happen to you and your descendants [a]in the days to come.
2
“Gather together and hear, O sons of Jacob;
And listen to Israel (Jacob) your father.
3
“Reuben, you are my [b]firstborn;
My might, the beginning of my strength and vigor,
Preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power [that should have been your birthright].
4
“But unstable and reckless and boiling over like water [in sinful lust], you shall [c]not excel or have the preeminence [of the firstborn],
Because you went up to your father’s bed [with Bilhah];
You defiled it—he went up to my couch.(A)
5
“Simeon and Levi are brothers [equally headstrong, deceitful, vindictive, and cruel];
Their swords are weapons of violence and revenge.(B)
6
“O my soul, do not come into their secret council;
Let not my glory (honor) be united with their assembly [for I knew nothing of their plot];
Because in their anger they killed men [an honored man, Shechem, and the Shechemites],
And in their self-will they lamed oxen.
7
“Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce;
And their wrath, for it was cruel.
I will divide and disperse them in Jacob,
And [d]scatter them in [the midst of the land of] Israel.
8
“Judah, you are the one whom your brothers shall praise;
Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies;
Your father’s sons shall bow down to you.
9
“Judah, a lion’s cub;
With the prey, my son, you have gone high up [the mountain].
He stooped down, he crouched like a lion,
And like a lion—who dares rouse him?(C)
10
“The scepter [of royalty] shall not depart from Judah,
Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
Until Shiloh [the Messiah, the Peaceful One] comes,
And to Him shall be the obedience of the peoples.(D)
11
“Tying [e]his foal to the [strong] vine
And his donkey’s colt to the choice vine,
He washes his clothing in wine [because the grapevine produces abundantly],
And his robes in the blood of grapes.(E)
12
“His eyes are darker and sparkle more than wine,
And his teeth whiter than milk.
13
“Zebulun shall dwell at the seashore;
And he shall be a haven (landing place) for ships,
And his flank shall be toward Sidon.
14
“Issachar is [like] a strong-boned donkey,
Crouching down between the sheepfolds.
15
“When he saw that the resting place was good
And that the land was pleasant,
He bowed his shoulder to bear [burdens],
And became a servant at forced labor.
16
“Dan shall judge his people,
As one of the tribes of Israel.
17
“Dan shall be a [venomous] serpent in the way,
A fanged snake in the path,
That bites the horse’s heels,
So that his rider falls backward.
18
“I wait for Your salvation, O Lord.
19
“As for [f]Gad—a raiding troop shall raid him,
But he shall raid at their heels and assault them [victoriously].
20
“Asher’s food [supply] shall be rich and bountiful,
And he shall yield and deliver royal delights.
21
“Naphtali is a doe let loose, [a swift warrior,]
Which yields branched antlers (eloquent words).
22
“Joseph is a fruitful bough (a main branch of the vine),
A fruitful bough by a spring (a well, a fountain);
Its branches run over the wall [influencing others].
23
“The [skilled] archers have bitterly attacked and provoked him;
They have shot [at him] and harassed him.
24
“But his bow remained firm and steady [in the Strength that does not fail],
For his arms were made strong and agile
By the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,
(By the name of the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel),(F)
25
By the God of your father who will help you,
And by the [g]Almighty who blesses you
With blessings of the heavens above,
Blessings lying in the deep that couches beneath,
Blessings of the [nursing] breasts and of the [fertile] womb.
26
“The blessings of your father
Are greater than the blessings of my ancestors [Abraham and Isaac]
Up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills;
They shall be on the head of Joseph,
Even on the crown of the head of him who was the distinguished one and the one who is prince among (separate from) his brothers.
27
“Benjamin is a [h]ravenous wolf;
In the morning he devours the prey,
And at night he divides the spoil.”
28 All these are the [beginnings of the] twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each one according to the blessing appropriate to him. 29 He charged them and said to them, “I am to be gathered to my people; bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30 in the cave in the field at Machpelah, east of Mamre, in the land of Canaan, that Abraham bought, along with the field from Ephron the Hittite, to possess as a burial site.(G) 31 There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife, there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife, and there I buried Leah— 32 the field and the cave that is in it was purchased from the sons of Heth.” 33 When Jacob (Israel) had finished commanding his sons, he drew his feet into the bed and breathed his last, and was [i]gathered to his people [who had preceded him in death].
Footnotes
- Genesis 49:1 See Deut 33, where Moses blesses the same tribes in a similar prophetic way.
- Genesis 49:3 Reuben was the eldest of Jacob’s twelve sons and therefore entitled to the birthright, which would make him successor to his father as head of the family or tribe, and inheritor of a double portion of his father’s estate. But Reuben forfeited all this by his conduct with Bilhah, his father’s concubine (35:22). By adopting Joseph’s two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, and giving each of them a portion of the inheritance, Jacob virtually gave Joseph the extra portion of the land that would have gone to Reuben. Judah became the tribal leader in Reuben’s place (49:8-10).
- Genesis 49:4 The fertile land once occupied by the tribe of Reuben was deserted by its settled inhabitants and given over to the tribal nomads of the desert. Because of his behavior, Reuben had forfeited his rights as the firstborn even before Jacob’s prophecy.
- Genesis 49:7 This prophecy was fulfilled when the tribe of Levi received no inheritance except forty-eight towns scattered throughout different parts of Canaan. The tribe of Simeon was originally given only a few towns and villages in the midst of the inheritance of the tribe of Judah (Josh 19:1).
- Genesis 49:11 I.e. the tribe of Judah.
- Genesis 49:19 The Hebrew word from which the name “Gad” is derived has two meanings. In this verse the Hebrew meaning is associated with a “raiding troop” but in 30:11 it is associated with “good fortune.”
- Genesis 49:25 Heb Shaddai.
- Genesis 49:27 The tribe of Benjamin invariably displayed courage and ferocity, particularly in their war with the other tribes. The tribe of Benjamin was absorbed by the tribe of Judah and is not mentioned after the return from the Babylonian captivity, except in connection with its former land or as the source of some individual person. Ehud, Saul, Jonathan, and the apostle Paul were Benjamites.
- Genesis 49:33 See note 25:8.
Génesis 49
La Biblia de las Américas
Profecía de Israel acerca de sus hijos
49 Entonces Jacob llamó a sus hijos, y dijo: Reuníos para que os haga saber lo que os ha de acontecer en los días venideros[a](A).
2 Juntaos y oíd, hijos de Jacob,
y escuchad a Israel vuestro padre(B).
3 Rubén, tú eres mi primogénito,
mi poderío y el principio de mi vigor(C),
prominente en dignidad y prominente en poder.
4 Incontrolable[b] como el agua, no tendrás preeminencia,
porque subiste a la cama de tu padre,
y la profanaste: él subió a mi lecho(D).
5 Simeón y Leví son hermanos;
sus armas instrumentos de violencia(E).
6 En su consejo no entre mi alma(F),
a su asamblea no se una mi gloria,
porque en su ira mataron hombres[c],
y en su obstinación desjarretaron bueyes[d].
7 Maldita su ira porque es feroz;
y su furor porque es cruel.
Los dividiré en Jacob,
y los dispersaré en Israel(G).
8 A ti Judá, te alabarán tus hermanos;
tu mano en la cerviz de tus enemigos;
se inclinarán a ti los hijos de tu padre(H).
9 Cachorro de león es Judá(I);
de la presa, hijo mío, has subido.
Se agazapa, se echa como león,
o como leona, ¿quién lo despertará(J)?
10 El cetro no se apartará de Judá(K),
ni la vara de gobernante de entre sus pies,
hasta que venga Siloh[e],
y a él sea dada la obediencia de los pueblos(L).
11 Él ata[f] a la vid su pollino,
y a la mejor cepa el hijo de su asna(M);
él lava en vino sus vestiduras,
y en la sangre de las uvas su manto(N).
12 Sus ojos están apagados por[g] el vino,
y sus dientes blancos por[h] la leche.
13 Zabulón habitará a la orilla del mar(O);
y él será puerto para[i] naves,
y su límite será hasta[j] Sidón.
14 Isacar es un asno fuerte[k],
echado entre los apriscos[l](P).
15 Al ver que el lugar de reposo era bueno
y que la tierra era agradable,
inclinó su hombro para cargar,
y llegó a ser esclavo en trabajos forzados.
16 Dan(Q) juzgará a su pueblo(R),
como una de las tribus de Israel.
17 Sea Dan serpiente junto al camino,
víbora junto al sendero,
que muerde los jarretes[m] del caballo,
y cae su jinete hacia atrás.
18 ¡Tu salvación espero, oh Señor(S)!
22 Rama fecunda[t] es José(X),
rama fecunda[u] junto a un manantial;
sus vástagos[v] se extienden sobre el muro.
23 Los arqueros lo atacaron con furor,
lo asaetearon y lo hostigaron;
24 pero su arco permaneció firme(Y)
y sus brazos[w] fueron ágiles(Z)
por las manos del Poderoso de Jacob(AA)
(de allí es el Pastor(AB), la Roca de Israel(AC)),
25 por el Dios de tu padre que te ayuda(AD),
y por el Todopoderoso[x] que te bendice(AE)
con bendiciones de los cielos de arriba,
bendiciones del abismo que está abajo(AF),
bendiciones de los pechos y del seno materno.
26 Las bendiciones de tu padre
han sobrepasado las bendiciones de mis antepasados
hasta el límite de los collados eternos;
sean ellas sobre la cabeza de José,
y sobre la cabeza[y] del consagrado[z] de entre tus hermanos(AG).
27 Benjamín es lobo rapaz[aa];
de mañana devora la presa,
y a la tarde reparte los despojos.
Muerte de Jacob
28 Todas estas son las doce tribus de Israel, y esto es lo que les dijo su padre cuando[ab] los bendijo. A cada uno lo bendijo con la bendición que le correspondía[ac]. 29 Después les ordenó y les dijo: Voy a ser reunido a mi pueblo[ad](AH); sepultadme con mis padres(AI) en la cueva que está en el campo de Efrón hitita(AJ), 30 en la cueva que está en el campo de Macpela, que está frente a Mamre, en la tierra de Canaán, la cual Abraham compró juntamente con el campo de Efrón hitita, para posesión de una sepultura(AK). 31 Allí sepultaron a Abraham(AL) y a su mujer Sara(AM); allí sepultaron a Isaac(AN) y a su mujer Rebeca, y allí sepulté yo a Lea. 32 El campo y la cueva que hay en él, fueron comprados de los hijos de Het. 33 Cuando Jacob terminó de encargar estas cosas a sus hijos, recogió sus pies en la cama y expiró(AO), y fue reunido a su pueblo[ae](AP).
Footnotes
- Génesis 49:1 Lit., al final de los días
- Génesis 49:4 Lit., Desenfrenado
- Génesis 49:6 Lit., un hombre
- Génesis 49:6 Lit., un buey
- Génesis 49:10 O, hasta que él venga a Siloh, o, hasta que él venga a quien pertenezca
- Génesis 49:11 Lit., Atando
- Génesis 49:12 O, más oscuros que
- Génesis 49:12 O, más blancos que
- Génesis 49:13 Lit., ribera de
- Génesis 49:13 Lit., y su costado hacia
- Génesis 49:14 Lit., un asno de hueso
- Génesis 49:14 O, las alforjas
- Génesis 49:17 Lit., talones
- Génesis 49:19 Lit., una banda de salteadores
- Génesis 49:19 Lit., talón
- Génesis 49:20 Lit., De
- Génesis 49:20 O, pan
- Génesis 49:20 Lit., grasoso
- Génesis 49:21 Lit., da
- Génesis 49:22 Lit., Hijo fecundo
- Génesis 49:22 Lit., Hijo fecundo
- Génesis 49:22 Lit., hijas
- Génesis 49:24 Lit., los brazos de sus manos
- Génesis 49:25 Heb., Shaddai
- Génesis 49:26 O, coronilla
- Génesis 49:26 O, distinguido
- Génesis 49:27 Lit., que despedaza
- Génesis 49:28 Lit., y
- Génesis 49:28 Lit., conforme a su bendición
- Génesis 49:29 Lit., mis parientes
- Génesis 49:33 Lit., sus parientes
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.
