The prophecy concerning GENESIS. Reuben, Simeon, and Levi. B. C. 1689. A. M. 2315. and the beginning of my strength, then defiledst thou it: he went A. M. 2315. B. C. 1689. the excellency of dignity, and the up to my couch. excellency of power: 4 Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to thy father's bed; * Deut. xxi. 17; 81 Chron. v. 1.xxvii. 20. h prophetic gift or foresight; and that this was probably the case with Jacob. But it would be derogatory to the dignity of the prophecies delivered in this chapter, to suppose that they came by any other means than direct inspiration, as to their main matter, though certain circumstances appear to be left to the patriarch himself, in which he might express his own feelings both as a father and as a judge. This is strikingly evident, 1. In the case of Reuben, from whom he had received the grossest insult, however the passage relative to him may be understood; and, 2. In the case of Joseph, the tenderly beloved son of his most beloved wife Rachel, in the prophecy concerning whom he gives full vent to all those tender and affectionate emotions which, as a father and a husband, do him endless credit. 3. Reuben, my first-born art thou! My might, and the prime of my strength, Excelling in eminence, and excelling in power: 4. Pouring out like the waters:-thou shalt not excel, For thou wentest up to the bed of thy father,Then thou didst defile: to my couch he went up! Verse 3. Reuben as the first-born had a right to a double portion of all that the father had; see Deut. xxi. 17. 5 Simeon and Levi are brethren; minstruments " of cruelty are in their habitations. 6 O my soul, come not thou into their Chap. xxix. 33, 34.Or, their swords are weapons of violence.Prov. i. 15, 16. Prov. xviii. Ch. xxxiv. ject, passing over a transaction covertly, which delicacy forbade Jacob to enlarge on. For the crime of Reuben, see the notes on chap. xxxv. 22. 5. Simeon and Levi, brethren : They have accomplished their fraudulent purposes. 6. Into their secret council my soul did not come ; In their confederacy my honour was not united: For in their anger they slew a man,( ish, a noble,) And in their pleasure they murdered a prince. 7. Cursed was their anger, for it was fierce! And their excessive wrath, for it was inflexible! I will divide them out in Jacob, And I will disperse them in Israel. Verse 5. Simeon and Levi are brethren] Not only springing from the same parents, but they have the same kind of disposition, headstrong, deceitful, vindiclive, and cruel. They have accomplished, &c.] Our margin has it, Their swords are weapons of violence, i. e. Their swords, which they should have used in defence of their persons or the honourable protection of their families, they have employed in the base and dastardly murder of an innocent people. from our translation, and confirms the translation The Septuagint gives a different turn to this line given above : Συνετέλεσαν αδικιαν εξαιρέσεως αυτών with which the Samaritan Version agrees. In the They have accomplished the iniquity of their purpose; Samaritan text we read 2 calu, they have accomplished, instead of the Hebrew keley, weapons or instruments, which reading most critics prefer: and as to The eminence or dignity mentioned here may refer to the priesthood; the power, to the regal government or kingdom. In this sense it has been understood by all the ancient Targumists. The Targum of Onkelos paraphrases it thus: "Thou shouldst have received three portions, the birthright, the priesthood, and the kingdom" and to this the Targums of Jonathan ben mecherotheyhem, translated above their frauUzziel and Jerusalem add: "But because thou hast sinned, the birthright is given to Joseph, the kingdom to Judah, and the priesthood to Levi." That the birthright was given to the sons of Joseph we have the fullest proof from 1 Chron. v. 1. Verse 4. Pouring out like the waters] This is an obscure sentence because unfinished. It evidently relates to the defilement of his father's couch; and the word in pachaz, here translated pouring out, and in our Version unstable, has a bad meaning in other places of the Scripture, being applied to dissolute, debauched, and licentious conduct. See Judg. ix. 4; Zeph. iii. 4; Jer. xxiii. 14, 32; xxix. 23. Thou shalt not excel] This tribe never rose to any eminence in Israel; was not so numerous by one third as either Judah, Joseph, or Dan, when Moses took the sum of them in the wilderness, Num, i. 21; and was among the first that were carried into captivity, 1 Chron. v. 26. dulent purposes, and which our translation on almost no authority renders their habitations, it must either come from the Ethiopic macar, he counselled, devised stratagems, &c., (see Castel,) or from the Arabic omacara, he deceived, practised deceit, plotted, &c., which is nearly of the same import. This gives not only a consistent but evidently the true sense. Verse 6. Into their secret council, &c.] Jacob here exculpates himself from all participation in the guilt of Simeon and Levi in the murder of the Shechemites. He most solemnly declares that he knew nothing of the confederacy by which it was executed, nor of the secret council in which it was plotted. If it should be said that the words on tabo and techad should be translated in the future tense or in the imperative, as in our translation, I shall not contend; though it is well known that the preterite is often used for the future in Hebrew, and vice versa. Then thou didst defile] Another unfinished sen- which this holy man's soul felt for the villany of his Taken thus, the words mark the strong detestation tence, similar to the former, and upon the same sub-sons: "My soul shall not come into their secret 264 The prophecy A. M. 2315. secret; CHAP. XLIX. concerning Judah. Punto their assembly, and their wrath, for it was cruel: I A. M. 2315. will divide them in Jacob, and scat a mine honour, be not thou united for in their anger they slew a man, and in their self-will they digged down a wall. r 7 Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; P Psa. xxvi. 9; Eph. v. 11.- 4 Psa. xvi. 9; xxx. 12; lvii. 8. council. federacy." ter them in Israel. u B. C. 1689. 8 Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise; thy hand shall be in the neck 5, 6, 7; 1 Chron. iv. 24, 39.- "Chap. xxix. 35; Deut. xxxiii. 7. Psa. xviii. 40. My honour shall not be united to their con- were not only separated from each other, but even divided from themselves, according to this prediction For in their anger they slew a man]_[v'x ish, a of Jacob. noble, an honourable man, viz., Shechem. And in their pleasure] This marks the highest degree of wickedness and settled malice, they were delighted with their deed. A similar spirit Saul of Tarsus possessed previously to his conversion; speaking of the martyrdom of St. Stephen, St. Luke says, Acts viii. 1: Σαύλος δε ην συνευδοκων τη αναιρεσει àvrov· And Saul was gladly consenting tô his death. He was with the others highly delighted with it; and thus the prediction of our Lord was fulfilled, John xvi. 2: Yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. And it is shor, represented as the highest pitch of profligacy and Verse 7. Cursed was their anger] The first motions of their violence were savage; and their excessive or overflowing wrath, my ebrah, for it was inflexible -neither the supplications of the males, nor the entreaties, tears, cries, and shrieks of the helpless females, could deter them from their murderous purpose; for this, ver. 5, they are said to have accomplished. 8. Judah! thou! Thy brethren shall praise thee. 10. 11. From the prey, my son, thou hast ascended. From Judah the sceptre shall not depart, Until that SHILOH shall come, And to him shall be assembled the peoples. And to the choice vine the foals of his ass, And his teeth shall be white with milk. Verse 8. Thy brethren shall praise thee.] As the name Judah signifies praise, Jacob takes occasion from its meaning to show that this tribe should be so eminent and glorious, that the rest of the tribes should praise it; that is, they should acknowledge its superior dignity, as in its privileges it should be distinguished beyond all the others. On the prophecy relative to Judah, Dr. Hales has several judicious remarks, and has left very little to be farther desired on the subject. Every reader will be glad to meet with them here. "The prophecy begins with his name JUDAH, signifying the praise of the Lord, which was given to him at his birth by his mother Leah, chap. xxix. 35. It then describes the warlike character of this tribe, to which, by the Divine appointment, was assigned the first lot of the promised land, which was conquered accordingly by the pious and heroic Caleb; the first who laid hands on the necks of his enemies, and routed I will divide them out, op achallekem, I will make and subdued them, Josh. xiv. 11; xv. 1; Judg. i. 1, them into lots, giving a portion of them to one tribe, 2; and led the way for their total subjugation under and a portion to another; but they shall never attain David; who, in allusion to this prediction, praises God, to any political consequence, This appears to have and says: Thou hast given me the necks of mine enebeen literally fulfilled. Levi had no inheritance mies, that I might destroy them that hate me, Psa. except forty-eight cities, scattered through different xviii. 40. In the different stages of its strength, this parts of the land of Canaan: and as to the tribe of tribe is compared to a lion's whelp, to a full grown Simeon, it is generally believed among the Jews that lion, and to a nursing lioness, the fiercest of all. they became schoolmasters to the other tribes; and Hence a lion was the standard of Judah; compare when they entered Canaan they had only a small por- Num. ii. 3, Ezek. i. 10. The city of David, where tion, a few towns and villages in the worst part of he reposed himself after his conquests, secure in the Judah's lot, Josh. xix. 1, which afterwards. finding terror of his name, 1 Chron. xiv. 17, was called too little, they formed different colonies in districts Ariel, the lion of God, Isa. xxix. 1; and our Lord which they conquered from the Idumeans and Ama-himself, his most illustrious descendant, the Lion of lekites, 1 Chron. iv. 39, &c. Thus these two tribes the tribe of Judah, Rev. v. 5. The prophecy W GENESIS. concerning Judah. A. M. 2315. of thine enemies; thy father's chil- | my son, thou art gone up: he A. M. 2315. dren shall bow down before thee. stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? B. C. 1689. 9 Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, w Chap. xxvii. 29; 1 Chron. v. 2. : "The duration of the power of this famous tribe is next determined the sceptre of dominion,' as it is understood Esth. viii. 4; Isa. xiv. 5, &c., or its civil government, was not to cease or depart from Judah until the birth or coming of SHILOH, signifying the Apostle, as Christ is styled, Heb. iii. 1; nor was the native lawgiver, or expounder of the law, teacher, or scribe, intimating their ecclesiastical polity, to cease, until Shiloh should have a congregation of peoples, or religious followers, attached to him. And how accurately was this fulfilled in both these respects! "1. Shortly before the birth of Christ a decree was issued by Augustus Cæsar that all the land of Judea and Galilee should be enrolled, or a registry of persons taken, in which Christ was included, Luke ii. 1-7; whence Julian the apostate unwittingly objected to his title of CHRIST or KING, that he was born a subject of Cæsar!" About eleven years after Judea was made a Roman province, attached to Syria on the deposal and banishment of Archelaus, the son of Herod the Great, for maladministration; and an assessment of properties or taxing was carried into effect by Cyrenius, then governor of Syria, the same who before, as the emperor's procurator, had made the enrolment, Luke ii. 2; Acts v. 37; and thenceforth Judea was governed by a Roman deputy, and the judicial power of life and death taken away from the Jews, John xviii. 31. "2. Their ecclesiastical polity ceased with the destruction of their city and temple by the Romans, A. D. 70; at which time the Gospel had been preached through the known world by the apostles, his witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth;' Acts ii. 8; Rom. x. 18. "Our Lord's triumphant entry into Jerusalem, before his crucifixion, riding on an ass, even a colt the foal of an ass,' which by his direction his disciples brought to him for this purpose,-Go into the village over against you, and presently ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her; loose them, and bring them to me,' Matt. xxi. 2-5, remarkably fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah, ix. 9, is no less a fulfilment of this prophecy of Shiloh, binding or tying his foal to the vine, even his ass's colt to the choice vine.'. In ancient times to ride upon white asses or ass-colts was the privilege of persons of high rank, princes, judges, and prophets, Judg. v. 10; x. 4; Num. xxii. 22. And as the children of Israel were symbolized by the vine, Psa. lxxx. 8, Hos. x. 1, and the men of Judah by a (choice) vine of Sorek,' in the original, both here and in the beautiful allegory of Isaiah, v. 1-7, adopted by Jeremiah, ii. 21, and by our Lord, Matt. xxi. 31, who styled himself the true vine, John xv. 1; so the union of both these images signified our Lord's assumption, as the promised Shiloh, of the dignity of the king of the Jews, not in a temporal but in a spiritual sense, as he declared to Pilate, John xviii. B. C. 1689. х Hos. v. 4; Rev. v. 5. - Num. xxiii. 24; xxiv. 9. 36, as a prelude to his second coming in glory 'to restore again the kingdom to Israel.' "The vengeance to be then inflicted on all the enemies of his Church, or congregation of faithful Christians, is expressed by the symbolical imagery of washing his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes;' which to understand literally, would be incongruous and unusual any where, while it aptly represents his garments crimsoned in the blood of his foes, and their immense slaughter; an imagery frequently adopted in the prophetic scriptures. "The strength and wholesomer.ess of Shiloh's doctrine are next represented by having his eyes red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.' And thus the evangelical prophet, in similar strains, invites the world to embrace the GOSPEL : Ho, every one that thirsteth, come to the waters, Isa. lv. 1. "On the last day of the feast of tabernacles it was customary among the Jews for the people to bring water from the fountain of Siloah or Siloam, which they poured on the altar, singing the words of Isaiah, xii. 3: With joy shall ye draw water from the fountain of salvation; which the Targum interprets, ' With joy shall ye receive a new doctrine from the ELECT of the JUST ONE;' and the feast itself was also called Hosannah, Save, we beseech thee. And Isaiah has also described the apostasy of the Jews from their tutelar God IMMANUEL, under the corresponding imagery of their 'rejecting the gently-flowing waters of Siloah,' Isa. viii. 6–8. "Hence our Lord, on the last day of the feast, significantly invited the Jews to come unto him as the true and living Fountain of waters, Jer. ii. 13. 'If any man thirst, let him come to ME and drink;' John vii. 37. He also compared his doctrine to new wine, which required to be put into new bottles, made of skins strong enough to contain it, Matt. ix. 17; while the Gospel is repeatedly represented as affording milk for babes, or the first principles of the oracles of God for novices in the faith, as well as strong meat [and strong wine] for masters in Christ or adepts, Matt. xiii. 11; Heb. v. 12–14. "And our Lord's most significant miracle was wrought at this fountain, when he gave sight to a man forty years old, who had been blind from his birth, by sending him, after he had anointed his eyes with moistened clay, to wash in the pool of Siloam, which is the Greek pronunciation of the Hebrew n Siloah or Siloh, Isa. viii. 6, where the Septuagint version reads Ziwau, signifying, according to the evangelist, añεoтahuevos, sent forth, and consequently derived from n shalach, to send, John ix. 7. Our Lord thus assuming to himself his two leading titles of MESSIAH, signifying anointed, and SHILOH, sent forth Shiloh's coming foretold. A. M. 2315. a CHAP. XLIX. d Prophecy concerning Zebulun. B. C. 1689. 10 The sceptre shall not depart 12 His feyes shall be red with A. M. 2315. b from Judah, nor a lawgiver from wine, and his teeth white with between his feet, until Shiloh come; and milk. unto him shall the gathering of the people be. 11 Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes: or delegated from God; as he had done before at the opening of his mission: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor; he hath sent me forth (añεoтahke) to heal the broken-hearted,' &c.; Luke iv. 18. "And in the course of it he declared, I was not sent forth (ancoraλŋv) but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel, Matt. xv. 24, by a twofold reference to his character in Jacob's prophecy of SHILOH and | SHEPHERD OF ISRAEL, Gen. xlix. 10-24. 'This is life eternal, to know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou sentest forth,' (añeσTεiñas,) to instruct and save mankind, John xvii. 3; and he thus distinguishes his own superior mission from his commission to his apostles: As THE FATHER hath sent me, (añeotaĥke μɛ,) so I send you,' εμл vuas, John xx. 21. Whence St. Paul expressly styles Jesus Christ the Apostle (O ATOOTо205) and High Priest of our profession,' Heb. iii. 1; and by an elaborate argument shows the superiority of his mission above that of Moses, and of his priesthood above that of Aaron, in the sequel of the epistle. His priesthood was foretold by David to be a royal priesthood, after the order of Melchizedek, Psa. cx. 4: But where shall we find his mission or apostleship foretold, except in Jacob's prophecy of Shiloh? which was evidently so understood by Moses when God offered to send him as his ambassador to Pharaoh, and he declined at first the arduous mission: O my Lord, send I by the hand of Him whom thou wilt send,' or by the promised Shiloh, Exod. iii. 10; iv. 13; by whom in his last blessing to the Israelites, parallel to that of Jacob, he prayed that God would bring back Judah to his people' from captivity, Deut. xxxiii. 7. · pray thee "Here then we find the true meaning and derivation of the much disputed term Shiloh in this prophecy of Jacob, which is fortunately preserved by the Vulgate, rendering qui mittendus est, he that is to be sent, and also by a rabbinical comment on Deut. xxii. 7 : If you keep this precept, you hasten the coming of the Messiah, who is called SENT.' "This important prophecy concerning Judah intimates, 1. The warlike character and conquests of this tribe; 2. The cessation of their civil and religious polity at the first coming of Shiloh; 3. His meek and lowly inauguration at that time, as spiritual King of the Jews, riding on an ass like the ancient judges and prophets; 4. His second coming as a warrior to trample on all his foes; and, 5. To save and instruct his faithful people.”—Hales' Anal., vol. ii., p. 167, &c. 13 Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and he shall be for a haven of ships; and his border shall be unto Zidon. 14 Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens: 33.d Isa. ii. 2; xi. 10; xlii. 1, 4; xlix. 6, 7, 22, 23; lv. 4, 5; lx. 1, 3, 4, 5; Hag. ii. 7; Luke ii. 30, 31, 32.-e 2 Kings xviii. 32. Prov. xxiii. 29. Deut. xxxiii. 18, 19; Josh. xix. 10, 11. Verse 10. From Judah the sceptre shall not depart] The Jews have a quibble on the word a shebet, which we translate sceptre; they say it signifies a staff or rod, and that the meaning of it is, that “afflictions shall not depart from the Jews till the Messiah comes;" that they are still under affliction, and therefore the Messiah is not come. This is a miserable shift to save a lost cause. Their chief Targumist, Onkelos, understood and translated the word nearly as we do; and the same meaning is adopted by the Jerusalem Targum, and by all the ancient versions, the Arabic excepted, which has kazeeb, a rod; but in a very ancient MS. of the Pentateuch in my own possession the word sebet is used, which signi fies a tribe. Judah shall continue a distinct tribe till the Messiah shall come; and it did so; and after his coining it was confounded with the others, so that all distinction has been ever since lost. Nor a teacher from his offspring] I am sufficiently mibbeyn raglaiv is from between his feet, and I am as aware that the literal meaning of the original fully satisfied that it should never be so translated ; from between the feet and out of the thigh simply mean progeny, natural offspring, for reasons which than ben Uzziel, and the Jerusalem Targum, apply surely need not be mentioned. The Targum of Jonathe whole of this prophecy, in a variety of very minute particulars, to the Messiah, and give no kind of countenance to the fictions of the modern Jews. 13. At the haven of the seas shall Zebulun dwell, The And his border shall extend unto Sidon. Verse 13. Zebulun's lot or portion in the division of the Promised Land extended from the Mediterranean Sea on the west, to the lake of Gennesareth on the east; see his division, Josh. xix. 10, &c. Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel paraphrases the passage thus: “Zebulun shall be on the coasts of the sea, and he shall rule over the havens; he shall subdue the provinces of the sea with his ships, and his border shall extend unto Sidon." tween two burdens-bearing patiently, as most under-phon, which is nowhere else to be found in the Bible, stand it, the fatigues of agriculture, and submitting to exorbitant taxes rather that exert themselves to drive out the old inhabitants. The two burdens literally mean the two sacks or panniers, one on each side of the animal's body; and couching down between these refers to the well-known propensity of the ass, whenever wearied or overloaded, to lie down even with its burden on its back. is thus translated by the Vulgate, and Bochart approves of the translation. The cerastes has its name from two little horns upon its head, and is remarkable for the property here ascribed to the shephiphon. The word n orach, which we translate path, signifies the track or rut made in the ground by the wheel of a cart, wagon, &c. And the description that Nicander gives of this serpent in his Theriaca perfectly agrees with what is here said of the shephiphon. εν δ' αμαθοισιν Η και άματροχιησι παρα στιβον ενδικες ανει. ν. 262. lies under the sand, or in some cart rut by the way. It is intimated that this tribe should gain the principal part of its conquests more by cunning and stratagem, than by valour; and this is seen particularly in their conquest of Laish, Judges xviii., and even in some of the transactions of Samson, such as burning the corn of the Philistines, and at last pulling down their temple, and destroying three thousand at one time, see Judg. xvi. 26–30. Verse 15. He saw that rest] The inland portion that was assigned to him between the other tribes. He inclined his shoulder to the load; the Chaldee paraphrast gives this a widely different turn to that given it by most commentators: "He saw his portion that It it was good, and the land that it was fruitful; and he shall subdue the provinces of the people, and drive out their inhabitants, and those who are left shall be his servants, and his tributaries." Grotius understands it nearly in the same way. The pusillanimity which is generally attributed to this tribe certainly does not agree with the view in which they are exhibited in Scripture. In the song of Deborah this tribe is praised for the powerful assistance which it then afforded, Judg. v. 15. And in 1 Chron. vii. 1-5, they are expressly said to have been valiant men of might in all their families, and in all their generations; i. e., through every period of their history. It appears they were a laborious, hardy, valiant tribe, patient in labour, and invincible in war; bearing both these burdens with great constancy whenever it was necessary. When Tola of this tribe judged Israel, the land had rest twenty-three years, Judg. x. 1. 16. Dan shall judge his people, As one of the tribes of Israel. 17. Dan shall be a serpent on the way, A cerastes upon the track, Biting the heels of the horse, And his rider shall fall backwards. Verse 16. Dan shall judge] Dan, whose name nifies judgment, was the eldest of Jacob's sons by Bilhah, Rachel's maid, and he is here promised an equal rule with those tribes that sprang from either Leah or Rachel, the legal wives of Jacob. Both 18. For thy salvation have I waited, O Lord! This is a remarkable ejaculation, and seems to stand perfectly unconnected with all that went before and all that follows; though it is probable that certain prophetic views which Jacob now had, and which he does not explain, gave rise to it; and by this he at once expressed both his faith and hope in God. Jewish and Christian commentators have endeavoured to find out the connection in which these words ex isted in the mind of the patriarch. The Targum of Jonathan expresses the whole thus: "When Jacob saw Gideon the son of Joash, and Samson the son of Manoah, which were to be saviours in a future age, he said I do not wait for the salvation of Gideon, I do not expect the salvation of Samson, because their salvation is a temporal salvation; but I wait for and sig-expect thy salvation, O Lord, because thy salvation is eternal." And the Jerusalem Targum much to the same purpose: "Our father Jacob said: Wait not, my soul, for the redemption of Gideon the son of Joash which is temporal, nor the redemption of Samson which is a created salvation; but for the salvation which thou hast said by THY WORD should come to thy people the children of Israel:- my soul waits for this thy salvation." Indeed these Targums understand almost the whole of these prophecies of the Messiah, and especially what is said about Judah, every word of which they refer to him. Thus the ancient Jews convict the moderns of both false interpretations and vain expectations. As the tribe of Dan was the first that appears to have been seduced from the true worship of God, (see Judg. xviii. 30,) some have thought that Jacob refers particularly to this, and sees the end of the general apostasy only in the redemption by Jesus Some Jewish and some Christian writers understand this prophecy of Samson, who sprang from this tribe, and judged, or as the word might be translated avenged, the people of Israel twenty years. See Judg. xiii. 2; xv. 20. Verse 17. Dan shall be a serpent] The original word is nachash, and we have seen on chap. iii. that this has a great variety of significations. It is probable that a serpent is here intended, but of what kind we know not; yet as the principal reference in the text is to guile, cunning, &c., the same creature may be intended as in chap. iii. A cerasles upon the track] The word ' shephi |