Genesis Chapter 49

On his deathbed Jacob foretells the future of each son’s tribe, promises the sceptre to Judah until Shiloh comes, blesses Joseph richly, and dies.

Genesis 49:1-2

The Summons

Genesis 49:3-7

Three Sons Rebuked

Genesis 49:8-12

Judah and the Coming Ruler

Genesis 49:13-21

The Middle Sons and a Prayer

Genesis 49:22-27

Rachel’s Sons

Genesis 49:28-33

Burial Charge and Death

Genesis 49:1

Jacob had already sat up in his bed to bless Joseph’s sons (48:2). Now he summons all twelve. The contrast with the blessing scene of chapter 27 is striking: there Isaac tried to bless one son behind closed doors, and Jacob himself stole the blessing by disguise. Here the old patriarch calls every son into the room, and nothing is hidden. The one who once grasped a blessing for himself now distributes blessing to others, openly and under the guidance of God.

He says he will tell them “that which shall befall you,” and the verb he uses often describes events that come upon a person unbidden (42:4, 38). What follows is prophecy, not merely a father’s wishes. Jacob speaks of his sons, but the sayings plainly reach beyond twelve individuals to the tribes that descend from them; verse 28 will call them “the twelve tribes of Israel.” Their characters are the starting point, and the Spirit of God opens to the dying man how those characters would play out in the nation’s history.

“In the last days” renders a phrase that means the latter part or outcome of days. Its primary sense here is the future in which the tribes would settle Canaan and live out their destinies, from the conquest to the kings. Yet the same phrase introduces Balaam’s oracle of the star and sceptre (Numbers 24:14, 17) and Moses’ warning song (Deuteronomy 31:29), and the prophets use it for the age when God’s kingdom comes (Isaiah 2:2; Daniel 10:14). Jacob’s horizon stretches from Joshua’s allotments to the coming of Shiloh in verse 10, the point where Israel’s history reaches its goal. Hebrews uses the same language when it says God “hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son” (Hebrews 1:2).

Study Links

Cross References

Genesis 27:1-4

Word / Phrase Notes

בְּאַחֲרִית הַיָּמִים (be’acharit hayyamim) — in the last days

Literally “in the latter part of the days.” The phrase points to the future outcome of the present course of events. In the Pentateuch it can describe Israel’s later history in general (Deuteronomy 4:30; 31:29), while the prophets use it for the climactic age of God’s reign (Isaiah 2:2; Micah 4:1) and Daniel for events reaching to the time of the end (Daniel 10:14). Here it embraces the tribes’ settlement in the land while reaching toward the coming ruler of verse 10.