Jacob’s benedictions upon his sons on his death-bed—more or less prophetic—present some points that call for special notice. Remarkably they seem in most if not in all cases to start from the then existing present, and to build their allusions to the future upon it. We see it in the case of Reuben—noted for his outrage of his father’s nuptial bed; of Simeon and Levi, whose history suggested their cruelty toward the men of Shechem; of Judah, whose name bore the thought of praise and whose record in the case of Joseph put him at once in the front among his brethren; of Joseph, whose relations to his father and indeed to all the family had been surpassingly precious. The special address of Jacob to each of these was closely linked to their past history. The prophetic feature in all these cases seems to have been suggested by these salient points of their history. Reuben as the first-born might have kept his supremacy—if he had been worthy of it—but he was not. Simeon never rose to any distinction, and scarcely held any well-defined territory in Canaan. Levi came into prominence as the ancestor of Aaron and of Moses, and redeemed himself also by the religious zeal and energy of Phineas in a great emergency during the wilderness life (Num. 26: 6–13). The tribe were scattered in Israel, yet not in the bad sense. Judah and Joseph had each a future more resplendent and distinguished than any other of the twelve—their prominence in Jacob’s benediction being fully carried out through the history of their nation.
Some special passages and phrases should be briefly explained.
In v. 4, the phrase, “Unstable as water,” does not compare water to the solid earth or to more solid rock as treacherous to the foot and unsafe to stand on; but rather as bubbling, effervescing under heat or applied force—as therefore a fit image of ungoverned passion; of wantonness, impatient of restraint. Reuben had no moral stamina, and therefore could not hold his natural place of headship as the first-born—a moral lesson worthy of thoughtful consideration. A young man given to licentious indulgence can have no solid bottom to his character. The sagacious will never trust him.
v. 5. “Simeon and Levi are brethren”—of kindred spirit; “instruments of cruelty are in their habitation”; better, instruments of cruelty their swords are. Most solemnly does the dying patriarch disavow all sympathy with their cruelty!——The phrase—“Mine honor” in the sense of myself—my nobler powers—is specially significant here, for their spirit was dishonorable, treacherous, basely cruel. Jacob had a sense of honor which utterly forbade all sympathy with them in this thing.——In the last clause of v. 6, the English margin gives the sense of the Hebrew: “They houghed oxen.” They slew not one man only but man as a species; and cut the hamstrings of their cattle.
The benediction upon Judah (v. 10) stands unrivaled in importance and is not without difficulty. The main question is whether the word “Shiloh” signifies the Messiah, in the special sense of the Peace-giving One; or refers to the city of that name in Canaan. If it refers to the Messiah, the sense, the application and the fulfillment of the passage are facile and truly rich—thus: Judah shall head the tribes and give them kings until the Great Messiah shall come: then all the nations (Gentile and Jew) shall obey him—obedience rather than “gathering” being the best established sense of the word. It occurs elsewhere only in Prov. 30: 17.
No facts of Jewish history are better known than these—that Judah led the march through the wilderness,and that from David to Christ the scepter was in Judah—until the Messiah came, when it dropped from his hand. “We have a law,” (said the Jewish Sanhedrim in the age of Christ) “and by our law he ought to die”—i. e. for blasphemy. But under their law, capital punishment was by stoning (Lev. 24: 15, 16, and Mat. 26: 65, 66, and Jno. 19: 7). Having lost the power of life and death over criminals, they were compelled to take the case to the Roman authorities. Their mode of capital punishment was crucifixion. Thus the “cross” stands through all the ages to prove that the scepter had departed from Judah and that the Messiah had come.——But he came not only to die but to reign, and the nations of the wide earth are to bow to his scepter.——Such is the construction of this passage, provided the term “Shiloh” refers to the Messiah.
That it does refer to him may be argued on two grounds:
(a.) This construction is facile, natural, and supported by analogous prophecies;