A.C. 1689. be thine, and shall be called after the name of their brethren in their inheritance. p Ch. xxxv. 9. 16. 19. * Heb. heavy. q Heb. xi. 21. + Heb. as fishes do increase: sce Num. xxvi. 34.37. 7 And as for me, when I came from Padan, P Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan in the way, when yet there was but a little way to come unto Ephrath: and I buried her there in the way of Ephrath; the same is Bethlehem. 8 And Israel beheld Joseph's sons, and said, Who are these? 9 And Joseph said unto his father, They are my sons, whom God hath given me in this place. And he said, Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will bless them. 10 Now the eyes of Israel were * dim for age, so that he could not see. And he brought them near unto him; and he kissed them, and embraced them. 11 And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face and, lo, God hath shewed me also thy seed. : 12 And Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. 13 And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel's right hand, and brought them near unto him. 14 And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh's head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh was the firstborn. 15 And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day, 16 The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them † grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth. : 17 And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim it displeased him and he held up his father's hand, to remove it from Ephraim's head unto Manasseh's head. 18 And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head. 19 And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great but truly his younger brother shall be greater than Heb. ful. he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations. ness. 20 And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh. 21 And Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I die: but God 167 shall be with you, and bring you again unto the land of your A.C. 1689. fathers. 22 Moreover I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow. GENESIS XLIX 12. 1 Jacob calleth his sons to bless them. 3 Their blessing in particular. 29 He chargeth them about his burial. 33 He dieth. your 1 And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather selves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days. 2 Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father. 3 Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power: 4 Unstable as water, * thou shalt not excel; because thou I wentest up to thy father's bed; then defiledst thou it: +he went up to my couch. 5 Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations. Heb. do not Ch. XXXV. thou excel. 22. 1 Chron. v. 1. Deut. xxvii. 20, + Or, my couch is gone. Or, their swords are weapons of 60 my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united: for in their anger violence. they slew a man, and in their selfwill they § digged down a § Or, houghed wall. 7 Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel. 12 Jacob, in this address, prophesies the destiny of each of his sons, and predicts, in still clearer terms, the advent of the Messiah. It is important to observe the manner in which the future Deliverer of the world is gradually revealed, as well as the manner in which the line of the Messiah is gradually limited to the descendants of those patriarchs, on whom it pleased the Almighty to confer this part of the blessings of the birthright.-He is first represented in general terms, as the seed of the woman. It is predicted that He shall descend from Shem. From among the sons of Shem, Abraham is selected: from the sons of Abraham, Isaac is chosen: of the two sons of Isaac, Jacob obtains the blessing: from the twelve sons of Jacob, Judah is announced as the ancestor of the Deliverer of man, and from all the numerous descendants of Judah, it is at length predicted that the Messiah shall spring from the line of David. By these gradual revelations, the providence of God perpetually kept up the attention, and preserved the faith of man in the expected Mediator; and the prophecy of Jacob was eminently useful to strengthen the faith of the Israelites in that gloomy season of bondage, and distress, which began after the death of Joseph, and continued till the Exodus. oxen. A.C. 1669. Heb. an arrowsnake. 8 Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father's children shall bow down before thee. 9 Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? 10 The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. 11 Binding his fole 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: 12 His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk. 13 ¶ Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and he shall be for an haven of ships; and his border shall be unto Zidon. 14 ¶ Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens: 15 And he saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant; and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute. 16¶ Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel. 17 Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward. 18 I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD. 19 ¶ Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last. 20 Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties. 21 ¶ Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words. 22 Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by +Heb. daugh- a well; whose + branches run over the wall: ters. 23 The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him : 24 But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:) ; 25 Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb: 26 The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of thy progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and A.C. 1689. on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren. 27 Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil. 28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: and this is it that their father spake unto them, and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them. 29 And he charged them, and said unto them, I am to be gathered unto my people: bury me with my fathers in Ch. xlvii. 30. the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30 In the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham t Ch. xxiii. 16. bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a buryingplace. 31 There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah. 32 The purchase of the field and of the cave that is therein was from the children of Heth. 33 And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people. SECTION II. Funeral of Jacob. Death of Joseph. GENESIS L. 1 The mourning for Jacob. 4 Joseph getteth leave of Pharaoh to go to bury him. 1 And Joseph fell upon his father's face, and wept upon him, and kissed him. 2 And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father: and the physicians embalmed Israel. 3 And forty days were fulfilled for him; for so are fulfilled the days of those which are embalmed: and the Egyptians* mourned for him threescore and ten days. 4 And when the days of his mourning were past, Joseph spake unto the house of Pharaoh, saying, If now I have found grace in your eyes, speak, I pray you, in the ears of Pharaoh, saying, Heb. wept. 5 "My father made me swear, saying, Lo, I die: in my u Ch. xlvii. 29. grave which I have digged for me in the land of Canaan, A.C. 1689. there shalt thou bury me. Now therefore let me go up, I pray thee, and bury my father, and I will come again. 6 And Pharaoh said, Go up, and bury thy father, according as he made thee swear. 7 ¶ And Joseph went up to bury his father: and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, 8 And all the house of Joseph, and his brethren, and his father's house only their little ones, and their flocks, and their herds, they left in the land of Goshen. 9 And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen: and it was a very great company. 10 And they came to the threshing-floor of Atad, which is beyond Jordan, and there they mourned with a great and very sore lamentation: and he made a mourning for his father seven days. 11 And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning in the floor of Atad, they said, This is a grievous mourning to the Egyptians: wherefore the * That is, the name of it was called * Abel-mizraim, which is beyond mourning of the Egyptians. Jordan. 12 And his sons did unto him according as he commanded them: 13 For his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field for a possession of a buryingplace of Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre. 14 ¶ And Joseph returned into Egypt, he and his brethren, and all that went up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father. 15 ¶ And when Joseph's brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him. 16 And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying, 17 So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him. 18 And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants. 19 And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God? 20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. |