Genesis 49:12 Kommentar

This chapter is a prophecy; the likest to it we have yet met with was that of Noah, Gen 9:25, etc. Jacob is here upon his death-bed, making his will. He put it off till now, because dying men's words are apt to make deep impressions, and to be remembered long: what he said here, he could not say when he would, but as the Spirit gave him utterance, who chose this time, that divine strength might be perfected in his weakness. The twelve sons of Jacob were, in their day, men of renown, but the twelve tribes of Israel, which descended and were denominated from them, were much more renowned; we find their names upon the gates of the New Jerusalem, Rev 21:12. In the prospect of this their dying father says something remarkable of each son, or of the tribe that bore his name. Here is, I. The preface (Gen 49:1, Gen 49:2). II. Th prediction concerning each tribe (v. 3-28). III. The charge repeated concerning his burial (Gen 49:29-32). IV. His death (Gen 49:33).

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 49 This chapter contains a prophecy of future things, relating to the twelve sons of Jacob, and to the twelve tribes, as descending from them, and which he delivered to his sons on his death bed, having called them together for that purpose, Gen 49:1, he begins with Reuben his firstborn, whose incest he takes notice of, on which account he should not excel, Gen 49:3, next Simeon and Levi have a curse denounced on them for their cruelty at Shechem, Gen 49:5, but Judah is praised, and good things prophesied of him; and particularly that Shiloh, or the Messiah, should spring from him, the time of whose coming is pointed at, Gen 49:7, the predictions concerning Zebulun, Issachar, and Dan, follow, at the close of which Jacob expresses his longing expectation of God's salvation, Gen 49:13 and after foretelling what should befall Gad, Asher, and Naphtali, Gen 49:19, a large account is given of Joseph, his troubles, his trials, and his blessings, Gen 49:22, and Benjamin the youngest son is taken notice of last of all, all the tribes being blessed in their order according to the nature of their blessing, Gen 49:27, and the chapter is closed with a charge of Jacob's to his sons to bury him in Canaan, which having delivered, he died, Gen 49:29.

His eyes shall be red with wine,.... Signifying, not the intemperance of this tribe, and their immoderate use of wine, and the effect of it on them; but the goodness and generosity of their wine, that if drank plentifully of, and especially to excess, would have such an effect, see Pro 23:29 and, as applied to the Messiah, the antitype of Judah, and who was of this tribe, it may denote not so much the beauty of his eyes, as the Targums paraphrase it; as the joy and pleasure that sparkled in his eyes when he shed his blood on the cross, enduring that, and despising the shame of it, for the joy of the salvation of his people; or the clearness of his sight in beholding the actions of his enemies, and especially of the fierceness and fury of his wrath against them, whose eyes are said to be an flames of fire, Rev 1:14. and his teeth white with milk; denoting the fruitfulness of his land, producing fine pastures, on which flocks and herds fed, and gave abundance of milk; and so Onkelos paraphrases the whole verse,"his mountains shall be red with his vineyards, and his hills shall drop wine, and his valleys shall be white with corn and flocks of sheep;''and much the same are the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem: the mystical sense may respect Christ and his people, and be expressive of the purity of his nature, life, and doctrine, and of the holiness of his members, their faith and conversation; or the clauses may be rendered, redder than wine, whiter than milk; but though whiteness recommends teeth, yet not redness the eyes; wherefore some (a) by transposing the first letters of the word for "red", make it to signify black, as it does with the Arabs, and that colour of the eye is reckoned beautiful. (a) Danzius apud Stockium, p. 334.

Hipp. That is, his eyes are brilliant as with the word of truth; for they regard all who believe upon him. And his teeth are white as milk;-that denotes the luminous power of his words: for this reason he calls them white, and compares them to milk, as that which nourishes the flesh and the soul. And Zabulun is, by interpretation, "fragrance" and "blessing." Then, after something from Cyril:- Hipp. Again, I think, it mystically signifies the sacraments of the New Testament of our Saviour; and the words, "his teeth are white as milk," denote the excellency and purity of the sacramental food. And again, these words, "his teeth are white as milk," we take in the sense that His words give light to those who believe on Him. And in saying, moreover, that Zabulun will dwell by the sea, he speaks prophetically of his territory as bordering on the sea, and of Israel as mingling with the Gentiles, the two nations being brought as it were into one flock. And this is manifest in the Gospel. "The land of Zabulun, and the land of Nephthalim," etc. And you will mark more fully the richness of his lot as having both inland territory and seaboard. "And he is by a haven of ships; "that is, as in a safe anchorage, referring to Christ, the anchor of hope. And this denotes the calling of the Gentiles-that the grace of Christ shall go forth to the whole earth and sea. For he says, "And (he is) by a haven of ships, and shall extend as far as Sidon." And that this is said prophetically of the Church of the Gentiles, is made apparent to us in the Gospel: "The land of Zabulun, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; the people which sat in darkness saw great light." In saying, then, that he, namely Zabulun, would inhabit a territory bordering on the sea, he plainly confirmed that, just as if he had said that in the future Israel would mingle with the Gentiles, the two peoples being brought together into one fold and under the hand of one chief Shepherd, the good (Shepherd) by nature, that is, Christ. In blessing him Moses said, "Zabulun shall rejoice." And Moses prophesies, that in the allocation of the land he should have abundance ministered of the good things both of land and sea, under the hand of One. "By a haven of ships; "that is, as in an anchorage that proves safe, referring to Christ, the anchor of hope. For by His grace he shall come forth out of many a tempest, and shall be brought hereafter to land, like ships secure in harbours. Besides, he said that "he extends as far even as Sidon," indicating, as it seems, that so complete a unity will be effected in the spirit's course between the two peoples, that those of the blood of Israel shall occupy those very cities which once were exceeding guilty in the sight of God. After something from Cyril:- Hipp. And "that the land was fat; "that is, the flesh of our Lord: "fat," that is, "rich; "for it flows with honey and milk. The parts of the land are marked off for an inheritance and possession to him-that means the doctrine of the Lord. For this is a pleasant rest, as He says Himself: "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden," etc. For they who keep the commandments, and do not disclaim the ordinances of the law, enjoy rest both in them and in the doctrine of our Lord; and that is the meaning of "in the midst of the lots." As the Lord says, "I am not come to destroy the law and the prophets, but to fulfil them." For even our Lord, in the fact that He keeps the commandments, does not destroy the law and the prophets, but fulfils them, as He says in the Gospels. "He set his shoulder to toil, and became a husbandman." This the apostles did. Having received power from God, and having set themselves to labour, they became husbandmen of the Lord, cultivating the earth-that is, the human race-with the preaching of our Lord.

“Eyes” then, the prophets have been the eyes of Christ when they rejoiced in the power of the Spirit, and announced in advance the sufferings which had to rush upon him and which were useful for the generations after him to understand that every person can be saved. Through the words “His teeth (ARE) whiter than milk” he signified either the apostles sanctified by the Word himself and become like milk, the apostles who have provided us with the spiritual and heavenly nourishment. Or, … he means the commandments of the Lord, which were uttered by a holy mouth but remain for us milk, so that by obtaining from them nourishment and growth we may take our part of the heavenly bread.

And therefore the prophet says, “His eyes are joyful from wine, and his teeth are whiter than milk,” for he means the prophets and the apostles. For some, like eyes of Christ, have foreseen and announced his coming, and of them Christ himself says, “Abraham saw my day and he rejoiced,” and one of the prophets says, “I saw the Lord of hosts.” Seeing him, they were filled with a spiritual joy. Others, however, that is, the apostles, whom the Lord cleansed from every stain of sin, were made whiter than milk, for no blemish darkened them afterward. Indeed, milk is a temporal thing, but the grace of the apostles remains forever. They provided us with that spiritual sustenance which is of heaven, and they nourished the vitals of the spirit which is within. There are also those who think that the commandments of the Lord, which were revealed from the mouth of God, being clear, have become to us like milk. Nourished upon them, we come to the sustenance of the bread of heaven. On this account also Paul says, “I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet ready.” The Corinthian in the beginning of faith is initiated with milk to drink, whereas those saints whose faith is proclaimed in the whole world are strengthened with more solid food, as if they had been weaned.

And also Christ’s eyes will be like this, those eyes which bring the light of knowledge to the whole body, according to what is written in the Gospel: “The lamp of your body is the eye.” Therefore these eyes are made graceful: a word of knowledge is seasoned with salt to be pleasing to the audience. The one who proclaims the word of knowledge is not said to be “made graceful” just because he has in himself the grace but because he also acts in order that his listeners may have the grace. In fact, “after comprehending that, the wise man will become wiser.” His eyes are made graceful by wine because nothing is watery, nothing is fluid, nothing is cold in the word of knowledge. It is like a wine that cheers the human heart and is sprinkled on the wounds of the victims of robbers. This means that the wounds of the listeners, their sins, are not only soothed by the sweetness of oil but are also purified by the harshness of wine.

We have already discussed many times about the nature and quality of Christ’s limbs, and it seems to be superfluous to repeat again the same things in this passage. So his teeth whiter than milk are those who can chew and grind with their teeth the strong and solid food of the Word of God to extreme fineness, those about whom the apostle in his epistle to the Hebrews says, “Solid food is for the mature, for those whose faculties have been trained by practice to distinguish good from evil.” About the still imperfect Corinthians he says, “I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for solid food.” Since they are superior to those who live on milk, his teeth are therefore white, that is, those who can take and eat solid food are superior to those who still need milk like babies. That is why in the law those animals which ruminate and bring back to their teeth the food that they had previously eaten, in order to make it very fine for their feeding, are called pure animals. And so in the most consistent manner his teeth are said to be white. All those who are perfect and, by explaining through worthy and proper interpretations the food of the Scripture, administer to the church the subtle and fine intelligence, which is called spiritual, must be pure and free and faultless, so that they may never be told, “You, then, that teach others, will you not teach yourself?”

Jacob, about to die, calls his sons together that he may bless them, or give prophetic declarations concerning their posterity, Gen 49:1, Gen 49:2. Prophetic declaration concerning Reuben, Gen 49:3, Gen 49:4. Concerning Simeon and Levi, Gen 49:5-7; concerning Judah, Gen 49:8-12; concerning Zebulun, Gen 49:13; concerning Issachar, Gen 49:14, Gen 49:15; concerning Dan, Gen 49:16-18; concerning Gad, Gen 49:19; concerning Asher, Gen 49:20; concerning Naphtali, Gen 49:21; concerning Joseph, Gen 49:22-26; concerning Benjamin, Gen 49:27. Summary concerning the twelve tribes, Gen 49:28. Jacob gives directions concerning his being buried in the cave of Machpelah, Gen 49:29-32. Jacob dies, Gen 49:33.

PATRIARCHAL BLESSING. (Gen. 49:1-33) Jacob called unto his sons--It is not to the sayings of the dying saint, so much as of the inspired prophet, that attention is called in this chapter. Under the immediate influence of the Holy Spirit he pronounced his prophetic benediction and described the condition of their respective descendants in the last days, or future times.