Just as Jacob blessed Joseph's sons in the last chapter, so now he is blessing the rest of his children. The metaphors used throughout this passage are often interesting, and I'm sure would make much more sense if one had a command of the original language. However, I would like to note a couple that are outstanding.
Judah: To this son, and his family line, the throne of Israel was given (even here, hundreds of years before they would have a king). An allusion is also made to Jesus, in the phrase "until he comes to whom it [the scepter] belongs; the nations will obey him" (NET) - and sure enough, He was born into the tribe of Judah.
Reuben: Because of some rather incestuous acts that were briefly mentioned earlier, Reuben is stripped of much of his rightful position as firstborn. I am almost sad about this, as he was the one who kept the other brothers from killing Joseph early-on.
Simeon and Levi: The revenge they took by killing a whole city earlier in Genesis is remembered here, and they are chastised for it. This description of them as being violent is interesting, since it is from Levi's tribe that the priests would be chosen later on - usually service to God and His temple is seen as being separated from violence (for example, in David not being permitted to actually build the temple because he was a man of war).
Voting on Laws
15 years ago
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2 comments:
Funny you should say that about the Levites. While it's true that later on they were not numbered among the fighting men because they were devoted to serving the Lord, the reason they were set apart from the other tribes in the first place is that they rallied to Moses during the golden calf incident and killed three thousand of their fellow Israelites (Exodus 32). Just something to note.
No reading ahead! ;)
Just kidding, of course :) That is a good reminder, and I'll try to come back to that point when I reach Exodus 32 (late October, I think).
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