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Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
Last Words
Genesis 49
R.A. Redford
Jacob's benediction on his sons was a prophetic treasure, to be kept in store by future generations, and a foundation on which much faith could afterwards be built.. It has been called "the last full bloom of patriarchal prophecy and theocratic promise." The central point, the blessing on the royal tribe of Judah. The corresponding eminence being given to Joseph. The Israel blessing to the one, the Jacob blessing to the other. In each case we distinguish -

1. The earthly basis of the blessing in the tribe itself.

2. The nearest fulfillments of it in the temporal history.

3. The symbolical import pointing to a remoter fulfillment.

We may compare the many dying scenes of the Bible with this; as the last words of Isaac, Moses, Joshua, Samuel, David, Simeon, Stephen, Paul, Peter, and the apocalyptic visions of John. Compare especially the song of Moses, and the prophecy of Balaam. It seems possible that the beautiful exclamation, ver. 18, I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord," was intended to form a kind of middle point, separating the groups of blessings into one of seven, and another of five. The first group has a Messianic character, the second a wider, cosmopolitan. In the first, Judah, the royal tribe, represents the theocracy. In the second, Joseph, the link of connection between Israel and Egypt, represents the kingdom of Christ becoming the universal kingdom, from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel. The whole is a typical representation of "Israel" in the higher sense.

1. It comes out of sinful human nature.

2. It is developed by the grace of God in human history.

3. It stands upon the Divine order of the twelve tribes, the revealed truth, and the Divinely sanctioned religions life and institutions.

4. The essential dement in the history, is the Messiah coming out o/Judah, the shepherd of Israel, the stone of help out of Joseph, the Nazarite, the tried man, the blessed one.

5. The kingdom of Christ is the universal blessedness of the world. When Jacob has handed on his blessing to his heirs, he gathers up his feet into the bed, yields up the ghost, and is gathered to his people. When the carnal Israel is done with, the spiritual Israel remains. When the promises of God shall be fulfilled, then there shall be no more concern with the earthly pilgrimage. "The blessings prevail unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills." - R.

Biblical Illustrator
Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise.
Genesis 49:8-12
The blessing of Judah
T. H. Leale.
I. THAT HE SHOULD WIN THE PRAISE OF HIS BRETHREN.

II. THAT HE SHOULD BE THE TYPE OF THE VICTORIOUS HERO.

1. A growing power.

2. A. righteous power.

3. A power to be dreaded.

III. THAT HE SHOULD BE THE TYPE OF THE MESSIAH.

1. In his sovereignty. For —

(1)He had regal power.

(2)He had power combined with gentleness.

(3)He had a power which sweetly wins obedience.

2. In his prosperity.

(T. H. Leale.)

Judah's praise
I. JUDAH'S PRAISE.

1. He is first in intercession.

2. He is first in wisdom.

3. He takes precedence in offering (see Numbers 7:12).

4. He takes precedence in march (see Numbers 10:14; Judges 1:2). In all things he has the pre-eminence (Psalm 78:67, 68).>

II. JUDAH'S TRIUMPHS ABROAD. "Thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies." Illustrate by life of David — He passed through severe conflicts (read 1 Samuel 17:34-36). He gained great victories (2 Chronicles 13:14). He founded a peaceful empire. He utterly crushed the forces of his foes, and broke the neck of all opposition. So has our Lord done by His life, death, resurrection, reigning power, and second coming.

III. JUDAH'S HONOURS AT HOME. "Thy father's children shall bow down before thee."

1. He became the head of the family.

2. He was clothed with lion-like power. "He couched as a lion, and as an old lion" (see ver. 9). "The lion of the tribe of Judah hath prevailed" (Revelation 5:5).

3. He is the centre of our assembling. "To him shall the gathering of the people be" (ver. 10).

4. His glory is His meekness. "Binding his foal," &c. (ver. 11). "Thy King cometh, meek and sitting upon a colt the foal of an ass" (Matthew 21:5).

5. The wine hath at His first and second advent makes Him lovely in our eyes (vers. 11, 12); also "I have trodden the wine-press alone" (Isaiah 63:1-3).

6. He is king to us for ever. Hallelujah (see Hosea 11:12). "Ephraim compasseth me about with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit: but Judah yet ruleth with God." Are we among the foes against whom He fights as a lion? Let us beware how we rouse Him up (ver. 9). Are we among His friends for whom He fights? Let us praise Him with all our hearts, and now bow down before Him. Are we not His Father's children? Do we hunger and thirst after heavenly food? See in the 12th verse how abundant are wine and milk with Him.

( C. H. Spurgeon.)

The blessing of Judah
F. Whitfield, M. A.
The first verse of Jacob's blessing on Judah begins with the final triumph of the tribe and victory over all its foes. It then descends to details as to how this victory will be accomplished. As we look at it let us read in it the history of the Lion of the tribe of Judah. There are consecutive stages in the verses, beginning with the highest in the first line of the first verse of the text: "Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise." The order of these verses is one of constant occurrence in the Bible. The issue, great, grand, and glorious, is first stated, then we descend to the details by which it is brought about. "Thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise." Praise is the final note and the never ending one to the Lord Jesus Christ. It begins when the soul is first brought to know experimentally the Lord Jesus Christ, in His Person and in His work, as the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Praise for the pardon of all guilt and the forgiveness of all sin through the precious blood of Jesus. Praise for that wondrous love that has stooped down to our lowest condition and lifted us up out of the pit of corruption to His throne of glory. And whence is the source of all this joy and praise now and hereafter? We have it in the next clause: "Thy hand shall be in the neck of Thine enemies." It is that hand of which we read so much in God's Word. "He laid His right hand upon me." "And Jesus stretched forth His hand." These and such passages tell us what it means. It is Christ putting forth His power over every foe. He conquered death and hell. He conquers still every foe thou hast. Therefore it is that "Thy Father's children bow down to Thee." For whom have we in heaven or on earth like Him! There is none like Thee! Lord, to whom shall we go? Let every tongue be vocal with Thy praise, every heart bow down at Thy feet. Let all our powers, all that is nearest and dearest, be laid there. Yes, "the father's children shall bow down before Him." The whole of Israel and Judah shall bow down before Jesus. He is their Messiah and their King. But observe further how this is brought about. "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?" The words point to something far greater and deeper in spiritual import. In this graphic picture we behold the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Lord Jesus Christ. In the young lion ripening into full strength as a growing lion, and becoming the ancestor of the lion tribe, we see the growth of this Lion from infancy to manhood. "He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant and as a root out of a dry ground." "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto Me that is to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from of old from everlasting. And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many people as alien among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep: who, if he go through, both treadeth down and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver" (Micah 5:2-8). "He couched; he lay down as a lion, and as a great lion; who shall stir him up?" (Numbers 24:9). In all these passages we see the Lion of the tribe of Judah going forth at the head, and as the Leader of His people Israel. And what is the meaning of the lion seizing its prey and then ascending to its lair in the mountains? What but that same Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Son of God from heaven, seizing its prey and conquering it, when He laid down His life on the cross. There He met every foe, and gained His great victory over the devil, over sin and death and the grave. There He seized the prey, and from that great fight and victory "He went up" — up to His Father's throne as man's great Representative. And so we have Him brought before us (Revelation 5:5, 6) in the double character as the Lamb of God, the Sin-bearer of the human race, and in the royal dignity of the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Yes, our Jesus went up from the prey, and as He went up, ten thousand times ten thousands of angels uttered their voices, "Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of Glory shall come in. Who is this King of Glory? The Lord, strong and mighty; the Lord, mighty in battle. Who is this King of Glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of Glory" (Psalm 24:7, 8, 10). But there is another figure in the picture drawn by Jacob. The figure of a lion is followed by that of a lioness, peculiarly fierce in defending its young. Have we not here the Lion of the tribe of Judah as the Avenger of His people, coming forth to execute judgment upon the nations? At present we see this Lion " stooping down," "couching," waiting for that moment when He shall come forth to seize upon the prey. "From the prey" He has indeed "gone up"; but He is to return again as the Lion of the tribe of Judah to "take vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Thessalonians 1:7-10; Romans 11:26; John 14:2, 3; Acts 1:11; Revelation 19:11-15; Matthew 23:39; Amos 3:11; Revelation 1:7; Hebrews 9:28; Isaiah 11:10, 11; Philippians 3:20, 21; 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17; Zechariah 14:4, 5). But to pass on to the remaining portion of the text: "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, till Shiloh come, and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be." A sceptre is the symbol of regal command, and, in its earliest form, it was a long staff which the king held in his hand when speaking in public assemblies; when he sat upon his throne he rested it " between his feet" inclining towards himself. The idea is that Judah was to have the rule, the chieftainship, till Shiloh came. We must also bear in mind that the coming of Shiloh was not to terminate the rule of Judah. It would then only attain to full dominion in the Person of the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Judah was to bear the sceptre with victorious lion-courage until, in the future Shiloh, the obedience of the nations came to Him, and through Him eventually widening into the peaceful government of the world. The term " Shiloh" is strikingly confirmatory of this view in relation to Christ and His work. Critically it means "rest," "peace," "quietness." So Christ is called the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). "In His time," it is said, "there shall be abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth" (Psalm 72:7). Again, "This Man shall be our peace" (Micah 5:5). Of Christ, it is said, "peace on earth" was sung by angels at His birth. His own words were, "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give unto you": "Come unto Me, all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest": and again, "Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me: and ye shall find rest unto your souls": again, "These things have I spoken unto you that in Me ye might have peace." Peace, rest, and quietness, these are the meaning of "Shiloh," and they are all fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ. But let us mark another expression of Jacob's with reference to this Shiloh: "unto Him shall the gathering of the people be." Two meanings are wrapped up in these words. First, Shiloh is the Gatherer; and secondly, He gathers to Himself. Mark how our blessed Lord confirms this Himself: "I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me." This the Lord Jesus is doing now in grace; but the full accomplishment has not yet taken place. The time is drawing near when "all kings shall bow down before Him, all nations shall serve Him." "As I live, saith the Lord, to Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall confess." And the time is at hand. We can even now hear the sound of His chariot wheels in the distance. The Church's journey is nearly done. All things tell us that the morning is at hand, and with that morning the joyous greeting and the eternal gladness, the sun that shall no more go down, and the hallelujahs of a multitude that no man can number meeting in the house of their Father to go no more out. Blessed morning, long expected! Hasten thy dawning upon our troubled world; Yea, "come, Lord Jesus, come quickly!" But to revert once more to Jacob's blessing on Judah. Observe the superabundance of Judah's blessings, and their deep spiritual import: "binding his foal 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." "His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk." Judah is here depicted as having attained, even before the coming of Shiloh, to a rest acquired by victory over surrounding foes, and enjoying in peaceful repose the abundance of his inheritance. But such a view is far from exhausting the words here brought before us. Indeed, in no full sense were they ever realized in the tribe of Judah. It is to the many and great spiritual blessings of the Lion of the tribe of Judah these words refer. We read of "the love of Christ that passeth knowledge"; of "joy unspeakable and full of glory"; that if all the things about Jesus were to be written "the world itself could not contain the books that should be written;" that "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man to conceive, the things that God hath prepared for them that love Him." And let us notice, every one of these blessings are directly connected with Christ Himself. The word "His," which runs through these verses, shows us this. "His eyes red"; "His teeth white"; "His garments washed in wine"; "His clothes in the blood of grapes." Such expressions remind us of the Song of Solomon, in which the Beloved is described in similar language. They all show us the preciousness of the Person of the Lord Jesus; just as the beloved apostle loved to dwell upon it in his description in Revelation 1:13-16.

(F. Whitfield, M. A.)

People
Adam, Cainan, Enoch, Enos, Enosh, Ham, Japheth, Jared, Kenan, Lamech, Mahalaleel, Methuselah, Noah, Seth, Shem
Places
Tigris-Euphrates Region
Topics
Account, Adam, Adam's, Births, Book, Created, Generations, God's, Image, Likeness, Line, Preparing
Outline
1. Recapitulation of the creation of man.
3. The genealogy, age, and death of the patriarchs from Adam to Noah.
22. Enoch's godliness and translation into Heaven.
25. The family line of Methuselah to Noah and his sons

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Genesis 5:1

     1194   glory, divine and human
     1325   God, the Creator
     4060   nature
     5034   likeness
     5638   writing
     8322   perfection, human

Genesis 5:1-2

     1305   God, activity of
     4006   creation, origin
     5002   human race, and creation
     5020   human nature
     5023   image of God
     5745   women

Genesis 5:1-3

     6213   participation, in sin

Genesis 5:1-5

     5081   Adam, life of

Library
With, Before, After
'Enoch walked with God,'--GENESIS v. 22. 'Walk before Me.'--GENESIS xvii. 1. 'Ye shall walk after the Lord your God.'--DEUTERONOMY xiii. 4. You will have anticipated, I suppose, my purpose in doing what I very seldom do--cutting little snippets out of different verses and putting them together. You see that these three fragments, in their resemblances and in their differences, are equally significant and instructive. They concur in regarding life as a walk--a metaphor which expresses continuity, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

After the Scripture.
"In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God created He him."--Gen. v. 1. In the preceding pages we have shown that the translation, "in Our image," actually means, "after Our image." To make anything in an image is no language; it is unthinkable, logically untrue. We now proceed to show how it should be translated, and give our reason for it. We begin with citing some passages from the Old Testament in which occurs the preposition "B" which, in Gen. i. 27, stands before image, where …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

The Neo-Kohlbruggians.
"And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, and after his image; and called his name Seth."--Gen. v. 3. Many are the efforts made to alter the meaning of the word, "Let Us make man in Our image and after Our likeness," (Gen. i. 26) by a different translation; especially by making it to read "in" instead of "after" our likeness. This new reading is Dr. Böhl's main support. With this translation his system stands or falls. According to him, man is not the bearer …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

Walking with God. Gen 5:24
Walking with GOD. Gen 5:24 O! for a closer walk with God, A calm and heav'nly frame; A light to shine upon the road That leads me to the Lamb! Where is the blessedness I knew When first I saw the LORD? Where is the soul-refreshing view Of JESUS, and his word? What peaceful hours I once enjoyed! How sweet their memory still! But they have left an aching void, The world can never fill. Return, O holy Dove, return, Sweet messenger of rest; I hate the sins that made thee mourn, And drove thee from …
John Newton—Olney Hymns

The Epistle of Saint Jude.
V. 1, 2. Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ, but a brother of James, to those that are called to be holy in God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, mercy unto you and peace and love be multiplied. This Epistle is ascribed to the holy Apostle, St. Jude, brother of the two Apostles, James the Less and Simon, by the sister of the mother of Christ, who is called Mary (wife) of James or Cleopas, as we read in Mark vi. But this Epistle cannot be looked upon as being that of one who was truly an Apostle, …
Martin Luther—The Epistles of St. Peter and St. Jude Preached and Explained

Consolations against the Fear of Death.
If in the time of thy sickness thou findest thyself fearful to die, meditate-- 1. That it argueth a dastardly mind to fear that which is not; for in the church of Christ there is no death (Isa. xxv. 7, 8), and whosoever liveth and believeth in Christ, shall never die (John xi. 26). Let them fear death who live without Christ. Christians die not; but when they please God, they are like Enoch translated unto God (Gen. v. 24;) their pains are but Elijah's fiery chariot to carry them up to heaven (2 …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

"But it is Good for Me to Draw Near to God: I have Put My Trust in the Lord God, that I May Declare all Thy
Psal. lxxiii. 28.--"But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all thy works." After man's first transgression, he was shut out from the tree of life, and cast out of the garden, by which was signified his seclusion and sequestration from the presence of God, and communion with him: and this was in a manner the extermination of all mankind in one, when Adam was driven out of paradise. Now, this had been an eternal separation for any thing that …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Influences that Gave Rise to the Priestly Laws and Histories
[Sidenote: Influences in the exile that produced written ceremonial laws] The Babylonian exile gave a great opportunity and incentive to the further development of written law. While the temple stood, the ceremonial rites and customs received constant illustration, and were transmitted directly from father to son in the priestly families. Hence, there was little need of writing them down. But when most of the priests were carried captive to Babylonia, as in 597 B.C., and ten years later the temple …
Charles Foster Kent—The Origin & Permanent Value of the Old Testament

The Promise to the Patriarchs.
A great epoch is, in Genesis, ushered in with the history of the time of the Patriarchs. Luther says: "This is the third period in which Holy Scripture begins the history of the Church with a new family." In a befitting manner, the representation is opened in Gen. xii. 1-3 by an account of the first revelation of God, given to Abraham at Haran, in which the way is opened up for all that follows, and in which the dispensations of God are brought before us in a rapid survey. Abraham is to forsake …
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

Appendix xii. The Baptism of Proselytes
ONLY those who have made study of it can have any idea how large, and sometimes bewildering, is the literature on the subject of Jewish Proselytes and their Baptism. Our present remarks will be confined to the Baptism of Proselytes. 1. Generally, as regards proselytes (Gerim) we have to distinguish between the Ger ha-Shaar (proselyte of the gate) and Ger Toshabh (sojourner,' settled among Israel), and again the Ger hatstsedeq (proselyte of righteousness) and Ger habberith (proselyte of the covenant). …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

Genesis
The Old Testament opens very impressively. In measured and dignified language it introduces the story of Israel's origin and settlement upon the land of Canaan (Gen.--Josh.) by the story of creation, i.-ii. 4a, and thus suggests, at the very beginning, the far-reaching purpose and the world-wide significance of the people and religion of Israel. The narrative has not travelled far till it becomes apparent that its dominant interests are to be religious and moral; for, after a pictorial sketch of …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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