“Dan will judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.
Dan will be a serpent on the trail, an adder in the path, that bites the horse’s heels, so that his rider falls backward.
I have waited for your salvation, Yahweh.
Parallel Translations
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“Dan will judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.
Dan will be a serpent on the trail, an adder in the path, that bites the horse’s heels, so that his rider falls backward.
I have waited for your salvation, Yahweh.
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Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.
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.
I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD.
Show all 3 translations
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Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.
Dan shall be a serpent in the way, a horned snake in the path, that biteth the horse's heels, so that his rider falleth backward.
I wait for Thy salvation, O Lord.
Cross-references (39)
- Psalms 119:166 (v18) I have hoped for your salvation, Yahweh. I have done your commandments.
- Psalms 119:174 (v18) I have longed for your salvation, Yahweh. Your law is my delight.
- Isaiah 25:9 (v18) It shall be said in that day, “Behold, this is our God! We have waited for him, and he will save us! This is Yahweh! We have waited for…
- Micah 7:7 (v18) But as for me, I will look to Yahweh. I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me.
- Deuteronomy 33:22 (v16) About Dan he said, “Dan is a lion’s cub that leaps out of Bashan.”
Show all 39 cross-references
- Psalms 130:5 (v18) I wait for Yahweh. My soul waits. I hope in his word.
- Genesis 30:6 (v16) Rachel said, “God has judged me, and has also heard my voice, and has given me a son.” Therefore she called his name Dan.
- Psalms 25:5-6 (v18) Guide me in your truth, and teach me, For you are the God of my salvation, I wait for you all day long. Yahweh, remember your tender…
- Psalms 40:1 (v18) I waited patiently for Yahweh. He turned to me, and heard my cry.
- Lamentations 3:25 (v18) Yahweh is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.
- Luke 2:25 (v18) Behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and…
- 1 Thessalonians 1:10 (v18) and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead: Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come.
- Judges 18:22-31 (v17) When they were a good way from the house of Micah, the men who were in the houses near Micah’s house gathered together and overtook the…
- 1 Chronicles 12:35 (v17) Of the Danites who could set the battle in array: twenty-eight thousand six hundred.
- Psalms 14:7 (v18) Oh that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion! When Yahweh restores the fortunes of his people, then Jacob shall rejoice, and…
- Psalms 62:1 (v18) My soul rests in God alone. My salvation is from him.
- Psalms 62:5 (v18) My soul, wait in silence for God alone, for my expectation is from him.
- Psalms 85:7 (v18) Show us your loving kindness, Yahweh. Grant us your salvation.
- Psalms 123:2 (v18) Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress; so our eyes look to…
- Isaiah 8:17 (v18) I will wait for Yahweh, who hides his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.
- Isaiah 33:2 (v18) Yahweh, be gracious to us. We have waited for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble.
- Matthew 1:21 (v18) She shall give birth to a son. You shall name him Jesus, for it is he who shall save his people from their sins.”
- Mark 15:43 (v18) Joseph of Arimathaea, a prominent council member who also himself was looking for God’s Kingdom, came. He boldly went in to Pilate, and…
- Luke 1:30 (v18) The angel said to her, “Don’t be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
- Luke 2:30 (v18) for my eyes have seen your salvation,
- Luke 23:51 (v18) (he had not consented to their counsel and deed), from Arimathaea, a city of the Jews, who was also waiting for God’s Kingdom:
- Romans 8:19 (v18) For the creation waits with eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.
- Romans 8:25 (v18) But if we hope for that which we don’t see, we wait for it with patience.
- Galatians 5:5 (v18) For we, through the Spirit, by faith wait for the hope of righteousness.
- Numbers 10:25 (v16) The standard of the camp of the children of Dan, which was the rear guard of all the camps, set forward according to their armies. Ahiezer…
- Judges 13:2 (v16) There was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and childless.
- Judges 13:24-25 (v16) The woman bore a son and named him Samson. The child grew, and Yahweh blessed him. Yahweh’s Spirit began to move him in Mahaneh Dan,…
- Judges 15:20 (v16) He judged Israel twenty years in the days of the Philistines.
- Judges 18:1-2 (v16) In those days there was no king in Israel. In those days the tribe of the Danites sought an inheritance to dwell in; for to that day, their…
- Judges 18:26-27 (v16) The children of Dan went their way; and when Micah saw that they were too strong for him, he turned and went back to his house. They took…
- Psalms 119:41 (v18) Let your loving kindness also come to me, Yahweh, your salvation, according to your word.
- Isaiah 30:18 (v18) Therefore Yahweh will wait, that he may be gracious to you; and therefore he will be exalted, that he may have mercy on you, for Yahweh is…
- Isaiah 36:8 (v18) Now therefore, please make a pledge to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part…
- Judges 14:1-15 (v17) Samson went down to Timnah, and saw a woman in Timnah of the daughters of the Philistines. He came up, and told his father and his mother,…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (17 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv16, 18 16. Dan shall judge his people. In the word…
16. Dan shall judge his people. In the word judge there is an allusion to his name: for since, among the Hebrews, דון (din) signifies to judge, Rachel, when she returned thanks to God, gave this name to the son born to her by her handmaid, as if God had been the vindicator of her cause and right. Jacob now gives a new turn to the meaning of the name; namely, that the sons of Dan shall have no mean part in the government of the people. For the Jews foolishly restrict it to Samson, because he alone presided over the whole people, whereas the language rather applies to the perpetual condition of the tribe. Jacob therefore means, that though Dan was born from a concubine, he shall still be one of the judges of Israel: because not only shall his offspring possess a share of the government and command, in the common polity, so that this tribe may constitute one head; but it shall be appointed the bearer of a standard to lead the fourth division of the camp of Israel. In the second place, his subtle disposition is described. For Jacob compares this people to serpents, who rise out of their lurking-places, by stealth, against the unwary whom they wish to injure. The sense then is, that he shall not be so courageous as earnestly and boldly to engage in open conflict; but that he will fight with cunning, and will make use of snares. Yet, in the meantime, he shows that he will be superior to his enemies, whom he does not dare to approach with collected forces, just as serpents who, by their secret bite, cast down the horse and his rider. In this place also no judgment is expressly passed, whether this subtlety of Dan is to be deemed worthy of praise or of censure: but conjecture rather inclines us to place it among his faults, or at least his disadvantages, that instead of opposing himself in open conflict with his enemies, he will fight them only with secret frauds.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv16–18 Shall have the honor of a tribe.
Shall have the honor of a tribe.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv16–18 Gen 49:16 Dan shall judge his people, as one…
Gen 49:16 Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.
Ver. 16. Dan shall judge.] Here is an allusion to his name in the original; q.d., the Judger shall judge. This is a high honour, to sit in the seat of judicature, and no less a burden: Fructus honos oneris, fructus honoris onus. They that are called to this office must neither spare the great for might, nor the mean for misery; as they must have nothing to lose, so nothing to get neither; they must be above all price or sale; and straining out all self-affections, see to it that "justice, justice" - as Moses speaks, Deu 16:20, marg.; that is, pure justice, without mud - run down as a mighty torrent.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv16–18 i.e. Rule and govern them. Though he be the…
i.e. Rule and govern them. Though he be the son of my concubine, yet he shall not be subject to any other tribe, but shall have an absolute power within himself. What is said of him is to be understood of the rest of the sons of the concubines, and hereby all difference between the sons of the wives and concubines is taken away. It is said of
Dan, because he is the first mentioned of that sort. As the rest of the tribes do, having distinct governments and governors amongst them. See Num 1:4,16.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv16–18 Dan shall judge his people as one of the…
Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel. There is an elegant paronomasia, or an allusion to the name of Dan in those words, which signifies to judge, and the sense of them is, there should be heads, rulers, and judges of it, as the other tribes had; and this is the rather mentioned of him, because he is the first of the children of concubine wives as yet taken notice of; and what is here said of him is also to be understood of the rest of the sons of the concubines; for the meaning is not, that a judge should arise out of him as out of the other tribes, that should judge all Israel, restraining it to Samson, who was of this tribe, as the Targums and Jarchi; for no such judge did arise out of all the tribes of Israel; nor was Samson such a judge of Israel as David, who, according to Jarchi, is one of the tribes of Israel, namely, of Judah; for David did not judge as Samson, nor Samson as David, their form of government being different.
Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel. There is an elegant paronomasia, or an allusion to the name of Dan in those words, which signifies to judge, and the sense of them is, there should be heads, rulers, and judges of it, as the other tribes had; and this is the rather mentioned of him, because he is the first of the children of concubine wives as yet taken notice of; and what is here said of him is also to be understood of the rest of the sons of the concubines; for the meaning is not, that a judge should arise out of him as out of the other tribes, that should judge all Israel, restraining it to Samson, who was of this tribe, as the Targums and Jarchi; for no such judge did arise out of all the tribes of Israel; nor was Samson such a judge of Israel as David, who, according to Jarchi, is one of the tribes of Israel, namely, of Judah; for David did not judge as Samson, nor Samson as David, their form of government being different.
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Genesis 49:17
gen 49:17
gen 49:17
gen 49:17Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path,.... Or be like that sort of serpents called the adder; or rather, that which has the name of Cerastes, which lies among sand, and being of the same colour is not easily discerned, and is often trampled upon unawares, and bites at once, unexpected; as Bothart (h) from various writers has shown; particularly Diodorus Siculus (i) says, of this kind of serpents, that their bites are deadly, and being of the same colour with the sand, few discern them, so that many ignorantly treading on them fall into danger unawares; and so Onkelos paraphrases it, that lies in wait by the way; and is by another writer (k) interpreted, a very grievous and hurtful serpent as the adder is:
that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward; for this sort of serpents lying in horse ways and cart ruts, snaps at and bites horses as they pass along, which bites affecting their legs and thighs, cause them to fall and throw their riders: this, by the Jewish writers, who are followed by many Christian interpreters, is applied to Samson, who by craft and policy managed the Philistines, as in the affair of the foxes, and especially in his last enterprise, when he got placed between the two pillars of the house, which answer, as some think, to the horse heels, as the multitude on the roof of the house to the riders: but though this may be illustrated in a particular person in this tribe, as a specimen of the genius and disposition of the whole tribe, yet the prophecy respects the whole tribe, and points at the situation of it, which was "by the way", at the extreme part of the country; so that they had need of craft and policy as well as power to defend themselves against encroachers and invaders, and describes the general temper and disposition of this tribe, of which an instance may be seen in Jdg 18:1 and it may have respect to the stumblingblocks and offences laid in this tribe to the rest of the tribes, by the idol of Micah, and more especially by the golden calf set up in Dan by Jeroboam.
(h) Hierozoic. par. 2. l. 3. c. 12. col. 418, 419, 420. (i) Bibliothec. l. 3. p. 183. (k) R. Sol. Urbin. Ohel Moed. fol. 57. 1.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv16, 18 Daniel shall judge his people - Though Daniel was…
Daniel shall judge his people - Though Daniel was one of the sons of the concubines, yet he shall be a tribe governed by Judges of his own as well as other tribes; and shall by art and policy, and surprise, gain advantages against his enemies, like a serpent suddenly biting the heel of the traveler.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv16–17 16. Dan shall judge his people,
16. Dan shall judge his people,
As one of the tribes of Israel.
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17. Dan shall be a serpent on the way,
A cerastes upon the track,
Biting the heels of the horse,
And his rider shall fall backwards.
Verse 16. Dan shall judge] Dan, whose name signifies judgment, was the eldest of Jacob's sons by Bilhah, Rachel's maid, and he is here promised an equal rule with those tribes that sprang from either Leah or Rachel, the legal wives of Jacob.
Some Jewish and some Christian writers understand this prophecy of Samson, who sprang from this tribe, and judged, or as the word might be translated avenged, the people of Israel twenty years. See Jdg 13:2; Jdg 15:20.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv16–18 Gen 49:16. Dan shall judge his people — Jacob…
Gen 49:16. Dan shall judge his people — Jacob alludes to the name Dan, which signifies to judge, or judging. Onkelos, a famous Jewish rabbi of the first century, and the author of a Targum or paraphrase in the Chaldee language on the books of Moses, the most simple and the most esteemed of all the Targums of the Jews, expounds the passage thus: “A man shall arise out of the tribe of Dan, in whose days his people shall be delivered;” referring to Samson, who was of that tribe, Jdg 13:2, and who judged Israel twenty years, Jdg 15:20. But the latter part of the verse seems not perfectly to agree with this, as all the tribes did not produce judges. The meaning, therefore seems rather to be, Though he be the son of one of my concubines, yet he shall not be subject to any other, but shall be a tribe governed by judges of his own, as well as any of the other tribes. And what is said of him is to be understood of the rest of the sons of the concubines, and hereby all difference between them and the sons of the wives is taken away. It is spoken of Dan, because he is first mentioned of that sort.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v16 Dan shall judge, &c. This was verified in Samson,…
Dan shall judge, &c. This was verified in Samson, who was of the tribe of Dan, and began to deliver Israel, Judges xiii. 5. But as this deliverance was but temporal and very imperfect, the holy patriarch (ver. 18,) aspires after another kind of deliverer, saying: I will look for thy salvation, O Lord. (Challoner) --- Many have supposed, that Antichrist will be one of his descendants, which makes Jacob break out into this exclamation. (Haydock) --- See St. Irenæus, Against Heresies v. 30, &c. Samson exercised his ingenuity in discomfiting the Philistines. But Antichrist will be far more subtle in deluding the faithful. (Menochius) --- The Danites took Lais; afterwards called Cæsarea Philippi, by stratagem, Judges xviii. (Tirinus)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On v17 DAN--though the son of a secondary wife, was to…
DAN--though the son of a secondary wife, was to be "as one of the tribes of Israel." (Gen 49:16-18)
Dan--"a judge."
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a serpent . . . an adder--A serpent, an adder, implies subtlety and stratagem; such was pre-eminently the character of Samson, the most illustrious of its judges.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv16–18 16. Dan shall judge — A play upon the…
16. Dan shall judge — A play upon the name of Dan, which means a judge, or judging. Comp. Gen_30:6. Being the first named of the sons of the handmaids, it is fitting to emphasize the thought that he shall, nevertheless, even as the sons of Leah, or any of the tribes, exercise due authority as one of the tribes of Israel. Some suppose there is here a special allusion to Samson, the distinguished judge, who sprang from this tribe; but this is unnecessary as an exposition of the sense of the verse.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv16–18 16. Dan] In this and the following verse we…
16. Dan] In this and the following verse we have two independent oracles concerning the tribe of Dan. (1) Gen_49:16 deals with its position in Israel; (2) Gen_49:17, with its attitude towards its foes.
judge] For the play on the name Dan, see Gen_30:6. The word “judge” carries with it the sense of “pleading the cause of” and “helping.” Cf. Jer_22:16, “he judged the cause of the poor and needy.” Targum of Onkelos understood a reference to Samson to be contained in the word “judge” (Judges 13-16.).
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his people] The people of his tribe; not the people of Israel generally. The tribe possessed independence, not supremacy.
As one of the tribes] Dan, though smaller than other tribes (cf. Jos_19:47-48; Jdg_1:34-35; Jdg_18:11), will not be inferior in position and power, within its own domains, to the other tribes. It seems probable that Dan, standing here after Zebulun and Issachar, represents only the small northern portion of the tribe. Cf. Jdg_18:1; Jdg_18:29.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv16, 18 (16, 17) Dan.—In passing on to the sons of…
(16, 17) Dan.—In passing on to the sons of the handmaids it was necessary to assure them of an independent rank among their brethren. The four tribes descended from them did always hold an inferior position, but Jacob by his words to Dan prevented their ever becoming subject states. Playing, then, upon the name Dan (a judge), he says that he shall judge his people as a distinct and separate tribe, possessed of all those rights of self-government and tribal independence which this rank implied. It seems also that Dan’s symbol was a serpent, and from this Jacob prophesies that though too weak a tribe to take the foremost place in war, yet that Dan should not be without military importance; and this was especially the case in the days of Samson. The word rendered adder is more exactly the arrow-snake, which lies in wait in the “path,” a narrow track, and springs upon its prey as it passes. A horse bitten in this way would rear and throw its rider, who would then be in the power of his assailant.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv16, 18 Vers. 16-18. Dan shall judge his people as one…
Vers. 16-18. Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel. With a play upon his name, the firstborn son of Rachel"s handmaid, Bilhah, is described as one who should occupy an important place and exercise highly beneficial functions in the future commonwealth, enjoying independence and self-government as one of the tribes of Israel (Herder, and others), and performing the office of an administrator among the People not of his own tribe merely, but also of all Israel, a prediction pointing perhaps to the transient supremacy enjoyed by Dan over the other tribes in the days of Samson (Onkelos, et alii). 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. The wOpypiv, from the Syriac ppv, to glide (Gesenins), from pWv, to sting (Kalisch), ppv; to bite (Furst), was the horned serpent, cerastes, of the color of sand, and marked with white and black spots, which was exceedingly dangerous to passers-by, its bite being poisonous and fatal. The allusion has been almost unanimously explained as pointing to Samson, (Jud_1:16:28) but the tribe in general appears not to have been entirely destitute of the treacherous and formidable characteristics here depicted. (Jud_1:18:27) "It is certainly observable that the first introduction of idolatry in Israel is ascribed to the tribe of Dan, (Jud_1:18) and that in the numbering of the tribes in Re 7. the name of Dan is omitted. From these or other causes many of the Fathers (Irenaeus, Ambrose, Augustine, Theodoret) were led to believe that Antichrist should spring from the tribe of Dan" ("Speaker"s Commentary"). I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord. To discover in this beautiful and tender ejaculation of the dying patriarch an apprehensive sigh lest his strength should be exhausted before his benediction was completed (Tuch), or a prayer that God might speedily effect his painless dissolution (Hengstenberg), or a device for dividing his benedictions, and separating the group of Judah from that of Joseph (Lange), is surely to fail in seizing its hidden spirit. It is doubtful if even the usual interpretation, that Jacob here expresses his hope and expectation that God would help and succor his descendants (Calvin, Rosenm Keil, Kalisch, Murphy, and others), exhausts its rich significance. That, speaking in their name, he does anticipate the deliverance of Jehovah" In thy help do I hope, O Jehovah! is apparent; but nothing surely can be more natural than to suppose that the dying patriarch, at the moment when he was formally transmitting to his children the theocratic blessing, had his thoughts lifted up towards that great salvation, of which all these material and temporal benedictions pronounced upon his sons were but the shadows and the types, and of which perhaps he had been incidentally reminded by the mention of the biting serpent, to which he had just likened Dan ("Speaker"s Commentary"). It is noticeable that this is the first occurrence of the term salvation (jWvy, from the root vy; unused in Kal, to be roomy or spacious, hence in the Hiphil to set free or deliver).
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v18 I have waited for Thy salvation, of Lord
Gen_49:18
I have waited for Thy salvation, of Lord
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Times of waiting
A parenthesis in Jacobs long blessing of his sons.
Exhausted with the thoughts and visions which passed over his mind in such quick succession, he paused to take a spiritual inspiration: I have waited for Thy salvation, O Lord.
1. Such chapters of life, such seasons of suspense, such exercises of the quiet confidences of the soul, are to be found in every Christians experience. They may come in different ways to different men, but they are in some form or other a necessity to every man--an essential part of the discipline of the school of salvation.
2. These intervals of waiting must be filled up with four things: prayer, praise, fellowship, and work.
3. It will be a helpful thought to you as you wait, that if you wait, Christ waits. Whatever your longing is that the time be over, His longing is greater. There are many things that you have had that have turned to a curse, which would have been blessings if only there had been more waiting. (J. Vaughan, M. A.)
Waiting for salvation:
1. From these words we may learn what was the nature of that inheritance which the patriarchs regarded as bequeathed to them by the Divine promises. The patriarchs looked for salvation.
2. We learn from the text what had been the great characteristic of Jacobs life from the time that he was first brought under the power of Divine grace. His affections had been set on things above. His chief interest had lain in eternity.
3. The language of Jacob in the text proves most fully the truth elsewhere stated, that the righteous hath hope in his death. Practical questions:
(1) Do you know what is meant by the salvation of the Lord?
(2) Do you know what is meant by waiting for salvation--i.e., ardently but patiently looking forward to it?
(3) Do you know what is meant by preparing while you wait for the salvation of the Lord? (A. D. Davidson.)
Jacobs dying confidence:
I. THE IMPORTANT OBJECT FOR WHICH THE PATRIARCH WAITED.
1. Salvation is present in its commencement.
2. Salvation is future in its consummation.
II. THE GLORIOUS BEING IN WHOM THE PATRIARCH CONFIDED.
1. Salvation is Divinely devised and provided.
2. Salvation is Divinely revealed and promised.
3. Salvation is Divinely imparted and realized.
III. THE SACRED EXERCISE IN WHICH THE PATRIARCH WAS OCCUPIED.
1. We must wait for salvation patiently.
2. We must wait for salvation believingly.
3. We must wait for salvation importunately.
4. We must wait for salvation perseveringly. (Sketches of Sermons.)
Jacobs dying words:
I. The believer can use this language of the text, because he will be PUT, AT DEATH, IN POSSESSION OF A GLORIOUS INHERITANCE--I have waited, said Jacob, for Thy salvation; language implying that there was a future good not yet attained, long as he had been a subject of the Divine government, seeking humbly and holily to walk with God.
II. The words imply Jacobs WILLINGNESS TO LEAVE HIS CHOICEST EARTHLY COMFORTS. He looked for a better heritage, not exposed to vicissitude and change; not amidst a dark and idolatrous land, but in the region of glory where cherubim and seraphim abide; not accorded by the bounty of Pharaoh, but prepared by God for His people. He looked to a house, the builder and maker of which is God. He lived under a darker dispensation than ours; but he had heard the invitation, Come up hither: Enter, thou blessed of the Lord. If then, like Jacob, we have been reconciled and brought near through the blood of the everlasting covenant, are we not warranted in thinking that God will not leave His people comfortless at the last?
III. Jacob had EXPERIENCED MANY TRIALS AND BEEN SUBJECT TO MANY SORROWS. The words, accordingly, seem to have been spoken in assured belief that these would soon be past.
IV. The Christian may feel the force of Jacobs words, inasmuch as he expects to be favoured with the nearer vision of, and to hold CONGENIAL INTERCOURSE WITH, THE SAVIOUR. (A. R. Bonar, D. D.)
Salvation
Salvation! Blessed be God, that our fallen earth has heard the joyful sound! It is unheard in hell. Blessed be the grace which brought it to your ears! To multitudes it is a tuneless cymbal. Salvation! It peoples the many mansions of the heavenly kingdom. Salvation I It is a roll written by Jehovahs pen. It is the decree of Divine councils: the fruit of omniscient mind: the first-born of unmeasured love: the perfection of eternal thought: the strength of omnipotence. Salvation! It is the work for which Jesus was born in Bethlehem, and lived on earth, and died at Calvary, and descended into the grave, and burst the bonds of death, and mounted to heaven, and sits on the right, hand of God. For this He reigns and prays on high. It is the work for which the Spirit seeks our earth, and knocks at the barred entrance of the sinners heart. For this He assails the fortress of self-love, and reveals the perils of sin, and wrestles with ignorance and vain excuses. Salvation! It is the first message which mercy uttered to a ruined world. It is the end of every prophecy--the purport of every precept--the beauty of every promise--the truth of every sacrifice--the substance of every rite--the song of every inspired lip--the longing desire of every renewed heart--the beacon which guides through the voyage of life--the haven to which the tides of grace convey--the end of faith, the full light of hope, the home of love. Salvation! It is the absence of this blessing which builds the prison-house of hell, which kindles the never-quenched fires-which forges the eternal chains which wraps the dreary regions in one mantle of blackness--which gives keenness to the undying worm--which blows up the smoke of torment--which gives the bitterness of despair to the hopeless wail. Does any eager soul exclaim, Tell me, further, wherein Salvations blessedness consists? It is a blessed rescue, to change ceaseless wailings into endless praise: the blackness of darkness into the glories of brightness beyond the sun in his strength. Does any add, Let me clearly understand how this is all accomplished! Come, see the excellent things which Jesus works. He saves by rescuing from hell. He saves by giving title to heaven. He saves by meetening for heaven. He by His Spirit dethrones the love of sin: implants delight in God. It is great, because willed, provided, accepted by a great God, even the Father: because wrought out and finished by a great God, even Jesus: because applied by a great God, even the Spirit. It is great, because it averts great woe: bestows great grace: and blesses a great multitude. O my soul! see to it that you are saved. (Dean Law.)
The death-bed:
I. WHAT IS THIS SALVATION OF WHICH JACOB SPEAKS? As a dying man, he speaks of a salvation towards which he had looked, and for which he had waited until that hour. What that salvation really is, we now know by clear and unequivocal revelation; but the question before us is, what it was in Jacobs estimation, what it was in its actual results upon the dying believer of his day? The full knowledge of the salvation of the gospel gives victory over sin, and death, and the grave.
1. Salvation with him would be deliverance from the burden of the flesh. A mind so spiritual as his, and so habituated to intercourse with the great Father of spirits, could not but discriminate between the immortal spirit and the perishable tenement in which it was confined. He had long experienced the sorrows incident to this imperfect state. The infirmities of age had long been stealing upon him.
2. The salvation for which he looked would be deliverance from sin. Sin was a permanent evil, with which, in some form or other, he had to contend in every period of his life. In youth, maturity, and age, it had still been, in one way or other, the cause of his anxiety. He had, however, attained by faith to the hope of the remission of sin. He leaned upon the Angel that redeemed him from all evil. The system of grace, however fully or scantily revealed, was to him a sufficient ground of hope and practical comfort in the house of his pilgrimage.
3. Jacob would include also in this salvation the high and permanent felicities of an eternal existence. I have waited all the days of my appointed time until my change come. And now, O Lord, fulfil all that I have been led to hope for, and crown this faint and failing spirit with immortal strength, and blessedness, and perfection.
4. Jacob evidently implied, in this strong expression of reliance upon God, the expectation of deliverance from the evils of death itself. The act of dissolution is an event from which human nature shrinks. It is unnatural. It is the consequence of sin. But, Lord, I have waited for Thy salvation. I have looked for complete deliverance. Let my Shepherd and my Guide be with me in the shadowy valley. O God most holy, O Lord most mighty, O merciful Saviour, Thou most worthy Judge Eternal, suffer me not, at my last hour, for any pains of death, to fall from Thee. Here, then, we have a view of the salvation for which Jacob waited.
II. WHAT ARE WE TO UNDERSTAND BY JACOB HAVING WAITED FOR THIS SALVATION? He refers to the habit of his previous life, to the whole tenor of his course. This has been the grand object of my existence. This is the thing for which I have sought.
1. The expression implies that he had believed the truth of this salvation; but of this we need say nothing, for every step of his life exhibits his willing acceptance of the promise of deliverance, and his perfect satisfaction with the covenant of mercy.
2. He had sought for this salvation in the zealous use of the means of grace, in the way of holy and prayerful obedience.
3. He had expected this salvation with increasing affection. It became more and more the object of endeared attachment. To wait, implies the intense occupation of the soul.
4. That Jacob waited implies that he was patient. A waiting spirit is a patient and submissive one. His is not a petulant wish, in a moment of dissatisfaction, to depart; but a calm and even energy of soul bearing towards immortality.
Lessons:
1. Be thankful that, in a rebellious and lost world, the benevolence and the wisdom of God provided, even in the earlier stages of our history, a means of redemption so ample and effective, and left on an infallible record such bright examples for our encouragement and comfort. Let us thank God, and take courage.
2. Again, be humbled when you compare the faith of earlier days with ours in days so rich in evangelical privilege.
3. Lastly, be diligent, then, that you may be found of God in peace, without spot and blameless. (E. Craig.)
The believer waiting for Gods salvation:
I. THE LIVING SAINTS CHARACTER. He is one who is waiting for the salvation of God. By the term salvation here, we are probably to understand the Saviour Himself--the Messiah who had been promised. By the words he uses in the text, Jacob evidently expressed his faith in the testimony of God as to the coming of the Messiah, to whom he looked, as every guilty sinner must do, and in whose name he trusted for salvation and eternal life. Salvation, taken in its fullest sense, expresses all that the soul can require for time and eternity. And well might this good old saint, Jacob, say here, in addressing God, Thy salvation. The glorious design of saving sinners of the human race by a Mediator was conceived in the infinite Mind, and determined upon in the counsels of God, before the foundations of the world were laid, or even time had begun its course. For this salvation Jacob had waited. Numerous had been the incidents of his past life, but amidst them all he had kept his eye fixed on the salvation of God, and had consequently passed through things temporal so as not to lose those things which were eternal.
II. THE DYING SAINTS COMFORT. Brethren, there is no real comfort in dying moments, but that which comes from having waited for God, and being in immediate prospect of entering on a full and uninterrupted enjoyment of the salvation of God; a lively and well-grounded confidence that we are in Christ, and shall be saved in Him, with an everlasting salvation; a hope that maketh not ashamed, that we are heirs of, and are about to be admitted to, glory, honour, and immortality. Sorrow is banished, and desire fully satisfied. A well-grounded hope of thus receiving the end of his faith, even the salvation of his soul, and of being admitted to the felicities, full and perfect and enduring, of the heavenly world, affords strong and abundant consolation to a dying saint. To enjoy this salvation at death and in eternity, it must now be sought by you. (W. Snell.)
Waiting for salvation:
I. How BELIEVERS LIVE. They live waiting for the salvation of the Lord. This comprehends many important particulars both in doctrine and experience.
1. A conviction of the need of salvation. The sick man only needs healing; the man in danger only needs rescuing: to offer to one that is not sick a remedy, and to one that is not lost, salvation, would only be mockery. And this teaches us the reason of a fact which is awful: the whole, in their own estimation, refuse a physician; those who are unconscious that they are lost, ruined, and undone, neglect the great salvation.
2. A knowledge of the method by which salvation is to be obtained. Waiting for a thing implies a sense of its value and importance.
3. Diligence in the use of those means with which the salvation of the soul is connected. Faith and hope do not lie dormant in the heart; they are active principles, always in exercise. The more diligent and devout your attendance on the means which God has appointed in dependence on the influences of the Spirit, the more clear will be your vision, the more fervent your desires, the more full your foretastes of salvation. Waiting on the Lord, you shall renew your strength, and go on in the beauty of holiness, till you appear perfect before God in Zion.
4. That the hope of salvation is the grand support of the believer, and the only source of his consolations under all the sufferings to which he is exposed. He endures, as seeing Him that is invisible, and in hope rejoices against hope.
II. How BELIEVERS DIE. The reigning temper of his heart is still the same. He lived, and now he dies, waiting for the salvation of the Lord. The ruling passion is strong in death. The last emotion, when nature sinks, and all is feebleness and decay, is a desire for the salvation of God. And this implies that the believer considers death--
1. As an entrance on immortality. Surely when he says, I have waited for Thy salvation, O Lord! it does not imply that he wishes his being to become extinct. David knew that he should live in the presence of God. Jacob knew that when the earthly house of his tabernacle was dissolved, he had a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
2. As the termination of his sufferings. His temptations and sorrows can follow him no further. At the gate of death he lays down his burden: he is to sigh and suffer no more for ever. His warfare is accomplished. His long, tedious, painful struggles are at an end. Death, which is to some the beginning of sorrows and of sufferings, is to him the end of both.
3. As the harvest, when all the graces of the spirit would be ripened, and matured, and gathered, it is said that the good man shall come to his grave, like as a shock of corn cometh in his season. Observe this figure: The fallow ground is first broke up, the seed is sown, and it remains unseen.
But the process of vegetation is going forward; the germ is expanding; ere long the green blade appears. The frosts pass over it, and it withers; but the sun shines, and it recovers. At length, after it has experienced a few storms, and been impeded in its growth by noxious weeds, in consequence of fruitful showers and genial sunshine, it is fully ripe and fit for the harvest. So the fallow ground of the heart is broken up; the good seed of the kingdom, the incipient principles of grace are implanted. They are hidden for a season, but they proceed; there is the principle of vitality; and we see first the blade, then the ear, and after that the full corn in the ear. All the graces of the Spirit are then ripened and perfected; faith into vision, hope into fruition, and love is made perfect so as to cast out all fear. Then the believer shall see God without an interposing cloud, love Him with a perfect heart, and serve Him without weariness.
4. An assurance of a glorious resurrection. When Jacob was dying, he took an oath of his son that he would bury him in the land of Canaan. And Joseph also gave commandment concerning his bones. What should make these holy men so anxious about the place of their interment? The world is lost to a dead man; and what matters it whether he lies in Egypt or in Canaan? What could it he for, but to express their faith in the promise of God; their belief that death would not cut them off from His favour. The place of their burial, therefore, will remain as a monument of their faith to the latest period of time: and when the angels gather up their fragments, where are they to look for them but in that land where they are laid, and where Christ appeared, and will appear again?
From the whole let us--
1. Learn the vast importance of that salvation which has been an object of desire to the saints of God in all ages. The word signifies deliverance--deliverance from all evil, and introduction to all good.
2. Behold the perfect man, and mark the upright; for the end of that man is peace. If his life is honourable to religion, his death is a confirmation of all that he professed. (W. Thorpe.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v16 Dan will judge his people
Dan will judge his people
Here "Dan" stands for his descendants. AT: "The descendants of Dan will judge their people" (See: Metonymy)
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his people
Possible meanings for "his people" are 1) "the people of Dan" or 2) "the people of Israel"
Dan will be a snake beside the road
Jacob speaks about Dan and his descendants as if they were snakes. Though a snake is small, it can bring down a rider off his horse. So Dan, though a small tribe, is very dangerous to its enemies. AT: "The descendants of Dan will be like a snake beside the road" (See: Metaphor)
I wait for your salvation, Yahweh
The abstract noun "salvation" can be translated as "save." AT: "I wait for you, Yahweh, to save me"
I wait
The word "I" refers to Jacob.
translationWords
Dan
judge
people group
tribe
Israel
serpent
save
Yahweh
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv16, 18 49:16-17 Dan was called to provide justice (Dan means…
49:16-17 Dan was called to provide justice (Dan means “judge”), but the tribe would choose treachery, like a snake beside the road (see Judg 18).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.