“Benjamin is a ravenous wolf. In the morning he will devour the prey. At evening he will divide the plunder.”
Parallel Translations
-
“Benjamin is a ravenous wolf. In the morning he will devour the prey. At evening he will divide the plunder.”
-
Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.
-
Benjamin is a wolf that raveneth; in the morning he devoureth the prey, and at even he divideth the spoil.'
Cross-references (21)
Passages linked to Genesis 49:27 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Judges 20:21 The children of Benjamin came out of Gibeah, and on that day destroyed twenty-two thousand of the Israelite men down to the ground.
- Judges 20:25 Benjamin went out against them out of Gibeah the second day, and destroyed down to the ground of the children of Israel again eighteen thousand men. All these drew the sword.
- Genesis 35:18 As her soul was departing (for she died), she named him Benoni, but his father named him Benjamin.
- Genesis 46:21 The sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard.
- Numbers 23:24 Behold, a people rises up as a lioness. As a lion he lifts himself up. He shall not lie down until he eats of the prey, and drinks the blood of the slain.”
- Ezekiel 22:27 Her princes within it are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, that they may get dishonest gain.
- Deuteronomy 33:12 About Benjamin he said, “The beloved of Yahweh will dwell in safety by him. He covers him all day long. He dwells between his shoulders.”
- Judges 3:15-29 But when the children of Israel cried to Yahweh, Yahweh raised up a savior for them: Ehud the son of Gera, the Benjamite, a left-handed man. The children of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab. Ehud made himself a sword which had two edges, a cubit in length; and he wore it under his clothing on his right thigh. He offered the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man. When Ehud had finished offering the tribute, he sent away the people who carried the tribute. But he himself turned back from the stone idols that were by Gilgal, and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” The king said, “Keep silence!” All who stood by him left him. Ehud came to him; and he was sitting by himself alone in the cool upper room. Ehud said, “I have a message from God to you.” He arose out of his seat. Ehud put out his left hand, and took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his body. The handle also went in after the blade; and the fat closed on the blade, for he didn’t draw the sword out of his body; and it came out behind. Then Ehud went out onto the porch, and shut the doors of the upper room on him, and locked them. After he had gone, his servants came and saw that the doors of the upper room were locked. They said, “Surely he is covering his feet in the upper room.” They waited until they were ashamed; and behold, he didn’t open the doors of the upper room. Therefore they took the key and opened them, and behold, their lord had fallen down dead on the floor. Ehud escaped while they waited, passed beyond the stone idols, and escaped to Seirah. When he had come, he blew a trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim; and the children of Israel went down with him from the hill country, and he led them. He said to them, “Follow me; for Yahweh has delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand.” They followed him, and took the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites, and didn’t allow any man to pass over. They struck at that time about ten thousand men of Moab, every strong man and every man of valor. No man escaped.
- 1 Samuel 11:4-11 Then the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul, and spoke these words in the ears of the people, then all the people lifted up their voice, and wept. Behold, Saul came following the oxen out of the field; and Saul said, “What ails the people that they weep?” They told him the words of the men of Jabesh. God’s Spirit came mightily on Saul when he heard those words, and his anger burned hot. He took a yoke of oxen, and cut them in pieces, and sent them throughout all the borders of Israel by the hand of messengers, saying, “Whoever doesn’t come out after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen.” The dread of Yahweh fell on the people, and they came out as one man. He counted them in Bezek; and the children of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand. They said to the messengers who came, “Tell the men of Jabesh Gilead, ‘Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you will be rescued.’ ” The messengers came and told the men of Jabesh; and they were glad. Therefore the men of Jabesh said, “Tomorrow we will come out to you, and you shall do with us all that seems good to you.” On the next day, Saul put the people in three companies; and they came into the middle of the camp in the morning watch, and struck the Ammonites until the heat of the day. Those who remained were scattered, so that no two of them were left together.
- 1 Samuel 14:1-15 Now it fell on a day, that Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who bore his armor, “Come! Let’s go over to the Philistines’ garrison that is on the other side.” But he didn’t tell his father. Saul stayed in the uttermost part of Gibeah under the pomegranate tree which is in Migron: and the people who were with him were about six hundred men; including Ahijah, the son of Ahitub, Ichabod’s brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the priest of Yahweh in Shiloh, wearing an ephod. The people didn’t know that Jonathan was gone. Between the passes, by which Jonathan sought to go over to the Philistines’ garrison, there was a rocky crag on the one side, and a rocky crag on the other side: and the name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh. The one crag rose up on the north in front of Michmash, and the other on the south in front of Geba. Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor, “Come! Let’s go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that Yahweh will work for us; for there is no restraint on Yahweh to save by many or by few.” His armor bearer said to him, “Do all that is in your heart. Turn and, behold, I am with you according to your heart.” Then Jonathan said, “Behold, we will pass over to the men, and we will reveal ourselves to them. If they say this to us, ‘Wait until we come to you!’ then we will stand still in our place, and will not go up to them. But if they say this, ‘Come up to us!’ then we will go up; for Yahweh has delivered them into our hand. This shall be the sign to us.” Both of them revealed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines: and the Philistines said, “Behold, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they had hidden themselves!” The men of the garrison answered Jonathan and his armor bearer, and said, “Come up to us, and we will show you something!” Jonathan said to his armor bearer, “Come up after me; for Yahweh has delivered them into the hand of Israel.” Jonathan climbed up on his hands and on his feet, and his armor bearer after him: and they fell before Jonathan; and his armor bearer killed them after him. That first slaughter, which Jonathan and his armor bearer made, was about twenty men, within as it were half a furrow’s length in an acre of land. There was a trembling in the camp, in the field, and among all the people; the garrison, and the raiders, also trembled; and the earth quaked, so there was an exceedingly great trembling.
- 1 Samuel 17:1-58 Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle; and they were gathered together at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephesdammim. Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and encamped in the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines. The Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them. A champion out of the camp of the Philistines named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span went out. He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he wore a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. He had bronze shin armor on his legs, and a bronze javelin between his shoulders. The staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam; and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron. His shield bearer went before him. He stood and cried to the armies of Israel, and said to them, “Why have you come out to set your battle in array? Am I not a Philistine, and you servants to Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then will we be your servants; but if I prevail against him and kill him, then you will be our servants and serve us.” The Philistine said, “I defy the armies of Israel today! Give me a man, that we may fight together!” When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid. Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehem Judah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons. The man was an elderly old man in the days of Saul. The three oldest sons of Jesse had gone after Saul to the battle: and the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. David was the youngest; and the three oldest followed Saul. Now David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem. The Philistine came near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days. Jesse said to David his son, “Now take for your brothers an ephah of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers; and bring these ten cheeses to the captain of their thousand, and see how your brothers are doing, and bring back news.” Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took and went, as Jesse had commanded him. He came to the place of the wagons, as the army which was going out to the fight shouted for the battle. Israel and the Philistines put the battle in array, army against army. David left his baggage in the hand of the keeper of the baggage, and ran to the army, and came and greeted his brothers. As he talked with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines, and said the same words; and David heard them. All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were terrified. The men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? He has surely come up to defy Israel. The king will give great riches to the man who kills him, and will give him his daughter, and make his father’s house free in Israel.” David spoke to the men who stood by him, saying, “What shall be done to the man who kills this Philistine, and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” The people answered him in this way, saying, “So shall it be done to the man who kills him.” Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab’s anger burned against David, and he said, “Why have you come down? With whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride, and the naughtiness of your heart; for you have come down that you might see the battle.” David said, “What have I now done? Is there not a cause?” He turned away from him toward another, and spoke like that again; and the people answered him again the same way. When the words were heard which David spoke, they rehearsed them before Saul; and he sent for him. David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.” David said to Saul, “Your servant was keeping his father’s sheep; and when a lion or a bear came, and took a lamb out of the flock, I went out after him, and struck him, and rescued it out of his mouth. When he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and struck him, and killed him. Your servant struck both the lion and the bear. This uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God.” David said, “Yahweh who delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “Go! Yahweh will be with you.” Saul dressed David with his clothing. He put a helmet of bronze on his head, and he clad him with a coat of mail. David strapped his sword on his clothing, and he tried to move; for he had not tested it. David said to Saul, “I can’t go with these; for I have not tested them.” Then David took them off. He took his staff in his hand, and chose for himself five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag which he had. His sling was in his hand; and he came near to the Philistine. The Philistine walked and came near to David; and the man who bore the shield went before him. When the Philistine looked around, and saw David, he disdained him; for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and had a good looking face. The Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” The Philistine cursed David by his gods. The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky, and to the animals of the field.” Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin; but I come to you in the name of Yahweh of Armies, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. Today, Yahweh will deliver you into my hand. I will strike you, and take your head from off you. I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines today to the birds of the sky, and to the wild animals of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that Yahweh doesn’t save with sword and spear; for the battle is Yahweh’s, and he will give you into our hand.” When the Philistine arose, and walked and came near to meet David, David hurried, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. David put his hand in his bag, took a stone, and slung it, and struck the Philistine in his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth. So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine, and killed him; but there was no sword in the hand of David. Then David ran, stood over the Philistine, took his sword, drew it out of its sheath, killed him, and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. The men of Israel and of Judah arose and shouted, and pursued the Philistines as far as Gai and to the gates of Ekron. The wounded of the Philistines fell down by the way to Shaaraim, even to Gath and to Ekron. The children of Israel returned from chasing after the Philistines and they plundered their camp. David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armor in his tent. When Saul saw David go out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the captain of the army, “Abner, whose son is this youth?” Abner said, “As your soul lives, O king, I can’t tell.” The king said, “Inquire whose son the young man is!” As David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, you young man?” David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”
- Jeremiah 5:6 Therefore a lion out of the forest will kill them. A wolf of the evenings will destroy them. A leopard will watch against their cities. Everyone who goes out there will be torn in pieces, because their transgressions are many and their backsliding has increased.
- Ezekiel 22:25 There is a conspiracy of her prophets within it, like a roaring lion ravening the prey. They have devoured souls. They take treasure and precious things. They have made many widows within it.
- Hosea 13:7-8 Therefore I am like a lion to them. Like a leopard, I will lurk by the path. I will meet them like a bear that is bereaved of her cubs, and will tear the covering of their heart. There I will devour them like a lioness. The wild animal will tear them.
- Zephaniah 3:3 Her princes within her are roaring lions. Her judges are evening wolves. They leave nothing until the next day.
- Matthew 7:15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves.
- Matthew 10:16 “Behold, I send you out as sheep among wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
- Acts 8:3 But Saul ravaged the assembly, entering into every house and dragged both men and women off to prison.
- Acts 9:1 But Saul, still breathing threats and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest
- Acts 20:29 For I know that after my departure, vicious wolves will enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
- Philippians 3:5 circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee;
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (15 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 27. Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf. Some of…
27. Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf. Some of the Jews think the Benjamites are here condemned; because, when they had suffered lusts to prevail, like lawless robbers, among them, they were at length cut down and almost destroyed by a terrible slaughter, for having defiled the Levite’s wife. Others regard it as an honorable encomium, by which Saul, or Mordecai was adorned, who were both of the tribe of Benjamin. The interpreters of our own age most inaptly apply it to the apostle Paul, who was changed from a wolf into a preacher of the Gospel. Nothing seems to me more probable than that the disposition and habits of the whole tribe is here delineated; namely, that they would live by plunder. In the morning they would seize and devour the prey, in the evening they would divide the spoil; by which words he describes their diligence in plundering.
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.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Gen 49:27 Benjamin shall ravin [as] a wolf: in…
Gen 49:27 Benjamin shall ravin [as] a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.
Ver. 27. Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf.] There are that think that this ought to be applied to St Paul the Benjamite; {a} who while he was Saul, not content to consent to St Stephen’s death, - though it be all one to hold the sack, and to fill it; to do evil, and to consent unto it, - "he made havoc of the Church," like a ravening wolf; "entering into houses also, and haling men and women to prison." Yea, he lies "breathing out threatenings and slaughter," {Act 9:1} panting and windless, as a tired wolf: and, having recovered himself, is marching toward Damascus for more prey, but, met by the chief Shepherd, of a wolf, he is made a lamb, {Isa 11:6} not once opening his mouth, unless it were to crave direction; "What wilt thou have me to do Lord?" After which time, he never persecuted the saints so fast, as now he pursues and "presses" hard {διωκω, Php 3:14} "toward the high prize"; and as mad every whit he is thought to be for Christ, as ever he was against him. {2Co 5:13 Act 26:11} The Papists, some of them, have censured him for a hot-headed person, and said that there was no great reckoning to be made of his assertions. Is this blasphemy in the first or second table, say you? Porphyry, the philosopher, could say, that it was pity such a man as Paul was cast away upon our religion. And the monarch of Morocco told the English ambassador in King John’s time, that he had lately read Paul’s Epistles, which he liked so well, that were he now to choose his religion, he would, before any other, embrace Christianity. But every one ought, said he, to die in his own religion: and the leaving of the faith wherein he was born, was the only thing that he disliked in that apostle. {b}
Read full note →
{a} Sunt qui autumant hanc prophetiam Paulo applicari debere. - Bez., Annot. ad Act 8:3.
{b} Sandys’s Relation of West. Relig. Heyl., Geog., p. 714.
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 He notes the warlike and fierce disposition and carriage…
He notes the warlike and fierce disposition and carriage of that tribe. Instances whereof we have Jdg 3:15; 19:1-20:48; 1Sa 13:1-15:35. This may be understood, either of the same wolf, which in the morning, being more hungry and greedy, devours his prey alone; but in the evening, being in some measure satisfied, is content that his brethren should share with him. Or rather of several sorts of wolves, whereof some hunt and devour alone, others hunt in couples or troops, and those divide the prey among themselves. He mentions both
morning and
Read full note →
evening, because these are the two seasons when the wolves prey, and to note that this would be Benjamin’s carriage both in the first and last times of that tribe, as indeed it was.
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 In the cave that is in the field of…
In the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan,.... This is so exactly described, that there might be no mistake about the place, see Gen 23:17,
which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite, for a possession of a burying place; this is observed if any of the successors of Ephron, or any of the Hittites, should lay any claim unto it, or dispute the right of Jacob's sons to bury him there.
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 Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf - It is…
Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf - It is plain, Jacob was guided in what he said by a spirit of prophecy, and not by natural affection, else he would have spoken with more tenderness of his beloved son Benjamin, concerning whom he only foretells, that his posterity should be a warlike tribe, strong and daring, and that they should enrich themselves with the spoil of their enemies, that they should be active in the world, and a tribe as much feared by their neighbours as any other; in the morning he shall devour the prey which he seized and divided over night.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Gen 49:27. Benjamin shall raven as a wolf —…
Gen 49:27. Benjamin shall raven as a wolf — It is plain Jacob was guided in what he said by a spirit of prophecy, and not by natural affection, else he would have spoken with more tenderness of his beloved son Benjamin, concerning whom he only foretels that his posterity should be a warlike tribe, strong and daring; and that they should enrich themselves with the spoil of their enemies; that they should be active in the world, and a tribe as much feared by their neighbours as any other: in the morning he shall devour the prey — Which he seized and divided over night.
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 Wolf; alluding to the wars in the defence of…
Wolf; alluding to the wars in the defence of the inhabitants of Gabaa, and those waged by Saul, Mardocheus, &c. (Menochius) (Judges xix. and xx.) St. Paul was of this tribe; and, from a fiery zealot, became an eminent apostle. (St. Augustine, &c.) (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 BENJAMIN (Gen 49:27-33)
BENJAMIN (Gen 49:27-33)
shall ravin like a wolf--This tribe in its early history spent its energies in petty or inglorious warfare and especially in the violent and unjust contest (Jdg. 19:1-20:48), in which it engaged with the other tribes, when, notwithstanding two victories, it was almost exterminated.
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 27. Let him tear in pieces — We prefer…
27. Let him tear in pieces — We prefer this jussive rendering as being in the most perfect keeping with the spirit of the entire prophecy, and as giving the passage greater expressiveness. The verse portrays the warlike and furious character of the tribe of Benjamin, and the history of the tribal war, in Judges 20, affords its best illustration. From this tribe came the daring Ehud (Jdg_3:15) and the warlike Saul. Benjamin is portrayed under two characters, a beast of prey and a victorious warrior. Like a wolf that has prowled all night (comp. 1Sa_14:36) and taken prey, he devours it in the morning; like a warrior who has won conquests through the day, he divides the spoil, or booty, at evening. In this imagery Lange sees the outlines of “a wild, turbulent youth and an old age full of the blessing of sacrifice for others. That dividing the spoil in the evening is a feature that evidently passes over into a spiritual allusion. Our first thought would be of the dividing of the prey among the young ones, but for this alone the expression is too strong. He rends all for himself in the morning, he yields all in the evening. This is not a figure of Benjamin only, but of the theocratic Israel; and, therefore, a most suitable close. See Isa_53:12.”
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 27. Benjamin] The fierce and warlike qualities of Benjamin,…
27. Benjamin] The fierce and warlike qualities of Benjamin, here described under the simile of a wolf, appear in Jdg_5:14; Jdg_5:19; Jdg_20:21-25.
a wolf that ravineth] i.e. a wolf that seizes and rends his prey. Cf. Eze_22:27. Elsewhere in the O.T. the simile of a wolf is used only in a bad sense.
Read full note →
To “ravin” is Old English for “to prey with rapacity”: cf. Shakespeare, Cymb., i. 6, “The cloy’d will, … ravening first The lamb.”
at even] Compare the expression “evening wolves,” i.e. those which “at even” are most terrible and savage; Jer_5:6; Hab_1:8; Zep_3:3. It is noteworthy that there is no certain reference to the reign of Saul as conferring distinction upon the tribe. But “shall divide the spoil” recalls the description of the Benjamite monarch, who “clothed the daughters of Israel in scarlet, and put ornaments of gold on their apparel” (2Sa_1:24).
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 (27) Benjamin.—With this description of their ancestor agrees the…
(27) Benjamin.—With this description of their ancestor agrees the character of his race, which was the most spirited and warlike of all the tribes of Israel.
It would be interesting to compare the notices of the several tribes in the subsequent history with Jacob’s blessing of their progenitors, and with that also given by Moses. The fathers, moreover, found in the words of the patriarch faint foreshadowings of the spiritual truths of Christianity. But such discussions exceed the limits of a commentary, and it has seemed best to give only the primary explanation of Jacob’s words, in accordance, as far as possible, with the standpoint of the patriarch himself.
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 Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf (literally, a wolf,…
Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf (literally, a wolf, he shall tear in pieces): in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil. The prediction alludes to the warlike character of the tribe of Benjamin, which was manifested in Ehud the judge, (Jud_1:3:15) and Saul the king of Israel, (1Sa_11:6-11 1Sa_14:13, 1Sa_14:15, 1Sa_14:47, 1Sa_14:48) who both sprang from Rachel"s younger son.
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 Gen_49:13-21; Gen_49:27
Gen_49:13-21; Gen_49:27
Zebulun . . . Issachar . . . Dan . . . Gad . . . Asher . . . Naphtali . . . Benjamin
Read full note →
The blessings of Zebulun, &c.
:
Consider these blessings--
I. IN THEIR VARIETY.
1. Maritime power.
2. Husbandry.
3. Political sagacity.
4. The power to conquer by perseverance.
5. Plenty.
6. Eloquence.
7. The warlike character.
II. IN THEIR UNITY. Unity in variety. This diversity in the distribution of gifts and endowments contributes to human happiness and to human prosperity. (T. H. Leale.)
Zebulun and Issachar:
The tribes of the last two sons of Leah Moses unites together, and, like Jacob, places Zebulun, the younger, first. It has been represented by many, that from the words Jacob used with regard to Issachar, the patriarch was reproving this tribe for its indolence and for preferring ease at the sacrifice of liberty, that, like an idle beast of burden, he would rather submit to the yoke and be forced to do the work of a slave than risk his possessions and his peace in the struggle for liberty. It is impossible, however, to be satisfied with such a view after reading the words of Moses with reference to this tribe. When we read of Issachar calling the people unto the mountain, and there offering the sacrifices of righteousness, such a view would be utterly inconsistent with these words. If we trace the further history of this tribe, recorded in Jdg_5:15, we find that, so far from shrinking from difficulty and danger, they were among the foremost in coming to the help of the Lord against Israels enemies. Jacobs language is clearly not that of reproof, but of praise, prophetically applied to them for their patience under what was heavy to be borne. With such a view the passage becomes clear, and contains many points of beautiful instruction. And let us mark first how God apportions to each one his own appointed place. Jacob allotted to each tribe the place it was afterwards to occupy, just as if he had had a map before him of the country they were to inhabit, while as yet they had not one foot of land in their possession. The tribes were not settled in their various positions according to Joshuas plan. God appointed that their places should be given them by lot, and He made the lot to fall exactly as Jacob and Moses uttered their predictions. And God placed each one exactly in the place suited to its capacities and the best adapted for developing all that was in them, and thus for His own glory. One He placed at the haven of the sea, another inland. One where it would have to endure oppression and hardship, another where it would have great prosperity, and be less subject to such pressure. We may be sure it is the same with every one of us. We may sometimes be tempted to say, If I were only in another place or in other circumstances, how differently I could act. But it is not so. We may be quite sure we are each one of us in the very place God would have us to he--the very best place both for our own temporal and eternal welfare, and for His highest glory. And such a spirit, it appears to me, is manifested in the character of Issachar here. Issachar is brought before us as finding the position in which God had placed him to be the best. He saw that rest was good and the land that it was pleasant. Thus the Christian finds the rest into which Christ has brought him to be indeed good, and that his place in Christ is a good land. When this has been learned by experience through the teaching of Gods Holy Spirit, the soul becomes ready for all else. And then it is that, like Issachar, the soul is ready to bow the shoulder to bear, and become a servant to tribute. It can stoop, yea, joyfully stoop, to the meanest service for Christ. It asks no questions, makes no bargains, but with a spirit ever sitting at the feet of the Master, exclaims, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? It bows the shoulder to bear whatever the Lord may be pleased to lay upon it. (F. Whitfield, M. A.)
Issachar; or, couching between the borders:
If we consider nothing more than Issachar after the flesh, we shall have done with the text almost immediately upon noticing it as a prediction that Issachar should become a tribe of laborious husbandmen. But there is a spiritual Issachar, a borderer between good and evil; and would to God that his tents were nowhere to be found in our church. With this Issachar, or in other words, the wavering and undecided, for the description of whose character we find appropriate words in the text, let us now endeavour to become better acquainted. We shall notice--
I. WHERE HE COUCHES DOWN. Issachar has a strange and unprepossessing appellation, that of a bony ass. But who shall say how many amongst ourselves may not be thus unflatteringly designated in various parts of the book of God? We shall see why to the spiritual Issachar this name may be given, when we have learnt the characteristics which belong to him. Where do we find him? It is between the borders. He is couched down between the borders. Now, if we give a spiritual application to these words, we may take them as describing an evil and unhappy condition. How awfully does the Lord rebuke those whose hearts are halting in indecision--who are neither cold nor hot! To each of such lukewarm ones He declares, I will spew thee out of My mouth. He would that they were either one thing or the other: either cold or hot. Indecision is to Him an abomination. Where, then, is it that the spiritual borderer couches down, and between what borders has he pitched his tent? Strictly speaking, he is not one of those who are neither for nor against religion, neither Christian nor heathen. He is professedly for that which is right. He appears, indeed, to many, to have pitched his tent within the kingdom of God, and yet he is in a very deplorable situation. He has mettled down, as it were, between Canaan and Egypt. He cannot exactly be classed with the people of the world; but still less can he be numbered with the children of God. He cannot properly be placed in the same rank with the crooked and perverse generation; but still less can he be accounted one of the chosen generation and royal priesthood. He is couched down between the borders of the kingdom of grace and the kingdom of Belial. In this unhappy middle situation he can never sit down with the subjects of the former; but he will perish and be consumed with the subjects of the latter. He is a nominal Christian without a birth into a new life; he acknowledges the corruption of human nature without feeling his own; he is conversant with spiritual things, but not truly enlightened in them; he professes to believe in Jesus, but is insensible of his need of Him; he numbers himself among the saints, without being one; he knows how to talk of a life of grace, without having entered upon it; he imagines his life and conversation to be quite Christian, and yet is in thought and disposition no better than a natural man. His heart and mind are unchanged.
II. How DID HE COME INTO THIS CONDITION? He saw rest, that it was good; and the land, that it was pleasant. He saw rest, or repose, that it was good. What rest or repose? Was it rest for his soul in Christ? Was it peace with God? Was it repose in the great Redeemers merits? Was it a release from the burden and curse of sin? Was it deliverance from the servile drudgery of legal bondage? Oh no! quite another repose attracted him, and provoked his longing desire. He saw the land that it was pleasant. What land? Was it that better country, namely, the heavenly? Was it that blissful and glorious region of light and love, in a superior state of being, unto which Jesus Himself is the Way and the Door? Or, was it even that region of grace here on earth, wherein His people live by His dew and sunshine? Did his soul really desire this? Did he long after it? Nothing of the kind can be said of him. Very different inducements was he conscious of. It is sometimes one thing, and sometimes another, which leads persons of this character into their dubious situation between the borders. Some are attracted by the harmony and mutual love which they find among those who are quiet in the land. Another has naturally a soft and yielding disposition. He is easily affected and influenced. Another has a natural inclination to thought and inquiry. This leads him to search the Scriptures, where he finds abundance for his mind to feed upon, and to exercise his quickness of understanding. Another, from being naturally gifted with a keen perception of what is intellectually beautiful, is charmed with the sublimity of the inspired writings. The moving descriptions, the luminous imagery, the parabolic language, the lovely and touching scenes with which Scripture abounds, beget in him a kind of enthusiasm. In such various ways men may be spiritually couching down between the borders. He saw rest, that it was good; and the land, that it was pleasant. Thus it may be no real longing for reconciliation with God, no hunger for Christs righteousness, no thirst for the graces of the Holy Spirit, which induces them to renounce the world, and to join the people of the Lord.
III. In the last place, briefly notice THE SPIRITUAL TOILS AND PAINS THAT NECESSARILY ATTEND THIS STATE, AS ALSO THE FEARFUL PERILS WHICH SURROUND IT. This toilsome and harassing condition is depicted in the words, He bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute. Having bowed his shoulder to bear, he has a burden laid upon him, under which he sighs and groans; and this burden is--not the burden of sin! Would that he felt this, for his state would then soon begin to amend. But this burden is, alas! his Christianity itself: that notional Christianity, to the drudgery of which his own wisdom has allied him. (F. W.Krummacher, D. D.)
Issachar an example of the evil that results from too easy circumstances
Looking at the characterization of Issachar, we may see the enervatinginfluence, of too comfortable circumstances on a man or on a people. The inheritance of Issachar was pleasant, fertile, easily cultivated, and exceedingly remunerative. So his descendants came at length, for the most part, to take things easy, and submitted to outrages which those in poorer circumstances must have resisted even to the death. They grew indolent and luxurious, caring for little or nothing but their own ease, and sinking at last into mere tribute-payers. Now all this reminds us of the truth that conflict is absolutely necessary to strength of character. He who has no difficulties to contend with has therein the great misfortune of his life; for he has little or no motive for exertion, and without exertion he will be nothing in particular. It is a serious affliction to a man to be too well off, and many a son has been ruined because he inherited a fortune from his father. Unvarying prosperity is not by any means an unmingled blessing, and may be often a great evil. In the struggle for existence which adversity causes many may sink, but the survival is always of the fittest, for it is of those who have been made by the struggle into manly, earnest, strong, heroic souls. Do not plume yourself, therefore, on your easy circumstances, for they may make you only selfish, indolent, and lacking in public spirit, like that son of Jacob who had his fitting symbol in the contented, because well-fed and Trot overloaded, ass. But, on the other hand, do not whimper over your poverty, for, bravely wrestled with and nobly overcome, that may be the very making of you. Too much money has undone many a youth; too little has been the spur that has urged on many another to put forth all his strength, and so has developed and increased that strength. When you are getting comfortable and easy, therefore, suspect yourself, and watch lest your patriotism should grow languid, your activity disappear, and self-sacrifice drop entirely out of your life. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)
Dan
We come now to consider the character of Dan, the eldest son of Rachels handmaid. The meaning of the name--judge, is here expanded by Jacob into the character of the tribe: Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel, or in other words, Dan would procure justice to his people--to the people of Israel as truly as any other of the tribes of Israel. He would be behind none of them in that respect. The word judge is sometimes misapprehended. Its meaning is rather to defend than to sit in judgment upon. It is used of those who, when Israel had no king, God raised up from time to time as judges or defenders of the people, and who led them against their foes. The most conspicuous of these was Samson, who arose out of the tribe of Dan, and was himself an apt illustration of the character of the tribe. By his serpent-like arts he laid traps for his foes, and with great delight saw them fall into them one after another. This word judge, out of which Dans future history is evolved, is constantly used throughout the Bible with reference to God as judging His people; this judging being always a cause of thankfulness, as it meant a sure deliverance from all their foes. So much for the critical meaning of the word itself. The wisdom which is implied in the word serpent may be, however, of a two-fold character. It may be that wisdom which is commended by our Lord, or it may be that low cunning and craftiness which is of the very opposite character, and which stoops to the meanest arts to accomplish its ends. The expression Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel clearly means that Dan would use his wisdom for the good of Israel generally, not for his own selfish ends but as one of the tribes of Israel. At the same time it is held by many that this form of serpent-like craft will be developed in a very special way as the end of the present dispensation draws near. The first germ of idolatry that showed itself in Israel, after their settlement in Canaan, was in the tribe of Dan. In the eighteenth chapter of Judges we are told the children of Dan found an image in the house of Micah, and that this image became an object of idolatrous worship all the time the house of God was in Shiloh. Here was a continuous system of idolatry, carried on in direct opposition to God and the worship of God, until the day of the captivity of the land. Later on again we read that Jeroboam made two calves of gold for Israel to worship in opposition to the worship of God, and he put them, one in Bethel and the other in Dan; and it is said, this thing became a sin; for the people went to worship before the one even unto Dan. There is also an allusion to this tribe in Jer_8:16-17; and again in Amo_8:11; Amo_8:14, both of which are striking, and go far to confirm the view thus taken. In addition to this I may add the very singular fact that, in the enumeration of the tribes of Israel (Rev_7:1-17.) as the servants of God that were sealed in their forehead, the tribe of Dan is omitted, and the only one so omitted. And now, the patriarch, having given utterance to his prediction with reference to the future history of this tribe, suddenly exclaims, I have waited for Thy salvation, O Lord. There are two aspects in which those words must be viewed. In the first place, the previous declaration of Jacob that Dan should be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward, intimated, clearly enough, that warlike times were in store for Israel, in which this tribe should take a prominent part. It would seem as if for a moment he was carried in spirit into the midst of these times, and the dangers which would on every side surround Israel, and realizing the utter insufficiency of all human help from every quarter, he gave utterance to the earnest longing of soul for Gods help on their behalf in this prayer, I have waited for Thy salvation, O Lord. Dans is insufficient, Israels tribes united are insufficient, every human arm is insufficient: O Lord, we wait for Thy salvation. But more than even this. As a true Israelite he yearns for the time when the Messiah, Gods salvation, should appear for the help of His people. Accordingly the Jewish Targums have given the true view of Jacobs Words. They represent Jacob as passing over all the victories which Israel might gain in these battles, and saying, Not for the deliverance of Gideon the son of Joash does my soul wait, for that is temporary, not for the redemption of Israel by Samson, for that is transitory, but for the redemption of the Messiah, the Son of David, which Thou through Thy Word has promised to bring to Thy people Israel; for this Thy redemption my soul waits. But there is a second aspect of these words of Jacob. He may have been carried in spirit to that time when out of this very tribe Antichrist has arisen, and as he views for a moment his own people passing through its greatest tribulations, and beholds that darkest of all dark nights through which they have yet to pass, he breathes the earnest prayer for the salvation which shall be theirs at the close of it. (F. Whitfield, M. A.)
Gen_49:27
He shall divide the spoil
The division of spoils:
There is nothing more fascinating than the life of a hunter.
On a certain day in all England you can hear the crack of the sportsmans gun, because, grouse hunting has begun; and every man who can afford the time and ammunition, and can draw a bead, starts for the fields. On the 20th of October our woods and forests will resound with the shock of fire-arms, and will be tracked of pointers and setters, because the quail will then be a lawful prize for the sportsman. Xenophon grew eloquent in regard to the art of hunting. In the far East people, elephant-mounted, chase the tiger. The American Indian darts his arrow at the buffalo until the frightened herd tumble over the rocks. European nobles are often found in the fox-chase and at the stag-hunt. Francis L was called the father of hunting. Moses declares of Nimrod: He was a mighty hunter before the Lord. Therefore, in all ages of the world, the imagery of my text ought to be suggestive, whether it means a wolf after a fox, or a man after a lion. In the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoils. I take my text, in the first place, as descriptive of those people who, in the morning of their life, give themselves up to hunting the world, but afterwards, by the grace of God, in the evening of their life divide among themselves the spoils of Christian character. There are aged Christian men and women in this house who, if they gave testimony, would tell you that in the morning of their life they were after the world as intent as a hound after a hare, or as a falcon swoops upon a gazelle. They wanted the worlds plaudits and the worlds gains. They felt that if they could get this world they would have everything. Some of them started out for the pleasures of the world. They thought that the man who laughed loudest was happiest. They tried repartee, and conundrum, and burlesque, and madrigal. After awhile misfortune struck them hard on the back. They found there was something they could not laugh at. Under their late hours their health gave way, or there was a death in the house. They awoke to their sinfulness and their immortality, and here they sit to-night, at sixty or seventy years of age, as appreciative of all innocent mirth as they ever were, but they are bent on a style of satisfaction which in early life they never hunted: the evening of their days brighter than the morning. In the morning they devoured the prey, but at night they are dividing the spoils. Then there are others who started out for financial success. Wherever a dollar was expected to be, they were. They chased it across the ocean. They chased it across the land. They stopped not for the night. Hearing that dollar, even in the darkness, thrilled them as an Adirondack sportsman is thrilled at midnight by a loons laugh. They chased that dollar to the money-vault. All the hounds were out--all the pointers and the setters. They leaped the hedges for that dollar, and they cried: Hark away! a dollar! a dollar! And when at last they came upon it and had actually captured it, their excitement was like that of a falconer who has successfully flung his first hawk. In the morning of their life, oh, how they devoured the prey! But there came a better time to their soul. From that time they did not care whether they walked or rode, if Christ walked with them; nor whether they lived in a mansion or in a hut, if they dwelt under the shadow of the Almighty; nor whether they were robed in French broadcloth or in homespun, if they had the robe of the Saviours righteousness; nor whether they were sandalled with morocco or calf skin, if they were shod with the preparation of the gospel. Now you see peace on their countenance. Now that man says: What a fool I was to be enchanted with this world. This world is a poor thing to hunt. It is healthful to go out in the woods and hunt. It rekindles the lustre of the eye. It strikes the brown of the autumnal leaf into the cheek. It gives to the rheumatic limbs a strength to leap like the roe. Christopher Norths pet gun, the muckle-mounted-Meg, going off in the summer in the forests, had its echo in the winter-time in the eloquence that rang through the university halls of Edinburgh. It is healthy to go hunting in the fields; but I tell you that it is belittling and bedwarfing and belaming for a man to hunt this world. So it was with Lord Byron. So it was with Coleridge. So it was with Catherine of Russia. Henry II. went out hunting for this world, and its lances struck through his heart. Francis I. aimed at the world, but the assassins dagger put an end to his ambition and his life with one stroke. Mary Queen of Scots wrote on the window of her castle:--
From the top of all my trust Mishap hath laid me in the dust.
The Queen Dowager of Navarre was offered for her wedding-day a costly and beautiful pair of gloves, and she put them on; but they were poisoned gloves, and they took net life. Better a bare hand of cold privation than a warm and poisoned glove of ruinous success. Again, my subject is descriptive of those who come to a sudden and a radical change. You have noticed how short a time it is from morning to night--only seven or eight hours. You know that the day has a very brief life. Its heart beats twenty-four times, and then it is dead. How quick this transition in the character of these Benjamites! In the morning they shall devour the prey, and at night they shall divide the spoils. Is it possible that there shall be such a transformation in any of our characters? (Dr. Talmage.)
The blessing of Benjamin:
In Benjamin, the youngest and last of the sons of Jacob, there is expressed the culmination of all blessing for all the tribes of Israel. In this tribe is summed up, in a climax, all spiritual blessing for every child of God. Morning and evening together suggests the idea of incessant and victorious capture of booty. The warlike character manifested by this tribe was shown on many occasions in their history, and exhibited marked features of a fierce and wolfish character. Israel, as represented in Benjamin, shall devour the prey, and at night divide the spoil. The prophecies of Balaam, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, as well as the minor prophets, are full of announcements that the Lord will again take in hand His ancient people, and they shall go forth, in mighty power, under the leadership of Christ as their Messiah, and shall destroy their foes on the right hand and on the left, and shall carry off the spoil. This is the emphatic declaration in the blessing on Benjamin. At night, at the close of this dispensation of darkness and sin and sorrow, it will receive its decisive fulfilment, and a morning shall be ushered in such as the world has never yet seen--the morning of resurrection, when the Church of the living God shall exchange her weeds of widowhood for her garments of glory and beauty, and shall rise to meet her Lord in the air, and for ever reign with Him over a regenerated world. Blessed morning, long expected! Well may every true and loyal-hearted servant of Christ exclaim with the beloved disciple in his closing word of prophecy, Even so; come, Lord Jesus. (F. Whitfield, M. A.)
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 Benjamin is a hungry wolf
Benjamin is a hungry wolf
Here "Benjamin" is a metonym that stands for his descendants. Jacob speaks about Benjamin's descendants as if they were a hungry wolf. This emphasizes that they will be fierce warriors. AT: "The descendants of Benjamin will be like hungry wolves" (See: Metonymy and Metaphor)
Read full note →
translationWords
Benjamin
devour
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 49:27 The oracle about Benjamin describes a violent tribe…
49:27 The oracle about Benjamin describes a violent tribe (see Judg 20; 1 Sam 9:1-2; 19:10; 22:17).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.