stick. Hebrew "wood": put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Cause), App-6, for anything made of it.
children. sons,
companions: i.e. Benjamin and Levi. Hebrew text reads "companion" (singular); but margin, with some codices and one early printed edition, reads "companions" (plural)
Joseph. Who held the primogeniture of the other tribes (1 Chronicles 6:1), forfeited by Reuben; and was represented by Ephraim, the head of the ten tribes. Compare 1 Kings 11:26; Isaiah 11:13.Jeremiah 31:6; Hosea 5:3; Hosea 5:6.
his companions: i.e. the other tribes.