‘All these are the twelve offshoots (tribes) of Israel, and this is what their father said to them, and he blessed them, with a blessing suitable to each one he blessed them.'
“The twelve offshoots (tribes) of Israel.” This is the first use of this full phrase (only used elsewhere in Exodus 24:4; Ezekiel 47:13), but we must recognise here that in this initial mention there is more emphasis on Israel the person. These are his twelve offshoots (or ‘rods' - see on verse 16), twelve leaders, the representatives of the twelve sub-groups under their father Israel himself. They represent in their persons their ‘sub-tribes', and in embryo the future tribes. It is then emphasised immediately that the above words are words spoken to them as persons and blessings as befitted each one. Even the warnings are blessings for they can be acted on and even responded to. This comment may well have been added by Moses as he saw its fruition in the twelve groups he led.
In context ‘offshoots' fits better than ‘tribes'. It is only if we take the dogmatic position that the later tribes of Israel are in mind here that ‘tribes' fits as a translation. But the writer or compiler certainly describes this passage as words spoken to the sons not to the tribes.
It will be seen that this blessing of Jacob can be related very closely to their time in Egypt, and not so much (with exceptions) to their later time in Canaan. This is what we would expect from a genuine blessing by Jacob.