CRITICAL NOTES.—
Genesis 49:22. Whose branches run over the wall.] “Transcend all the usual boundaries of a well-enclosed garden. Joseph is, in prospect, the twofold tribe that bursts the bounds assigned to a twelfth of the chosen people, and overspreads the area of two tribes.” (Murphy.)—
Genesis 49:24. The shepherd the stone of Israel.] “His rock at Bethel, on whose support he slept as he pillowed his head upon the stone.” (Lange) “The fostering guardian as well as the solid foundation of his being.” (Murphy.)—
Genesis 49:26. Separate from his brethren.] Distinguished from his brethren. “A separate one—in his personal consecration, as well as in his historical dignity.” (Lange.)—
Genesis 49:27. Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf; in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.] The warlike boldness of the tribe appears in the history (Judges 5:14); its distinguished archers and slingers (Judges 20:16; 1 Chronicles 8:39-40; 1 Chronicles 12:2; 2 Chronicles 14:7-8; 2 Chronicles 17:17). Saul and Jonathan sprang from this tribe.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Genesis 49:22-26
THE BLESSING OF JOSEPH
The patriarch delights to dwell on this theme. The whole tone of his language changes; and he pours out his full soul in blessings upon the head of his long lost, but now restored and exalted son. He has the richest and largest benedictions for him who was the saviour of his house and the type of the coming Deliverer. All the father’s heart is here. There are three elements in this blessing of Joseph.
I. Prediction of his future greatness.
1. His extraordinary increase. He was to be as a “fruitful bough” planted “by a well.” His descendants would spread and flourish, like a tree planted by the rivers of water. (Psalms 1:3). His “branches” would even “run over the wall;” they would outgrow their boundaries. The remarkable increase of this adopted tribe is recorded in Numbers 1:33-35; Joshua 16; Joshua 17; Deuteronomy 33:17.
2. His great prosperity.
(1.) All kinds of blessings were promised. “Blessings of heaven above.” (Genesis 49:25). The uses and favours bestowed by the air, the rain, and the sun; and above all, spiritual blessings from on high, of which these were the natural symbols. “Blessings of the deep that lieth under.” The springs and streams, and the fertile soil; and chiefly those gifts which arise from God’s deep fountains of love, from Him with whom is the well of life. “Blessings of the breasts and of the womb.” A numerous offspring, children of the home, flocks and herds in abundance.
(2.) His blessings were to surpass all former instances. “The blessings of my father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors.” (Genesis 49:26). They were to surpass those blessings which came upon Jacob from his father, as far as the old mountains tower above the earth. They were to rise until they reach the summits of the everlasting hills; as it were, a complete deluge of blessing.
(3.) His blessings are traced to their source. “The God of thy father who shall help thee.” “The Almighty,” who is able to control all adverse powers and to accomplish His will, who has the ability as well as the disposition to be good.
II. Praise of his character. He dwells upon what Joseph was and had been.
1. He had been a much tried man. “The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him.” (Genesis 49:23.)
(1.) The archers of envy and hatred. The envy of his brethren wounded his feelings, their cruel words like arrows pierced his soul, their hatred sold him into slavery.
(2.) The archers of temptation. He was tempted by an adulterous mistress. (Genesis 39:7-19.)
(3.) The archers of persecution. He was imprisoned by his master, though he was innocent of wrong. Though supported by his integrity, yet he felt the trial. The iron entered his soul.
(4.) The archers of neglect and ingratitude. His patience was sorely tried by his fellow prisoner, who forgot him, leaving him to languish in his long imprisonment, when a word spoken in praise of such a benefactor might have brought deliverance.
2. He had gained the victory over his trials. “His bow abode in strength.” (Genesis 49:24.) It was kept strongly strong, was never allowed to weaken or slacken, was always ready. (Job 29:20.) He was not one of those who faint in adversity. (Proverbs 24:10.) He always had great moral strength and firmness of character. His courage and self-possession never forsook him. The patriarch does not forget the Divine source of his strength; “The arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob.” (Genesis 49:24.) The God who had shown His mightiness in Jacob’s own deliverance. “The stone of Israel” was the strong foundation of his life. “The Shepherd” of Israel was his guide and defence, his living, personal God.
III. His destiny the natural result of his character. His future might be judged from his past; for that contains in itself all the elements of true greatness.
1. His filial obedience. This was his peculiarity. He kept that commandment which has promise. He had learned to obey, and so he was fit to rule.
2. His desire for God’s glory. He had the fear of God before his eyes, and considered that his life was ordered by Divine wisdom for the good of others. (Genesis 45:7-8.) He who thus glorifies God must be blessed. To show, further, how his future might be inferred from his past, consider:—
3. The operation of that principle by which God rewards in kind. Joseph was “separate from his brethren;” first by a painful exile, and now by a glorious promotion and distinction. This separation had the effect of forcing him back upon himself, and of fetching out and bringing to the surface the true greatness of his character. He was rewarded in kind—separated first by adversity, and then by superior rank and blessing.
4. The principle that God’s dealings in the past constitute a ground of hope and trust for the future. God hath and God shall is sound Scripture logic. (Psalms 85:1-4; 2 Corinthians 1:10.) The goodness and grace of the past is a pledge for the future. We may be sure that our God will be always like Himself. “Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.” (Psalms 63:7.)
5. The principle by which a firm and well-established godliness tends to continue. The figure which represented the vitality and increase of Joseph’s family was also true of his spiritual nature. His soul was like a tree planted by the rivers of water, ever full of vigorous life and bringing forth abundant fruit. He had overcome temptation, and thus had proved the strength of his character. He had been used to the ways of obedience until they had grown into a habit. He had enjoyed the favour of God until it became his chief delight. The natural tendency of a godly life (natural with the new nature) is to continue. “The righteous also shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger.” (Job 17:9.)
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Genesis 49:22. The emblem of the “vine running over the wall” aptly denotes a population swelling beyond the compass of the bounds which they were to occupy. How strikingly this was fulfilled in the case of Joseph! (Joshua 17:14-18.)—(Bush.)
Genesis 49:23-24. The Divine favour forsook him not; he was preserved and relieved by the mighty God of Jacob, by whom he was delivered when his death was designed; preserved chaste when tempted to sin; rendered prosperous from the depth of his affliction; and finally advanced to great dignity, and made an instrument of most signal good to others. Thus his “low abode in strength,” denoting unconquered perseverance in a particular state or condition.—(Bush.)
The sound heart stands firm under greatest pressures (2 Corinthians 1:9; 2 Corinthians 1:12). Whereas, if a bone be broke, or but the skin rubbed up and raw, the lightest load will be troublesome. Hang heavy weights upon rotten boughs, they presently break. But Joseph’s were green, and had sap.—(Trapp.)
Genesis 49:25. God “shall hear the heaven, the heaven shall hear the earth, and the earth shall hear the corn, wine, and oil;” the genealogy of all which is resolved into God (Hosea 2:21-22).—(Trapp.)
The earth shall rise up against the wicked, and the heavens shall reveal their iniquity; but heaven and earth, and the waters below the earth, shall combine, under the control of Divine Providence, to furnish blessings to God’s people.—(Bush.)
Genesis 49:26. To Joseph is given a double portion with a double measure of affection from a father’s heart. Like an overflowing flood his blessings have risen to the very summits of the perpetual hills in the conceptions of the venerable patriarch.—(Murphy.)
The spirit of his benediction was, by how much he was afflicted for the sake of others, by so much let him be blessed and honoured, and that to the latest posterity! And such is the mind of God, and all His true friends concerning a greater than Joseph (Hebrews 2:9; Revelation 5:11-12; Revelation 1:5-6).—(Fuller.)