CRITICAL NOTES.—
Genesis 49:8. Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise.] An allusion to his name which signifies praise (Genesis 29:35.)—not merely the praised one, but he for whom Jehovah is praised.—
Genesis 49:9. Judah is a lion’s whelp; from the prey, my son, thou art gone up.] “Judah, the kingly tribe, is likened to the lion, the king of beasts, who has taken his prey in the plain and is returning to his mountain habitation (Song of Solomon 4:8). It is from this prophecy that the remarkable title of the Lion of the tribe of Judah is given to Christ (Revelation 5:5).” (Alford.)—10 The sceptre shall not depart.] The tribal sceptre—a symbol of royal power and authority. Nor a lawgiver from between his feet.] Some render it, nor the judicial staff from between his feet” (Keil, Kalisch.) The term means first a commander—lawgiver (Deuteronomy 33:21), then a judicial staff or ruler’s sceptre (Numbers 21:18). “When the ancient kings addressed public assemblies, they held in their hands this sceptre. When they sat in state upon the throne they rested it between their feet, unless personal application was made to them, when they stretched it out. But the sense of lawgiver is best suited to the varied form of the parallelism. And then the figure is of the lion, who has between his feet the lawgiver; that is—has the legislative control. Judah shall be dominant, and shall have the authority and control as a tribe, until Shiloh come.”—Jacobus. Until Shiloh come.] This has been variously rendered. Some give the meaning, until he comes to whom it (the kingdom or control) belongs. Others interpret Shiloh as meaning rest, or place of rest, and accordingly render it, till rest comes, or, he comes to a place of rest. Some, again, understand it as the name of a place, and explain it of the time when the “whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together at Shiloh” (Joshua 18:1). But the most natural rendering is the commonly received one, which regards Shiloh as a personal name. It means the same as Solomon, from a verb signifying to rest. Therefore it is a prophecy of the Messiah, “the Prince of Peace.” Jesus is called our peace. “On the coming of Shiloh the last remnant of that supremacy was removed, only to be replaced by the higher form of pre-eminence which the Prince of Peace inaugurates.” (Murphy.) The gathering.] The word means properly filial obedience—a willing homage. “The obedience describes the willing submission to the new form of sovereignty which is ushered in by the Shiloh.” (Murphy.) The people.] The peoples—the nations of the world.
Genesis 49:11. Washed his garments in wine.] “Wine is produced in such abundance that it can be applied to such a purpose; a poetical hyperbole, as in Job 29:6.” (Lange.)—
Genesis 49:12. His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk.] Lange translates the word rendered “red,” dark gleaming. He shall be distinguished for dark lustred eyes, and for white teeth. The soil of. Judah near Hebron and Engedi produced the best wine in Canaan.—13 Zebulon.] The name means dwelling. At the haven of the sea.] “This tribe touched upon the coast of the sea of Kinnereth and of the Mediterranean.” (Murphy.)—
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Genesis 49:8-12
THE BLESSING OF JUDAH
I. That he should win the praise of his brethren. (Genesis 49:8.) Jacob having now a worthier theme, uses the proper style and language of blessing. We might have supposed that the greatness which he predicts for Judah would have made him a mark of envy rather than an object of praise. But Judah was to be gifted with that supremacy of influence which commands praise and admiration—that greatness springing out of goodness which disarms envy. He was gifted with wisdom and understanding. (Exodus 31:2-3.) He had all those elements of mental and moral character which gave him a sovereign dominion over other minds. As his name signifies, his brethren were also to praise God for him, on his behalf. His excellency would make an impression upon his brethren, upon those who knew and understood him best; and they shall be constrained to praise God for him. He was a good gift; he would diffuse blessing, and they must say, “the Lord be praised.” See the power of character. Judah would not have to court praise. His brethren would give it to him of their own accord. His conquests, won by the strength of his goodness, would bring him renown and reverence. He had that unobtrusive and unconscious greatness which must prevail in the end. “The meek shall inherit the earth.”
II. That he should be the type of the victorious hero. He is compared to a “lion.” (Genesis 49:9). The Hebrews had several distinct words to represent the different ages and degrees of strength and fierceness of the lion, three of which occur in this verse. These indicate different stages in the history of Judah’s supremacy.
1. A growing power. He is compared to “a lion’s whelp,” a young lion, who has more growth to expect, who is only in the beginning of his strength. Judah’s dominion at its commencement was small. He governed the people, at first, by petty rulers such as the judges. Afterwards came the race of kings, national prosperity followed, great institutions flourished, and the people enjoyed the land of their fathers in peace. So the kingdom of the Messiah—who was the “lion of the tribe of Judah.”—started apparently from small beginnings, but in the course of the ages it has grown great. It is the realm that for ever lasts. It will secure for His people quiet habitations, thrones of power, and seats of monarchs whose kingdom passes not away.
2. A righteous power. Judah is also compared to a “lion,” in the full vigour of his strength. The figure implies a lion in the den, satiated with prey, and is, therefore, couchant, not rampant. The strength of Judah was not to be the strength of the oppressor, but rather of him who is strong in his right, in the majesty of defence. Such is the strength of the Messiah. His kingdom is founded upon righteousness.
3. A power to be dreaded. “Who shall rouse him up?” Men are to stand in dread of his power, though it seems to slumber. His was a power to bless; but woe to those who rouse it up and so turn that power against themselves. Christ is at rest as a lion going up from the prey; seated at the right-hand of God as a lion couchant, reposing after His conquest over the powers of darkness, and it is at the peril of the greatest monarchs to rouse Him up. (Psalms 2:10-12). “Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and ye perish from the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little.” It is to be lamented that we do not love Christ more, that we do not trust Him more; but is it not even more dreadful that we have so little fear of Him! Let us beware how we arouse that wrath which is so terrible, even when it is “kindled but a little.”
III. That he should be the type of the Messiah. (Genesis 49:10.) We have here one of the first and clearest prophecies of the Redeemer. Judah’s kingdom was to lead up to the higher and more enduring kingdom of Christ. He was a type of the Messiah—
1. In His sovereignty. For
(1.) He had regal power. He was to hold the sceptre, until his sovereignty should receive a higher meaning and be absorbed in that of the Messiah.
(2.) He had power combined with gentleness. He is compared to “a lion,” and yet he is to prepare the way for Shiloh, “the Prince of Peace.” In Revelation 5:5, we read, “the Lion of the tribe of Judah hath prevailed to open the book.” The idea of a lion seems to be opposed to that of peace. But the prophet immediately says, “And I beheld, and lo! a lamb as it had been slain.” The two images combine to form one truth. There is a strength of force, and there is another which is gained and established through suffering, spiritual conquests and greatness.
(3.) He had a power which sweetly wins obedience. The “obedience of the peoples” was to be to Shiloh. The cross has the power of attraction by its exhibition of Divine love. Christ, being lifted up, draws all men unto Him. His kingdom is founded not upon force, but upon love.
2. In his prosperity. Temporal prosperity was the lot of Judah. (Genesis 49:11-12.) Wine and milk are also the symbols of gospel blessings (Isaiah 55). The Messiah shall prosper, ever winning great and lasting victories. “The pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand” (Isaiah 53:10).
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Genesis 49:8. All this is chiefly verified in Christ. In Him is beauty, bounty, goodness, greatness, and whatsoever else is praiseworthy. He goeth forth riding on His white horse, “conquering and to conquer.” (Revelation 6:2). St. Paul, His chief herald, proclaims His victory with a world of solemnity and triumph (1 Corinthians 15:56), and he calls upon all his brethren to bow down before Him (Philippians 2:10), as they do (Revelation 12:10), casting down their crowns at His feet. (Revelation 4:10).—(Trapp).
Genesis 49:9. The theme swells under contemplation, and we are insensibly led by the language employed to trace the spiritual career of “David’s greater son,” who, while He warred successfully with the powers of darkness during His ministry on earth, despoiling His most potent adversaries, and dividing the spoil with the mighty, till, rising from the dead He “went up” in a triumphant ascension from the field where His victories had been won, like the lion returning to his lair gorged with prey, and set down at His Father’s right hand, in a rest which no enemy can presume to invade but at his utmost peril.—(Bush).
Genesis 49:10. Shiloh, the Pacificator, or Prince of Peace. Much has been written to evade the difficulty which arises from the fact that there was no king in Israel when He came. But surely it is not needed. Ten tribes disappeared. Of the remaining two, both merged themselves in Judah; and the sceptre is only a figurative and poetical name for nationality. Israel’s nationality, merged in Judah lasted until Shiloh came.—(Robertson).
For our sakes Israel and Judah enjoyed the Divine protection till Christ came, that we might be saved by His obedience to the death. The whole train of providential administration in the world, and especially towards the chosen people, was directed towards the redemption and salvation of men as its object. What despisers, then, are we of our own mercies if we refuse to join the concourse that is flocking to the standard of the Shiloh?—(Bush).
This is the central vision, coming from the central feeling, and around it all the rest are gathered. They are to it as the historical frame to the picture. Judah is more closely connected with this central vision than all the rest. We can trace the name Shiloh to no antecedents. It was a wondrous, a mysterious name. It was intended to be mysterious that men might ponder much upon it, and be the better prepared to understand its glorious import, when it should be fully realised upon the earth.—(Lange.)
Genesis 49:11-12. His was to be a territory rich in vineyards and pastures. It has been said that prosperity is the blessing of the Old Testament, tribulation the specific promise of the New. But this is scarcely true; in the New, as in the Old, temporal blessings follow certain qualities of heart. The laws of God remain unalterable. The fifth commandment “with promise,” is quoted by Paul as valid in the Christian dispensation still. And in the sermon on the Mount, Christ says: “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” The fact is not that the consequences of right and wrong are changed, but that the New Testament has brought out, with peculiar prominence, a class of results of right doing which were only dimly visible in the elder dispensation.—(Robertson.)