The First Book of Moses: Genesis

⭑ Catholic Public Domain :: Allioli - Arndt Bibel ⭑

- Kapitel 49 -

Then Jacob called his sons, and he said to them: “Gather together, so that I may announce what will happen to you in the last days.(a)

Gather together and listen, O sons of Jacob. Listen to Israel, your father.

Reuben, my firstborn, you are my strength and the beginning of my sorrow: first in gifts, greater in authority.(b)

You are being poured out like water, may you not increase. For you climbed onto your father’s bed, and you defiled his resting place.(c)

The brothers Simeon and Levi: vessels of iniquity waging war.

Let not my soul go by their counsel, nor my glory be within their meeting. For in their fury they killed a man, and in their self-will they undermined a wall.(d)

Cursed be their fury, because it was obstinate, and their indignation, because it was harsh. I will divide them in Jacob, and I will scatter them in Israel.

Judah, your brothers will praise you. Your hand will be at the necks of your enemies; the sons of your father will reverence you.

Judah is a lion’s young. You have gone up to the prey, my son. While resting, you have lain like a lion. And just like a lioness, who would rouse him?(e)

The scepter from Judah and the leader from his thigh will not be taken away, until he who will be sent arrives, and he will be the expectation of Gentiles.

Tying his young colt to the vineyard, and his donkey, O my son, to the vine, he will wash his robe in wine, and his cloak in the blood of the grape.

His eyes are more beautiful than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk.

Zebulun will live at the seashore and by the outpost of ships, reaching as far as Sidon.

Issachar will be a strong donkey, reclining between the borders.

He saw that rest would be good, and that the land was excellent. And so he bent his shoulder to carry, and he became a servant under tribute.

Dan will judge his people just like any other tribe in Israel.(f)

Let Dan be a snake in the way, a viper in the path, biting the hooves of horses, so that his rider may fall backward.(g)

I will wait for your salvation, O Lord.

Gad, being girded, will fight before him. And he himself will be girded backward.(h)

Asher: his bread will be fat, and he will provide delicacies to the kings.

Naphtali is a stag sent forth, offering words of eloquent beauty.

Joseph is a growing son, a growing son and stately to behold; the daughters run back and forth on the wall.(i)

But those who held darts, provoked him, and they contend with him, and they envied him.

His bow sits in strength, and the bands of his arms and hands have been let loose by the hands of the mighty one of Jacob. From there he went forth as a pastor, the stone of Israel.(j)

The God of your father will be your helper, and the Almighty will bless you with the blessings of heaven above, with the blessings of the abyss that lies beneath, with the blessings of the breasts and of the womb.

The blessings of your father are strengthened by the blessings of his fathers, until the desire of the hills of eternity shall arrive. May they be at the head of Joseph, and at the summit of the Nazarite, among his brothers.(k)

(l)

(m)

Benjamin is a ravenous wolf, in the morning he will eat the prey, and in the evening he will divide the spoil.”

All these are the twelve tribes of Israel. These things their father spoke to them, and he blessed each one with their proper blessings.

The Death of Jacob

And he instructed them, saying: “I am being gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the double cave, which is in the field of Ephron the Hittite,(n)

opposite Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought, along with its field, from Ephron the Hittite, as a possession for burial.

There they buried him, with his wife Sarah.” And there Isaac was buried with his wife Rebekah. There also Leah lies preserved.

And having finished these commands by which he instructed his sons, he drew his feet onto the bed, and he passed away. And he was gathered to his people.

Fußnoten

(a)49:1 This passage is the eschatological discourse of Jacob. It describes the state of the twelve parts of the one Catholic Church prior to the Return of Christ. Currently, the Church as two parts, east and west. After the unification of all the Christian Churches in one Catholic Church, there will be seven parts within the one Church. Much later, these seven will become twelve parts of one Church, like the twelve tribes of Israel. It is these twelve tribes of the future Church that Jacob describes on his death bed.(Conte)

(b)49:3 My strength, etc:He calls him his strength, as being born whilst his father was in his full strength and vigour: he calls him the beginning of his sorrow, because cares and sorrows usually come on with the birth of children. Excelling in gifts, etc., because the firstborn had a title to a double portion, and to have the command over his brethren, which Ruben forfeited by his sin; being poured out as water, that is, spilt and lost.(Challoner)

(c)49:4 may you not increase:This was not meant by way of a curse or imprecation; but by way of a prophecy foretelling that the tribe of Ruben should not inherit the pre-eminences usually annexed to the first birthright, viz., the double portion, the being prince or lord over the other brethren, and the priesthood: of which the double portion was given to Joseph, the princely office to Juda, and the priesthood to Levi.(Challoner)

(d)49:6 Slew a man:viz., Sichem the son of Hemor, with all his people, Gen. 34.; mystically and prophetically it alludes to Christ, whom their posterity, viz., the priests and the scribes, put to death.(Challoner)

(e)49:9 A lion’s whelp, etc:This blessing of Juda foretells the strength of his tribe, the fertility of his inheritance; and principally that the sceptre and legislative power should not be utterly taken away from his race till about the time of the coming of Christ: as in effect it never was: which is a demonstration against the modern Jews, that the Messiah is long since come; for the sceptre has long since been utterly taken away from Juda.(Challoner)

(f)49:16 Dan shall judge, etc:This was verified in Samson, who was of the tribe of Dan, and began to deliver Israel. Judges. 13:5. But as this deliverance was but temporal and very imperfect, the holy patriarch (ver. 18) aspires after another kind of deliverer, saying: I will look for thy salvation, O Lord.(Challoner)

(g)49:17 A ‘cerastes’ is a type of viper found in Africa, very poisonous and with a horn-like protuberance above each eye.(Conte)

(h)49:19 Gad being girded, etc:It seems to allude to the tribe of Gad; when after they had received for their lot the land of Galaad, they marched in arms before the rest of the Israelites, to the conquest of the land of Chanaan: from whence they afterwards returned loaded with spoils. See Jos. 4. and 12.(Challoner)

(i)49:22 Run to and fro, etc:To behold his beauty; whilst his envious brethren turned their darts against him, etc.(Challoner)

(j)49:24 His bow rested upon the strong, etc:That is, upon God, who was his strength: who also loosed his bands, and brought him out of prison to be the pastor, that is, the feeder and ruler of Egypt, and the stone, that is, the rock and support of Israel.(Challoner)

(k)49:26 The blessings of thy father, etc:That is, thy father’s blessings are made more prevalent and effectual in thy regard, by the additional strength they receive from his inheriting the blessings of his progenitors Abraham and Isaac.(Challoner)

(l)49:26 The desire of the everlasting hills, etc:These blessings all looked forward towards Christ, called the desire of the everlasting hills, as being longed for, as it were, by the whole creation. Mystically, the patriarchs and prophets are called the everlasting hills, by reason of the eminence of their wisdom and holiness.(Challoner)

(m)49:26 The Nazarite:This word signifies one separated; and agrees to Joseph, as being separated from, and more eminent than, his brethren. As the ancient Nazarites were so called from their being set aside for God, and vowed to him.(Challoner)

(n)49:29 To be gathered to my people:That is, I am going to die, and so to follow my ancestors that are gone before me, and to join their company in another world.(Challoner)

Jakobs letzte Worte an seine Söhne

Jakob aber berief seine Söhne und sprach zu ihnen: Versammelt euch, dass ich verkünde, was euch in der Zukunft der Tage begegnen wird.

Kommet zusammen, und höret, Söhne Jakobs, höret auf Israel, euren Vater!

Ruben, mein Erstgeborner! du meine Kraft und Erstling meines Schmerzens, der Erste an Gaben, der Größte an Macht.

Du wallest über wie Wasser, nicht sollst du dich mehren; denn deines Vaters Lager hast du bestiegen, entweiht sein Bett.

Simeon und Levi sind Brüder, Werkzeuge des Frevels in Waffen.

Meine Seele gehe nicht in ihren Rat, in ihrer Versammlung weile nicht mein Ruhm, denn in ihrem Zorne haben sie Männer gemordet, und in ihrem Mutwillen haben sie Mauern untergraben.

Verflucht sei ihr Zorn, weil er so hartnäckig; und ihr Grimm, weil er so hart war. Ich will sie in Jakob zerteilen und sie in Israel zerstreuen.

Juda, dich werden deine Brüder preisen. Deine Hand wird auf dem Nacken deiner Feinde liegen, vor dir werden sich beugen die Söhne deines Vaters.

Ein junger Löwe ist Juda; zur Beute bist du heraufgestiegen, mein Sohn! Du ruhst gelagert wie ein Löwe und wie eine Löwin. Wer darf ihn reizen?

Nicht wird das Zepter von Juda weichen, noch der Heerführer von seinen Lenden, bis der kommt, der gesandt werden soll, und auf ihn werden die Völker harren.

O mein Sohn! Er bindet an den Weinberg sein Füllen, und an die Rebe seine Eselin. Er wäscht sein Kleid im Wein, im Blute der Trauben sein Gewand.

Seine Augen sind schöner denn Wein, seine Zähne weißer denn Milch.

Zabulon wird am Gestade des Meeres wohnen, und gegen den Strand der Schiffe hin, und seine Seite wird bis nach Sidon reichen.

Issachar ist ein starker Esel, der zwischen den Gehegen liegt.

Er sieht, dass die Ruhe etwas Gutes und das Land vortrefflich ist, und er beugt seine Schulter zum Lasttragen und wird ein dienstbarer Knecht.

Dan wird seinem Volke Recht schaffen, wie irgend ein anderer Stamm in Israel.

Dan wird eine Schlange am Wege sein, eine Hornviper auf dem Pfade, die das Ross in die Hufe sticht, dass sein Reiter rücklings stürzt.

Auf dein Heil, o Herr, will ich harren!

Gad wird wohlgerüstet voran kämpfen, auch rücklings wird ihm Rüstung werden.

Asers Brot ist fett, und Leckerbissen reicht er Königen.

Nephthali ist ein Hirsch im schnellen Lauf, und kundig schöner Rede.

Ein Sohn des Gedeihens ist Joseph, ein Sohn des Gedeihens und lieblichen Anblicks; die Töchter schritten auf der Mauer dahin.

Aber es reizten und erbitterten und befehdeten ihn die Pfeilschützen.

Doch sein Bogen hält unerschüttert Stand, und gelöst sind die Fesseln seiner Arme und Hände durch die Hände des Starken Jakobs. Von dort ging der Hirt hervor, der Fels Israels.

Der Gott deines Vaters wird dein Helfer sein, und der Allmächtige wird dich segnen, mit Segensfülle vom Himmel von droben, mit Segensfülle aus der Tiefe unten, mit Segensfülle aus Mutterbrüsten und Mutterschoß.

Die Segnungen deines Vaters sind mächtiger als die Segnungen seiner Väter, bis da kommt das Verlangen der ewigen Hügel. Mögen sie kommen auf das Haupt Josephs, und auf den Scheitel des Nazaräers unter seinen Brüdern.

Benjamin ist ein räuberischer Wolf, am Morgen verzehrt er Raub, und am Abend verteilt er Beute.

Alle diese sind die zwölf Stämme Israels; und dies hat ihr Vater zu ihnen geredet, und jeden gesegnet mit einer besonderen Segnung.

Jakobs Tod und Begräbnis

Und er gebot ihnen und sprach: Ich werde zu meinem Volke versammelt; begrabet mich zu meinen Vätern in der Doppelhöhle, die auf dem Acker des Hethiters Ephron liegt,

Mambre gegenüber im Lande Chanaan, die Abraham samt dem Acker von dem Hethiter Ephron zum erbeigenen Begräbnis gekauft hat.

Dort haben sie ihn und Sara, sein Weib, begraben; dort wurde auch Isaak mit Rebekka, seinem Weibe, bestattet; und dort ruht auch Lia.

Als er nun seine Gebote geendet, die er seinen Söhnen gab, zog er seine Füße auf das Bett zurück und starb; und er ward hingenommen zu seinem Volke.