Genesis 49:14

_ISSACHAR IS A STRONG ASS COUCHING DOWN BETWEEN TWO BURDENS:_ Issachar is a strong ass - literally, a male donkey of bone; i:e., stout, strong-bodied. COUCHING DOWN BETWEEN TWO BURDENS, х_ ROBEETS_ (H7257) _ BEEYN_ (H996) _ HAMISHPªTAAYIM_ (H4942)] - reclining among the folds or enclosures. The word is in the dual number, because the folds apparently consisted of two divisions, for accommodating different kinds of cattle. The donkey being a strong and sprightly animal in the East, the comparison of a man or a people to that animal is among the Orientals reckoned honourable; and we may be certain that it was not used in a disparaging sense in this valedictory address of the patriarch. The points of resemblance designed to be indicated by this image were all good qualities-patience, docility, a capacit

14._Issachar_. Here mention is partly made of the inheritance, and an indication is partly given of the future condition of this tribe. Although he is called a bony ass on account of his strength, (209) which would enable him to endure labors, especially such as were rustic, yet at the same time his sloth is indicated: for it is added a little afterwards, that he should be of servile disposition. Wherefore the meaning is, that the sons of Issachar, though possessed of strength, were yet quiet rather than courageous, and were as ready to bear the burden of servitude as mules are to submit their backs to the packsaddle and the load. The reason given is, that, being content with their fertile and pleasant country, they do not refuse to pay tribute to their neighbors, provided they may enjoy repose. And although this submissiveness is not publicly mentioned either to their praise or their co...

13-18 Concerning Zebulun: if prophecy says, Zebulun shall be a haven of ships, be sure Providence will so plant him. God appoints the bounds of our habitation. It is our wisdom and duty to accommodate ourselves to our lot, and to improve it; if Zebulun dwell at the heaven of the sea, let him be for a haven of ships. Concerning Issachar: he saw that the land was pleasant, yielding not only pleasant prospects, but pleasant fruits to recompense his toils. Let us, with an eye of faith, see the heavenly rest to be good, and that land of promise to be pleasant; this will make our present services easy. Dan should, by art, and policy, and surprise, gain advantages against his enemies, like a serpent biting the heel of the traveller. Jacob, almost spent, and ready to faint, relieves himself with those words, "I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord!" The salvation he waited for was Christ, the...

14. Issachar is a strong ass Couching between two burdens. 15. And he saw the resting place that _it was_ good, And the land that it was pleasant; And he inclined his shoulder to the load, And he became a servant unto tribute. Verse Genesis 49:14. _ISSACHAR IS A STRONG ASS_] חמר גרם _chamor garem_ is properly a _strong-limbed ass; couching between two burdens _- bearing patiently, as most understand it, the fatigues of _agriculture_, and submitting to _exorbitant taxes_ rather that exert themselves to drive out the old inhabitants. The two burden

- Jacob Blesses His Sons 5. מכרה _m__e__kêrāh_, “weapon;” related: כיר _kārar_ or כרה _kārāh_ dig. “Device, design?” related: מכר _mākar_ “sell,” in Arabic “take counsel. Habitation.” 10. מחקק _m__e__choqēq_, “lawgiver, judge, dispenser of laws.” This word occurs in six other places - Numbers 21:18; Deuteronomy 33:21; Jud. Deuteronomy 5:14;...

EXPOSITION GENESIS 49:1 AND JACOB (having closed his interview with Joseph and his two sons) CALLED (by means of messengers) UNTO HIS SONS (_i.e._ the others who were then absent), AND SAID, GATHER YOURSELVES TOGETHER,—the prophet's last utterance must be a public one—THAT I MAY TELL YOU—literally, and I _will tell you_—THAT WHICH SHALL BEFALL YOU—קָרָא, in the sense of happening or occurring to any one, is here equivalent to קָרָה (cf. Genesis 42:4, Genesis 42:38)—IN THE LAST DAYS—literally, _in the end of the days, _not simply in f

ISSACHAR IS A STRONG ASS,.... Or as one, the note of similitude being wanting, as Ben Melech observes; "a bony" e one, as the word signifies; not one that is lean, and nothing but skin and bones, as some interpret it, but that is strong and robust, able to carry burdens; and this tribe is compared to an ass, not for stupidity and sluggishness, but for its strength, and its use in husbandry, in which this tribe was chiefly occupied: the Targums of Jonathan and Jarchi interpret this figuratively, of his being strong to bear the yoke of the law: and it is a notion of the Jews, that this tribe were skilful in the doctrines of the law, and the intercalation of years, c. from 1 Chronicles 12:32 couching down between two burdens: one hanging on one side, and another on the other which Kimchi and Ben Melech interpret of bales of goods; and may as well be understood of sacks of corn, or a

L, 2. _And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last day. Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father._ It must have been a great comfort to the old man to have all his twelve sons with him. What a quiet answer this was to his former unbelief! They were all there, yet he could remember the time when he had said, «Me have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away.» Ah! we also shall have in our later days to chide ourselves for our foolish unbelief. «Jacob called unto his sons,» so he was not bereaved after all. They are all here, Jacob. It falls to the lot of few fathers to have twelve sons, and to fewer still to have all twelve of them gathered about his dying bed. «Gather yourselves together.» They were t...

CHAPTER 49 JACOB'S PROPHECY _ 1. The call of Jacob: “Gather yourselves together” (Genesis 49:1)_ 2. The prophecy concerning his sons (Genesis 49:3) Reuben (Genesis 49:3) Simeon and Levi (Genesis 49:5) Judah (Genesis 49:8) Zebulun (Genesis 49:13) Issachar (Genesis 49:14) Dan ...

THE BLESSING OF JACOB. This poem had an independent origin, but if it was incorporated in one of the main documents it would be in J. It is not a mere collection of originally isolated utterances on the tribes, but was from the first put in the lips of Jacob, though expansions and alterations have, no doubt, taken place. It need hardly be said that it is not the utterance of Jacob himself. It would be inexplicable that his vision should fix just on the period here covered. The oppression of Egypt, the Exodus, the wandering are all passed over, though they lay nearer to Jacob's day, and were momentous in character. And beyond the time of David or Solomon the author's vision does not range. Why should Jacob, who can see the period of the Judges and early monarchy, see only this, especially as he claims to foretell what is to happen in the latter days? The period is so restricted because it...