Genesis 49:17

_DAN SHALL BE A SERPENT BY THE WAY, AN ADDER IN THE PATH, THAT BITETH THE HORSE HEELS, SO THAT HIS RIDER SHALL FALL BACKWARD._ An adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels - х_ SHªPIYPON_ (H8207)] Coluber cerastes, or horned snake, very common in Egypt and the desert, of from eighteen inches to two feet in length, in colour like the sand or soil, which is accustomed to lurk in the sand, or in the tracks of a road, whence it springs suddenly on the object of its attack, particularly on horses, which it assails by piercing the horses' hoofs with its sharp sting; and as the action of the poison is exceedingly rapid, and soon fatal, the rider falls backward (Pliny's 'Hist. Nat.,' lib. 9:, cap. 32; Bochart's Hieroz.,' lib. 3:, chapter 12; Bruce's 'Travels;' Tristram's 'Israel'). In both places they were exposed to the invasion of foreign enemies, against whom they characteristically car...

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...

Verse Genesis 49:17. _DAN SHALL BE A SERPENT_] The original word is נחש _nachash_, and we have seen in _Clarke's note "_Genesis 3:1_"_ that this has a great variety of significations. It is probable that a _serpent_ is here intended, but of what kind we know not; yet as the principal reference in the text is to _guile, cunning_, c., the same creature may be intended as in _"Clarke's note "_Genesis 3:1_"_. _A CERASTES UPON THE TRACK_] The word שפיפון _shephiphon_, which is nowhere else to be found in the Bible, is thus translated by the _Vulgate_, and _Bochart_ approves of the translation. The _cerastes_ has its name from two little horns

- 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

DAN SHALL BE A SERPENT BY THE WAY, AN ADDER IN THE PATH,.... Or be like that sort of serpents called the adder; or rather, that which has the name of Cerastes, which lies among sand, and being of the same colour is not easily discerned, and is often trampled upon unawares, and bites at once, unexpected; as Bothart h from various writers has shown; particularly Diodorus Siculus i says, of this kind of serpents, that their bites are deadly, and being of the same colour with the sand, few discern them, so that many ignorantly treading on them fall into danger unawares; and so Onkelos paraphrases it, that lies in wait by the way; and is by another writer k interpreted, a very grievous and hurtful serpent as the adder is: THAT BITETH THE HORSE HEELS, SO THAT HIS RIDER SHALL FALL BACKWARD; for this sort of serpents lying in horse ways and cart ruts, snaps at and bites horses as they pass alon...

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...

DAN SHALL BE A SERPENT— The next word points out a particular kind of serpent: the Vulgate takes it for the _cerastes,_ a kind of _horned_ serpent, of a very subtle nature, which, Pliny says, hides its whole body in the sand, shewing only its horns as a bait to catch the birds: and this translation Bochart supports. Our version of _adder_ seems as probable as any; because it is well known that this kind of reptile stings all sorts of cattle. Be that as it may, the comparison intimates, that the Danites were to be remarkable for stratagems of war, defeating their enemies more by policy than open force, like those serpents which lie in the road, and unexpectedly bite horses' heels, and make them throw their riders. Moses gives them the same character, by comparing _Dan_ to a lion's whelp, leaping unexpectedly out of a _thicket,_ Deuteronomy 33:22. We have inst