Context No. 3088 of 4322 · Genesis

Genesis 49:17-27: in context

17Dan will be a serpent on the trail, an adder in the path, that bites the horse’s heels, so that his rider falls backward. 18I have waited for your salvation, LORD. 19“A troop will press on Gad, but he will press on their heel. 20“Asher’s food will be rich. He will produce royal dainties. 21“Naphtali is a doe set free, who bears beautiful fawns. 22“Joseph is a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine by a spring. His branches run over the wall. 23The archers have severely grieved him, shot at him, and persecuted him: 24But his bow remained strong. The arms of his hands were made strong, by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, (from there is the shepherd, the stone of Israel), 25even by the God of your father, who will help you, by the Almighty, who will bless you, with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lies below, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb. 26The blessings of your father have prevailed above the blessings of my ancestors, above the boundaries of the ancient hills. They will be on the head of Joseph, on the crown of the head of him who is separated from his brothers. 27“Benjamin is a ravenous wolf. In the morning he will devour the prey. At evening he will divide the plunder.”

Jacob continues blessing his sons. Dan a serpent by the road; Gad pressed by raiders yet pressing back; Asher's food rich; Naphtali a doe set free; Joseph a fruitful vine, attacked by archers yet kept strong; Benjamin a ravenous wolf. And in the middle of it all, the dying man suddenly breaks off with a cry of his own: I wait for your salvation, O LORD.

Two things stand out amid the tribal blessings. First, that abrupt interruption. In the very act of pronouncing his sons' futures, the old patriarch stops to voice his own deepest longing, that beyond all these blessings, he waits for God's salvation. Even the man handing down blessings knows the real hope is God's rescue, not the fortunes of the tribes. And of Joseph, wounded by archers yet kept strong by God's own hand, the blessing shows a life attacked but sustained, not spared the arrows, but upheld through them by the God of Jacob.

In the middle of counting my blessings and burdens, can I still say with dying Jacob, "I wait for your salvation, O LORD"?

Sources

Genesis 49:18: "I have waited for your salvation, LORD."
Genesis 49:24: "But his bow remained strong... by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob."
Psalm 130:5: "I wait for the LORD. My soul waits. I hope in his word."