Knowing The Word in Genesis 49:22-27, Joseph and Benjamin are Blessed

22 “Joseph is a fruitful bough [can also be translated “wild ass”], a fruitful bough [a wild ass] by a spring; his branches run over [his wild colts beside] the wall. [This blessing is the longest, most complex, most difficult to translate, and most obscure!] 23 The archers bitterly attacked him, shot at him, and harassed him severely [allusion to the opposition he faced during his life], 24 yet his bow remained unmoved; his arms were made agile by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob [the attacks against Joseph failed because of divine assistance] (from there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel [an allusion to Jacob’s Bethel experience, where he erected a stone in honor of the God who had shepherded him all the way to Paddan-Aram and back?]), 25 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 crouches beneath, blessings of the breasts and of the womb. 26 The blessings of your father are mighty beyond the blessings of my parents, up to the bounties of the everlasting hills. [One of the central themes of Genesis is the blessings of God. Here the final words of Jacob include the word “blessing” six times, like the climax of a great fireworks display.] May they [all these blessings] be on the head of Joseph, and on the brow of him who was set apart from his brothers. [Jacob acknowledges how God used Joseph, setting him apart from his brothers for the purpose of their ultimate salvation. He is a prince among all the sons, whose crown is constructed of divine blessings.]

27 “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf, in the morning devouring the prey and at evening dividing the spoil.” [The future military exploits of the tribe of Benjamin are in view, including those of King Saul.]