Welcome back to my study/review of Genesis. If you missed the previous parts of this study, you can find them HERE.
Genesis 49:19-21
19“Raiders shall raid Gad,
but he shall raid at their heels.
20 “Asher’s food shall be rich,
and he shall yield royal delicacies.
21 “Naphtali is a doe let loose
that bears beautiful fawns.
___________________________
Here we learn about the fate of a few more tribes – Gad, Asher, and Naphtali.
Starting in verse 19 with The Pulpit Commentaries:
Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last. The threefold alliteration of the original, which is lost in the received translation, may be thus expressed: “Gad—a ,press presses him, but he presses the heel’ (Keil); or, “troops shall troop on him, but he shall troop on their retreat’ (‘Speaker’s Commentary’). The language refers to attacks of nomadic tribes which would harass and annoy the Gadites, but which they would successfully repel.
Ellicott’s Bible Commentary adds:
(19) Gad.—The word Gad, as we have seen (Genesis 30:11), means good fortune, but Jacob connects it with the root gâdad, “to gather in troops.” Thus, then, “A troop” or “throng of plunderers shall throng upon him, but he shall throng upon their heel.” Settling upon the east of the Jordan he shall be exposed to many a sudden incursion of plunderers, but, though ever unready, he shall gather his forces and repel them, and follow with avenging energy upon their rear.
Gad is predicted to be a nomadic people, often raided, but also overcoming their raiders.
Wikipedia adds the following concerning the Tribe of Gad:
After the conquest of the land by Joshua until the formation of the first Kingdom of Israel in c. 1050 BC, the Tribe of Gad was a part of a loose confederation of Israelite tribes. No central government existed, and in times of crisis the people were led by ad hoc leaders known as Judges (see the Book of Judges). Nahash appears abruptly as the attacker of Jabesh-Gilead, which lay outside the territory he laid claim to. Having subjected the occupants to a siege, the population sought terms for surrender, and were told by Nahash that they had a choice of death (by the sword) or having their right eyes gouged out. The population obtained seven days’ grace from Nahash, during which they would be allowed to seek help from the Israelites, after which they would have to submit to the terms of surrender. The occupants sought help from the people of Israel, sending messengers throughout the whole territory, and Saul, a herdsman at this time, responded by raising an army which decisively defeated Nahash and his cohorts at Bezek.
The strangely cruel terms given by Nahash for surrender were explained by Josephus as being the usual practice of Nahash. A more complete explanation came to light with the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls: although not present in either the Septuagint or masoretic text, an introductory passage, preceding this narrative, was found in a copy of the Books of Samuel among the scrolls found in cave 4:[1]
[N]ahash, king of Ammonites would put hard pressure on the descendants of Gad and the descendants of Ruben and would gouge everyone’s right eye out, but no res(cuer) would be provided for Israel and there was not left anyone among the children of Israel in the Tr(ans Jordan) whose right eye Nahash the king of Ammonites did not gouge out but be(hold) seven thousand men (escaped the power of) Ammonites and they arrived at (Ya)besh Gilead. About a month later Nahash the Ammonite went up and besieged Jabesh-Gilead.
With the growth of the threat from Philistine incursions, the Israelite tribes decided to form a strong centralised monarchy to meet the challenge, and the Tribe of Gad joined the new kingdom with Saul as the first king. After the death of Saul, all the tribes other than Judah remained loyal to the House of Saul, but after the death of Saul’s son Ish-bosheth, successor to the throne of Israel, the Tribe of Gad joined the other northern Israelite tribes in making Judah’s king David the king of a re-united Kingdom of Israel. However, on the accession of David’s grandson Rehoboam, in c. 930 BC the northern tribes split from the House of David and from Saul’s tribe Benjamin to reform Israel as the Northern Kingdom. Gad was a member of the Northern Kingdom until the kingdom was conquered by Assyria in c. 723 BC and the population deported.
From that time onwards, the Tribe of Gad has been counted as one of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel.
A genealogy of the “children of Gad” is set out in 1 Chronicles 5:11–17.
Gad is also mentioned in the Mesha Stele: ” And the men of Gad lived in the land of Ataroth from ancient times, and the king of Israel built Ataroth for himself, and I fought against the city, and I captured it, and I killed all the people from the city as a sacrifice for Kemoš and for Moab, and I brought back the fire-hearth of his uncle from there, and I hauled it before the face of Kemoš in Kerioth, and I made the men of Sharon live there, as well as the men of Maharith.”
_______________________
Continuing with verse 20, and the Tribe of Asher, in The Pulpit Commentaries:
Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties—literally, dainties of, or for, the king. The first clause may be otherwise rendered: Of Asher the bread shall be fat (Kalisch); fat shall be his bread (Murphy); Out of Asher (cometh) fat his bread (Keil). The import of the blessing is that Asher should possess a specially productive soil.
Asher will be home to farmers with productive soil. More from Ellicott:
(20) Asher.—The territory of this tribe, extending along the coast from Mount Carmel to Lebanon, was very productive. Zebulun, the trading tribe, could reach the sea only through their possessions.
Ellicott confirms that the blessing eventually proves true. Wikipedia tells us more about the Tribe of Asher:
According to the biblical Book of Joshua, following the completion of the conquest of Canaan by the Israelite tribes, Joshua allocated the land among the twelve tribes. According to biblical scholar Kenneth Kitchen, one should date this conquest slightly after 1200 BC.[1] This is referred to as a ‘late date’ with the main alternative of around 1500 BC referred to as the ‘early date’ for both the Exodus and conquest of Canaan. [2]In opposition to both of these views, many critical scholars holds that the conquest of Joshua as described in the Book of Joshua never occurred.[3][4][5]
In the biblical account, Joshua assigned to Asher western and coastal Galilee,[6] a region with comparatively low temperature and much rainfall, making it some of the most fertile land in Canaan, with rich pasture, wooded hills, and orchards; as such Asher became particularly prosperous, and known for its olive oil.[7] The Blessing of Moses appears to prophesy this allocation,[8] although textual scholars view this as a postdiction.[9][page needed]
From after the conquest of the land by Joshua until the formation of the first Kingdom of Israel in c. 1050 BC, the Tribe of Asher formed a part of a loose confederation of Israelite tribes. No central government existed, and in times of crisis the people were led by ad hoc figures known as Judges (see the Book of Judges). With the growth of the threat from Philistine incursions, the Israelite tribes decided to form a strong centralized monarchy to meet the challenge, and the Tribe of Asher joined the new kingdom, which had Saul as its first king. After the death of Saul, all the tribes other than Judah remained loyal to the House of Saul, and followed his son Ish-bosheth,[10] but after Ish-bosheth’s death, the Tribe of Asher joined the other northern Israelite tribes in making David, who was then the king of Judah, king of a re-united Kingdom of Israel.
On the accession of Rehoboam, David’s grandson, in c. 930 BC the northern tribes split from the House of David to re-form a Kingdom of Israel as the Northern Kingdom. Asher remained a member of the new kingdom until Assyria conquered its territory in c. 723 BC and deported the population. From that time, tradition has counted the Tribe of Asher as one of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel.
The New Testament describes Anna the prophetess and her father, Phanuel, as belonging to the Tribe of Asher.
Finally, we look at Naphtali in verse 21, starting in The Pulpit Commentaries:
Naphtaii is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words. The LXX; followed by Dathe, Michaelis, Ewald, Bohlen, and others, read, Naphtali is a tall terebinth, that putteth forth beautiful boughs; but the word אַיָלָה signifies a hind or gazelle, and is here employed, along with the qualifying epithet שְּׁלֻחָה, let loose, running freely (Keil), or graceful (Kalisch), to depict Naphtali as a beautiful and agile warrior. In the appended clause he is represented as possessing in addition the capacity of “giving words of beauty,” in which may be detected an allusion to the development in eloquence and song which afterwards took place in that northern tribe (Judges 4:6-9; Judges 5:1-31).
Ellicott continues, with the same verse:
(21) Naphtali.—Gad had been described as moving slowly in war, and allowing himself to be surprised by hordes of plunderers, whom, nevertheless, as soon as he has collected his forces, he repels and pursues with vigour. Naphtali, on the contrary, is light and active, moving rapidly like “a hind let loose;” or, literally, sent forth, like the scouts or van of an army. And thus he brings back “goodly words”—Heb., words of pleasure—that is, trustworthy intelligence to guide the army in its motions. Another translation has been proposed, which has the support of the LXX.: “Naphtali is a spreading terebinth, which shoots forth goodly branches.” It retains the consonants of the Hebrew text, but gives them different vowels.
Bothe commentaries proffer differing explanations for this description of Asher – either his tribe becomes a place of agile fighters and a people of song. Asher might also be a people who function well as scouts in warfare. Wikipedia adds the following about the Tribe of Naphtali:
In the biblical account, following the completion of the conquest of Canaan by the Israelites, Joshua allocated the land among the twelve tribes. Kenneth Kitchen, a well-known biblical archeologist, dates this event to slightly after 1200 BCE,[1] whereas other scholars dispute the historicity of the Book of Joshua.[2][3][4]
Naphtali settled the eastern side of the Galilee (on the immediate west of the Sea of Galilee), in the areas now known as the Lower Galilee, and Upper Galilee, bordered on the west by Asher, in the north by Dan, in the south by Zebulun, and by the Jordan River on the east.[5] The most significant city was Hazor.
Bordering the Sea of Galilee, there was the highly fertile plain of Gennesaret, characterised by Josephus as the ambition of nature, an earthly paradise,[6] and with the southern portion of the region acting as a natural pass between the highlands of Canaan, several major roads (such as those from Damascus to Tyre and Acre) ran through it.[7] The prosperity this situation brought is seemingly prophesied in the Blessing of Moses,[8] though textual scholars view this as a postdiction, dating the poem to well after the tribe had been established in the land.[9][10]
From after the conquest of the land by Joshua until the formation of the first Kingdom of Israel in c. 1050 BC, the Tribe of Naphtali was a part of a loose confederation of Israelite tribes. No central government existed, and in times of crisis the people were led by ad hoc leaders known as Judges (see the Book of Judges). With the growth of the threat from Philistine incursions, the Israelite tribes decided to form a strong centralised monarchy to meet the challenge, and the Tribe of Naphtali joined the new kingdom with Saul as the first king. After the death of Saul, all the tribes other than Judah remained loyal to the House of Saul, but after the death of Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son and successor to the throne of Israel, the Tribe of Naphtali joined the other northern Israelite tribes in making David, who was then the king of Judah, king of a re-united Kingdom of Israel. However, on the accession of Rehoboam, David’s grandson, in c. 930 BC the northern tribes split from the House of David to reform a Kingdom of Israel as the Northern Kingdom.
In c. 732 BCE, Pekah allied with Rezin, king of Aram, threatened Jerusalem, and Ahaz, king of Judah, appealed to Tiglath-Pileser III, the king of Assyria, for help. After Ahaz paid tribute to Tiglath-Pileser,[11] Tiglath-Pileser sacked Damascus and Israel, annexing Aram[12] and a large part of Israel, “including all the land of Naphtali.” According to 2 Kings 16:9[13] and 15:29,[14] the population of Aram and the annexed part of Israel was deported to Assyria. Such deportation is also mentioned in the deuterocanonical Book of Tobit, which attributes it to Enemessar.[15]
The Kingdom of Israel continued to exist until c. 723 BC, when it was again invaded by Assyria and the rest of the population deported.[16] From that time, the Tribe of Naphtali has been counted as one of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel.
The next son of Jacob to receive a blessing will be Joseph.
You must log in to post a comment.