Unto their assembly be not thou united, mine honor;

For in their anger they slew men,

And in their self-will they hamstrung oxen.

Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce,

And their wrath, for it was cruel.

I will divide them in Jacob,

And scatter them in Israel.

The three older brothers being thus dispossessed, and Joseph receiving the twofold territorial portion, the

other privileges of the birthright are solemnly transferred to Judah. He is to be the leader, "the lion." As the

lion is king of the forest, so was Judah to have royal sway, through David onwards to the Son of David, the

Shiloh, unto Whom, as "the Lion of the tribe of Judah," all nations should render homage and obedience.

Similarly, fullness of earthly riches was to distinguish the lot of Judah, these earthly blessings being

themselves emblems of the spiritual riches dispensed in the portion of Judah. The whole description here is

full of Messianic allusions, which were afterwards taken up in the prophecy of Balaam (Numbers 23:24; 24:9,

17); then applied to David (Psalm 89:20-37); and from him carried forward in prophecy, through Psalm 72,

Isaiah 9, 11, to Ezekiel 21:27, and Zechariah 9:9, till they were finally realized in Jesus Christ, "sprung out of

Juda," (Hebrews 7:14) "our peace, who hath made both one," (Ephesians 2:14) and who "must reign till He

hath put all enemies under His feet," (1 Corinthians 15:25) "the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of

David," Who "hath prevailed." (Revelation 5:5)

In the blessing upon Judah we note, for the first time, how the prophetic significance of the name unfolds

and appears:

Judah thou! Thy brethren shall praise thee!

Thy hand in the neck of thine enemies,

Thy father's sons shall bow down before thee.

A lion's whelp  85 is Judah;

From the prey, my son, thou art gone up:

He stoopeth down, he coucheth like a lion,86

And like a lioness  87 - who shall rouse him?

The scepter shall not depart from Judah,

Nor the ruler's staff from between his feet,

Until Shiloh  88 come,

And to Him willing obedience of the nations!

He bindeth unto the vine his foal,

And unto the choice vine his ass's colt;

He washeth his garments in wine,

And in the blood of grapes his raiment;

Sparkling his eyes from wine,

And white his teeth from milk.

As local illustrations of this richness of the portion of Judah, the reader will remember that the best wine in

Palestine grew near Hebron and Engedi (Numbers 13:23, etc.; Song of Solomon 1:14), and that some of the

best pasture-land was south of Hebron, about Tekoa and Carmel. (1 Samuel 25:2; 2 Chronicles 26:10; Amos

The next blessing also connects itself with the name of Zebulun, or "dwelling," although it requires to be

borne in mind, in further illustration of the fact that it was not intended as a literal prediction, that the

possessions of the tribe of Zebulun, so far as we can judge from Joshua 19:10-16, never actually touched the

Mediterranean nor the Sea of Galilee, nor yet literally bordered on Zidon:

Zebulun - by the coast of seas shall he dwell,