Genesis — Chapter 49

AND JACOB CALLED HIS SONS, AND SAID TO THEM: GATHER YOURSELVES TOGETHER THAT I MAY TELL YOU THE THINGS THAT SHALL BEFALL YOU IN THE LAST DAYS. — THE BLESSING OF JACOB: Jacob's prophecy over his twelve sons is one of the greatest prophetic passages of the Old Testament — the summary of the entire subsequent history of Israel and the first clear prophecy of the Messiah from the tribe of Judah. Lapide devotes extensive commentary to each tribe.

JUDAH, THEE SHALL THY BRETHREN PRAISE: THY HAND SHALL BE ON THE NECKS OF THY ENEMIES: THE SONS OF THY FATHER SHALL BOW DOWN TO THEE. — Judah is chosen for the royal and Messianic lineage: (1) he shall be praised by his brethren; (2) his hand on his enemies' necks; (3) his father's sons bow to him. All fulfilled in David, the great king of Judah, and supremely in Christ the King of kings from the tribe of Judah.

THE SCEPTRE SHALL NOT BE TAKEN AWAY FROM JUDA, NOR A RULER FROM HIS THIGH, TILL HE COME THAT IS TO BE SENT, AND HE SHALL BE THE EXPECTATION OF NATIONS. — THE SHILOH PROPHECY: the most direct Messianic prophecy in Genesis. Lapide gives extensive commentary. \"Until Shiloh comes\" = until He comes who is to be sent (from Hebrew shelo = to whom it belongs; or shiloh = the Sent One, the Peaceful One, the Saviour). The fulfillment: the sceptre remained with Judah until Christ — then the Jewish political sovereignty ceased in the time of Herod (an Idumaean) and definitively in 70 AD. The Messiah is the \"expectation of nations\" = Gentes shall come to Him (Isa. 11:10). This passage is cited by virtually all the Fathers as an explicit prophecy of Christ: Chrysostom, Ambrose, Augustine, Jerome, Cyril, etc.

O LORD, I WILL WAIT FOR THY SALVATION. — Jacob's great ejaculatory prayer in the midst of prophesying: \"salutare tuum exspectabo, Domine\" — a sudden outburst of desire for the Messiah, the Saviour, whom all the promises have been pointing toward. Lapide: \"This is Jacob's Nunc Dimittis — seeing in prophetic vision the Messiah to come, he cries out in longing.\" The great expectation of the patriarchs summarized in a single verse.