Week 3 Genesis 49
So far I’ve looked at Jacob’s first four sons – Reuben Simeon Levi & Judah. First I read the blessing that Jacob gave each of them. Then my follow-up exercise was to track down whatever biographical info I could find to help me make sense of Jacob’s individual blessings. My main goal was to find out: how does this boy’s life and action and experience help me understand the blessing his father gave to him?
I’d have to rate my success with the first four brothers as marginal. I did -after all – find a couple of interesting background events.
But my marginal success with them was quite a bit more than what I found out about Zebulun Issachar Dan Gad Asher & Naphtali.
I started by reading the blessings:
Zebulun will live by the seashore…
Issachar is a rawboned donkey…
Dan will provide justice for his people…
Gad will be attacked by a band of raiders…
Asher’s food will be rich…
Naphtali is a doe set free…
Then I started looking for biographical details. And here’s what I found: zero (apart from who his mother was).
One possibility is that I actually missed some key information about the six brothers. But I really don’t think so. I think there just aren’t narrative details about the shadowy six.
The other possibility – which seems likely – is that my exercise was a waste of time. Maybe not totally. But a low-value exercise.
Note: quotes from Genesis 49: 13 14 16 19 20 & 21 (NIV)