Discovery BoxGenesis 49:11-12 
Context49:11 Binding his foal to the vine,
and his colt to the choicest vine,
he will wash 1 his garments in wine,
his robes in the blood of grapes.
49:12 His eyes will be dark from wine,
and his teeth white from milk. 2
Genesis 49:20
Context49:20 Asher’s 3 food will be rich, 4
and he will provide delicacies 5 to royalty.
1 tn The perfect verbal form is used rhetorically, describing coming events as though they have already taken place.
2 tn Some translate these as comparatives, “darker than wine…whiter than milk,” and so a reference to his appearance (so NEB, NIV, NRSV). But if it is in the age of abundance, symbolized by wine and milk, then the dark (i.e., red or perhaps dull) eyes would be from drinking wine, and the white teeth from drinking milk.
3 tc Heb “from Asher,” but the initial mem (מ) of the MT should probably be moved to the end of the preceding verse and taken as a plural ending on “heel.”
4 tn The Hebrew word translated “rich,” when applied to products of the ground, means abundant in quantity and quality.
5 tn The word translated “delicacies” refers to foods that were delightful, the kind fit for a king.
