47:31 Jacob 1 said, “Swear to me that you will do so.” 2 So Joseph 3 gave him his word. 4 Then Israel bowed down 5 at the head of his bed. 6
49:4 You are destructive 9 like water and will not excel, 10
for you got on your father’s bed, 11
then you defiled it – he got on my couch! 12
49:33 When Jacob finished giving these instructions to his sons, he pulled his feet up onto the bed, breathed his last breath, and went 13 to his people.
1 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 tn Heb “swear on oath to me.” The words “that you will do so” have been supplied in the translation for clarity.
3 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
4 tn Heb “swore on oath to him.”
5 sn The Hebrew verb normally means “bow down,” especially in worship or prayer. Here it might simply mean “bend low,” perhaps from weakness or approaching death. The narrative is ambiguous at this point and remains open to all these interpretations.
6 tc The MT reads מִטָּה (mittah, “bed, couch”). The LXX reads the word as מַטֶּה (matteh, “staff, rod”) and interprets this to mean that Jacob bowed down in worship while leaning on the top of his staff. The LXX reading was used in turn by the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews (Heb 11:21).
7 tn Heb “and one told and said.” The verbs have no expressed subject and can be translated with the passive voice.
8 tn Heb “Look, your son Joseph.”
9 tn The Hebrew noun פַּחַז (pakhaz) only occurs here in the OT. A related verb occurs twice in the prophets (Jer 23:32; Zeph 3:4) for false prophets inventing their messages, and once in Judges for unscrupulous men bribed to murder (Judg 9:4). It would describe Reuben as being “frothy, boiling, turbulent” as water. The LXX has “run riot,” the Vulgate has “poured out,” and Tg. Onq. has “you followed your own direction.” It is a reference to Reuben’s misconduct in Gen 35, but the simile and the rare word invite some speculation. H. Pehlke suggests “destructive like water,” for Reuben acted with pride and presumption; see his “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Genesis 49:1-28” (Th.D. dissertation, Dallas Theological Seminary, 1985).
10 tn Heb “Do not excel!” The Hiphil of the verb יָתַר (yatar) has this meaning only here. The negated jussive is rhetorical here. Rather than being a command, it anticipates what will transpire. The prophecy says that because of the character of the ancestor, the tribe of Reuben would not have the character to lead (see 1 Chr 5:1).
11 sn This is a euphemism for having sexual intercourse with Jacob’s wives (see Gen 35:22).
12 tn The last verb is third masculine singular, as if for the first time Jacob told the brothers, or let them know that he knew. For a discussion of this passage see S. Gevirtz, “The Reprimand of Reuben,” JNES 30 (1971): 87-98.
13 tn Heb “was gathered.”