Genesis 49:15

When he sees ¹  a good resting place, and the pleasant land, he will bend his shoulder to the burden and become a slave laborer. ² 

Jos 14:15; Jud 3:11; 2Sa 7:1; Ps 81:6; Eze 29:18; Mt 23:4

¹ tn The verb forms in this verse (“sees,” “will bend,” and “[will] become”) are preterite; they is used in a rhetorical manner, describing the future as if it had already transpired.

² sn The oracle shows that the tribe of Issachar will be willing to trade liberty for the material things of life. Issachar would work (become a slave laborer) for the Canaanites, a reversal of the oracle on Canaan. See C. M. Carmichael, “Some Sayings in Genesis 49,” JBL 88 (1969): 435-44; and S. Gevirtz, “The Issachar Oracle in the Testament of Jacob,” ErIsr 12 (1975): 104-12.