Genesis 49:8-12 is Messianic Prophecy

Establish the need: Did you know that within Genesis 49:8-12 there is a prediction of the coming Messiah?

Purpose: We will consider how Genesis 49:8-12 anticipates the Messiah is Jesus.

1. Clues from context of Pentateuch
2. Clues from within Genesis 49:8-12
3. Clues from the Aramaic Targum
4. Clues from the Rabbis

Clues from context of Pentateuch

The challenge: People do not typically think of the book of Genesis as a book that contains prophecy. Typically, people think of Genesis largely as a work of narrative.

Don’t forget Genesis 3:15 as our antecedent theology; now with the end of Genesis 49 we would ask which one of Eve’s descendants will the Messiah come from? It is expected we have some clues towards the end of Genesis.

How can we know Genesis 49 is prophetic?

1. The prophetic nature of Genesis 49 can be gleamed from details within the chapter and also at a larger macro-structural level.
2. By the macro-structural level, what is meant is the analysis of the book of Genesis and the Pentateuch as a whole, while paying attention to the transition between the genre of narrative, poetry and epilogue summary.

Genesis 49:1 “in the last days”

1. Genesis 49 happens to be one of the three poetic chapters in the Pentateuch that is a major structural juncture in which a prophetic discourse follow a large unit of narrative.[1]
2. The other two chapters are Number 24 and Deuteronomy 31.[2]  Sailhamer explains how, “In each of the three segments, the central narrative figure (Jacob, Balaam, Moses) calls an audience together (imperative: 49:1; Num 24:14; Deut 31:29) in the ‘end of days’ (Genesis 49:1; Num 24:14; Deut 31:29).”[3]
3. The phrase “end of days” is important in understanding Genesis 49 and the other two major structural juncture of the Pentateuch.  Seeing that this prophetic formula appears not only in Genesis 49 but in two other prophetic chapters in the Pentateuch reinforces the position that Genesis 49 contains prophecies.
4. This narrative–>Prophetic poetry–>Epilogue pattern is the ground for why readers are justified in looking for typology in the Pentateuch.

Clues from within Genesis 49:8-12

Passage: ““As for you, Judah, your brothers shall praise you; Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; Your father’s sons shall bow down to you. 9 Judah is a lion’s cub; From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He crouches, he lies down as a lion, And as a lion, who dares to stir him up? 10 The scepter will not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes, And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. 11 He ties his foal to the vine, And his donkey’s colt to the choice vine; He washes his garments in wine, And his robes in the blood of grapes. 12 His eyes are dull from wine, And his teeth white from milk.” (Genesis 49:8-12)

This blessing from Jacob/Israel to Judah is the longest to any individual, coming in at nine lines long in Hebrew.[4]

While the blessings to Joseph is eleven lines long in Hebrew it is split between Joseph’s two sons: Ephraim and Manasseh.[5] So the focus is more on Judah which we would expect if the Messiah would come from his lineage.

The Prominence of Judah (v.8)

1. Interesting: “Judah, your brothers shall praise you” in which Judah was named Judah since his mother Leah was praising God when she named Judah: see Genesis 29:35.[6]
2. Despite how the brothers were motivated by jealousy still Judah would be prominent and praise by his brothers; if the Messiah would come from Judah we would expect the prominence of Judah.

The Power of the Messiah (v.9)

1. Compared to a lion; note how the lion is mentioned three times here.
2. The Messiah needs to be strong enough to bruise Satan’s head as predicted in Genesis 3:15 so we expect language of strength of the Messiah.

The Permanent rule of the Messiah (v.10)

1. There are instances when the Promise plan of a Messianic seed of Genesis 3:15 are declared to be through a specific person God also mentioned that kings would come from their lineage. See Abraham in Genesis 17:6 and Jacob in Genesis 35:11.  Thus we are not surprise that this talk of Kingship would be mentioned to be coming from the same individual that the Messiah would come from.
2. This Messianic king is no ordinary human being: He will rule forever: “The scepter will not depart from Judah.”

The Prosperity of the Messiah (v.11-12)

1. Verse 11’s prophecy I do think will later be developed in the Old Testament such as in Zechariah 9:9 that the Messiah would come riding on a donkey.

Clues from the Aramaic Targum

The Aramaic Targum is a translation of the Hebrew Old Testament into the Aramaic language.

The Aramaic Targum isn’t always as literal but it gives us the interpretation of how non-Christian Ancient Jews thought about passages.

From Targum Jonathan of Genesis 49:10: “Kings shall not cease, nor rulers, from the house of Jehuda, nor sapherim teaching the law from his seed, till the time that the King the Meshiha, shall come, the youngest of his sons; and on account of him shall the peoples flow together.”[7]

1. Jonathan translates only the Pentateuch and Former and Latter Prophets.[9]
2. Mesihiha is the Messiah. Note how the Messiah is explicitly mentioned!
3. Note how the phrase “Shiloh” here is not kept as ambiguous but revealed as the Messiah.[10]

From Onkelos Genesis 49:11: “[He will bring Israel from all around to his city, the nation who will build his Temple. / The righteous will congregate around the Moshiach, and those who engage in Torah will study with him.] He washes his clothes in wine, [May his garments be of fine purple cloth,] and his cloak in the blood of grapes [and his clothes of fine wool colored in scarlet and other colors].”[11]

1. Onkelos translates the entire Bible except the book of Daniel.[13]
2. Onkelos seems to be a Babylonian pronouncement of Aquila, a translator of the Old Testament into Greek.[14]
3. Moshiach in Aramaic is the Messiah; again the Messiah is explicitly mentioned!

From Fragmentary Targum of Genesis 49:12: “How beautiful to behold are they, the eyes of the King Messiah, more so than pure wine, not looking upon incest and the shedding of innocent blood. His teeth are pure, according to the Halakah, refraining from partaking of that which is taken by violence or robbery. His mountains shall be red with vines, his presses with wine. His hills shall be white with abundance of his grain and flocks of his sheep”[15]

1. The fragmentary Targum appears to be the same as Targum Jonathan.[16]
2. Once more the Messiah is explicitly mentioned!

Conclusion: The Messiah is explicitly named in all three Targum on Genesis 49.

Clues from the Rabbis

1. From Eikhah Rabbah 1:51 commenting on Genesis 49:10: “The school of Rabbi Sheila said: Shilo is the name of Messiah, as it is stated: “Until Shilo will come” (Genesis 49:10); Sheila is written.”[17]
2. From Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 98a on Genesis 49:10: “Rab said: “The world is created only for such [great] men as David.” And Samuel said: “For such men as Moses [for the purpose of giving a Torah].” And R. Jochanan said: “For such men as the Messiah.” But what is his (Messiah’s) real name? At the college of R. Shila, it was said: “Shila is his real name, as it is said (Gen. 49, 10) “Until Shilah will come.”[18]

[1] Sailhamer, John H. “The Canonical Approach to the OT: It’s Effect on Understanding Prophecy.” Journal of Evangelical Theological Society 30, no. 3 (September 1987): 310.

[2] Sailhamer, John H. “The Canonical Approach to the OT: It’s Effect on Understanding Prophecy.” Journal of Evangelical Theological Society 30, no. 3 (September 1987): 310.

[3] Sailhamer, John H. “The Canonical Approach to the OT: It’s Effect on Understanding Prophecy.” Journal of Evangelical Theological Society 30, no. 3 (September 1987): 310.

[4] Eugene Merrill, “Genesis 48:8-12: The Lion of Judah” in The Moody Handbook of Messianic Prophecy (Chicago, Illinois: Moody Publishers, 2018), 271.

[5] Eugene Merrill, “Genesis 48:8-12: The Lion of Judah” in The Moody Handbook of Messianic Prophecy (Chicago, Illinois: Moody Publishers, 2018), 271.

[6] James Montgomery Boice, Genesis Volume 3: Living by Faith (Genesis 37-50) (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Publishing Group, 2018), 1191.

[7] Source: https://www.sefaria.org/Targum_Jonathan_on_Genesis.49.10?lang=bi.

[9] Eugene Merrill, “Genesis 48:8-12: The Lion of Judah” in The Moody Handbook of Messianic Prophecy (Chicago, Illinois: Moody Publishers, 2018), 283.

[10] Michael Shepherd, “Targum, the New Testament and Biblical Theology of he Messiah” in The Moody Handbook of Messianic Prophecy (Chicago, Illinois: Moody Publishers, 2018), 221.

[11] Source: https://www.sefaria.org/Onkelos_Genesis.49.11?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en.

[13] Eugene Merrill, “Genesis 48:8-12: The Lion of Judah” in The Moody Handbook of Messianic Prophecy (Chicago, Illinois: Moody Publishers, 2018), 283.

[14] Eugene Merrill, “Genesis 48:8-12: The Lion of Judah” in The Moody Handbook of Messianic Prophecy (Chicago, Illinois: Moody Publishers, 2018), 283.

[15] Eugene Merrill, “Genesis 48:8-12: The Lion of Judah” in The Moody Handbook of Messianic Prophecy (Chicago, Illinois: Moody Publishers, 2018), 274.

[16] Eugene Merrill, “Genesis 48:8-12: The Lion of Judah” in The Moody Handbook of Messianic Prophecy (Chicago, Illinois: Moody Publishers, 2018), 283.

[17] Source: https://www.sefaria.org/Genesis.49.10?lang=bi&with=Midrash&lang2=en.

[18] Source: https://www.sefaria.org/Genesis.49.10?lang=bi&with=Midrash&lang2=en.

Advertisement