to reside or permanently stay (literally or figurativel… · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
haven
לְח֥וֹףle.Chof
H2348
a cove (as a sheltered bay) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
sea
יַמִּ֖יםya.Mim
H3220
a sea (as breaking in noisy surf) or large body of water · noun, common masculine plural absolute
haven
לְח֣וֹףle.Chof
H2348
a cove (as a sheltered bay) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
ships
אֳנִיּ֔וֹת'o.ni.Yot
H591
a ship · noun, common feminine plural absolute
border
וְיַרְכָת֖וֹve.yar.kha.To
H3411
properly · conjunction + noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
Zidon
צִידֹֽןtzi.Don
H6721
Tsidon · proper noun, a place name
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Deuteronomy 33:18-19 And of Zebulun he said, Rejoice, Zebulun, in thy going out; and, Issachar, in thy tents.
Genesis 30:20 And Leah said, God hath endued me with a good dowry; now will my husband dwell with me, because I have born him six sons: and she called his…
Joshua 19:10-16 And the third lot came up for the children of Zebulun according to their families: and the border of their inheritance was unto Sarid:
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Genesis 49:13-21
Here we have Jacob's prophecy concerning six of his sons.
I. Concerning Zebulun (Gen 49:13), that his posterity should have their lot upon the seacoast, and should be merchants, and mariners, and traders at sea. This was fulfilled when, two or three hundred years after, the land of Canaan was divided by lot, and the border of Zebulun went up towards the sea, Jos 19:11. Had they chosen their lot themselves, or Joshua appointed it, we might have supposed it done with design to make Jacob's words good; but, being done by lot, it appears that it was divinely disposed, and Jacob divinely inspired. Note, The lot of God's providence exactly agrees with the plan of God's counsel, like a true copy wi…
JUDAH--A high pre-eminence is destined to this tribe (Num 10:14; Jdg 1:2). Besides the honor of giving name to the Promised Land, David, and a greater than David--the Messiah--sprang from it. Chief among the tribes, "it grew up from a lion's whelp"--that is, a little power--till it became "an old lion"--that is, calm and quiet, yet still formidable. (Gen 49:8-12)
until Shiloh come--Shiloh--this obscure word is variously interpreted to mean "the sent" (Joh 17:3), "the seed" (Isa 11:1), the "peaceable or prosperous one" (Eph 2:14) --that is, the Messiah (Isa 11:10; Rom 15:12); and when He should come, "the tribe of Judah should no longer boast either an independent king or a judge of their o…
Zebulun's lot or portion in the division of the Promised Land extended from the Mediterranean Sea on the west, to the lake of Gennesareth on the east; see his division, Jos 19:10, etc. The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel paraphrases the passage thus: "Zebulun shall be on the coasts of the sea, and he shall rule over the havens; he shall subdue the provinces of the sea with his, ships, and his border shall extend unto Sidon.
14. Issachar is a strong ass Couching between two burdens.
15. And he saw the resting place that it was good, And the land that it was pleasant; And he inclined his shoulder to the load, And he became a servant unto tribute.
The Church Fathers
Through Zebulun he has metaphorically foretold the pagan nations, who live now in the world along the coast and are tormented by the storm of temptations as if they were in the sea. Therefore they move and look for refuge in harbors, that is, in churches.
But the fact that he extends as far as Sidon, that is, to the hunters, might mean that this man also tries to be among those to whom it was said, "Catch us the little foxes that spoil the vineyards." Therefore Zebulun extends to the hunters, so that he may learn to hunt, in case some wild animals or cunning foxes, that is, ferocious demons or damaging thoughts, should enter his heart and try to destroy the vineyard of the Lord Sabaoth. In order to catch them, he has become a good hunter against bad thoughts.
The very interpretation of his name gives promise of better things, since in our tongue it means "freedom from the things of night," which is surely a good, and appropriate to one who trusts in the wings of the Lord. For the truth of the Lord encompasses him, so that he is not afraid of the terror of the night or of the thing that walks about in darkness. Therefore "Zebulun shall dwell by the sea." Thus he may look upon the shipwrecks of others while being himself free from danger; he may behold others driven here and there on the sea of this world, those who are borne about by every wind of doctrine, while himself persevering on the ground of an immovable faith. Just so, the most holy church is grounded and founded in faith, as it beholds the tempests of heretics and the shipwrecks of the Jews, because they refused the pilot whom they once had. Therefore [the church] dwells beside the waters, but it is not disturbed by the waters. It is ready to give help rather than being subject to danger. Even so, if anyone have been driven by severe storms and wants to take refuge in the harbor, the church is at hand like a harbor of salvation. Opening its arms, it calls into the lap of its tranquility those who are in danger and shows them a trusty place of anchorage. Therefore, the churches in this world are scattered over the coasts like seaports; they stand to meet the afflicted, and say to them that a refuge has been prepared for believers, where they can beach their wind-battered vessels.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Ships — Early used in foreign commerce by the Phoenicians (Gen. 49:13). Moses (Deut. 28:68) and Job (9:26) make reference to them, and Balaam speaks of the “ships of Chittim” (Num. 24:24). Solomon…
Children · Male: Received the blessing of their father before his death — Male: Received the blessing of their father before his death
Cities · Prosperity of, increased by commerce — Prosperity of, increased by commerce
Commerce · Of the Jews: Commenced after their settlement in Canaan — Of the Jews: Commenced after their settlement in Canaan
Patriarchal Government · Exercised in: Blessing and cursing their children — Exercised in: Blessing and cursing their children
Sea, The · Commercial nations: Often built cities on the borders of — Commercial nations: Often built cities on the borders of
Ships · Antiquity of, among the Jews — Antiquity of, among the Jews
Sidon · . — .
Sidonians, The · Territory of: Given by God to Israel — Territory of: Given by God to Israel
Tribes Of Israel, The · Predictions respecting each of — Predictions respecting each of
Zebulun · 1. — 1.
Zebulun, The Tribe Of · Predictions respecting — Predictions respecting
John Gill on Genesis 49:13
Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea,.... Of the sea of Galilee, sometimes called the sea of Tiberias and of Gennesaret; and of the Mediterranean sea; and accordingly we find that the border of this tribe, when settled in the land of Canaan, was toward the sea, Joshua 19:10 and this was done, not at the discretion of Joshua, or at the choice of this tribe, but by lot; and which shows that Jacob said this under a spirit of prophecy, and which had its fulfilment two hundred years after; and is a full proof of the prescience and providence of God; and who, as he sets the bounds of the people, or of the nations of the world, and of the tribes of Israel, so the bounds of the habitations of…
Zebulun shall dwell at the havens of the sea. Although this blessing contains nothing rare or precious, (as neither do some of those which follow,) yet we ought to deem this fact as sufficiently worthy of notice, that it was just as if God was stretching out his hand from heaven, for the deliverance of the children of Israel, and for the purpose of distributing to each his own dwelling-place. Before mention is made of the lost itself, a maritime region is given to the tribe of Zebulun, which it obtained by lot two hundred years afterwards. And we know of how great importance that hereditary gift was, which, like an earnest, rendered the adoption of the ancient people secure. Therefore, by th…
Zebulun, to the shore of the ocean will he dwell, and indeed (והוּא isque) towards the coast of ships, and his side towards Zidon (directed up to Zidon)." This blessing on Leah's sixth son interprets the name Zebulun (i.e., dwelling) as an omen, not so much to show the tribe its dwelling-place in Canaan, as to point out the blessing which it would receive from the situation of its inheritance (compare Deu 33:19). So far as the territory allotted to the tribe of Zebulun under Joshua can be ascertained from the boundaries and towns mentioned in Jos 19:10-16, it neither reached to the Mediterranean, nor touched directly upon Zidon (see my Comm. on Joshua). It really lay between the Sea of Galil…
The oracle said Zebulun would dwell by the sea and be a safe harbor, but in the actual settlement they spread inland (see Josh 19:10-16). The oracle did not give specific borders for the tribes.
Rashi on Genesis 49:3
וראשית אוני THE BEGINNING OF MY VIGOR — That is the first drop [of semen], as he had not experienced a seminal emission from all of his days [until that time] (Genesis Rabbah 98:4).
אוני means MY VIGOR, as (Hosea 12:9) “I have gained me (און) strength”; (Isaiah 40:26) “by the greatness of His (אונים) might”; (Isaiah 5:29) “and to him that hath no (אונים) might Ho increaseth strength”.
יתר שאת SUPERIORITY IN DIGNITY — Since you were the first-born it was proper that you should be superior to your brothers by being endowed with the priesthood. This term שאת “lifting up” alludes to the נשיאות כפים the raising of the hands when the priests pronounce the benediction (cf. Onkelos).
ויתר עז SUPE…
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
