On the Blessings of the Patriarch Jacob

What is to be understood concerning the blessings with which the patriarch Jacob blessed his sons: whether they are to be understood historically or allegorically, when he says, Gather yourselves together, sons of Jacob, that I may announce to you the things that are to come in the last days; and if it seems from these words that they sound more of allegory than of history? Both indeed, both history and allegory: history concerning the division of the land of promise, which was to be divided by lot among their descendants; and allegory concerning Christ and the Church that was to be in the last times. But first the foundations of the history must be laid, so that the summit of allegory may more fittingly be placed upon the prior structure.

Reuben, my firstborn, thou art my strength, the beginning of my sorrow: excelling in gifts, greater in command.

Thou art poured out as water; grow thou not: because thou didst go up to thy father's bed, and hast defiled his couch. Now the sense is this: thou art my firstborn, greater among my children, and according to the order of thy birth thou oughtest to receive the inheritance which was owed by the right of the firstborn, the priesthood and the kingship. For this is shown in the bearing of honor and in mighty strength. But because thou hast sinned, and, like water which is not held in any small vessel, thou wast poured out by the onrush of lust: therefore I command thee that thou sin no more, and that thou be numbered among thy brothers, paying the penalty of thy sin, because thou hast lost the order of the firstborn. Now every firstborn is the beginning of sorrow, because for him the inward parts of the parents are moved.

This must be believed to have stung him with no small grief. And rightly is this called the beginning of sorrow, since the rest of the brothers, too, were accused before their father by the blessed Joseph of a most wicked crime. Now when he says, excelling in gifts, this pertains to the birthright, which was owed to him as the firstborn; and when he adds, greater in command, it is plainly declared that it belonged to him that kings should be raised up from his seed over the rest of his brothers. But when he says, thou art poured out as water, the sense is this: as water, which is not held in check by any vessel, flows whithersoever it will, and where a lower place offers itself more sloping, falls there with its whole force, so didst thou restrain thy lust by no measure of wedlock, but wherever the onrush of pleasure enticed thee, there didst thou pour out the filth of thy desire. And when he adds, grow thou not, he forbids him from any further baseness of the same kind. Whence also the Lord said to Cain, Thou hast sinned; be still. And to what these words tend, the words that follow bear witness: because thou didst go up to thy father's couch, and hast defiled his bed. For by these words the crime of incest, which he had committed with Bilhah, his father's concubine, is plainly made heavier — lest this should seem too harsh to anyone, seeing that it was already related above.

I will announce to you the things that are to come in the last days: let him hear what the book of Chronicles says of this matter: The sons also of Reuben — for he was the firstborn of Israel: he was indeed his firstborn; but since he had defiled his father's couch, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph, sons of Israel, and he was not counted in the birthright. But this Reuben, the firstborn, typifies the Jewish people, who was the firstborn of God, according to what the Lord said of him to Moses: Israel is my firstborn son. And the blessed Jeremiah says, Israel is holy to the Lord, the firstfruits of his increase: they who...

Simeon and Levi, brothers, vessels of iniquity waging war: let not my soul come into their counsel, and let not my glory be in their assembly: for in their fury they slew a man, and in their self-will they undermined a wall. Cursed be their fury, because it is stubborn; and their indignation, because it is hard. I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel. Now it signifies that it was not by his own counsel that they slew the men of Shechem and Hamor who were bound by covenant, and, contrary to right, in a time of peace and friendship, shed innocent blood, and, as though carried away by a kind of fury, so with cruelty they overthrew the walls of the hospitable city. Whence he says: Cursed be their fury, because it is stubborn, and the rest. And I will scatter them in Israel. For Levi did not receive a proper inheritance, but among all the tribes had a few cities to dwell in.

Concerning Simeon indeed it is written in the book of Joshua, that he too did not receive his own portion by lot; but received something from the tribe of Judah: Judah, thee shall thy brethren praise, thy hand shall be on the necks of thine enemies; the sons of thy father shall bow down to thee. Judah is a lion's whelp: to the prey, my son, thou art gone up, thou hast couched and lain down as a lion, and as a lioness, who shall rouse him up? Because Judah is interpreted as confession or praise, it is rightly written of Judah, Thy brethren shall confess to thee, or shall praise thee. And although concerning Christ this is a great mystery, yet according to the letter it signifies that through the stock of David kings would be begotten, and that all the tribes would worship him. For he does not say, sons of thy mother, but, sons of thy father.

And what follows, To the prey, my son, thou art gone up, shows that he was to lead captive peoples, and, according to a more sacred understanding, to have ascended on high, and to have led captivity captive. Or, what I think better, captivity signifies the passion, the ascent signifies the resurrection. Binding his foal to the vine, and his ass's colt to the choice vine. Namely that the foal of the ass, upon which Jesus sat, that is, the people of the Gentiles, he joined to the vine of the Apostles, who are of the Jews; and to the vine, or, as it is found in the Hebrew, Sorech, that is, the chosen vine, he bound the ass, upon which he sat—the Church gathered from the nations. But what he says, My son, he makes by a turning toward Christ concerning Judah himself, because Christ was to make all things.

But what is said, The sceptre shall not be taken away from Judah, nor a ruler from his thighs, till he come that is to be sent; and he shall be the expectation of the nations, signifies that princes would not fail from the tribe of Judah until the time when Christ was born, who, sent by the Father, is the expectation of the nations. Zabulon shall dwell at the shore of the sea, and in the haven of ships, reaching as far as Sidon. Issachar is a strong ass lying down between the borders, he saw rest that it was good, and the land that it was excellent: and he put his shoulder to bear, and became a servant to tribute. Because above he had said of Zabulon, that he should possess the shores of the great sea, and should touch Sidon also and the other Phoenician cities, now he returns to the inland province, and by his blessing makes Issachar, who was to possess the most beautiful region in Galilee next to Nephthalim, a dweller there.

He calls him a bony or strong ass, and says that he put his shoulder to bear a burden; because he would labor greatly in tilling the land and in carrying to the sea the produce that grew within his borders, bringing tribute also to kings. The Hebrews say that by metaphor it is signified that, meditating on the sacred Scriptures day and night, he gave his zeal to labor; and therefore all serve him, as bringing gifts to a master. Dan shall judge his people, as another tribe also in Israel. Let Dan be a serpent in the way, a horned snake in the path, biting the horse's heels, that his rider may fall backward. I will wait for thy salvation, O Lord.

Samson, a judge in Israel, was of the tribe of Dan. This therefore he says: Now seeing in spirit thy Nazarite Samson nourishing his hair, and, having slain his enemies, triumphing, so that, in the likeness of a serpent and a basilisk, besetting the ways, he permits no one to pass through the land of Israel: but even if any rash one, trusting in his own strength as in the speed of a horse, should wish to plunder it after the manner of a robber, he shall not be able to escape. And he speaks all this through the metaphor of the serpent and the rider.

Seeing therefore thy Nazarite so strong, that he himself died because of a harlot, and dying slew our enemies, I thought, O God, that he was Christ thy Son: but because he died, and did not rise again, and Israel was again led into captivity, another Savior of the world, and of my race, is to be awaited by me, that he may come to whom it is reserved, and he is the expectation of the nations. Gad, being girded, shall fight before him, and he himself shall be girded backward. It signifies that Gad, Reuben, and the half tribe of Manasses, returning after fourteen years to their sons whom they had left in possession beyond the Jordan, found a great war against them from the neighboring nations, and, having conquered the enemy, fought bravely. Read Joshua and Paralipomenon. Nephthalim, a hart let loose, giving goodly words; or Nephthalim a watered field. The Hebrew word signifies both, aiala seluha.

It signifies that hot waters arise in that very tribe, or that it was watered above the lake of Genesar by the stream of the Jordan. The Hebrews, however, hold that because of Tiberias, which seemed to have knowledge of the Law, a watered field and goodly words are prophesied. But a hart let loose shows the early fruits and the swiftness of the more fertile land. But it is better if we refer all this to the teaching of the Savior, because it was there especially that the Savior taught, as is also written in the Gospel. My son Joseph is a growing son, my son growing and comely in appearance; the daughters ran upon the wall; but they provoked him, and quarreled with him, and envied him, having darts. His bow rested in the strong one, and the bands of his arms and hands were loosed by the hands of the mighty one of Jacob. Thence he went forth a shepherd, the stone of Israel.

O son Joseph, who art so comely that the whole crowd of the maidens of Egypt gaze upon thee from the walls and towers and windows, thy brothers envied thee, and provoked thee to anger, having the arrows of envy, and wounded by the darts of jealousy. But thou didst place thy bow and thy weapons of fighting in God, who is a mighty warrior: and thy bonds, with which thy brothers bound thee, were loosed and broken by him, that from thy seed the tribe of Ephraim might be born, strong and stable, and unconquered like a harder stone, ruling also over the ten tribes of Israel. Benjamin, a ravening wolf, in the morning shall eat the prey, and in the evening shall divide the spoil. That this is a most manifest prophecy concerning the Apostle Paul is plain to all, because in his youth he persecuted the Church, and in his old age was a preacher of the Gospel.

The Hebrews, however, spoke thus: The altar on which the sacrifices were immolated and the blood of the victims poured out at its base was in the portion of the tribe of Benjamin; this, they say, signifies that the priests immolate the victims in the morning, and in the evening divide among themselves what has been assigned to them by the Law, calling it a bloody wolf, a devouring wolf, in the interpretation of the altar, and a divider of spoils over the priests, who, serving the altar, live by the altar. But these things according to history.

Spiritually, however, he shows that in Reuben is figured the person of the former people of the Jews, to whom it is said by the Lord, Israel my firstborn: for indeed, according to what was owed to the firstborn, it was his to receive priesthood and kingship. There is added, thou art my strength. Certainly because from that same people came the foundation of faith, from it came the strength of God, who is Christ. But how is he the beginning of sorrows, except in that he always inflicted injury upon God the Father: in that he turned his back to him, and not his face. This one is first in gifts, because to them first were entrusted the oracles of God, and the giving of the Law, and the Testament, or promise. This one is greater in dominion; certainly on account of the greatness of its powers, because that same people reigned more abundantly than the rest in this world.

But it was poured out like water, by sinning against Christ, which is not held in a vessel: it was poured out by the onrush of pleasure, and therefore he added, Let it grow no more; because that people, after it was scattered throughout the whole world, was greatly diminished. But why did it deserve such things, he thus subjoined: Because thou hast gone up to thy father’s couch. He proclaims the boldness of the firstborn people, which went up to its father’s couch, and defiled his bed, when it seized the Lord’s body, in which the fullness of divinity dwelt, and hung it upon the cross, and stained it with iron. Simeon and Levi, brethren, vessels of iniquity waging war. By Simeon and Levi are understood the Scribes and Pharisees and priests of the Jewish people. For from Simeon were the Scribes of the Jews, and from the tribe of Levi the chief priests, who took counsel to seize Jesus by guile and to kill him.

Of which counsel he says: Let not my soul come into their counsel. For he shuddered at such great crimes, which the Jews were to commit in the last times. Because in their fury they slew a man, that is, Christ, of whom it is said: Behold a man, the Orient is his name. And elsewhere: A woman shall encompass a man. They dug down the wall, that is, that spiritual and most strong wall which guards Israel, they pierced it with a lance. Cursed be their fury, because it is stubborn: certainly when, inflamed with fury and anger, they brought Christ before Pontius Pilate saying, Crucify, crucify. And their indignation, because it is hard: while they demanded Barabbas the robber, and asked that the prince of life be crucified. I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel: because some of them believed, some remained in unbelief.

For those are called divided who are separated from them and come to the faith; but scattered are those whose fatherland and temple being overthrown, their unbelieving race is scattered through the whole earth. Judah, thy brethren shall praise thee. By this Judah is expressed the true confessor Christ, who according to the flesh was born of his tribe. Him shall his brethren praise, namely the Apostles, and all his co-heirs, who by adoption of the Father have been made sons of God, and brothers of Christ by grace, of whom he himself is Lord by nature. Thy hands shall be on the necks of thy enemies. For with those same hands, and by that same trophy of the cross, he both sheltered his own, and bent down his enemies and the adverse powers. According to what the Father also promises him, saying: Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thy enemies thy footstool.

The sons of thy father shall worship thee: when many of the sons of Jacob worship him, made saved through the election of grace. Judah is a lion’s whelp. When by being born he was made a little one, as it is written: A little child is born to us. To the prey, my son, thou hast gone up: that is, ascending the cross, thou hast redeemed the captive peoples; and those whom that adversary had invaded, thou, by dying, hast snatched away: finally, returning from the dead, thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive. Resting, thou hast couched down as a lion. Most plainly Christ lay down in his passion, when, bowing his head, he gave up his spirit: and when in the tomb, secure, he rested as it were in a certain sleep of the body. But why as a lion, and as it were a lion’s whelp?

For in his sleep he was a lion, since not by necessity, but by power he accomplished this very thing, as he himself says: No man taketh my soul from me, but I lay it down. But what he adds, and as a lion’s whelp: for from the place whence he was born, thence he died. Well therefore did Christ rest as a lion, who not only did not fear the bitterness of death, but even in death itself conquered the dominion of death. But what he says, Who shall rouse him up? Because none but himself, according to what he himself says: Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. The ruler shall not depart from Judah, and the rest. This most plainly refers to Judah. For long the succession of the kingdom remained unbroken from his seed among the Jews, until Christ should be born, as we said above. Binding his foal to the vine.

His foal is the people from the nations, upon whom the burden of the Law had never yet been imposed. This he joined to the vine, namely to the Apostles, who are from the Jews. For the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the house of Israel. And to the vine his ass’s colt. He himself says, I am the true vine. To this vine, then, he binds his she-ass, namely the slow-paced Synagogue, weighed down by the heavy burden of the Law. He washed his robe in wine, either his flesh in the blood of the passion, or the holy Church in that wine which shall be poured out for many unto the remission of sins. And his cloak in the blood of the grape. The cloak is the nations, which he joined to his body, as it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, unless I clothe myself with all these as with a garment. His eyes are more beautiful than wine.

The eyes of Christ are the Apostles and Evangelists, who furnish the light of knowledge to the Church: whose precepts surpass the austerity of the wine of the ancient Law, because they are far lighter. And his teeth whiter than milk. The teeth are the holy teachers, who cut men off from errors, and, as it were by chewing, pass them into the body of Christ. But the teachers of the Church have been made whiter than the milk of the old Law. Zabulon dwelt on the shore of the sea, and in the haven of ships. Zabulon is interpreted “dwelling of strength,” and signifies the Church. She dwells on the shore of the sea and in the haven of ships, that she may be a refuge for believers, and show the harbor of faith to those in peril.

She, against all the whirlwinds of the age, with unshaken firmness solidly beholds the shipwreck of the Jews, and the storms of heretics, who are carried about by every wind of doctrine, and though she is beaten by the waves, she is nevertheless not broken. She stretches even as far as Sidon, that is, even to the nations. It is also read in the Gospel that some Apostles were taken from thence, and that the Lord often taught in those same places, as it is written, The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, the people that sat in darkness, saw a great light. Sidon is interpreted “hunter,” or “huntress.” Who are the hunters, but the Apostles? Who, as we said above, were taken from those places, of whom it is said: I will send many hunters, and they shall hunt you upon every mountain. Issachar is a strong ass. Issachar, which is interpreted “reward,” refers to the people of the nations, whom the Lord purchased at the price of his blood.

This Issachar is written as a strong ass, because the gentile people at first was, as it were, a brute and wanton animal, standing firm by no reason, but afterward willingly bore the yoke of Gospel discipline. This one, lying down between the borders, saw rest, that it was good, and the land, that it was excellent. But to lie down between the borders is to rest awaiting the end of the world, and to seek nothing of those things which are now busied about in the midst, but to desire the last things. And the strong ass sees rest and the excellent land, when simple gentility raises itself to the strength of good work for this reason, because it tends toward the fatherland of eternal life. Whence he also puts his shoulder to bear, because while he desires to attain to the promised rest, he willingly bears all the burdens of the commandments. Whence he is made a servant to tribute, that is, offering to Christ the king the goods of his faith and of good works as gifts.

Dan shall judge his people, as another of the tribes in Israel. Let Dan be a serpent in the way, a horned snake in the path, and the rest. Some say that by these words the Antichrist is foretold to be of this tribe, because in this place Dan is asserted to be a serpent, and biting, and because among the tribes of Israel, Dan first pitched camp toward the North, signifying him who says he will sit on the sides of the North, and of whom the Prophet figuratively says, From Dan was heard the snorting of his horses. Who is called not only a serpent, but also a horned snake. For κέρατα in Greek means “horns.” That serpent, then, is declared to be horned, by which Antichrist is fittingly signified, because against the life of the faithful he will be armed, with the bite of pestiferous preaching, also with the horns of power. But who does not know that a path is narrower than a way?

Dan becomes, then, a serpent in the way, because in the breadth of the present life he provokes them to walk, whom he flatters as if sparing them: but in the way he bites, because those to whom he grants liberty he consumes with the poison of his error. He becomes a horned snake in the path: because those whom he finds faithful, and constraining themselves within the narrow paths of the heavenly precept, he assails not only with the wickedness of cunning persuasion, but also presses with the terror of power, and in the languor of persecution, after the benefits of feigned sweetness, exercises the horns of power. This horse, whose hooves the horned snake is said to bite, signifies this world, which by its own elation foams in the course of gliding time. And because Antichrist strives to seize the last times of this world, this horned snake is declared to bite the horse’s hooves. For to bite the hooves of the horse is to strike and touch the last things of the age.

That his rider may fall backward. The unbelieving people of Judea, caught in the snares of its error, awaits Antichrist instead of Christ. Well does Jacob, in that same place, suddenly turn into the voice of the elect, saying, I will wait for thy salvation, O Lord: that is, not like the unbelievers awaiting Antichrist, but faithfully believing in him who is truly Christ, and who is to come for our redemption. Amen.