Genesis 49:10

From Judah the scepter shall not depart - The Jews have a quibble on the word שבט shebet, which we translate scepter; they say it signifies a staff or rod, and that the meaning of it is, that "afflictions shall not depart from the Jews till the Messiah comes;" that they are still under affliction and therefore the Messiah is not come. This is a miserable shift to save a lost cause. Their chief Targumist, Onkelos, understood and translated the word nearly as we do; and the same meaning is adopted by the Jerusalem Targum, and by all the ancient versions, the Arabic excepted, which has kazeeb, a rod; but in a very ancient MS. of the Pentateuch in my own possession the word sebet is used, which signifies a tribe. Judah shall continue a distinct tribe till the Messiah shall come; and it did so; and after his coming it was confounded with the others, so that all distinction has been ever since lost. Nor a teacher from his offspring - I am sufficiently aware that the literal meaning of the original מבין רגליו mibbeyn raglaiv is from between his feet, and I am as fully satisfied that it should never be so translated; from between the feet and out of the thigh simply mean progeny, natural offspring, for reasons which surely need not be mentioned. The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel, and the Jerusalem Targum, apply the whole of this prophecy, in a variety of very minute particulars, to the Messiah, and give no kind of countenance to the fictions of the modern Jews. 13. At the haven of the seas shall Zebulun dwell, And he shall be a haven for ships.And his border shall extend unto Sidon.

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 own" [CALVIN]. The Jews have been for eighteen centuries without a ruler and without a judge since Shiloh came, and "to Him the gathering of the people has been."

The sceptre shall not depart from Judah,.... Which some understand of the tribe, that Judah should not cease from being a tribe, or that it should continue a distinct tribe until the coming of the Messiah, who was to be of it, and was, and that it might appear he sprung from it; but this was not peculiar to this tribe, for the tribe of Benjamin continued, and so did the tribe of Levi unto the coming of Christ: besides, by Judah is meant the tribe, and to say a tribe shall not depart from the tribe, is not only a tautology, but scarcely sense; it rather signifies dominion, power, and authority, as the sceptre always does, it being an emblem of it, see Num 24:17 and this intends either the government, which was in the heads and princes of the tribe, which commenced as soon as it became a tribe, and lasted as long as it remained one, even unto the times of the Messiah; or kingly power and government, which the sceptre is generally thought to be an emblem of, and which first commenced in David, who was of the tribe of Judah, and continued unto the Babylonish captivity, when another sort of governors and government took place, designed in the next clause: nor a lawgiver from between his feet; which may be rendered disjunctively, "or a lawgiver"; any ruler or governor, that has jurisdiction over others, though under another, as the word is used, Jdg 5:14 and the sense is, that till the Messiah came there should be in the tribe of Judah, either a king, a sceptre bearer, as there was unto the captivity; or a governor, though under others, as there were unto the times of Christ under the Babylonians, Persians, Grecians, and Romans; such as Gedaliah, Zorobabel, &c. and particularly the sanhedrim, a court of judicature, the members of which chiefly consisted of the tribe of Judah,…

This chapter is a prophecy; the likest to it we have yet met with was that of Noah, Gen 9:25, etc. Jacob is here upon his death-bed, making his will. He put it off till now, because dying men's words are apt to make deep impressions, and to be remembered long: what he said here, he could not say when he would, but as the Spirit gave him utterance, who chose this time, that divine strength might be perfected in his weakness. The twelve sons of Jacob were, in their day, men of renown, but the twelve tribes of Israel, which descended and were denominated from them, were much more renowned; we find their names upon the gates of the New Jerusalem, Rev 21:12. In the prospect of this their dying father says something remarkable of each son, or of the tribe that bore his name. Here is, I. The preface (Gen 49:1, Gen 49:2). II. Th prediction concerning each tribe (v. 3-28). III. The charge repeated concerning his burial (Gen 49:29-32). IV. His death (Gen 49:33).

49:10 This verse anticipates the kingship in Judah (cp. 17:6, 16; 35:11). Although the birthright blessing went to Joseph, Judah would provide Israel’s rulers (see 1 Chr 5:1-2). A long line of kings from Judah would retain the scepter, the symbol of rule; the last king would be the one to whom it belongs, the promised Messiah (see 2 Sam 7:4-16; Pss 2, 45, 60; Isa 11; Ezek 21:26-27; Zech 9:9; Rev 5:5). • from his descendants: Literally from between his feet, a poetic euphemism for reproductive organs. • until the coming of the one to whom it belongs (Or until tribute is brought to him and the peoples obey; traditionally rendered until Shiloh comes): These differences arise from ambiguities in the Hebrew text. Rule of Israel belongs to Judah’s descendant through David’s line (2 Sam 7:8-16), and he will eventually rule all nations, as signified by the bringing of tribute (see Pss 68:29; 72:8-11; Isa 2:2-4; Eph 4:8-10).