It was normal in the ancient world to end important works of literature with grandiose poems.
The book Genesis is no exception.
And so, in bringing the Book of Beginnings to a close, we see the patriarch of the family of Yisrael gathering together all of his sons, each of whom will become a patriarch in the their own right of one of the 12 tribes, and delivering his farewell oracle.
Here is our version.
A brief commentary follows.
Then Yaakov called his sons, and he said;
Gather together, that I may declare to you the end of days!
Assemble and listen, sons of Yaakov!
Listen to Yisrael, your father!
Reuven, you are my first born;
My might, the beginning of my vigor. Prevailing in dignity, prevailing in power!
Yet for all that, you are reckless like water, and no longer shall you prevail.
For should you have wished to lead, you should have lead with justice.
But you relented! And innocent blood was spilled.(1)
Shimon and Lewi, brothers, tools of violence are their trade.
With their deliberation, may my breath not join. In their assembly, may my honor not unite.
For in their anger they not only killed a man- but with pleasure, they hamstrung an ox.(2)
Cursed be their anger, for it is powerful- and their pleasure, for it is repulsive.(3)
I shall divide them throughout Yaakov, and scatter them in Yisrael.
Yehuda- You, your brothers praise.
For you spoke up, and brought them redemption.(4)
Your hand is upon the neck of your enemies, and they will bow to you, the sons of your father.
A lion’s welp is Yehuda.
Over the prey, my son, you mounted.
Crouching, lying down like a lion to protect his kin- like a lioness, to protect her young- who could stand up to him?(5)
It shall not be removed, the scepter, from Yehuda,
nor the ruler’s staff from between his legs.
Zevulun, on the shores of the seas, he settles,
and he, a shore for ships, with his flank at Tsidon.
Yissachar is a donkey of strong-bones, lying at-ease at the hearth.
He sees that rest is good, and the land, that it is pleasant.
He bowed his shoulder to bear a burden, and became a servant of forced labor.
Dan shall be judged by his people, first of the tribes of Yisrael.
Dan shall be a snake upon the roads; an asp upon the paths-
who bites the heels of the horse, his rider falling backwards.
The horse shall run to salvation. The rider, the snake will consume.
But the blood, dripping-red from your fangs, will testify- and you will be condemned.
Not for the rider, no, but for the sheep.
For you judged this one for life and this one for death.
And the blameless were in your eyes as the guilty.(6)
I await your deliverance, O Yahweh!
Gad, marauding bands shall raid him. For he bound up the innocent so as to hand them to unjust judgement. But when you turn to righteousness, they will flee, and you will attack them at their heels.(7)
Asher, his bread is abundant.
He shall yield delicacies of royalty.
For he showed remorse, and stood by his brother when when he sought redemption.
Naftali is a doe running free, bringing forth lovely fawns.
A fruitful bough is Yoseph, a fruitful bough by a spring.
The oxen stride by, and enjoy the shade.
They delight in his protection, sheltering from the archers who had embittered them, and shot at them.
Yet his own bow was steady- returning fire, hands made swift by the hands of the Mighty-One-of-Yaakov; the true, Goodly-Shepherd, the Rock-of-Israel.(8)
From the El-of-your-father, He aids you; And Shaddai, He blesses you.
Binyamin is a ravenous wolf
In the morning devouring the spoils,
In evening he divides the booty.
These are the tribes of Yisrael, 12, and this is what their father said to them. And he blessed them, each man according to his blessing did he bless them.
And Yaakov finished speaking to his sons, and he gathered up his feet onto the bed, and he breathed out his last, and was gathered to his people.
Commentary
(1) Should you have wished to lead...: In ancient Israel, like all patriarchal societies of the ancient near east, being the firstborn carried both privilege and responsibility. By birth, Reuven was the first-born of Israel. And yet, it was under his watch that his brothers tormented the innocent and sold their own brother to slavery (see The Goodly Shepherd). Reuven has forfeited the birthright, and Yisrael declares that royalty is destined to come from another.
(2) With pleasure, they hamstrung an ox: To hamstring, or hough, is to sever the Achilles tendon. (In 1Chronicles 18, King Daweed does this to the horses of the Moabites.) It seems like Shimon and Lewi had violent tendencies, and this verse seems to suggest that in Yisrael's eyes, there is an increase in severity of their crimes from killing a man out of anger, to hamstringing an ox for pleasure. Of course, one might point out that to kill is worse than to hamstring, and to harm a human (image-of-Elohim) is worse than to harm an animal. But the "for pleasure" is the unforgivable kicker. Even the four sons of the concubines who killed the sheep did so for profit (The Goodly Shepherd)- not that this excuses their behavior, but at the very least, it was not because they derived joy from seeing someone suffer.
(3) And their pleasure, for it is repulsive: The traditional version has and their fury, for it was harsh. But there is parallelism in the first part of this line with the first verset of the previous one, in that they killed in anger, and so Yisrael declares that cursed be their anger. We therefore changed fury to pleasure, so that this parallelism is repeated- they hamstrung in pleasure, and therefore, their pleasure is repulsive.
(4) You spoke up: This one line was added in light of what we did with Yehuda's speech in A Heartfelt Plea.
(5) To protect his kin... to protect her young: Once again, an addition in light of A Heartfelt Plea. Yehuda put his life on the line and was willing to do anything to protect his brother Binyamin with as much ferocity as a lioness would have when her own cubs are threatened, which for him served as a complete redemption after having sold his other younger brother.
(6) The horse shall run... and the blameless were in your eyes as the guilty: Unlike the traditional version, here we are given a glimpse of the fate of the horse, who is able to run free after bucking off his rider. The rider, on the other hand, is left to be bitten by the poisonous asp. That's not where the story ends, however, for we also see the snake hunted down and killed- but while the humans think they are killing an animal that killed a man, we the reader see the snake as representing Dan, being punished for his role in the torment of the sheep all those years ago.
(7) For he bound up the innocent: Like Dan, Gad still suffers consequences of their long-ago wickedness. Remember four of the brothers were involved- Dan, Gad, Asher and Naftali. Note the progression from one to the other here. Dan is condemned outright. Gad is told he will be punished, but only until he turns to righteousness. Asher has already shown remorse, and even seemed to be particularly vigilant when Yehuda confronted the viceroy of Egypt (not knowing he was Yoseph). And for Naftali, the doe running free, the crime is not even mentioned. Perhaps Dan was the ringleader, and Naftali, who was his younger brother by both mothers, was a reluctant and remorseful participant from the start?
(8) The Hebrew of the traditional version of the blessing for Yoseph is the most difficult of the whole section. The most likely translation of the second line is Daughters strode upon the ramparts - i.e., the young women of the tribe will be enjoy so much security that they can calmly walk along the ramparts on the edge of the city, without fear of being struck down by arrows. But the word for rampart, shur/שור, can also be translated to ox. And so in this version, Yoseph as a shady bough is providing shade/protection for these oxen who had been hunted- just as Yoseph had tried to protect the sheep from his brothers. And while these oxen are protected, Yoseph returns the fire, with his hands being held steady by Yahweh-Himself, the true Goodly-Shepherd. Truly, when we are protecting the innocent, we are performing the will-of-Yahweh, and our endeavors are aided by Divine assistance!
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