Day 27

II The Age of The Patriarchs - 1967-1606 B.C. ~ cont.

E. Joseph ~ cont.

13. Birth of Beriah (son of Ephraim)

14. Last days of Jacob

a. Charge to Joseph - Genesis 47:28-31

b. Charge to twelve sons - Genesis 49:1-32

c. Death of Jacob (147 years) - Genesis 49:33

d. Burial of Jacob - Genesis 50:1-14

15. Joseph's brethren fearful: reassured by Joseph - Genesis 50:15-21

16: Important births

a. Birth of Resheph (Ephraim to Joshua lineage)

b. Birth of Amram (Levi's grandson, Moses' father) (Num 26:58)

c. Birth of Ram (39th gen)

d. Birth of Telah (Ephraim to Joshua lineage)

17. Joseph's latter days

a. Last days - Genesis 50:22-23

b. Last words - Genesis 50:24-25

c. Death of Joseph (110 years) and his brethren - Genesis 50:26; Exodus 1:6

Jacob's foretelling of events and recognition of various son's and their future tribes.

Reuben - 2 verses - first born; excellency of dignity and power; unstable; will not excel.
Simeon and Levi - 3 verses - instruments of cruelty; fierce and cruel; scattered in Jacob and Israel.
Judah - 5 verses - praised by brethren; father's children bow to; lion, sceptre shall not depart; lawgiver, Shiloh, eyes red with wine; teeth white as milk.
Zebulun - 1 verse - haven of the sea; haven for ships.
Issachar - 2 verses - strong donkey; bowed shoulder to bear; a servant under tribute.
Dan - 3 verses - judge people; serpent/adder biting at the heels.
Gad - 1 verse - overcome by a troop; overcomer at the last.
Asher - 1 verse - bread sufficient; yields royal dainties.
Naphtali - 1 verse - loose hind; goodly words.
Joseph - 5 verses - fruitful bough; grieved, shot and hated by archers; strength in his arms and hands; blessings of the Almighty.
Benjamin - 1 verse - raving wolf; devour prey; divide the spoil.

I thought it interesting that Simeon and Levi shared 1 verse, they were the leaders in attacking the village of men where Dinah was raped.  Judah and Joseph had the most verses.  I did a search and came across this article.  I tend to hesitate when Jewish tradition is mentioned, but the information provided is thought provoking.

I especially enjoyed the reference to the verse:

Gather yourselves together and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father.  (Genesis 49:2)

There is a significance between the use of the word Jacob versus Israel.  I have heard in the past that Jacob = the flesh, while Israel = the spiritual.

Jacob - H3290 - From H6117; heel catcher (that is, supplanter); Jaakob, the Israelitish patriarch.

Israel - H3478 - From H8280 and H410; he will rule as God; Jisrael, a symbolical name of Jacob; also (typically) of his posterity.

Went searching to satisfy my curiosity - did an E-sword search for Jacob/Israel - used 183 times in 82 verses.  Quite the list.  I've had an interesting time trying to track down and verify my perception of Jacob = the physical and Israel = the spiritual.

I went back to this verse:

Gen 32:28  And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.

and then found this site, which made mention of Jacob's name change being re-emphasized again later:

Gen 35:10  And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel.

God even refers to Jacob/Israel in the same verse here:

Gen 46:2  And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I.

This will be one for me to ponder and reflect upon, prayerfully seeking counsel and wisdom from Father to completely understand.  :-D

Day 20

II The Age of The Patriarchs - 1967-1606 B.C. ~ cont.

D. Jacob ~ cont.

4. Jacob and Esau both leave ~ cont.

Parallel Passages ~ cont.

Jacob's History ~ cont.

f. Twelve children born as he works additional years for Rachael and cattle ~ cont. Genesis 30:1-6; 29:35; 30:9, 7-8, 10-11, 14-18, 12-13, 19-24

Notable children included

(1) Levi 

(2) Judah

(3) Joseph

(4) Dinah (only daughter)

Esau's History ~ cont.

b. Esau's future ~ cont.

(2) Kings of Edom

(a) Bela - 1st King - Genesis 36:31-33; 1 Chronicles 1:43-44

(b) Other kings following - Genesis 36:34-39; 1 Chronicles 1:45-50

(3) Dukes of Edom - Genesis 36:40-43; 1 Chronicles 1:51-54

END Parallel Passages

5. Jacob's closing days with Laban

a. Increased material blessings - Genesis 30:25-43; 31:1-16

And Jacob came out of the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him, and said, Thou must come in unto me; for surely I have hired thee with my son's mandrakes.  And he lay with her that night.  (Genesis 30:16)

I chuckled over this verse.  It appears to be the first biblically recorded incidence of paying for sex, and by the woman no less!  Hopefully that does not come across as being sacrilegious.  Jacob apparently had no choice in the matter?

Exploring a few of the words in the verse:

hired - H7936 - The second form by permutation and used in Ezr_4:5; a primitive root (apparently akin (by prosthesis) to H3739 through the idea of temporary purchase; compare H7937); to hire.

This word is doubled when used in this verse.  This word is used 21 times in 18 verses.  First usage is in Genesis 30:16, most of the verses translate the word as hired, except in Proverbs 26:10 where it is translated, twice, as rewardeth.  The last usage in Haggai 1:6, also used twice, it is translated as wages (put into a bag with holes).

mandrakes - H1736 - From H1731; a boiler or basket; also the mandrake (as aphrodisiac).

• H1731 - From the same as H1730; a pot (for boiling); also (by resemblance of shape) a basket.
• H1730 - From an unused root meaning properly to boil, that is, (figuratively) to love; by implication a love token, lover, friend; specifically an uncle.

Used only 7 times in 5 verse, primarily in the Genesis passage, also in Song of Solomon and Jeremiah.  Since this was not enough information, I went on a hunt.  Not much on mandrakes, and what is out there is, well, odd.  This site seemed decent.

I thought Gill's commentary on the passage interesting:

And Jacob came out of the field in the evening,.... From feeding his flocks:

and Leah went out to meet him; knowing full well the time he used to come home:

and said, thou must come in unto me; into her tent, for the women had separate tents from the men; as Sarah from Abraham; and so these wives of Jacob had not only tents separate from his, but from one another:

for surely I have hired thee with my son's mandrakes: that is, she had hired that night's lodging with him of Rachel, with the mandrakes her son Reuben had brought out of the field. Jacob made no objection to it; but consented, being willing to please both his wives, who he perceived had made this agreement between themselves:

and he lay with her that night; and that only, for the present: for, by the way of speaking, it looks as if he did not continue with her more nights together at that time, but went, as before that evening, to Rachel's tent.

Another interesting observation is Leah's motive - not so much to one up Rachel, but to acquire a good dowry ~ of children.  Which in our day and age is looked upon with disdain or outright scoffing.  People have been so brainwashed into thinking that children are a burden, when in reality they are a blessing from the Lord.

Psalm 127:3  Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.