Most of Genesis 49 is poetry. The content is mostly concerned with Jacob’s blessing of his twelve sons. We use the word “blessing” in a general sense, for there is little actual blessing in the chapter. Only Joseph is literally blessed (49:25–26). We retain the title “Jacob’s blessing” primarily because of verse 28: “This is what their father said to them when he blessed them.” Some of the sections read more like a curse than a blessing.

Verse 1 would suggest that the words that follow are Jacob’s addressed to individuals—his twelve sons. Verse 28, however, extends the perspective: “All these are the twelve tribes of Israel.” One of the reasons this chapter is problematic is that it is so difficult to translate from the original. Indeed, it is probably the most difficult chapter in Genes…