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<p>Glorious things are here said of Judah. The mention of the crimes of the three elder of his sons had not so put the dying patriarch out of humour but that he had a blessing ready for Judah, to whom blessings belonged. Judah’s name signifies <i>praise</i>, in allusion to which he says, <i>Thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise</i>, <a class="bibleref" title="Gen.49.8" href="/passage/?search=Gen.49.8">Gen. 49:8</a>. God was praised for him (<a class="bibleref" title="Gen.29.35" href="/passage/?search=Gen.29.35">Gen. 29:35</a>), praised by him, and praised in him; and therefore his brethren shall praise him. Note, Those that are to God for a praise shall be the praise of their brethren. It is prophesied that, 1. The tribe of Judah should be victorious and successful in war: <i>Thy hand shall be in the neck of thy enemies</i>. This was fulfilled in David, <a class="bibleref" title="Ps.18.40" href="/passage/?search=Ps.18.40">Ps. 18:40</a>. 2. It should be superior to the rest of the tribes; not only in itself more numerous and illustrious, but having a dominion over them: <i>Thy father’s children shall bow down before thee</i>. Judah was the <i>lawgiver</i>, <a class="bibleref" title="Ps.60.7" href="/passage/?search=Ps.60.7">Ps. 60:7</a>. That tribe led the van through the wilderness, and in the conquest of Canaan, <a class="bibleref" title="Judg.1.2" href="/passage/?search=Judg.1.2">Jdg. 1:2</a>. The prerogatives of the birthright which Reuben had forfeited, the excellency of dignity and power, were thus conferred upon Judah. Observe, “Thy brethren shall bow down before thee, and yet shall praise thee, reckoning themselves happy in having so wise and bold a commander.” Note, Honour and power are then a blessing to those that have them when they are not grudged and envied, but praised and applauded, and cheerfully submitted to. 3. It should be a strong and courageous tribe, and so qualified for command and conquest: <i>Judah is a lion’s whelp</i>, <a class="bibleref" title="Gen.49.9" href="/passage/?search=Gen.49.9">Gen. 49:9</a>. The lion is the king of beasts, the terror of the forest when he roars; when he seizes his prey, none can resist him; when he goes up from the prey, none dare pursue him to revenge it. By this it is foretold that the tribe of Judah should become very formidable, and should not only obtain great victories, but should peaceably and quietly enjoy what was obtained by those victories—that they should make war, not for the sake of war, but for the sake of peace. Judah is compared, not to a lion <i>rampant</i>, always tearing, always raging, always ranging; but to a lion <i>couchant</i>, enjoying the satisfaction of his power and success, without creating vexation to others: this is to be truly great. 4. It should be the royal tribe, and the tribe from which Messiah the Prince should come: <i>The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, till Shiloh come</i>, <a class="bibleref" title="Gen.49.10" href="/passage/?search=Gen.49.10">Gen. 49:10</a>. Jacob here foresees and foretels, (1.) That the sceptre should come into the tribe of Judah, which was fulfilled in David, on whose family the crown was entailed. (2.) That Shiloh should be of this tribe—his seed, that promised seed, in whom the earth should be blessed: <i>that peaceable and prosperous one</i>, or <i>the Saviour</i>, so others translate it, he shall come of Judah. Thus dying Jacob, at a great distance, saw Christ’s day, and it was his comfort and support on his death-bed. (3.) That after the coming of the sceptre into the tribe of Judah it should continue in that tribe, at least a government of their own, till the coming of the Messiah, in whom, as the king of the church, and the great high priest, it was fit that both the priesthood and the royalty should determine. Till the captivity, all along from David’s time, the sceptre was in Judah, and subsequently the governors of Judea were of that tribe, or of the Levites that adhered to it (which was equivalent), till Judea became a province of the Roman empire, just at the time o
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