Notes from Genesis 47.28-50.26
Jacob lives in Egypt 17 years to age
147. Time draws near for Israel to die
Joseph is told his father is ill. He
bring his sons Manasseh and Ephraim
Jacob strengthens himself and sits up
on the bed and blesses them
Saying: The God before whom Abraham and Isaac walked
Who has been my shepherd all my life
long until now
Bless these youths and let my name be
named in them
And the names of Isaac and Abraham
also
By you shall Israel give blessings,
saying:
“God, make you as Ephraim and
Manasseh”
That is, let
go your past (Manasseh) and be fruitful and serve all (Ephraim)
To Joseph he says: I am about to die,
but God is with you
And will bring you back to the land of
your ancestors
Jacob calls his children together.
Listen to Israel your father:
Rubin, my first-born, my might and my
strength
Excellence of dignity and excellence
of power, beware of instability
Simon and Levi, beware of anger and
willfulness that kill and cripple
Judah, you’ll be praised and
victorious. You’re a lion holding a ruler’s staff
You’ve bound yourself to the sacred
vine
Zebulon, treasure-finder, you dwell at
the shores of the seas
Shipping master, skillful merchant who
supports
Issachar solid and strong who sees the
resting place Sabbath
And knows the goodness, the pleasant
land. You live to serve
Dan is the wise and neutral judge for
his people
Also the creative energy, protecting
the people Gen. 49.17
Israel sees a
fiery chariot approaching. He raises his hand
I await your deliverance, my God and completes the blessings
Warrior Gad, protector of the
innocent, a troop may attack
But you will troop on them and see
them scatter and run
And as for Asher – abundance, wisdom,
the wealth of royalty
Naphtali runs free in the fields of consciousness
He passes on the dharma sacred wisdom with words of beauty and victory
Joseph is a fruitful vine by a spring the living waters
Though tested his resolve never
falters
Empowered by the Almighty God of your
fathers and mothers
God blesses you with the heavens and
the infinite depths
To the utmost bounds of the
everlasting hills
Benjamin’s totem is the victorious
wolf who devours his prey
In the morning and at night divides
the spoil shares the
wealth Gen. 49.27
These are the 12 tribes of Israel of our illumination
What their father is declaring as he
blesses them
Each
according to the cut of his own blessings. All these qualities are within us
As you
choose, draw on them and bring them forward
I’m to be gathered to my people. Bury
me with my fathers and mothers
In the cave of Machpelah with Abraham,
Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah and Leah
Jacob gathers his feet up onto his bed
and expires
And is gathered unto his people We are his people
His children bury him in the cave of
Machpelah
Gen.50.13
Machpelah
also means the cave inside the cave. Deep inside our hearts
There is a
sacred cave of devotion which is a gateway to Eden
After this Joseph and all who went
with him return home
He comforts his brothers and speaks
kindly to their hearts
Let us
comfort one another and speak to each others’ hearts
Joseph tells his brothers: I die but
God will surely remember you
And bring you out of this land unto
the land that God promised
To Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
When God does this, carry my bones
from here
And Joseph dies having lived 110 years Gen. 50.26
Thus ends the first
Scroll of the Torah entitled
B’ray-sheet/In the Beginning
also known as the
Book of Genesis
