Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Genesis 49:18

I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD.

18. I have waited ] This parenthetical ejaculation of prayer is thought by many scholars to be a gloss. But all authorities contain the verse. There is no obvious reason for inserting such a gloss at this particular point. ( a) The ejaculation has by some been thought to shew that, at the time of the composition of this song, Dan was engaged in a long conflict with his foes, and the issue was still doubtful. ( b) By others it has been explained as a cry of physical weakness by Jacob. It is very possible that the verse is intended to mark the point at which the song is half finished; but it is not necessarily, therefore, an interpolation.

thy salvation ] i.e. deliverance wrought by Thee. For the thought of the prayer, cf. Psa 25:5; Psa 27:14; Psa 119:81; Psa 119:166; Psa 119:174; Isa 25:9.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Gen 49:18

I have waited for Thy salvation, of Lord

Times of waiting

A parenthesis in Jacobs long blessing of his sons.

Exhausted with the thoughts and visions which passed over his mind in such quick succession, he paused to take a spiritual inspiration: I have waited for Thy salvation, O Lord.

1. Such chapters of life, such seasons of suspense, such exercises of the quiet confidences of the soul, are to be found in every Christians experience. They may come in different ways to different men, but they are in some form or other a necessity to every man–an essential part of the discipline of the school of salvation.

2. These intervals of waiting must be filled up with four things: prayer, praise, fellowship, and work.

3. It will be a helpful thought to you as you wait, that if you wait, Christ waits. Whatever your longing is that the time be over, His longing is greater. There are many things that you have had that have turned to a curse, which would have been blessings if only there had been more waiting. (J. Vaughan, M. A.)

Waiting for salvation:

1. From these words we may learn what was the nature of that inheritance which the patriarchs regarded as bequeathed to them by the Divine promises. The patriarchs looked for salvation.

2. We learn from the text what had been the great characteristic of Jacobs life from the time that he was first brought under the power of Divine grace. His affections had been set on things above. His chief interest had lain in eternity.

3. The language of Jacob in the text proves most fully the truth elsewhere stated, that the righteous hath hope in his death. Practical questions:

(1) Do you know what is meant by the salvation of the Lord?

(2) Do you know what is meant by waiting for salvation–i.e., ardently but patiently looking forward to it?

(3) Do you know what is meant by preparing while you wait for the salvation of the Lord? (A. D. Davidson.)

Jacobs dying confidence:

I. THE IMPORTANT OBJECT FOR WHICH THE PATRIARCH WAITED.

1. Salvation is present in its commencement.

2. Salvation is future in its consummation.

II. THE GLORIOUS BEING IN WHOM THE PATRIARCH CONFIDED.

1. Salvation is Divinely devised and provided.

2. Salvation is Divinely revealed and promised.

3. Salvation is Divinely imparted and realized.

III. THE SACRED EXERCISE IN WHICH THE PATRIARCH WAS OCCUPIED.

1. We must wait for salvation patiently.

2. We must wait for salvation believingly.

3. We must wait for salvation importunately.

4. We must wait for salvation perseveringly. (Sketches of Sermons.)

Jacobs dying words:

I. The believer can use this language of the text, because he will be PUT, AT DEATH, IN POSSESSION OF A GLORIOUS INHERITANCE–I have waited, said Jacob, for Thy salvation; language implying that there was a future good not yet attained, long as he had been a subject of the Divine government, seeking humbly and holily to walk with God.

II. The words imply Jacobs WILLINGNESS TO LEAVE HIS CHOICEST EARTHLY COMFORTS. He looked for a better heritage, not exposed to vicissitude and change; not amidst a dark and idolatrous land, but in the region of glory where cherubim and seraphim abide; not accorded by the bounty of Pharaoh, but prepared by God for His people. He looked to a house, the builder and maker of which is God. He lived under a darker dispensation than ours; but he had heard the invitation, Come up hither: Enter, thou blessed of the Lord. If then, like Jacob, we have been reconciled and brought near through the blood of the everlasting covenant, are we not warranted in thinking that God will not leave His people comfortless at the last?

III. Jacob had EXPERIENCED MANY TRIALS AND BEEN SUBJECT TO MANY SORROWS. The words, accordingly, seem to have been spoken in assured belief that these would soon be past.

IV. The Christian may feel the force of Jacobs words, inasmuch as he expects to be favoured with the nearer vision of, and to hold CONGENIAL INTERCOURSE WITH, THE SAVIOUR. (A. R. Bonar, D. D.)

Salvation

Salvation! Blessed be God, that our fallen earth has heard the joyful sound! It is unheard in hell. Blessed be the grace which brought it to your ears! To multitudes it is a tuneless cymbal. Salvation! It peoples the many mansions of the heavenly kingdom. Salvation I It is a roll written by Jehovahs pen. It is the decree of Divine councils: the fruit of omniscient mind: the first-born of unmeasured love: the perfection of eternal thought: the strength of omnipotence. Salvation! It is the work for which Jesus was born in Bethlehem, and lived on earth, and died at Calvary, and descended into the grave, and burst the bonds of death, and mounted to heaven, and sits on the right, hand of God. For this He reigns and prays on high. It is the work for which the Spirit seeks our earth, and knocks at the barred entrance of the sinners heart. For this He assails the fortress of self-love, and reveals the perils of sin, and wrestles with ignorance and vain excuses. Salvation! It is the first message which mercy uttered to a ruined world. It is the end of every prophecy–the purport of every precept–the beauty of every promise–the truth of every sacrifice–the substance of every rite–the song of every inspired lip–the longing desire of every renewed heart–the beacon which guides through the voyage of life–the haven to which the tides of grace convey–the end of faith, the full light of hope, the home of love. Salvation! It is the absence of this blessing which builds the prison-house of hell, which kindles the never-quenched fires-which forges the eternal chains which wraps the dreary regions in one mantle of blackness–which gives keenness to the undying worm–which blows up the smoke of torment–which gives the bitterness of despair to the hopeless wail. Does any eager soul exclaim, Tell me, further, wherein Salvations blessedness consists? It is a blessed rescue, to change ceaseless wailings into endless praise: the blackness of darkness into the glories of brightness beyond the sun in his strength. Does any add, Let me clearly understand how this is all accomplished! Come, see the excellent things which Jesus works. He saves by rescuing from hell. He saves by giving title to heaven. He saves by meetening for heaven. He by His Spirit dethrones the love of sin: implants delight in God. It is great, because willed, provided, accepted by a great God, even the Father: because wrought out and finished by a great God, even Jesus: because applied by a great God, even the Spirit. It is great, because it averts great woe: bestows great grace: and blesses a great multitude. O my soul! see to it that you are saved. (Dean Law.)

The death-bed:

I. WHAT IS THIS SALVATION OF WHICH JACOB SPEAKS? As a dying man, he speaks of a salvation towards which he had looked, and for which he had waited until that hour. What that salvation really is, we now know by clear and unequivocal revelation; but the question before us is, what it was in Jacobs estimation, what it was in its actual results upon the dying believer of his day? The full knowledge of the salvation of the gospel gives victory over sin, and death, and the grave.

1. Salvation with him would be deliverance from the burden of the flesh. A mind so spiritual as his, and so habituated to intercourse with the great Father of spirits, could not but discriminate between the immortal spirit and the perishable tenement in which it was confined. He had long experienced the sorrows incident to this imperfect state. The infirmities of age had long been stealing upon him.

2. The salvation for which he looked would be deliverance from sin. Sin was a permanent evil, with which, in some form or other, he had to contend in every period of his life. In youth, maturity, and age, it had still been, in one way or other, the cause of his anxiety. He had, however, attained by faith to the hope of the remission of sin. He leaned upon the Angel that redeemed him from all evil. The system of grace, however fully or scantily revealed, was to him a sufficient ground of hope and practical comfort in the house of his pilgrimage.

3. Jacob would include also in this salvation the high and permanent felicities of an eternal existence. I have waited all the days of my appointed time until my change come. And now, O Lord, fulfil all that I have been led to hope for, and crown this faint and failing spirit with immortal strength, and blessedness, and perfection.

4. Jacob evidently implied, in this strong expression of reliance upon God, the expectation of deliverance from the evils of death itself. The act of dissolution is an event from which human nature shrinks. It is unnatural. It is the consequence of sin. But, Lord, I have waited for Thy salvation. I have looked for complete deliverance. Let my Shepherd and my Guide be with me in the shadowy valley. O God most holy, O Lord most mighty, O merciful Saviour, Thou most worthy Judge Eternal, suffer me not, at my last hour, for any pains of death, to fall from Thee. Here, then, we have a view of the salvation for which Jacob waited.

II. WHAT ARE WE TO UNDERSTAND BY JACOB HAVING WAITED FOR THIS SALVATION? He refers to the habit of his previous life, to the whole tenor of his course. This has been the grand object of my existence. This is the thing for which I have sought.

1. The expression implies that he had believed the truth of this salvation; but of this we need say nothing, for every step of his life exhibits his willing acceptance of the promise of deliverance, and his perfect satisfaction with the covenant of mercy.

2. He had sought for this salvation in the zealous use of the means of grace, in the way of holy and prayerful obedience.

3. He had expected this salvation with increasing affection. It became more and more the object of endeared attachment. To wait, implies the intense occupation of the soul.

4. That Jacob waited implies that he was patient. A waiting spirit is a patient and submissive one. His is not a petulant wish, in a moment of dissatisfaction, to depart; but a calm and even energy of soul bearing towards immortality.

Lessons:

1. Be thankful that, in a rebellious and lost world, the benevolence and the wisdom of God provided, even in the earlier stages of our history, a means of redemption so ample and effective, and left on an infallible record such bright examples for our encouragement and comfort. Let us thank God, and take courage.

2. Again, be humbled when you compare the faith of earlier days with ours in days so rich in evangelical privilege.

3. Lastly, be diligent, then, that you may be found of God in peace, without spot and blameless. (E. Craig.)

The believer waiting for Gods salvation:

I. THE LIVING SAINTS CHARACTER. He is one who is waiting for the salvation of God. By the term salvation here, we are probably to understand the Saviour Himself–the Messiah who had been promised. By the words he uses in the text, Jacob evidently expressed his faith in the testimony of God as to the coming of the Messiah, to whom he looked, as every guilty sinner must do, and in whose name he trusted for salvation and eternal life. Salvation, taken in its fullest sense, expresses all that the soul can require for time and eternity. And well might this good old saint, Jacob, say here, in addressing God, Thy salvation. The glorious design of saving sinners of the human race by a Mediator was conceived in the infinite Mind, and determined upon in the counsels of God, before the foundations of the world were laid, or even time had begun its course. For this salvation Jacob had waited. Numerous had been the incidents of his past life, but amidst them all he had kept his eye fixed on the salvation of God, and had consequently passed through things temporal so as not to lose those things which were eternal.

II. THE DYING SAINTS COMFORT. Brethren, there is no real comfort in dying moments, but that which comes from having waited for God, and being in immediate prospect of entering on a full and uninterrupted enjoyment of the salvation of God; a lively and well-grounded confidence that we are in Christ, and shall be saved in Him, with an everlasting salvation; a hope that maketh not ashamed, that we are heirs of, and are about to be admitted to, glory, honour, and immortality. Sorrow is banished, and desire fully satisfied. A well-grounded hope of thus receiving the end of his faith, even the salvation of his soul, and of being admitted to the felicities, full and perfect and enduring, of the heavenly world, affords strong and abundant consolation to a dying saint. To enjoy this salvation at death and in eternity, it must now be sought by you. (W. Snell.)

Waiting for salvation:

I. How BELIEVERS LIVE. They live waiting for the salvation of the Lord. This comprehends many important particulars both in doctrine and experience.

1. A conviction of the need of salvation. The sick man only needs healing; the man in danger only needs rescuing: to offer to one that is not sick a remedy, and to one that is not lost, salvation, would only be mockery. And this teaches us the reason of a fact which is awful: the whole, in their own estimation, refuse a physician; those who are unconscious that they are lost, ruined, and undone, neglect the great salvation.

2. A knowledge of the method by which salvation is to be obtained. Waiting for a thing implies a sense of its value and importance.

3. Diligence in the use of those means with which the salvation of the soul is connected. Faith and hope do not lie dormant in the heart; they are active principles, always in exercise. The more diligent and devout your attendance on the means which God has appointed in dependence on the influences of the Spirit, the more clear will be your vision, the more fervent your desires, the more full your foretastes of salvation. Waiting on the Lord, you shall renew your strength, and go on in the beauty of holiness, till you appear perfect before God in Zion.

4. That the hope of salvation is the grand support of the believer, and the only source of his consolations under all the sufferings to which he is exposed. He endures, as seeing Him that is invisible, and in hope rejoices against hope.

II. How BELIEVERS DIE. The reigning temper of his heart is still the same. He lived, and now he dies, waiting for the salvation of the Lord. The ruling passion is strong in death. The last emotion, when nature sinks, and all is feebleness and decay, is a desire for the salvation of God. And this implies that the believer considers death–

1. As an entrance on immortality. Surely when he says, I have waited for Thy salvation, O Lord! it does not imply that he wishes his being to become extinct. David knew that he should live in the presence of God. Jacob knew that when the earthly house of his tabernacle was dissolved, he had a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

2. As the termination of his sufferings. His temptations and sorrows can follow him no further. At the gate of death he lays down his burden: he is to sigh and suffer no more for ever. His warfare is accomplished. His long, tedious, painful struggles are at an end. Death, which is to some the beginning of sorrows and of sufferings, is to him the end of both.

3. As the harvest, when all the graces of the spirit would be ripened, and matured, and gathered, it is said that the good man shall come to his grave, like as a shock of corn cometh in his season. Observe this figure: The fallow ground is first broke up, the seed is sown, and it remains unseen.

But the process of vegetation is going forward; the germ is expanding; ere long the green blade appears. The frosts pass over it, and it withers; but the sun shines, and it recovers. At length, after it has experienced a few storms, and been impeded in its growth by noxious weeds, in consequence of fruitful showers and genial sunshine, it is fully ripe and fit for the harvest. So the fallow ground of the heart is broken up; the good seed of the kingdom, the incipient principles of grace are implanted. They are hidden for a season, but they proceed; there is the principle of vitality; and we see first the blade, then the ear, and after that the full corn in the ear. All the graces of the Spirit are then ripened and perfected; faith into vision, hope into fruition, and love is made perfect so as to cast out all fear. Then the believer shall see God without an interposing cloud, love Him with a perfect heart, and serve Him without weariness.

4. An assurance of a glorious resurrection. When Jacob was dying, he took an oath of his son that he would bury him in the land of Canaan. And Joseph also gave commandment concerning his bones. What should make these holy men so anxious about the place of their interment? The world is lost to a dead man; and what matters it whether he lies in Egypt or in Canaan? What could it he for, but to express their faith in the promise of God; their belief that death would not cut them off from His favour. The place of their burial, therefore, will remain as a monument of their faith to the latest period of time: and when the angels gather up their fragments, where are they to look for them but in that land where they are laid, and where Christ appeared, and will appear again?

From the whole let us–

1. Learn the vast importance of that salvation which has been an object of desire to the saints of God in all ages. The word signifies deliverance–deliverance from all evil, and introduction to all good.

2. Behold the perfect man, and mark the upright; for the end of that man is peace. If his life is honourable to religion, his death is a confirmation of all that he professed. (W. Thorpe.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

I do earnestly wait, and hope, and pray for thy helping hand to save me and my posterity from the manifold temporal calamities which I foresee will come upon them, and especially from spiritual and eternal mischiefs, by that Messiah which thou hast promised. Jacob in the midst of his great work doth take a little breathing, and finding himself weakened by his speech to his children, and drawing nearer death, he opens his arms to receive it, as the thing for which he had long waited, as the only effectual remedy and mean of salvation or deliverance from all his pains and miseries, and particularly from his present horrors, upon the contemplation of the future state of his children. And this pathetical exclamation may look either,

1. Backward, to the state of the tribe of Dan, which he foresaw would be deplorable, both for its great straits and pressures, of which see Jos 19:47; Jdg 1:34, and especially for that idolatry which that tribe would introduce and promote, Jdg 18:30; 1Ki 12:29, whereby they would ruin themselves, and most of the other tribes with them. Or,

2. Forward, to the doubtful and miserable condition of Gad.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord.. Jacob finding his spirits faint and flag, stops and breathes awhile before he proceeded any further in blessing the tribes; and as he found he was a dying man, and knew not how soon he should expire, expresses what he had been thoughtful of and concerned about in time past, and still was; that he had been waiting and hoping for, and expecting a state of happiness and bliss in another world, where he should be saved from sin and Satan, and the world, and from all his enemies, and out of all his troubles; and this he firmly believed he should enjoy, and hoped it would not be long ere he did; and especially he may have a regard to the Messiah, the promised Saviour, and salvation by him he had knowledge of, faith in, and expectation of; who may be truly called the salvation of God, because of his contriving, providing, and appointing, whom he had promised and spoken of by all the prophets; and whom in the fulness of time he would send into the world to work out salvation for his people; and to him all the Targums apply the words, which are to this purpose:

“said our father Jacob, not for the salvation of Gideon, the son of Joash, which is a temporal salvation, do I wait; nor for the salvation of Samson the son of Manoah, which is a transitory salvation; but for the salvation of Messiah the son of David, (which is an everlasting one,) who shall bring the children of Israel to himself, and his salvation my soul desireth:”

and though Jacob might be affected with the evils he foresaw would rise up in the tribe of Dan, he had last mentioned, and with the troubles that should come upon all the tribes; and had some pleasing sights of the deliverances and salvations, that should be wrought for them, by judges and saviours that should be raised up; yet his chief view was to the Messiah, and salvation by him.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

But this manifestation of strength, which Jacob expected from Dan and promised prophetically, presupposed that severe conflicts awaited the Israelites. For these conflicts Jacob furnished his sons with both shield and sword in the ejaculatory prayer, “ I wait for Thy salvation, O Jehovah! ” which was not a prayer for his own soul and its speedy redemption from all evil, but in which, as Calvin has strikingly shown, he expressed his confidence that his descendants would receive the help of his God. Accordingly, the later Targums ( Jerusalem and Jonathan) interpret these words as Messianic, but with a special reference to Samson, and paraphrase Gen 49:18 thus: “Not for the deliverance of Gideon, the son of Joash, does my soul wait, for that is temporary; and not for the redemption of Samson, for that is transitory; and not for the redemption of Samson, for that is transitory; but for the redemption of the Messiah, the Son of David, which Thou through Thy word hast promised to bring to Thy people the children of Israel: for this Thy redemption my soul waits.”

(Note: This is the reading according to the text of the Jerusalem Targum, in the London Polyglot as corrected from the extracts of Fagius in the Critt. Sacr., to which the Targum Jonathan also adds, “for Thy redemption, O Jehovah, is an everlasting redemption.” But whilst the Targumists and several fathers connect the serpent in the way with Samson, by many others the serpent in the way is supposed to be Antichrist. On this interpretation Luther remarks: Puto Diabolum hujus fabulae auctorem fuisse et finxisse hanc glossam, ut nostras cogitationes a vero et praesente Antichristo abduceret .)

Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament

18. I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord. It may be asked, in the first place, what occasion induced the holy man to break the connection of his discourse, and suddenly to burst forth in this expression; for whereas he had recently predicted the coming of the Messiah, the mention of salvation would have been more appropriate in that place. I think, indeed, that when he perceived, as from a lofty watchtower, the condition of his offspring continually exposed to various changes, and even to be tossed by storms which would almost overwhelm them, he was moved with solicitude and fear; for he had not so put off all paternal affection, as to be entirely without care for those who were of his own blood. He, therefore, foreseeing many troubles, many dangers, many assaults, and even many slaughters, which threatened his seed with as many destructions, could not but condole with them, and, as a man, be troubled at the sight. But in order that he might rise against every kind of temptation with victorious constancy of mind, he commits himself unto the Lord, who had promised that he would be the guardian of his people. Unless this circumstance be observed, I do not see why Jacob exclaims here, rather than at the beginning or the end of his discourse, that he waited for the salvation of the Lord. But when this sad confusion of things presented itself to him, which was not only sufficiently violent to shake his faith, but was more than sufficiently burdensome entirely to overwhelm his mind, his best remedy was to oppose to it this shield. I doubt not also, that he would advise his sons to rise with him to the exercise of the same confidence. Moreover, because he could not be the author of his own salvation, it was necessary for him to repose upon the promise of God. In the same manner, also, must we, at this day, hope for the salvation of the Church: for although it seems to be tossed on a turbulent sea, and almost sunk in the waves, and though still greater storms are to be feared in future; yet amidst manifold destructions, salvation is to be hoped for, in that deliverance which the Lord has promised. It is even possible that Jacob, foreseeing by the Spirit, how great would be the ingratitude, perfidy, and wickedness of his posterity, by which the grace of God might be smothered, was contending against these temptations. But although he expected salvation not for himself alone, but for all his posterity, this, however, deserves to be specially noted, that he exhibits the life-giving covenant of God to many generations, so as to prove his own confidence that, after his death, God would be faithful to his promise. Whence also it follows, that, with his last breath, and as if in the midst of death, he laid hold on eternal life. But if he, amidst obscure shadows, relying on a redemption seen afar off, boldly went forth to meet death; what ought we to do, on whom the clear day has shined; or what excuse remains for us, if our minds fail amidst similar agitations? (212)

(212) Jewish commentators suppose the patriarch’s exclamation to have been suggested in this place, by a prospective view of the temporal deliverances wrought for Israel, by warriors of the tribe of Daniel So the Chaldee Paraphrast represents him as saying, “I look not for the salvation of Gideon, because it is a temporal salvation; nor for the salvation of Sampson the son of Manoah, because it is transitory; but I look for the redemption of Christ the Son of David, who is to come to call to himself the children, whose salvation my soul desireth.” See Bush and Dr. A. Clarke. Yet there is something affecting in the thought, that the exclamation might be a sudden burst of holy desire for the immediate fruition of the glory which the dying patriarch now saw so near at hand. — Ed.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

(18) I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord (Jehovah).Among the many explanations hazarded of this ejaculation the most probable is that given in the Speakers Commentary, that the thought of the serpent wounding his prey in the heel carried the mind of the patriarch back to the fall of man, and the promise made to Eve. And thus it is a profession of faith, naturally called out by this chain of ideas, in the advent in due time of the promised Deliverer, and of which the accomplishment had become united in thought with the name of Jehovah.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

18. For thy salvation have I longed, Jehovah What occasioned this abrupt exclamation at this point, or what connexion it has with the context, is not clear . Probably the wars and dangers that awaited the chosen people were vividly presented to the patriarch’s soul as he mentioned the traits of Dan, and these again call up the ancient prophecy of the conflict between the woman’s and the serpent’s seed, (Gen 3:15,) and as he has a glimpse of that momentous struggle, he breaks out with this ejaculation. But if no such relation to the context be allowed, we may suppose that Jacob here breaks out with these words as a refrain, or pause, in the midst of exciting prophecy, and conflicting emotions within.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Gen 49:18. I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord Various have been the reasons assigned by commentators, for the introduction of this ejaculation. Some suppose, that the good old patriarch’s spirits growing faint, he sighed for a happy deliverance out of this world. Some, that, referring to Samson in the former verse, his ideas were carried to a better salvation, even that of the Messiah: and others think, that, foreseeing the oppressions under which this tribe was to labour, he breathed out this prayer for their deliverance. The ingenious interpretation, which Bishop Sherlock has given of it, (Dissert. 3:) seems perfectly satisfactory, and is therefore subjoined: “The difficulty here, at least the main difficulty, is, to give an account of the propriety of this passionate wish for salvation, in the present connection. It has evidently relation to the prophecy concerning Dan, and the exposition ought to shew and preserve the relation: and yet, according to the common interpretations, this passage might as well stand after the blessing of Gad, Asher, Naphtali, or any other of the tribes, as after this prophecy concerning the tribe of Dan. They who refer the salvation here mentioned to the deliverance wrought by Samson descended from the house of Dan, do also expound the prophecy to relate to him and his victory; so far judging right, that the prophecy and the epiphonema ought to terminate in the same point of view. But how comes Samson to be thus distinguished? Israel had many other judges and deliverers descended from other tribes, many of them, in all respects, bodily strength only excepted, preferable to this strong Danite: of them there is no notice taken in the prophecy of Jacob, nor of the salvation which God, by their means, wrought in Israel. Besides, in what sense had Jacob waited for this salvation? and how, for this, rather than twenty others of the same kind, which happened to his posterity? The words plainly imply him to speak something which had been long the object of his heart’s desire; the thought of which came strong upon him, when he prophetically beheld the fortune of this tribe. Further, the images here used, of serpent and adder, are odious, and very improper to describe a brave or gallant man in any circumstance of life; nor are they, as I remember, ever so used in the sacred writers. It cannot be reasonable therefore to look for the accomplishment of this prophecy among the actions of the tribe of Dan, deserving honour and praise; for the ideas, by which the prediction is conveyed, point out actions of another kind, and lead us to expect, in the history of this tribe, an account of some very dishonourable and perfidious transaction. The history will justify this expectation: for though the house of Israel stands recorded for a wilful and disobedient people, whose heart was not right with their God, yet it is the peculiar infamy of the house of Dan, to be the ringleaders in idolatry, the first who erected publicly a molten image in the land of Promise, and, by their example and perseverance in this iniquity, infected all the tribes of Israel. This idolatry began soon after the days of Joshua, and continued until the day of the captivity of the land, Jdg 8:30-31. compared with Archbishop Usher’s Annals.

Supposing this to be the view before the prophets eyes, in what terms more proper could he describe this new tempter and seducer, than by those which were commonly used to describe the first? If the first Tempter deserved the name of serpent, for drawing Adam and Eve from their obedience to the original law, in virtue of which they held the possession of Paradise; did Dan deserve it less, for drawing the people of Israel from obedience to the Divine law, in virtue of which they had but even then taken possession of the land of Promise? If the mischiefs brought upon the race of Adam, were justly represented by the serpent’s bruising the heel of the woman’s seed; did not the mischiefs brought upon the house of Israel by the idolatry of Dan, well deserve to be painted in colours of the same kind? and, when Jacob saw that the venom of the old Serpent would work in one of his own sons even to the utter ruin of his posterity, could he help looking back upon God’s promise of deliverance, and the hope given that the serpent’s head should be bruised? could this view, and this reflection together, be attended with any other sentiments than those which close this prophecy? I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord!

This prophecy, considered in this light, affords a very ancient evidence of the expectation of deliverance from the curse of the fall. The hope of salvation, here, manifestly relates to the mischief wrought by a serpent biting the heels: and though this image is used to foretel a mischief then to come, yet the hope was older than Jacob, had been his comfort all along, and was his comfort under the sad prospect he had of his children’s iniquity.

Lay these circumstances together, and it is impossible to conceive any salvation which can answer to these ideas, but that only which arose from the promise, that ‘the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent’s head.‘”

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Gen 49:18 I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD.

Ver. 18. I have waited for thy salvation. ] A sudden and sweet ejaculation; either, as, feeling himself faint and spent with speaking, he desires to be dissolved, and so to be freed from all infirmities; or else, foreseeing the defection of this tribe to idolatry, and their many miseries thereupon, he darts up this holy desire to God for them, and himself in them. Good Nehemiah is much in these heavenly ejaculation: and the ancient Christians of Egypt were wont to use very short and frequent prayers, saith Augustine; a lest, in longer, their fervour of affection should suffer diminution. “Why criest thou unto me?” saith God to Moses. Exo 14:15 This was but a sudden desire darted up.

a Ne per moras evanesceret et hebetaretur oratio. – Aug.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)