Scripture: Genesis 49:1-28 (CEB)
Jacob summoned his sons and said, “Gather around so that I can tell you what will happen to you in the coming days.
2 Assemble yourselves and listen, sons of Jacob;
listen to Israel your father.
3 Reuben, you are my oldest son,
my strength and my first contender,[a]
superior in status and superior in might.
4 As wild as the waters, you won’t endure,
for you went up to your father’s bed,
you went up[b] and violated my couch.
5 Simeon and Levi are brothers,
weapons of violence their stock in trade.
6 May I myself never enter their council.
May my honor never be linked to their group;
for when they were angry, they killed men,
and whenever they wished, they maimed oxen.
7 Cursed be their anger; it is violent,
their rage; it is relentless.
I’ll divide them up within Jacob
and disperse them within Israel.
8 Judah, you are the one your brothers will honor;
your hand will be on the neck of your enemies;
your father’s sons will bow down to you.
9 Judah is a lion’s cub;
from the prey, my son, you rise up.
He lies down and crouches like a lion;
like a lioness—who dares disturb him?
10 The scepter won’t depart from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff from among his banners.[c]
Gifts will be brought to him;
people will obey him.
11 He ties his male donkey to the vine,
the colt of his female donkey to the vine’s branches.
He washes his clothes in wine,
his garments in the blood of grapes.
12 His eyes are darker than wine,
and his teeth whiter than milk.
13 Zebulun will live at the seashore;
he’ll live at the harbor of ships,
his border will be at Sidon.
14 Issachar is a sturdy donkey,
bedding down beside the village hearths.[d]
15 He saw that a resting place was good
and that the land was pleasant.
He lowered his shoulder to haul loads
and joined the work gangs.
16 Dan[e] will settle disputes for his people,
as one of Israel’s tribes.
17 Dan will be a snake on the road,
a serpent on the path,
biting a horse’s heels,
so its rider falls backward.
18 I long for your victory, Lord.
19 Gad[f] will be attacked by attackers,
but he’ll attack their back.
20 Asher[g] grows fine foods,
and he will supply the king’s delicacies.
21 Naphtali is a wild doe
that gives birth to beautiful fawns.[h]
22 Joseph is a young bull,[i]
a young bull by a spring,
who strides with oxen.[j]
23 They attacked him fiercely and fired arrows;
the archers attacked him furiously.
24 But his bow stayed strong,
and his forearms were nimble,[k]
by the hands of the strong one of Jacob,
by the name of the shepherd, the rock of Israel,
25 by God, your father, who supports you,
by the Almighty[l] who blesses you
with blessings from the skies above
and blessings from the deep sea below,
blessings from breasts and womb.
26 The blessings of your father exceed
the blessings of the eternal mountains,[m]
the wealth of the everlasting hills.
May they all rest on Joseph’s head,
on the forehead of the one set apart from his brothers.
27 Benjamin is a wolf who hunts:
in the morning he devours the prey;
in the evening he divides the plunder.”
28 These are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them. He blessed them by giving each man his own particular blessing.
What does this passage mean to me/us?
Contributed by Susan Loveman
Then Jacob called his sons, and said: “Gather around, that I may tell you what will happen to you in the days to come.” (Genesis 49:1 NRSV)
“Jacob called his sons.” What is wrong with this line, what is missing? Jacob had thirteen children, yet only 12 are called to hear his prophecy. The child who has not been called is his daughter, Dinah. The Bible tells us very little about Dinah. In Genesis 34 we learn that Dinah is seduced and raped by Shechem, who then falls in love with her and the two become engaged. Dinah’s story ends with a horrific, bloody, slaughter. In a deceitful act of treachery, Dinah’s brothers kill her betrothed, and then go on to slaughter every man in the city. As Dinah’s story unfolds, we hear the voices of her father, her brothers, her lover, and her future father-in-law. We never hear Dinah’s voice. Her voice is silent. We never see Dinah again. She becomes invisible. We never hear of Dinah’s thoughts, emotions, dreams, or hopes.
Dinah’s very existence challenges us to see those who are invisible and to hear voices that are silent.
Throughout history and in today’s world, who have we rendered invisible and silent? Is it the child who is a victim of human trafficking? Is it the family huddled in fear as missiles explode overhead? Is it a hungry neighbor? Is it a co-worker who is silently drowning in depression? Is it a man whose lifestyle is villainized, or a teen who has dark thoughts of suicide? Is it a mother grieving for a son who died in police custody? Is it a store clerk whose daughter is slowly being strangled by an opioid addiction? Perhaps it is you who is unseen, isolated, and unheard. The invisible and unheard are all around us.
Jacob voiced his prophecy and spoke of his sons’ legacy. Dinah’s legacy is one of silence. Let us honor her legacy by seeing what is not there, by hearing what is not spoken, by listening to the silent voices that surround us. And then, let us reach out with compassion and kindness.
Prayer
Almighty Creator, help us to be strong knowing that we are always seen and heard by you. But knowing this, we are called to serve those who are not seen and those whose voices are not heard. Give us strength and wisdom to be your faithful servants. We pray in the name of Jesus the Christ, Amen.
Click here if you can’t watch the video
Click to subscribe to our Daily Devotion.
You will receive a devotion in your inbox every morning.