Israel
Genesis 49:22-26
Jacob · ~1850 BC · Status: Fulfilled · Confidence: 65%
“Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall: The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him:”
King James Version · the opening — all 5 verses are below
Joseph's tribe (Ephraim and Manasseh) predicted to be abundantly fruitful and to extend beyond borders.
Read the whole passage — all 5 verses (KJV)
49:22Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall:
49:23The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him:
49:24But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:)
49:25Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb:
49:26The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.
Fulfillment References
Psalm 118:22 1 Peter 2:6-7
How Traditions Read This Prophecy
Apostolic (Oneness) PentecostalJacob blesses Joseph as 'a fruitful bough,' whose strength is from 'the mighty God of Jacob; from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel.' Joseph — rejected by his brothers, exalted to save them — is a striking type of the Lord Jesus, the Shepherd and the Stone (the rejected Stone made the cornerstone, Ps. 118:22; 1 Pet. 2:6-7). The God of Jacob from whom the Shepherd-Stone comes is revealed in Christ.
JewishJacob's richest tribal blessing — Joseph's fruitfulness and the favor of the Mighty One of Jacob; the prosperity of the Joseph tribes (Ephraim and Manasseh).
CatholicJoseph as a type of Christ — rejected then exalted to save; the Shepherd and Stone read of the Messiah.
ProtestantJoseph's life a celebrated type of Christ; 'the shepherd, the stone of Israel' pointing to the Messiah.
AcademicThe Joseph blessing (with Deut. 33) reflects the prominence of the Joseph tribes; 'the Stone of Israel' is a rare, archaic divine epithet.
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