Genesis 49:2
`Be grasped, and hear, builders of Heel, And hear toward El-Strives your father.1353
Gather yourselves and hear, sons of Jacob; yea, listen to your father Israel:
“Assemble and listen, O sons of Jacob, listen to Israel your father.
Assemble yourselves, that I may tell you What shall happen to you in the last days. Gather yourselves together, and hear me, sons of Jacob; Hear Israel, hear your father.
Footnotes
| 1353 | This chapter is traditionally regarded as a “prophetic hymn” or song. Other much shorter passages such as Adam’s “song” about the “flesh of my flesh” are also written in the same cryptic manner. The words, syntax, and sentence structure deviate significantly from normal writing in that they are heavily cryptic and thus the most difficult to translate into something that makes sense. Because the wording is so deliberate, and enigmatic, with numerous obscure words being used, the assumption is that this was merely poetry since poetry and song can be tkindd back to ancient times. The challenge with the biblical books is knowing whether a text is simply meant to be a song or a revelation of the future in heavily concealed language, since future-telling constitutes at least the majority of the objective of the authors of the Bible. |