22 Joseph is a
young bull,
a young bull near a spring,
that walks around the wall.
23 They attacked him furiously,
they fired at him, the archers assaulted him fiercely
24 Nonetheless, his bow remained ready,
his hands and arms agile,
due to the Powerful One of Jacob,
due to the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,
25due to God, your father, who will help you,
due to Shaddai, who will bless you:
with blessings of the heavens above,
blessings of the deep that lies below,
blessings of breasts and womb.
26 The blessings of your father
are stronger than the blessings of the eternal mountains,
than the desirable things on the everlasting hills,
May these rest on the head of Joseph,
on the forehead of the one distinguished from his brothers. (David L. Petersen, Genesis [The
Old Testament Library; Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox Press, 2025], 372-73)
Commenting on “a
young bull” in v. 22:
The entire verse is uncertain. See comments. (Ibid., 373 n. e)
[22-26] The
saying concerning Joseph is, at the outset, difficult to translate. Many
translators consider Gen 49:22 to reflect floral imagery. IT seems preferable,
however, to see Joseph characterized as an animal, here a bull, as has been the
case in so many of the other pronouncements (so CEB). (Though using a different
noun, Deut 33 also characterizes Joseph as a bull.) Genesis 49:22-23 situate
the bull near a spring and soon coming under attack from archers. Then in verse
24a, the imagery switches to that of a person, Joseph himself as archer. That movement
from animal to human also takes place in the saying about Judah.
In verse 24b, the poet offers a remarkable theological inventory, ways
of describing the deity who has enabled Joseph to defend himself. The
assemblage in verses 24-25 alludes to the deity’s hands and name, to the deity
who has been specially related to Jacob, to metaphors of rock and shepherd for
the deity, and to the archaic notion of the deity as Shaddai. After developing
that theological resource, the poet highlights the blessings that lie in Joseph’s
future. They are cosmic in scope, stemming from the heavenly heights and the
cosmic deep. They involve human fertility as exemplified by the birth and
feeding of the children (womb and breast). The blessings that come from Jacob
are stronger than those provided by mountains, probably a reference to crops
and/or herds located on the sides of hills. The saying about Joseph in Deut 33
also refers to the heavens and cosmic deep; but unlike Gen 49, it emphasizes
the produce that will stem from the mountains. In Gen 49, it is as if the poet
knows that tradition in Deuteronomy but contends that the blessings from Jacob,
which involve human fertility, are even greater than that promised in Deut
33:13-16. The phrase “your father,” which appears twice, highlights the special
relationship that Joseph has with Jacob. (David L. Petersen, Genesis
[The Old Testament Library; Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox Press,
2025], 375-76)
