Page:A critical and exegetical commentary on Genesis (1910).djvu/615

connexion with ^28abβ by R^JEP.—1b. that I may make known, etc.] The poem is expressly characterised as a prophecy (not, however, as a blessing [as ^28b]), which it obviously is as ascribed to Jacob, though the singer's real standpoint is contemporary or retrospective (p. 508 above).—in the after days] The furthest horizon of the speaker's vision (v.i.).—2. A trimeter distich, exhibiting the prevalent metrical scheme of the poem:

 Assemble, ye sons of Jacob, And hearken to Israel your father!

With the call to attention, cf. 4²³, Dt. 32¹, Is. 1¹⁰ 28¹⁴, etc.—Whether in the mind of the poet Israel is the literal or the ideal father of the nation may be doubtful: cf. v.⁷, and p. 509 above. 3, 4. Reuben.

³ Reuben! My first-born art thou:
      My strength and best of my vigour.
  Exceeding in pride and exceeding in fury,
⁴ Impetuous as water, thou may'st not excel.
  For thou wentest up to thy father's bed;
      There thou profanedst ^[the^] couch. . . .

The original presents both obscurities and niceties not reflected in the translation; but the general sense is clear. As the first-born, Reuben is endowed with a superabundant vitality, which is the cause at once of his pre-eminence and of his undoing: his energy degenerates into licentious

1. (Hebrew characters)] The phrase occurs 13 times in Heb. OT (Nu. 24¹⁴, Dt. 4³⁰ 31²⁹, Is. 2², Jer. 23²⁰ 30²⁴ 48{{sup|47) 49³⁹, Ezk. 38¹⁶, Hos. 3⁵, Mic. 4¹, Dn. 10¹⁴† ), and its Aram. equivalent in Dn. 2²⁸. In the prophets it is used technically of the advent of the Messianic age; here and elsewhere (Nu. 24¹⁴ etc.) it has the general sense of the remote future (like Ass. aḫrat ûmi: KAT², 143). That the eschatological sense is primary, and the other an imitation of prophetic style (Gu.), cannot be proved; and there is no justification for deleting either the phrase itself (Staerk, ZATW, xi. 247 ff.), or the whole clause in which it occurs (Land).—2. The repetition of (Hebrew characters) is against the rules of parallelism. We may either omit the word in ^2a (Gu. Sie.), or vary the expression ((Hebrew characters), (Hebrew characters)) in ^2b (T^O, Ba.). Metrically, either expedient would be admissible, but the former is much easier. In G^{B, al.} (Greek characters) is used thrice.