And of Joseph he said, Blessed of Jehovah be his land! By the precious things of the heavens, By the dew, and by the deep that lieth beneath,
Moses blesses the twelve tribes one by one as his final act before he dies. When he reaches Joseph, the words open out wide: heaven above, the deep beneath, and a land full of gifts. Why does this one tribe receive such a flood of good, and who stands behind the gift?
Moses was not the first to bless these tribes. One commentator compares his words with Jacob's:
There is a clear difference between the words of Jacob and the words of Moses over the twelve. The one saw them as children, the other as tribes of the Lord. The one was looking ahead to their own conduct and history. The other was putting each of them in that place of honour and blessing which God had settled and secured for them. So in the words of Moses, you get nothing but blessing. No mention of any fault or evil of their own, but God disposing of them all according to His own purpose of grace.
Joseph's blessing belongs to that setting. No one earns it; God gives it all.
The blessing starts with the ground itself. Joseph's words run far longer than Benjamin's, and one commentator ties that to what Joseph suffered:
Much more is said of Joseph, for Benjamin did not go through the deep suffering and pressure that Joseph did. This section speaks of the abundance of fruitful prosperity that Israel will yet enjoy in the age to come... God will show how He is able to bring about the greatest blessing from the greatest suffering. This has already been seen in the sufferings of Christ and in the great blessing the Church of God now enjoys.
The verse reaches up to the sky and down under the earth. Older translations name the dew in this verse, where the ESV has "the choicest gifts of heaven above." One commentator reads both directions as pictures of what God will do:
Even the heavenly city, the new Jerusalem, the chief city of God's creation, will have its twelve gates marked with the names of the tribes of Israel (Revelation 21:12). From that heavenly city the grace of God will pour its abundant blessing on the earthly people of God. The dew from heaven, a picture of the Spirit of God, will water the nation, so that fruit for God may grow. "The deep lying beneath" seems to suggest that depths of evil will be turned into depths of goodness. Then nothing will be against them, and everything will serve the spiritual energy of bearing fruit.
Dew is quiet and easy to miss. A dictionary of Bible terms explains what it stands for, and why God can hold it back:
It is a blessing, a refreshment sent by God, and withheld as punishment or in discipline. In the summer the dew is very heavy in Palestine, and helps greatly in growing crops. It is a picture of the refreshment and strength that God sends down on His people during the night of their Lord's absence. It will not be needed when the day breaks, and the Sun of righteousness arises with healing in His wings.
Commentators differ in emphasis. One sees the Spirit at work in Israel's coming age. The other sees refreshment while the Lord is away. Both see favour coming down, never rising from the land.
Joseph's road to honour ran downward first:
Notice how strongly Moses speaks of Joseph being separated from his brothers. He was rejected and thrown into the pit. He passed, in figure, through the deep waters of death, and so reached the place of dignity and glory. He was raised from the dungeon to be ruler over the land of Egypt, and the preserver and sustainer of his brothers... A striking picture of Him who hung on the cross, lay in the grave, and is now on the throne of the majesty of heaven.
One writer names the Person behind the whole harvest:
Under the smile of God the whole of the fruitful land breaks out into a manifold and continuous harvest. The good will of Him who dwelt in the bush crowns the head of the Nazarite as with a royal crown — the man set apart for God and so set apart from his brothers. It is very plain that it is Christ who brings the blessing down in this way. For this to happen, the Gentiles who have taken over must leave the land, giving way to the crowds of fruitful Ephraim and the thousands of Manasseh.
- Grace first. Moses' closing words name no sin and no failure. God's own purpose settles each tribe in its place.
- Pressure then plenty. Joseph receives the fullest blessing after the deepest suffering. God draws the greatest blessing out of the greatest pain.
- Gift from above. The dew comes down from heaven as favour; the land never makes it. God can also hold it back as discipline.
- Reach without limit. Heaven above and the deep beneath both serve this blessing. Nothing is left against him; everything helps him bear fruit.
- Crowned head. The blessing crowns the head of the man set apart from his brothers. God raises the rejected one to rule, and Christ brings the blessing down.
And by the precious fruits of the sun, And by the precious things put forth by the months,
Moses' last words over Joseph promise a land full of blessing. This line looks up at the sky — the sun that ripens the crop, and the yield that keeps coming month after month — and the writers ask who stands behind it.
The blessing on Joseph piles up pictures of a land bursting with crops. One writer traces that harvest to God's smile, and names the person who brings it down.
Under the smile of God the whole of the fruitful land breaks out into a varied and continuous harvest. The good will of Him who dwelt in the bush crowns, as with a royal crown, the head of the one set apart to God, and so set apart from his brothers. Clearly it is Christ who brings the blessing down in this way. Moses' words here confirm what Jacob said.
Rain alone is not enough to ripen a crop. One writer reads both the sun and the month-by-month yield as pictures of the Lord Jesus.
As well as moisture, the sunshine must be added so that there may be precious fruit (v.14). The sun is typical of the Lord Jesus, "the Sun of righteousness" spoken of in Malachi 4:2 as rising on Israel with healing in His wings. "The precious produce of the months" connects with Revelation 22:2, though that verse refers to the Lord Jesus as the Tree of life yielding twelve fruits, one each month. He Himself, the Tree of life, will be in heaven, in the midst of the Assembly, the Church of God. The twelve fruits are for Israel, while the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the Gentile nations. Wonderful prosperity!
Joseph's blessing grows out of what he suffered. The same writer sees that order — pressure first, harvest afterwards — as God's way with Israel too.
Psalm 4:1 tells us, "In pressure You have enlarged me" (Darby's translation). This was beautifully true of Joseph. It also points to the great blessing that Israel will yet receive as a result of their deep pressure of years, ending in the Great Tribulation. God will show how He is able to bring the greatest blessing out of the greatest suffering. This has in fact already been seen in the sufferings of Christ and the great blessing of the Church of God now.
Moses speaks this blessing over one small country. Another writer follows it out past those borders, and says when it will come.
Magnificent range of blessing! And all this flowing from and resting on his sufferings. Of course all these blessings will come true for Israel in due time. The sufferings of the true Joseph will form the lasting foundation of the future blessedness of His brothers in the land of Canaan. And not only that: the tide of blessing, deep and full, shall flow out from that highly favoured though now desolate land, in refreshing power into all the earth. What a sad mistake to apply such scriptures to the present age of the gospel or to the church of God!
Commentators differ on how far this reaches into the present day. Mackintosh calls it a sad mistake to read such scriptures as a picture of the church. Leslie Grant sees the same principle already at work in the sufferings of Christ and the blessing of the church now.
One writer reads the verse as biography. Before Moses said a word, Joseph had already lived under sun and moon.
Joseph had taken the heat and the cold. Both the sun and the moon had shone on him. He had been able to receive and pass on the precious things of heaven from each. He had received divine energy from his God and radiated that energy back to family and stranger, to prisoner and Pharaoh. He could reveal the precious things of heaven that were hidden from others. There had been no "clouds" between him and his God or those around him. He never seemed in a hurry. He went on quietly and patiently taking both heat and cold — good times and bad — as from his Lord.
One writer borrows the same phrase for John the Baptist, the voice in the wilderness:
His voice might sound out in the wilderness. But his heart lived among the "precious fruits brought forth by the Sun" that shone on him. He was a man "filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb."
- Sun. The sun that ripens the crop pictures the Lord Jesus, the Sun of righteousness, rising with healing in His wings.
- Suffering. The blessing rests on what Joseph lost. God brings the greatest blessing out of the greatest suffering.
- Smile. The harvest comes from the goodwill of the One who dwelt in the bush — it is Christ who brings the blessing down.
- Spread. The tide does not stop at Joseph's border; it flows out from that land into all the earth.
- Steadiness. Joseph took heat and cold alike from his Lord, and passed on to others what he received from heaven.
And by the best things of the ancient mountains, And by the precious things of the everlasting hills,
Verse 15 sits inside Moses' blessing on Joseph, where gift after gift piles onto his land — heaven, dew, deep, sun, moon, and now the mountains and hills. Two questions follow: why do old hills count among the land's best gifts, and why does the whole list land on the head of one man?
Joseph's portion runs longer and richer than his brother Benjamin's. Commentators link that to what Joseph suffered, and they read the blessing as still future.
Much more is said of Joseph, because Benjamin did not go through the deep suffering and pressure that Joseph did. This section speaks of the abundant, fruitful prosperity that Israel will yet enjoy in the age to come… Israel will yet receive great blessing as a result of their deep pressure of years, ending in the Great Tribulation. God will show how He is able to bring the greatest blessing out of the greatest suffering. We have already seen this in the sufferings of Christ and the great blessing of the Church of God now. But Israel will know the value of this only after suffering the ordeal of the tribulation.
The mountains here are not scenery. Grant reads them as a picture of authority older than memory.
Verse 15 adds another lovely feature of the fruitfulness of Israel: "with the best things of the ancient mountains, with the precious things of the everlasting hills." Ancient mountains speak of authority established from time out of mind. Israel will then recognise the Lord Jesus as "the LORD, the King of Israel," "the Redeemer, the LORD of hosts." He says, "I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god" (Isa. 44:6). His authority has been His from eternity past. When Israel accepts it, that submission will be a vital part of the fruit they bear for God.
Grant quotes an older translation here. The ESV reads, "with the finest produce of the ancient mountains and the abundance of the everlasting hills."
One writer weighs both where this blessing comes from and how far it reaches.
Magnificent range of blessing! And all of it flowing from and resting on his sufferings… The sufferings of the true Joseph will form the lasting foundation of the future blessedness of His brothers in the land of Canaan; and not only that, but the tide of blessing, deep and full, will flow out from that highly favoured though now desolate land, bringing refreshment to all the earth.
Verses 13–16 pile up the gifts. Verse 16 sets them all "on the head of Joseph." Commentators see Joseph, cut off from his family, as a figure of Christ. He does not only receive.
Joseph, separated from his brothers, is a picture of the Lord Jesus. Through His lonely sufferings and death, He is the great Recipient of all blessing from God. Joseph shared with his brothers the blessing that came to him in Egypt. In the same way, the Lord Jesus will share with Israel all these blessings that make up Joseph's portion.
Commentators differ on how far these promises touch Christians now. Grant goes on to say the Lord shares far more than this with the Church today. Mackintosh calls it a sad mistake to apply such scriptures to the Church at all. For him they belong to Jerusalem, the land, and the earth.
In that older wording, the repeated word through verses 13–16 is "precious." One writer treats the list as an invitation, not a summary.
There is space here for only a passing mention of the "precious things of heaven," the "precious things put forth by the moon," the "precious things of the everlasting hills," and the "precious things of the earth." But a search of Scripture on each one will yield much spiritual joy and substance… Think of the "precious things of heaven." They relate to the sphere "where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God." Are they "precious things of the earth and the fullness thereof"? Then again they centre in Him, whose "is the earth and the fullness thereof."
- Pressure first. Joseph suffered the deepest, so his portion is the fullest. God brings the greatest blessing out of the greatest suffering.
- Precious throughout. Heaven, sun, moon, hills and earth are all called precious. Trace each one through Scripture and each centres in Christ.
- Ancient means authority. The ancient mountains stand for authority older than memory. Israel's glad submission to it is part of the fruit they bear.
- Reach without limit. The blessing rests on His sufferings, then flows out from the land to refresh all the earth.
- Shared, not hoarded. Every gift lands on the head of the one cut off from his brothers. Like Joseph in Egypt, He shares all He receives.
And by the precious things of the earth and the fulness thereof. And let the good will of him that dwelt in the bush Come upon the head of Joseph, Upon the top of the head of him that was separated from his brethren.
Moses ends Joseph's blessing with a memory from his own life: the favour of the One who dwells in the bush. All that abundance hangs on one relationship, which raises two questions — what bush, and why does the blessing land on the head of a man cut off from his family?
The phrase points back to the sight that started Moses' service. The commentators below quote older translations. These read "the good will of him who dwelt in the bush," and they describe Joseph as separated from his brothers rather than prince among them.
The thorn bush in which God was pleased to reveal Himself to Moses when He gave him his commission (Exodus 3:2-4). God's presence made it holy ground. The bush burned without being consumed, and that brings out one of His characteristics, for "our God is a consuming fire," burning up the dross without destroying. Moses did not forget the bush: near his death he blessed the twelve tribes and spoke of the "good will of him who dwelt in the bush."
The sign fit the work Moses was sent to do: carry a people through a desert.
The work was to bring the people through a waste, howling wilderness. What sign could be more fitting than a bush blazing yet unconsumed — and still more, "the good will of Him that dwelt in the bush"? Moses himself, "separated from his brothers," could well appreciate its meaning.
The bush pictures a nation in trouble. The good will lies in who stood in the flame with them.
The burning bush is the symbol of God's constant care of Israel, even in the furnace of Egypt. It tells Moses that in all their affliction the Lord had been afflicted, and that the angel of His presence had still preserved them... He "who dwelt in the bush" had a "good will" towards them. For if the Son of God is in the furnace with His people, it is to preserve them.
The fruitfulness promised here grows out of that fire.
Their land, their earthly possession, will bear fruit abundantly because of "the favour of Him who dwelt in the bush."... The burning bush pictures Israel going through the fires of tribulation, but preserved through it. This is another reminder that suffering is the means that finally brings fruit for God.
The word behind "favour" turns up again a few verses later, in the blessing of Naphtali.
"Satisfied with favour." Naphtali enjoyed this, but he did not find it in himself. He found it in Another. For this favour he looked away from self to God. Indeed, this word "favour" is translated in verse 16 as "the good will of Him that dwelt in the bush."
Moses names Joseph as the one set apart from his brothers, and Mackintosh traces what that separation cost him.
Notice the emphatic way Moses speaks of his being separated from his brothers. He was rejected and cast into the pit. He passed, in figure, through the deep waters of death, and so reached the place of dignity and glory. He was raised from the dungeon to be ruler over the land of Egypt, and the preserver and sustainer of his brothers... A striking picture of Him who hung on the cross, lay in the grave, and is now on the throne of the majesty of heaven.
The favour from the bush is what sets that crown in place.
It is the good will of Him who dwelt in the bush that crowns, as with a diadem, the head of the Nazarite, separated to God and so separated from his brothers. It is very plain that Christ brings the blessing down in this way, and that Moses' word here confirms Jacob's.
Joseph kept nothing for himself, and Grant finds the same pattern in Christ.
Joseph shared with his brothers the blessing that came to him in Egypt. In the same way, the Lord Jesus will share with Israel all these blessings named here as Joseph's portion. Today He shares much more than this with the Church of God. He gives her a heavenly inheritance and announces her as His future bride.
Mackintosh traces the blessing back to its foundation, and out to its furthest reach.
Magnificent range of blessing! And all of it flowing from and resting on his sufferings... The sufferings of the true Joseph will be the lasting foundation of the future blessedness of His brothers in the land of Canaan. And not only that: the tide of blessing, deep and full, will flow out from that highly favoured though now desolate land, refreshing all the earth.
- The bush — the phrase sends us to Exodus 3, and Moses, near death, still measures God's kindness by what he saw there.
- The fire — a bush burning yet unconsumed shows God in the furnace with His people, there to preserve and not destroy.
- The favour — "good will" and "favour" translate one word — what you never find in yourself, only in God.
- The head — that favour crowns the one separated from his brothers: rejected, cast into the pit, then raised to glory.
- The fullness — blessing born of suffering does not stay with the sufferer. Christ shares it, and it flows from the land to the whole earth.
His majesty is as the firstling of his ox; And his horns are as the horns of a buffalo. With them shall he push the peoples Together to the ends of the earth. These are the myriads of Ephraim, And these are the thousands of Manasseh.
Moses ends Joseph's blessing with force, not fruitfulness: a firstborn bull, wild ox horns, and nations pushed to the edges of the world. Three questions press. Whose strength is this? What animal is meant? And why does the younger Ephraim get ten thousands while the elder Manasseh gets thousands?
Everything Moses piles up in this blessing lands on one man, and he marks him out by his rejection. One writer traces that back through Joseph's life and forward to Christ:
Joseph is a very remarkable type of Christ. The reader will notice how strongly Moses says that Joseph was separated from his brothers. He was rejected and cast into the pit. He passed, in figure, through the deep waters of death, and so reached the place of dignity and glory. He was raised from the dungeon to be ruler over the land of Egypt, and the preserver and sustainer of his brothers. Striking type of Him who hung upon the cross, lay in the grave, and is now on the throne of the majesty of heaven.
The blessing does not stay on that head. It spreads, as it did in Egypt:
Joseph, separated from his brothers, is a type of the Lord Jesus, who, through His solitary sufferings and death, is the great Recipient of all blessing from God. Yet, as Joseph shared with his brothers the blessing that came to him in Egypt, so the Lord Jesus will share with Israel all these blessings that are said to be the portion of Joseph.
The two animal pictures work together: one for splendour, one for raw power:
"His majesty is as the firstling of his ox" (Darby Translation). He is seen here as having strength to subdue every enemy, with horns like those of the wild ox. So He pushes all enemies before Him. This is Christ in His people Israel victorious over all the world. The two sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh, fathered the tribes that had this honour of representing Joseph, and indeed representing all Israel (verse 17).
Older Bibles call this animal a "unicorn." The verse itself rules that out by giving the creature more than one horn:
Nothing in Scripture suggests that the animal had only one horn. In fact Deuteronomy 33:17 speaks of "the horns" of a unicorn (see the margin note). It must have been an animal the Israelites knew well. Its great strength and wildness are the main features: it cannot be put to work, like the tame ox, for farming. It is most likely that a species of wild ox, the Bos primigenius, is meant.
Israel had no such power in itself. One writer traces where that strength came from — and where the same horns appear again:
Israel were not a mighty people in themselves; it was God who had brought them out of Egypt. The mighty strength of the wild ox was not their own, but what their God gave them. In Psalm 22:21 the Lord Jesus met the full force of the power of death. He was answered from the horns of the wild oxen — from the place where death, in the fullness of its power, had spent all its energy against Him. Here, Israel had strength, given by God who dwelt among them, that no nation could overcome.
Moses names Joseph as one man but counts him as two tribes. That goes back to the birthright Reuben lost:
Reuben, the eldest, is set aside; Judah, the lawgiver, is not chosen, but Joseph is chosen for the birthright. You see this in the "double" portion of two tribes — Ephraim and Manasseh. Ephraim, the younger, gets a greater blessing than Manasseh, the elder. Jacob's crossed hands proclaimed the sovereignty of God.
Moses' numbers keep that order. The larger number goes to the younger son. The name Ephraim means "Fruitful," and his ten thousands make the name good: "the blessings on the head of Joseph, enlarged upon both by Jacob and Moses, show how perfectly Ephraim fulfills the name" (Numerical Bible Notes).
"The ends of the earth" reaches far past anything the two tribes ever held in Canaan. Commentators read the verse as still ahead:
Many of these blessings were fulfilled in history. But, just as in Genesis 49, they also have an obvious prophetic and spiritual value. Deuteronomy 33 points several times to the coming Kingdom. In it Israel will hold the land not just for a time but for ever… Joseph will even rule over the nations and extend his rule to the ends of the earth (verse 17).
That worldwide reach rests on what the rejected one suffered. One writer insists these promises belong to Israel and its land:
The sufferings of the true Joseph will form the everlasting foundation of the future blessedness of His brothers in the land of Canaan. And not only that. The tide of blessing, deep and full, shall flow out from that greatly favoured land, though it now lies desolate, and refresh all the earth… What a sad mistake to apply such scriptures to the gospel age or to the church of God!
- Rejected first. The blessing falls on the head of the one separated from his brothers. Pit, prison, then the throne of Egypt — a picture of the cross, the grave, and heaven's throne.
- Crowned second. On that head sits majesty like a firstborn bull and horns like a wild ox. No nation can overcome that untameable strength.
- Given, not owned. Israel's wild ox strength was never their own; it was God's gift. The same horns mark the place where death spent itself on Christ, and God answered Him.
- Doubled outward. Reuben lost the birthright, so Joseph became two tribes. The younger Ephraim stands above the elder: God's sovereignty, not age, decides the ten thousands.
- Pushed worldwide. The horns drive to the ends of the earth. That kingdom is still future. Blessing will flow from that land to the whole world, because the true Joseph suffered.