“Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough by a spring; his branches run over the wall.
Jacob's last words to his sons reach their high point with Joseph. He paints a tree planted where water never fails, so loaded that its fruit falls past the garden wall. Two questions follow. What feeds a life like that? And who gathers the fruit?
A tree fed by a hidden spring
The ESV reads "by a spring"; the older translation these writers quote says "well." Either way, the phrase points to what feeds the fruit. One writer sees this holding true even in prison:
The Bible Treasury"A fruitful bough by a well": hidden sources of nourishment as well as of energy — the water of life springing from the wounded ground. Even if they lock him up, he is like a noble tree in a prison yard.
Fruit that grew in the place of affliction
Joseph's fruit did not grow in easy conditions. One writer describes the spirit behind it, and who may gather from it:
Numerical Bible NotesJoseph is the picture of the martyr spirit, whose courage shows itself in endurance, in facing the consequences without flinching. In him, patience has its perfect work. So in the end he rises to mastery over everything around him, because he is master of himself first. He receives from God's hand; he does not take things into his own. How fruitful he is! And how the branches run over the wall! They yield their fruit inside no narrow enclosure, free for anyone to gather. For who may not gather such fruit? It takes no great wisdom, no bringing out of inner resources. It is simply "man's weakness waiting upon God" — and who may not wait on Him?
The wall the branches cross
So who gathers the fruit? One writer explains what the wall stands for, and who stands on the other side:
L. M. GrantJoseph speaks of Christ as the One who will secure all blessing in the Millennium, both for Israel and the nations. He is a fruitful bough by a well, drawing refreshment from the well of the Word of God. His branches run over the wall — the wall of separation between Israel and the Gentiles. His branches run over for the blessing of Gentiles.
Another writer starts from the meaning of Joseph's name:
Simon AttwoodJoseph means "Jehovah has added." That is exactly what the Lord Jesus has done in rejection and affliction (compare Genesis 41:51 and 52). His fruit has run out over the middle wall between Jew and Gentile in wonderful blessing (see Ephesians 2:14).
The true Joseph sitting at a well
One writer finds the same picture in a Gospel scene. A tired Man sits by a well in Samaria and speaks with a woman there:
Edward DennettTake, for example, John 4:6. Why is it mentioned, "Now Jacob's well was there"? Surely to arrest our attention in some special way; and Genesis 49:22 discovers the secret... So in this weary Man, who sat by the well of Sychar in the midday heat, we see the true Joseph. Even as we look at Him, we see His branches running over the wall of Judaism, reaching this poor woman of Samaria with their good fruit.
A blessing still waiting to be spent
The words about Joseph point past Joseph. One writer traces them to the risen Christ, and to what He has yet to spend:
J. G. BellettAnd having said this of Joseph, the Spirit uses it as a figure of a Greater than Joseph... We have Christ in Joseph. Here we see the risen Christ as in a picture. All power is now His, in heaven and on earth. He is seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high. His title to the resources of creation is sure, sealed by the dignity of the place He now fills. And the resources He now owns, He will in time use for Israel and for the whole earth, following the pattern of this mystery of Joseph.
Summary
- Well — Hidden water feeds the tree. That is why the bough kept bearing fruit even in a prison yard.
- Weakness — Joseph's fruit grew out of patience. He took what God gave instead of grabbing for himself, and anyone can wait on God like that.
- Wall — The branches cross the wall. Blessing passes the old line between Israel and the nations — the middle wall between Jew and Gentile.
- Well again — At Jacob's well in Samaria, the true Joseph sat weary in the midday heat. His fruit reached over the wall of Judaism to one Samaritan woman.
- Wealth — The risen Christ now holds every resource. He will spend it on Israel and the whole earth, on the pattern of Joseph.