Glorious things are here said of Judah. The mention of the crimes of
the three elder of his sons had not so put the dying patriarch out of
humour but that he had a blessing ready for Judah, to whom blessings
belonged. Judah's name signifies praise, in allusion to which he says,
Thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise, v. 8. God was praised for
him (ch. xxix. 35), praised by him, and praised in him; and therefore
his brethren shall praise him. Note, Those that are to God for a praise
shall be the praise of their brethren. It is prophesied that, 1. The
tribe of Judah should be victorious and successful in war: Thy hand
shall be in the neck of thy enemies. This was fulfilled in David, Ps.
xviii. 40. 2. It should be superior to the rest of the tribes; not only
in itself more numerous and illustrious, but having a dominion over
them: Thy father's children shall bow down before thee. Judah was the
lawgiver, Ps. lx. 7. That tribe led the van through the wilderness, and
in the conquest of Canaan, Judg. i. 2. The prerogatives of the
birthright which Reuben had forfeited, the excellency of dignity and
power, were thus conferred upon Judah. Observe, "Thy brethren shall bow
down before thee, and yet shall praise thee, reckoning themselves happy
in having so wise and bold a commander." Note, Honour and power are
then a blessing to those that have them when they are not grudged and
envied, but praised and applauded, and cheerfully submitted to. 3. It
should be a strong and courageous tribe, and so qualified for command
and conquest: Judah is a lion's whelp, v. 9. The lion is the king of
beasts, the terror of the forest when he roars; when he seizes his
prey, none can resist him; when he goes up from the prey, none dare
pursue him to revenge it. By this it is foretold that the tribe of
Judah should become very formidable, and should not only obtain great
victories, but should peaceably and quietly enjoy what was obtained by
those victories--that they should make war, not for the sake of war,
but for the sake of peace. Judah is compared, not to a lion rampant,
always tearing, always raging, always ranging; but to a lion couchant,
enjoying the satisfaction of his power and success, without creating
vexation to others: this is to be truly great. 4. It should be the
royal tribe, and the tribe from which Messiah the Prince should come:
The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, till Shiloh come, v. 10. Jacob
here foresees and foretells, (1.) That the sceptre should come into the
tribe of Judah, which was fulfilled in David, on whose family the crown
was entailed. (2.) That Shiloh should be of this tribe--his seed, that
promised seed, in whom the earth should be blessed: that peaceable and
prosperous one, or the Saviour, so others translate it, he shall come
of Judah. Thus dying Jacob, at a great distance, saw Christ's day, and
it was his comfort and support on his death-bed. (3.) That after the
coming of the sceptre into the tribe of Judah it should continue in
that tribe, at least a government of their own, till the coming of the
Messiah, in whom, as the king of the church, and the great high priest,
it was fit that both the priesthood and the royalty should determine.
Till the captivity, all along from David's time, the sceptre was in
Judah, and subsequently the governors of Judea were of that tribe, or
of the Levites that adhered to it (which was equivalent), till Judea
became a province of the Roman empire, just at the time of our
Saviour's birth, and was at that time taxed as one of the provinces,
Luke ii. 1. And at the time of his death the Jews expressly owned, We
have no king but Cæsar. Hence it is undeniably inferred against the
Jews that our Lord Jesus is he that should come, and that we are to
look for no other; for he came exactly at the time appointed. Many
excellent pens have been admirable well employed in explaining and
illustrating this famous prophecy of Christ. 5. It should be a very
fruitful tribe, especially that it should abound with milk for babes,
and wine to make glad the heart of strong men (v. 11, 12)--vines so
common in the hedge-rows and so strong that they should tie their asses
to them, and so fruitful that they should load their asses from
them--wine as plentiful as water, so that the men of that tribe should
be very healthful and lively, their eyes brisk and sparkling, their
teeth white. Much of what is here said concerning Judah is to be
applied to our Lord Jesus. (1.) He is the ruler of all his father's
children, and the conqueror of all his father's enemies; and he it is
that is the praise of all the saints. (2.) He is the lion of the tribe
of Judah, as he is called with reference to this prophecy (Rev. v. 5),
who, having spoiled principalities and powers, went up a conqueror, and
couched so as none can stir him up, when he sat down on the right hand
of the Father. (3.) To him belongs the sceptre; he is the lawgiver, and
to him shall the gathering of the people be, as the desire of all
nations (Hag. ii. 7), who, being lifted up from the earth, should draw
all men unto him (John xii. 32), and in whom the children of God that
are scattered abroad should meet as the centre of their unity, John xi.
52. (4.) In him there is plenty of all that which is nourishing and
refreshing to the soul, and which maintains and cheers the divine life
in it; in him we may have wine and milk, the riches of Judah's tribe,
without money and without price, Isa. lv. 1.