Genesis 49:1

"And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the latter days."

In this great chapter, distinguished by one of the most marvelous of all the Messianic prophecies, we are confronted at the outset by the arrogant denial of critics that this account is trustworthy. Dummelow's comment is typical: "This chapter gives us indeed the last utterances of the dying patriarch respecting the future of his sons, but with additions and developments of a later date."[1] Of course, the critical community presumptuously assume for themselves the prerogative of deciding which were his last words and which were not. For us, the words which stand at the head of this passage of God's Word are determinative: "Jacob ... said ..." We shall waste little time sorting out the conflicting and contradictory views of critics and pay some brief attention to some of the rules by which they guide themselves in carving up the sacred text.

The misassumptions, presuppositions, and "a priori" conclusions underlying the critical rejection of this chapter are as follows:

1. Any such thing as actual prophecy or prediction is held to be impossible.
   
2. The patriarchs are held to be too ignorant and unlearned to produce such a poem as this.
   
3. Such a glorious passage as this is usually hailed as the production of some unknown, obscure, unheard of author who adopted the sacred name of Jacob for the purpose of gaining influence or credibility for his work.
   
4. Those generalized statements which abound in the passage are erroneously referred to some hard historical event of a later time, and then the error is hailed as proof that the passage was composed at some later date, such as the period of the Judges, or even in the times of David. Leupold lists these and other elements of the usual critical bias.[2]
   

No refutation of such critical foolishness is actually necessary, but a brief comment is perhaps in order.

1. The actual "prophetic prediction" of Christ the Messiah, along with many of the features concerning his life, person, and kingdom is the most firmly proved and established fact of human history. One of about 333 such prophecies is found in Genesis 49:10, below.
   
2. That Jacob was incapable of speaking such glorious words as those recorded here is such a monstrous proposition that one may marvel at the bias out of which such a thought springs.
   
3. That this passage is pseudonymous is patently impossible. As Robertson said, "That whole stable of pseudonymous writers (relied upon by critics) is really an astonishing confidence trick!"[3] The scholarly myth of the pseudonymous writer is so obviously false and unreasonable that it seems incredible that intelligent men would still rely upon such things. Pseudonymity is a malignant disease that feeds upon itself, or as Robinson put it, "There is an appetite for pseudonymity that grows by what it feeds upon."[4] We cannot leave this without pointing out the fact that all "redactors" are merely pseudonymous writers who have been given a fancy name for purposes of deception. As regards the Holy Bible, there never existed any such thing as a "redactor"!
   
4. As for the device by which unbelievers try to date this chapter centuries after Jacob died, namely, that of finding descriptions in it of some particular historical event (quite unnecessarily) and then alleging their false interpretation as proof of a later date, it should be recalled that, as Keil observed, "This chapter is not the prediction of particular historical events, but a purely ideal portraiture of the peculiarities of the different tribes."[5]
   

In fact, Keil summed up all attacks against this chapter, as follows:

"Every attack upon its genuineness has really proceeded from a priori denial of all supernatural prophecy, and has been sustained by such misinterpretations (as discovering specific historical allusions) for the purpose of stamping it as a "vaticinia ex eventu" (that being a false prophecy introduced into the text after the event)."[6]

"That which shall befall you in the latter days ..." This expression is used extensively in the O.T. prophecies, and the ordinary meaning of it is that Messianic times are included in the things prophesied. Despite Willis' opinion that "It is a serious mistake" to construe this as including "Christian times,"[7] we find full agreement with Keil who affirmed the meaning here to be, "the last future, the Messianic age of consummation, not restricted to that period, but embracing the whole history of the Chosen People."[8]