Genesis 49:27

27. Let him tear in pieces We prefer this jussive rendering as being in the most perfect keeping with the spirit of the entire prophecy, and as giving the passage greater expressiveness . The verse portrays the warlike and furious character of the tribe of Benjamin, and the history of the tribal war, in Judges 20:0, affords its best illustration . From this tribe came the daring Ehud (Judges 3:15) and the warlike Saul . Benjamin is portrayed under two characters, a beast of prey and a victorious warrior . Like a wolf that has prowled all night (comp . 1 Samuel 14:36) and taken prey, he devours it in the morning; like a warrior who has won conquests through the day, he divides the spoil, or booty, at evening. In this imagery Lange sees the outlines of “a wild, turbulent youth and an old age full of the blessing of sacrifice for others . That dividing the spoil in the evening is a feature that evidently passes over into a spiritual allusion . Our first thought would be of the dividing of the prey among the young ones, but for this alone the expression is too strong. He rends all for himself in the morning, he yields all in the evening. This is not a figure of Benjamin only, but of the theocratic Israel; and, therefore, a most suitable close. See Isaiah 53:12.”