Verses 1-2
1, 2.
His birthright was given unto… Joseph This might be readily inferred from the censure of Reuben in Genesis 49:4, compared with the ample blessings pronounced on Joseph, (Genesis 49:22-26,) and the paternal gift of the “one portion above his brethren,” recorded Genesis 48:22; but the transfer of Reuben’s birthright to Joseph is nowhere else expressly recorded. The birthright of the firstborn entitled its possessor to a double portion of the inheritance, (Deuteronomy 21:17,) and Joseph’s rights in this regard were conceded in the allotment of Canaan by his receiving the large territory assigned to Ephraim and Manasseh, the latter receiving two portions, one east and the other west of the Jordan.
The genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birth-right Joseph’s honour in receiving the birthright did not, however, yield him the noblest genealogy, for in this respect Judah prevailed above his brethren, and was honoured in being the father of a line of kings the most celebrated in human history.
Of him came the chief ruler The princely David, and the magnificent Solomon, and their descendants who reigned at Jerusalem, while dynasty after dynasty rose and fell in the kingdom of Israel, and also in Egypt, Assyria, and Babylonia. The chief ruler here doubtless refers particularly to David, but may also point to the prince Messiah, that greatest “ruler in Israel,” who came from “among the thousands of Judah.” Micah 5:2.
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