thee. So the exprellion is like thar, 1 Sam. 25: 25: as his name 45, ſo is he : Navol 1s his name, and folly is with him, or in him. So here the ſenſe is, As thy name fignities Praiſe, Gen. 29. 35: ſo ſhalt thou have Praiſe or Honour from thy Brethren. He alludes ro lus Name. and to the occaſion of it, but with an elegant Variation, Thou Art deſerved y callzd Judah,not only becauſe thy Mother prais'd God for rhee, but alſo becauſe thy Brethren ſhall praiſe and bleſs thee for the reaſons here following, Bur this, as alſo rhe other Blet- ſings or Predifions, do not fo much declare the ſtate of Juazb, or the reſt of their own P-rſons,in as their Poſterity. s (#. e. ) Thou ſh:]c overthrow and ſubdue them. This was fulfilled in part, Juag 7.1, 2, 4. and 3.9, 10: but more fully in David, 2 Sam. 8: 1: and Sel"mon, 1 Chron 22: 9- and moſt eminently, though ſpiritua'ly, in Chriſt. The phraſe is taken either 1- From the praCtice of Warri- ors, who uſe to aſſiulr their Enemies in that parr, that they may throw them down at their Feer; of which ſee Job 15: 26: and 16: 12 Or, from the cuſtom of Conquerors, who are ſaid to pur the Yokes upon the Necks of the conquered: See Gen. 27: 49 Dur. 28: 48: 1jarah 10: 27: Jer. 27 8. and 28: 14: ft (i.e. ) All thy Brethren, and my Poſteriry ; he ſaith not thy Mhers Children, for his Sons had divers Mothers. « (7 e. ) Shall own thee as their Su- perior and Lord, upon whom [I have devolved rt:is part of the righ: of the firſt born. By this and the following words we plainly ſe: that theſe Bleſſings and Prediftions were nor diitributed according to Jacob's AffeQions and Inclinations ( foy then Judah ſhould never have been advanced above his worthily beloved Joſepp)) bur by the
diceQion of God's Spirit.
9 Judih is a lions whelp x: from the prey, my ſon, thou art gone upy': he * ſtooped down, he couched
and 24-9. ,, 25 a lion, and as an 0:d lionb:; who ball rouſe him
*Plam
up?
x (4.e.) Is as a lions whelp, or 2s # young lien, for Courage, and Strength, and Ter-or to his' Enemies. , The particle as is here wanting, as alſo virſe 14, 17, 21, 22. 2nd in many other places, as Pſalm. 11: 1: and 12: 6: and 22:6, &c, And heis rightly com pared firſt to a Lion's Woelp, then to an old Ley, to fignfly the growth of that Ti1bein ſtrength and intere?, and that from fſmal) beginnings, and a .precedency of order only, ( Judges 1: 1, 2.) it ſhou'd aicend to rhe height of Honcur, and Power, and Hzppineſs in David, ad eſpecially in the Meſſiah, who ſhouid conquer all Na- tions. y Having raken the Prey, i. e. conquered thine Enemies, thou art gone up in triumph ; or gone wp, 4. grown greater and higher after thy Vi&ories, as the manner is. 'Or, he aliudes to the Lions, which utually dw-1! in Mountains, as divers Writers ob- ſerve, and come down :o Prey in the Valleys, and when they have gor their Prey, they go up to their Havitations, and fo ſhall Judah do. z A change of the Perſon very frequent in Prophe:rical Wrie tings, as we ſhall oft have occaſion to note hereafter. #s When he harh raken the Prey, he doth nor convey it away to his D:n with baſte and ſpecd for f?ar the Enemy ſhould return and overtake him bur like a Lion he fteops down to tzed upon his Prey, and ceucherh or ly:ch down ſecurely to reit himſelf after ne hath eaten ir, without the leaſt fear of any Enemy, as it is obſerved of him, Iſaiah 31: 4: Judah's Conqueſts ſhall nor be interrupted or followed with 1]! Suc- ceſſes, and Defears or Ov: rc1:0m5 afrerwa'd, as it frequently hap- pens in the Courſe of War, bur h+ ſhall quierly poſle!s his Spoils,and afrer the blovudy Wars to which te will be forced, thall enjoy a ſweet Peace and Tranqui'liry, which his Poſteriry did, vn Kings 4: 25: b Or rather a grown Lien, nota d=c:epit:nd impotent Lion, bur one come to his fuli ſhengr'. c Who thall preſume or dare to diſturb or provoke him ? All ſhall fear him, and ſeek peace with him.
io The ſcepter d ſhall not depart from Fudah, nor
Go. nd 2 * Law-giver e from berwcen his feer f, * until Shi-
108, 8,
loh + come: and unto him iball the gathering g of
\* Luke 1» the people þ be.
32»
a( i.e ) The Dominion or Government, which is oft expreſſed by this word,as Numb. 24: 17: Pjalm 45: 6: Iſarah 14: 5: Exek» 19: Il, 14- Amos 1. 5, 8. Zeeh. 10: 14. beciule it is an Enfign of Go- vernment, Efthy 4: 11. So it is a Figure cailed a Metonymy of the ſign, than which not':ing more fr-quent. The ſenſe is, That Superioriry or Dominion over his Brerhren, which I ſaid he ſhould obtiin, (verſe 8 ) he ſhall keep ; ir thall nor depart from him. Orhers the Tribe, as the word Shebet fignifies, i Sam. 10. 19, 20, 21+ T1 Kin s 11. 32, &c. So the ſenſe isthis, Whereas the other Tribes ſhal] be caprivat. d, diſperſ-d and confounded, the Tribe of Judah | hill be k-pr enrireand diſt:n& until Chriſt come. This 1s a great
and imp»-rcanr rruth, and a fingular Demonſtririon of the all-dif-
poling Providence of God, and of the Truth and Divine Authority of the Scriptures ; bur it ſeems not to be the meaning of this place, , I, becAuſe borh the foregoing and following words do evidently * ſpeak of Judab's Power and Greatneſs, and particularly the Sheber or Scepter, 1s explained and reſtrained by th- following Law=gzver : 2: Becauſethis renders the Phraſe improper and abſurd ; for the
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Tribe hid not depar.ed from Judah, nor had they ceaied to be a |
. Tribe, if the other Tribes had been mixed with them in their Land, ' as$ indeed they wer2 ſomerunes.. See 2 Chron: 11: 16: 3. Becauſe : This is not peculiar to the Tribe of Judah ; for in this ſenſe the Tribe did nor depart from Z:vi, nay, thar Tribe was kept more diſtin& than that of Judah; thus alſo the Tcibe did vor depart from Benja- 2n1n, as appears from Ezrs# 1: 5: and 10. 9: Nehem: 11: 4: Nay, it 1s queſtionable, whether in this ſenſe the Tribe departed from any of ihe other Tribes, nor only becauſe there is a diſtinſt mention of the ſeveral Tribes, Ezck: 48: which was wrirren after the Di- ſperſion and ſuppoſed Confuſion of the other T-ibes, and which ſpeaks of the times after the coming of the Mcfſiah, but alſo be- cauſe of the great care which the 1ſ-aelites generally took in diſtin- guiſhing not only their Tribzs, bur their tevoral Families in exat Genealogies, of which we have many proofs and inſtances, as