It is customary for religiously practicing Jews to read from an annual cycle of weekly Old Testament readings called Torah Portions. This is said to be the same reading schedule that was taught every Sabbath in the Synagogues during the times of Jesus in the first century.

As Christians exploring the Torah portion cycle we must maintain a balance of including the Old Testament, the prophets, and the gospels in our weekly bible study.

Torah Portion Name and Readings-

Vayechi is the Hebrew word for “and he lived”, this is the name for the weekly Torah Portion reading for the Genesis starting in chapter 47 verse 28 and going through chapter 50 and verse 26.

Prophets and New Testament-

It is also important to point out that along with the Torah portion readings and teachings, there are what are called Haftarah portions which are readings from the Bible in the books of the prophets. This week’s haftarah readings come from the book of 1 Kings in chapter 2 verse 1 through verse 12.

The gospel readings incorporated with the weekly Torah portion readings come from the book of John in chapter 13 with verses 1 through 19.

Torah Portion Overview-

In this Torah portion we see Jacob asking Joseph to swear and oath not to leave him in Egypt when he dies, but to burry him with his fathers. Joseph agrees and swears. Jacob, before his death, blessed Joseph’s sons and crossed his hands, putting his right hand on the younger Ephraim and his left hand on the older son Manasseh. Joseph was angered by this and tried to reverse them, but Jacob insisted. Thus the “elder” blessing went to Ephraim. We also see in verse five that Jacob “adopts” his two sons, thus they are counted in with the twelve tribes of Israel. Jacob then blesses his sons and prophesied over them. Jacob then dies and Joseph travels with a many people to burry his father with Abraham and Isaac. Once Jacob dies Joseph’s brothers are terrified that he will take vengeance. They came to him and told him that their father desired peace and Joseph reassured them that he forgave them and spoke kindly to them. Joseph, knowing that he will die soon, makes them swear that they will take his bones with them when they leave Egypt.

In this Torah portion we get an interesting prophecy of Jacob.

“The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him,”

Genesis 49:10 (NRSVue)

The Hebrew word for “tribute” is translated in very hard to translate. As the Lexham Research Commentaries on Genesis 12–50 explains,

“One of the most difficult and debated phrases in Genesis comes in Gen 49:10. The Hebrew of the third line—ad ki-yabo’ shiloh—is difficult to translate, specifically the Hebrew word shiloh. The Hebrew consonants in the kethiv reading are sh-y-l-h, which matches the place name Shiloh. However, the qere reading has shilo, with the consonants of sh-y-l-w. The qere reading could be understood as a combination of the word shai, meaning “tribute,” and the preposition l with a third person masculine singular suffix o, meaning “to him.” It could also be understood as a combination of the relative particle she- with preposition l and the possessive pronoun. In this understanding, it would be translated as “that which is his.”

The result is that there are multiple ways to translate this phrase. Some translations have “until Shiloh comes” (LEB; KJV; NASB). Others translate it as “until tribute comes to him” (ESV; NRSV). Finally, some translate the phrase as “until he to whom it belongs shall come” (NIV) or “until the coming of the one to whom it belongs” (NLT). The Septuagint translates the phrase as “until the things laid away for him come.” Some scholars believe the text is corrupted and should be read as mosheloh (see Westermann 1986, 231). This reading, which drops the y and adds an m, changes the line to mean “until its ruler comes.”

“Kethiv” means “what is written” and “qere” is a scribal notation in the margins that is providing a possible correction. There are therefore four ways to translate this phrase. This leaves us with four different possible ways to translate the verse, three of which I will discuss here.

1. Leave the word as Shiloh.

“The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; And to Him shall be the obedience of the people.”

Genesis 49:10 (NKJV)

2. Translate as to whom it belongs.

“The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his”

Genesis 49:10 (NIV)

3. Repoint the word and translate as tribute.

“The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him, and the obedience of the peoples is his.”

Genesis 49:10 (NRSVue)

For more information see the Enhanced Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon.

We can see then that the prophecy is that something is coming from Judah, either coming to Shiloh, tribute to him whom the peoples will obey, or “he” comes. Either way it seems this verse is referring to the coming Messiah. As Gordon J. Wenham explains in Word Biblical Commentary vol 2,

“Whichever of these interpretations is adopted, and, though we prefer the last, we acknowledge that the alternatives are possible, all at least agree that this line is predicting the rise of the Davidic monarchy and the establishment of the Israelite empire, if not the coming of a greater David. And if the primary reference is to David, traditional Jewish and Christian exegetes would agree that like other Davidic promises it has a greater fulfillment in the Messiah.”

The promise here is of note, since the scepter and ruler’s staff won’t depart from Judah until .... In other words, once Shiloh, or the Tribute, or the Messiah comes (to whom the peoples will obey), the scepter and rulers staff will depart from Judah! The statement “from between his feet” would seem to imply that until this the rulers will come from Judah as well. We can see then a possible prophecy that there will be rulers from Judah that will continue until this prophecy is fulfilled. But who is this referring to? We can start by looking at other verses and comparing. This verse has a close parallel with Micah 5:2-5.

“But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days. Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of his brothers shall return to the people of Israel. And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. And he shall be their peace.”

Micah 5:2-5 (ESV) (see also Jeremiah 30:21).

This verse promises that a ruler, a Messiah will come from Judah (as was promised from ancient times), He will shepherd them and they will have security and peace. Thus it does seem that the previous verse is speaking about the Messiah. At His coming the scepter shall depart from Judah and the peoples, the nations or Gentiles, will obey Him. It was prophesied that this Messiah King would come.

“For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.”

Isaiah 9:6-7 (NASB 95)

This King Messiah will coming riding on a donkey.

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion!

Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem!

See, your king comes to you;

triumphant and victorious is he,

humble and riding on a donkey,

on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

Zechariah 9:9 (NRSVue)

And this King did come. Jesus the Messiah came into Jerusalem riding a donkey (Matthew 21:1-11). Yet He took His throne in a way that no one expected, He didn’t conquer the world, as the Jews expected. He didn’t begin to reign at Jerusalem. Instead, He was crucified. This crucifixion was His raising up, when He was crowned as King.

“So Jesus said to them, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me.”

John 8:28 (ESV)

What about the peoples? How will the obedience of the peoples come to Him? They will come through the crucifixion as well.

“And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself."

John 12:32 (ESV)

But why did the scepter depart from Judah? Well, to be clear, it did and it didn’t. What I mean is this, the scepter did depart from the Human line of David, however, it was moved to the Messiah, who was from Judah and the line of David. The difference isn’t in the lineage, but in the fact that Jesus is not just a man, He is also God. The scepter departing then has not to do with the removal of Judah, but with the movement to God. Jesus, as the King of Kings, takes up this rulership and authority.

“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”

Matthew 28:18 (NKJV)

The authority no longer remains with Judah, because authority no longer remains with any human on earth. All authority has been given to Yeshua! Thus He is the supreme ruler! The source of all authority! This is our Mesiah, who we look to as our King! The prophecy of Jacob was fulfilled, and His name is Yeshua!

Torah Portion Scriptural Highlights-

• Genesis 47:28 Jacob has Joseph swear that he will not burry him in Egypt but will burry him with his fathers.

• Genesis 48:1 Jacob blesses Ephraim and Manasseh and “adopts” them (vs 5)

• Genesis 49:1 Jacob blesses his sons and prophecies

• Genesis 49:29 Jacob dies and is buried

• Genesis 50:4 Joseph buries his father

• Genesis 50:15 Joseph forgives his brothers and speaks kindly to them

• Genesis 50:22 Joseph dies and makes them swear that they will take his bones with them when they leave Egypt

Haftarah (Prophets) Scriptural Highlights-

• 1 Kings 2:1 David instructs his son Solomon and dies

Brit (Gospel) Scriptural Highlights-

• John 13:1 Jesus washes the disciples feet

Bibliography

• Biblical Studies Press, The NET Bible First Edition Notes (Biblical Studies Press, 2006), Ge 49:9–10.

• Douglas Mangum, Miles Custis, and Wendy Widder, Genesis 12–50, Lexham Research Commentaries (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2013), Ge 49:1–33.

• Gordon J. Wenham, Genesis 16–50, vol. 2 of Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1994), 478.

To Watch an overview of this week’s Torah Portion CLICK HERE