Page:A critical and exegetical commentary on Genesis (1910).djvu/636

 Benjamin is praised for its predatory instincts, and its unflagging zest for war. The early history contains a good deal to justify the comparison: its fight with Moab (Ju. 3$15ff.$), its share in the struggle with the Canaanites (Ju. 5$14$), its desperate stand against united Israel (Ju. 19 f.); it was famous for its skill in slinging and archery (Ju. 20$16$, 1 Ch. 8$40$ 12$2$, 2 Ch. 14$7$ 17$17$). But a special reference to the short-lived reign of Saul is probable: the dividing of spoil reminds us of the king who clothed the daughters of Israel with scarlet and ornaments (2 Sa. 1$24$).—The contrast between this description and the conception of Benjamin in the Joseph-stories is an instructive example of how tribal characteristics were obscured in the biographical types evolved by the popular imagination.

28abα (to ) is the subscription to the poem; the remainder of the v. belongs to P, and probably continued $1a$ in that source.—the tribes of Israel, twelve in number] The division into 12 tribes is an artificial scheme, whose origin is uncertain (see Luther, ZATW, xxi. 33 ff.; Peters, Early Heb. Story, 55 ff.). It obtained also amongst the Edomites, Ishmaelites, and other peoples; and in Israel betrays its theoretic character by the different ways in which the number was made up, of which the oldest is probably that followed in the Song of Jacob. In Dt. 33, Simeon is omitted, and Joseph divided into Ephraim and Manasseh; in P (Nu. 2) Joseph is again divided, to the exclusion not of Simeon, but of Levi.

The recently revived theory of a connexion between the original sayings of the Blessing and the signs of the Zodiac calls for a brief notice at this point. The most striking correspondences were set forth by Zimmern in ZA, vii. (1892), 161 ff.; viz., Simeon and Levi = Gemini (see p. 517); Judah = Leo, with the king-star Regulus on its breast ; and Joseph = Taurus. This last comparison, it is true, rests on Dt. 33 rather than Gn. 49, and is only imported into this passage by a violent reconstruction of v.$22$ (p. 530). Other possible combinations mentioned by Zimmern are Issachar = Aselli (in Cancer), Dan = Serpens (N of Libra), Benjamin = Lupus (S of Scorpio), and Naphtali = Aries

28. ] G .—] Such a construction is impossible. We must either omit the rel. (Vns.) or read (Ols. De. KS. Gu. al.).