The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him:
This verse belongs to Jacob's final inspired dying blessing and prophecy to his sons, in which he blessed them and foretold the future histories of their tribes. It was spoken forgivingly under the Spirit of the Lord with prophetic sight reaching far into the future, not from Jacob's own unforgiving spirit over his sons' wrongs. Jacob had forgiven his children and loved them to the last, mourning deeply over the loss of Joseph; God by the spirit of prophecy elevated his mind above his natural feelings, angels were around him in his last hours and the power of God's grace shone upon him. His paternal feeling alone would have led him to utter only love and tenderness, but under inspiration he uttered truth although painful.
Within that painful truth the blessing predicts a cheerful and happy future, especially for Joseph, in eloquent words of happy character that are not as gloomy as the words to Simeon and Levi. The archers who grieved, shot at, and hated him are his brothers, whose unfilial conduct and wicked treatment in selling him caused Jacob many years of grief as he reflected on Joseph's supposed dreadful death. The verse declares that Joseph was deeply afflicted, attacked, and hated, and sorely grieved by that hostility and suffering. It shows that God would by no means sanction that cruelty and wickedness, but presents how God viewed their deeds of violence and that he would punish them for their sins.
Yet Joseph endured, and his strength remained because God made him strong and strengthened him to endure and prosper, as the following words show. His loyalty to God and his faith in the Unseen were the anchor and source of that power to withstand. In the same blessing Joseph is described as a fruitful bough by a well whose branches run over the wall, separate from his brethren, with prevailing blessings resting on his head and with God's promised help and blessings, showing the good purpose and possibilities God had for Israel.
This verse belongs to Jacob's final inspired dying blessing and prophecy to his sons, in which he blessed them and foretold the future histories of their tribes. It was spoken forgivingly under the Spirit of the Lord with prophetic sight reaching far into the future, not from Jacob's own unforgiving spirit over his sons' wrongs. Jacob had forgiven his children and loved them to the last, mourning deeply over the loss of Joseph; God by the spirit of prophecy elevated his mind above his natural feelings, angels were around him in his last hours and the power of God's grace shone upon him. His paternal feeling alone would have led him to utter only love and tenderness, but under inspiration he uttered truth although painful.
Within that painful truth the blessing predicts a cheerful and happy future, especially for Joseph, in eloquent words of happy character that are not as gloomy as the words to Simeon and Levi. The archers who grieved, shot at, and hated him are his brothers, whose unfilial conduct and wicked treatment in selling him caused Jacob many years of grief as he reflected on Joseph's supposed dreadful death. The verse declares that Joseph was deeply afflicted, attacked, and hated, and sorely grieved by that hostility and suffering. It shows that God would by no means sanction that cruelty and wickedness, but presents how God viewed their deeds of violence and that he would punish them for their sins.
Yet Joseph endured, and his strength remained because God made him strong and strengthened him to endure and prosper, as the following words show. His loyalty to God and his faith in the Unseen were the anchor and source of that power to withstand. In the same blessing Joseph is described as a fruitful bough by a well whose branches run over the wall, separate from his brethren, with prevailing blessings resting on his head and with God's promised help and blessings, showing the good purpose and possibilities God had for Israel.