Just before Jacob yields up the ghost, he gives each of his sons a patriarchal blessing. In your own patriarchal blessing, you can find your declaration of lineage and attach the corresponding tribe to your personal blessing. I add a word of warning though. Unless you descend through Ephraim, Manasseh, or Judah, you will have sparse details to work with. By the way, the apostles and prophets of the Church have repeatedly stressed that the most important part of your patriarchal blessing is the declaration of lineage.
I was a naïve 15-year-old when I received my patriarchal blessing. The declaration of my lineage was the least important thing to me at the time. I wanted to find out what was going to happen to me. My blessing also mentioned sacred clothing items twice, and this also seemed irrelevant back then. You will see when I do posts in Exodus (if you haven’t already) how I’m totally obsessed with sacred clothing and associated ritual.
I will focus on the blessings given to Judah and Joseph. If you descend through a different tribe, other than Ephraim, Manasseh, or Judah, please know that these blessings still apply to you. The blessings of Judah foretell the ministry and atonement of Jesus Christ. The blessings of Joseph, through Ephraim and Manasseh, refer to the scattering and gathering of Israel, including the gathering of Israel on both sides of the veil. Temple ordinances play a major role in gathering Israel.
Moses gave a similar blessing in Deuteronomy 33:17 regarding the role of Ephraim and Manasseh in the latter days: “His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns: (wild bulls) with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth: and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh.” Those gathered in the latter days will “fall down and be crowned with glory, even in Zion, by the hands of the servants of the Lord, even the children of Ephraim” (D&C 133:32). The twelve oxen bearing the weight of the baptismal fonts in temples represent the twelve tribes of Israel. They outwardly face the four cardinal directions, as a symbol of reaching out to gather Israel from the four corners of the earth.
Names are revealing in these blessings. The name Judah means “to be praised.” His blessing begins: “Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies; thy father’s children shall bow down before thee” (Genesis 49:8). David and Solomon, as descendants of Judah, were kings over a united Israel. David was able to conquer the enemies of Israel. The Davidic line in their righteousness became symbolic of Christ’s mission as the King of kings.
“Judah is a lion’s whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?” (Genesis 49:9). John the Revelator weeps at the thought of no one being worthy and able to open the seven seals until he is told, “Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain” (Revelation 5:5-6). The symbol of a lion represents Christ’s power and kingship. The symbol of the lamb represents His submission to the Father and His atonement—the ultimate sacrifice.
Genesis 49:10-11 reads, “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass’s colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes.”
The kings of Judah would hold regal power until the coming of Christ. The Hebrew word shiloh may be a short form of asher-lo, which can be rendered “whose right it is.” (see Footnote 10c). The Doctrine and Covenants states, “Wherefore, be subject to the powers that be, until he reigns whose right it is to reign, and subdues all enemies under his feet.” (D&C 58:22).
We have some nice parallelism in verse 11. The “foal” in this verse can symbolize the spiritually begotten sons and daughters of Christ (see Mosiah 5:7). The king of Israel always rode a donkey or a mule. King David caused Solomon to ride upon his mule before he was anointed with a horn of oil to signify who the new king should be. Zechariah prophesied, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass” (Zechariah 9:9).
We are bound to Jesus through covenants. He taught, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman . . . I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing” (John 15:1,5). He “washed His garments and His clothes in blood.” Our “garments must be purified until they are cleansed from all stain, through the blood of (Jesus)” (Alma 5:21).
“Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall” (Genesis 49:22). The Lord commanded Adam and Eve to “be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth” (Genesis 1:28). Joseph’s descendants through Ephraim and Manasseh “ran over the wall,” or in other words, they left the Holy Land and immigrated to other parts of the world. The Nephites and Lamanites descended through Manasseh (see Alma 10:3). Joseph Smith said that Ishmael (in the Book of Mormon) was a descendant of Ephraim. The children of Lehi married the children of Ishmael and immigrated to the Americas. Many Church members today have European ancestors and are of the seed of Ephraim, who name means “double fruitful.”
Genesis 49:24 states, “But his (Joseph’s) bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel).” The Hebrew word for bow is qesheth. It’s both a hunting bow and a rainbow. After the Flood, the Lord makes a covenant:
“I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.” (Genesis 9:13)
The rainbow and the bow and arrow are tokens of God’s covenant. I think it’s significant that in the Book of Mormon, Laman and Lemuel’s bows “lost their springs” (1 Nephi 16:21). The bow and the arms and hands received their strength “by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob.” This is a good reminder that our strength comes from keeping covenants. We receive grace from the “mighty God of Jacob.”
The title, “Stone of Israel,” reminds us “that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that (we) must build (our) foundation” (Helaman 5:12). Our help is never far away if we turn to Him.
Genesis 49:25 states, “Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb.” The “blessings of heaven above” refers to the revelations that brought about the Restoration. It can also be personal revelation and answers to prayers. The “blessings of the deep that lieth under” could possibly refer to the Book of Mormon, which was buried in the earth. Nephi writes, “For those who shall be destroyed shall speak unto them out of the ground, and their speech shall be low out of the dust, and their voice shall be as one that hath a familiar spirit; for the Lord God will give unto him power, that he (Joseph Smith) may whisper concerning them, even as it were out of the ground; and their speech shall whisper out of the dust” (2 Nephi 26:16).
“Blessings of the breasts, and of the womb” is a fulfillment of the commandment to “be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth” (Genesis 1:28). The aprons made of fig leaves by Adam and Eve can symbolize fruitfulness, because fig trees produce the fruit buds before the leaves appear. Wherever you see fig leaves, there should be good fruits and fruitfulness.
Joseph is promised, “The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren” (Genesis 49:26). Joseph received the birthright blessing, but with that blessing comes a responsibility to care for and gather Israel. “The utmost bound of the everlasting hills” describes a continuous mountain range, which only occurs in one place on the globe. The Rocky Mountains extend from Alaska to the southern tip of South America. After the saints were driven from New York, to Ohio, to Missouri, and to Illinois, they eventually settled in the heart of the Rocky Mountains.
This patriarchal blessing promises a “crown of the head.” This part of the blessing applies to all who make temple covenants, regardless of lineage. At the dedication of the Kirtland Temple there was a promise allowing us to become kings and queens through temple covenants and their associated blessings.
“That our garments may be pure, that we may be clothed upon with robes of righteousness, with palms in our hands, and crowns of glory upon our heads, and reap eternal joy for all our sufferings.” (D&C 109:76)
