1Jacob called to his sons, and said: “Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which will happen to you in the days to come.

2Assemble yourselves, and hear, you sons of Jacob.

Listen to Israel, your father.

3“Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength,

excelling in dignity, and excelling in power.

4Boiling over like water, you shall not excel,

because you went up to your father’s bed,

then defiled it. He went up to my couch.

5“Simeon and Levi are brothers.

Their swords are weapons of violence.

6My soul, don’t come into their council.

My glory, don’t be united to their assembly;

for in their anger they killed men.

In their self-will they hamstrung cattle.

7Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce;

and their wrath, for it was cruel.

I will divide them in Jacob,

and scatter them in Israel.

8“Judah, your brothers will praise you.

Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies.

Your father’s sons will bow down before you.

9Judah is a lion’s cub.

From the prey, my son, you have gone up.

He stooped down, he crouched as a lion,

as a lioness.

Who will rouse him up?

10The scepter will not depart from Judah,

nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,

until he comes to whom it belongs.

The obedience of the peoples will be to him.

11Binding his foal to the vine,

his donkey’s colt to the choice vine,

he has washed his garments in wine,

his robes in the blood of grapes.

12His eyes will be red with wine,

his teeth white with milk.

13“Zebulun will dwell at the haven of the sea.

He will be for a haven of ships.

His border will be on Sidon.

14“Issachar is a strong donkey,

lying down between the saddlebags.

15He saw a resting place, that it was good,

the land, that it was pleasant.

He bows his shoulder to the burden,

and becomes a servant doing forced labor.

16“Dan will judge his people,

as one of the tribes of Israel.

17Dan will be a serpent on the trail,

an adder in the path,

that bites the horse’s heels,

so that his rider falls backward.

18I have waited for your salvation, Yahweh.

19“A troop will press on Gad,

but he will press on their heel.

20“Asher’s food will be rich.

He will produce royal dainties.

21“Naphtali is a doe set free,

who bears beautiful fawns.

22“Joseph is a fruitful vine,

a fruitful vine by a spring.

His branches run over the wall.

23The archers have severely grieved him,

shot at him, and persecuted him:

24But his bow remained strong.

The arms of his hands were made strong,

by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,

(from there is the shepherd, the stone of Israel),

25even by the God of your father, who will help you,

by the Almighty, who will bless you,

with blessings of heaven above,

blessings of the deep that lies below,

blessings of the breasts, and of the womb.

26The blessings of your father have prevailed above the blessings of my ancestors,

above the boundaries of the ancient hills.

They will be on the head of Joseph,

on the crown of the head of him who is separated from his brothers.

27“Benjamin is a ravenous wolf.

In the morning he will devour the prey.

At evening he will divide the plunder.”

28All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father spoke to them, and blessed them. He blessed everyone according to his own blessing. 29He instructed them, and said to them, “I am to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite as a burial place. 31There they buried Abraham and Sarah, his wife. There they buried Isaac and Rebekah, his wife, and there I buried Leah: 32the field and the cave that is therein, which was purchased from the children of Heth.” 33When Jacob finished charging his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, breathed his last breath, and was gathered to his people.

Person

James (Brother of Jesus)

Father Joseph (Mary's Husband)

Mother Mary (Mother of Jesus)

Siblings Jesus Christ Joses Jude Simon

Biography | Hershel Wayne House

There are several people mentioned in the New Testament named James. The name "Jacob" is a Latinized version of Yakob - or Jacob, a very common Jewish name. Here, the person in question is the brother of Jesus. In order to distinguish him from the other people named James in the NT, the early Church gave him the moniker "the Just." Although the Church later argued that James was the son of Joseph through a marriage previous to Mary or that "brother" actually means "cousin" (owing to the belief that Mary was a perpetual virgin), the Bible gives no indication that he was not the natural son of Joseph and Mary, and the actual brother of the Lord Jesus.

Almost nothing is known of James' early life. He grew up in Nazareth, and at first apparently did not believe (Mark 3:31-35; John 7:5). After the death and resurrection of Jesus, James became a leader of the church in Jerusalem. Paul is reported to have met with James just after his conversion (Gal 1:18-20), and later Paul mentions James among the "pillars" of the church who "recognized the grace" of his call (Gal 2:9-10). James was also present at the Council of Jerusalem that decided Gentiles did not need to become Jews in order to follow Jesus (Acts 15:1-30). Finally, before Paul's arrest in Jerusalem, he met with James and "all the elders" (Acts 21:17-25). According to both Josephus and other early Church historians, James was martyred around A.D. 62 by being thrown from the "pinnacle of the Temple" and then stoned to death. He was said to have been buried and "his monument" was still present "by the temple" in the 4th century A.D.

In 2002 it was announced that an ossuary (bone box) had been found bearing the inscription, written in Aramaic, "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus." Although its authenticity has been challenged by some skeptics, experts have demonstrated that it is almost certainly authentic. Although the names "James (Yakob), "Joseph (Yoseph)," and "Jesus (Yeshua)" were very common in first century Judea, the specific combination written on the ossuary is unique, making the probability that it is indeed James' very high.

Person & place data: Theographic Bible Metadata by Robert Rouse (Viz.Bible), CC BY-SA 4.0.