When he sees how good the countryside is and how pleasant the land, he will bend his shoulder to the load and submit himself to hard labor.
Parallel translations
- WEB He 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.
- KJV And he saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant; and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute.
- BSB He saw that his resting place was good and that his land was pleasant, so he bent his shoulder to the burden and submitted to labor as a servant.
- NKJV He saw that rest was good, And that the land was pleasant; He bowed his shoulder to bear a burden, And became a band of slaves.
- NASB “When he saw that a resting place was good And that the land was pleasant, He bowed his shoulder to carry burdens, And became a slave at forced labor.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Issachar, valuing rest and good land, submits to forced labor under others.
Overview
Drawn by the pleasantness of his territory, Issachar accepts servitude and toil rather than resist. The verse soberly notes how the pursuit of ease can lead to bondage. It quietly warns God's people against letting earthly comfort dull their resolve and reduce them to servitude.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Judg 3:11The land had rest forty years, then Othniel the son of Kenaz died.
- Josh 14:15Now the name of Hebron before was Kiriath Arba, after the greatest man among the Anakim. Then the land had rest from war.
- 2 Sam 7:1When the king lived in his house, and Yahweh had given him rest from all his enemies all around,
- Ezek 29:18Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyre: every head was made bald, and every shoulder was worn; yet had he no wages, nor his army, from Tyre, for the service that he had served against it.
- Ps 81:6“I removed his shoulder from the burden. His hands were freed from the basket.
- Matt 23:4For they bind heavy burdens that are grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not lift a finger to help them.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 49:15 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.