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I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD.
Genesis 49:18 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB I have waited for your salvation, Yahweh.
  • BSB I await Your salvation, O LORD.
  • NKJV I have waited for your salvation, O Lord!
  • NASB “For Your salvation I wait, Lord.
  • NLT I trust in you for salvation, O Lord!

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

Jacob pauses mid-blessing to confess his hope: 'I have waited for your salvation, Yahweh.'

Overview

This sudden cry of faith interrupts the tribal sayings, lifting the dying patriarch's eyes from his sons' futures to the Lord Himself. It reveals that Jacob's ultimate hope is not in any tribe but in God's promised salvation. The longing for Yahweh's deliverance finds its answer in Jesus, whose very name means 'the Lord saves' (Luke 2:30).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 28

  • Ps 119:166LORD, I have hoped for thy salvation, and done thy commandments.
  • Isa 25:9And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
  • Ps 119:174I have longed for thy salvation, O LORD; and thy law is my delight.
  • Mic 7:7Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.
  • Ps 130:5I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.
  • 1 Th 1:10And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.
  • Ps 25:5–6Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.
  • Luke 2:25And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him.
  • Ps 40:1I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.
  • Lam 3:25The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.
  • Rom 8:25But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
  • Isa 8:17And I will wait upon the LORD, that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.
  • Mark 15:43Joseph of Arimathaea, an honourable counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom of God, came, and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus.
  • Luke 1:30And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.
  • Luke 2:30For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,
  • Luke 23:51(The same had not consented to the counsel and deed of them;) he was of Arimathaea, a city of the Jews: who also himself waited for the kingdom of God.
  • Gal 5:5For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
  • Ps 62:5My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.
  • Ps 62:1Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation.
  • Matt 1:21And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
  • Rom 8:19For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
  • Isa 33:2O LORD, be gracious unto us; we have waited for thee: be thou their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble.
  • Ps 14:7Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion! when the LORD bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.
  • Ps 123:2Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the LORD our God, until that he have mercy upon us.
  • Ps 85:7Shew us thy mercy, O LORD, and grant us thy salvation.
  • Ps 119:41Let thy mercies come also unto me, O LORD, even thy salvation, according to thy word.
  • Isa 30:18And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.
  • Isa 36:8Now therefore give pledges, I pray thee, to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (5)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Genesis videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Genesis 49:18YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on GenesisMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 49:18 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.