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Judah, your brothers shall praise you. Your hand shall be on the necks of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down to you.
Genesis 49:8 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB “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.
  • KJV 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.
  • NKJV “Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise; Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; Your father’s children shall bow down before you.
  • NASB ¶“As for you, Judah, your brothers shall praise you; Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; Your father’s sons shall bow down to you.
  • NLT “Judah, your brothers will praise you. You will grasp your enemies by the neck. All your relatives will bow before you.

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

Judah is promised the praise of his brothers and victory over his enemies.

Overview

With a wordplay on his name ('Judah means praise'), Jacob foretells Judah's leadership: his brothers will honor him and bow before him. This marks the shift of preeminence to the fourth son, the line through which kingship and the Messiah would come. The homage of the brothers anticipates the day when every knee bows to Judah's greatest Son, Jesus Christ (Philippians 2:10).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 35

  • 1 Chr 5:2And though Judah prevailed over his brothers and a ruler came from him, the birthright belonged to Joseph.
  • Gen 27:29May peoples serve you and nations bow down to you. May you be the master of your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed, and those who bless you be blessed.”
  • Heb 7:14For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, a tribe as to which Moses said nothing about priests.
  • Deut 33:7And concerning Judah he said: “O LORD, hear the cry of Judah and bring him to his people. With his own hands he defends his cause, but may You be a help against his foes.”
  • Josh 10:24When they had brought the kings to Joshua, he summoned all the men of Israel and said to the army commanders who had accompanied him, “Come here and put your feet on the necks of these kings.” So the commanders came forward and put their feet on their necks.
  • Ps 18:40–43You have made my enemies retreat before me; I put an end to those who hated me.
  • Gen 29:35And once more she conceived and gave birth to a son and said, “This time I will praise the LORD.” So she named him Judah. Then Leah stopped having children.
  • Gen 46:12The sons of Judah: Er, Onan, Shelah, Perez, and Zerah; but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. The sons of Perez: Hezron and Hamul.
  • 2 Sam 22:41You have made my enemies retreat before me; I put an end to those who hated me.
  • Num 1:27those registered to the tribe of Judah numbered 74,600.
  • 2 Chr 15:9And he assembled all Judah and Benjamin, along with those from the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who had settled among them, for great numbers had come over to him from Israel when they saw that the LORD his God was with him.
  • 2 Chr 17:14–16These are their numbers according to the houses of their fathers: From Judah, the commanders of thousands: Adnah the commander, and with him 300,000 mighty men of valor;
  • Num 26:22These were the clans of Judah, and their registration numbered 76,500.
  • Rev 5:5Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed to open the scroll and its seven seals.”
  • Isa 9:7Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from that time and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish this.
  • Num 10:14First, the divisions of the camp of Judah set out under their standard, with Nahshon son of Amminadab in command.
  • 1 Chr 12:1–40Now these were the men who came to David at Ziklag, while he was still banished from the presence of Saul son of Kish (they were among the mighty men who helped him in battle;
  • 2 Chr 11:12–17He also put shields and spears in all the cities and strengthened them greatly. So Judah and Benjamin belonged to him.
  • Gen 44:18–34Then Judah approached Joseph and said, “Sir, please let your servant speak personally to my lord. Do not be angry with your servant, for you are equal to Pharaoh himself.
  • 2 Sam 5:3So all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, where King David made with them a covenant before the LORD. And they anointed him king over Israel.
  • 1 Kgs 4:1–34So King Solomon ruled over Israel,
  • Phil 2:10–11that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
  • Judg 1:1–2After the death of Joshua, the Israelites inquired of the LORD, “Who will be the first to go up and fight for us against the Canaanites?”
  • Gen 37:7–10We were binding sheaves of grain in the field, and suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to mine.”
  • Heb 10:13Since that time, He waits for His enemies to be made a footstool for His feet,
  • 2 Sam 24:9And Joab reported to the king the total number of the troops. In Israel there were 800,000 men of valor who drew the sword, and in Judah there were 500,000.
  • Judg 20:18The Israelites set out, went up to Bethel, and inquired of God, “Who of us shall go up first to fight against the Benjamites?” “Judah will be first,” the LORD replied.
  • Ps 76:1For the choirmaster. With stringed instruments. A Psalm of Asaph. A song. God is known in Judah; His name is great in Israel.
  • 2 Chr 14:8Asa had an army of 300,000 men from Judah bearing large shields and spears, and 280,000 men from Benjamin bearing small shields and drawing the bow. All these were mighty men of valor.
  • Gen 42:6Now Joseph was the ruler of the land; he was the one who sold grain to all its people. So when his brothers arrived, they bowed down before him with their faces to the ground.
  • Ezek 21:29while they offer false visions for you and lying divinations about you—to be placed on the necks of the wicked who are slain, whose day has come, the time of their final punishment.
  • 2 Chr 30:11Nevertheless, some from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem.
  • Ps 78:68–71But He chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which He loved.
  • 2 Chr 17:2He stationed troops in every fortified city of Judah and put garrisons in the land of Judah and in the cities of Ephraim that his father Asa had captured.
  • Rev 11:15Then the seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and loud voices called out in heaven: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever.”

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 49:8YouTube · 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 49:8 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.