genesis 49:13, the haven of rest

Read Genesis 49:13 at Bible Gateway.

Hebrew paragraph division

Gen 49:13 {p} Zebulun’s blessing

Zebulun shall dwell at the shore of the sea, and he shall be a haven for ships, and his border shall be upon Zidon. {p} Gen 49:13

Notice as we go through this chapter, that the meaning of each son’s name is repeated in the blessing, which gives us a clue as to the prophecy Jacob is making over each tribe.

Original Hebrew

Zebulun means “to make round,” i.e., related to dwell. Its first occurrence:

And Leah said: “God has endowed me with a good dowry; now my husband will dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons.” And she called his name Zebulun.[g] Gen 30:20

And the footnote in my Bible says, g. Literally Dwelling.

Zebulun is Strong’s H2074, Zebuwluwn, a proper name, from Strong’s H2082, zabal, a primitive root, “to make round.”

The lexicons are divided in listing the meaning. Some say it means, to dwell, others, to exalt, to be exalted, some say, to make round. The last is closest, for to make round, i.e., to make pregnant, is a result of the man and his wife becoming one flesh and dwelling together. The ancient pictographs are zayin + bet + lamed:

zayin = the mattock, thus tool, food, cut, nourish
bet = the house, thus house, household, family, in, within
lamed = the shepherd’s staff, thus teach, yoke, to, bind

The Ancient Hebrew Lexicon says of the meaning of this root, “A cohabitation between a man and woman;” in the sense of the house (bet) joined together (lamed). The pictograph of the tool, zayin, implies something made or accomplished, since that is why man takes up tools. So then, to make (zayin) round as in pregnant (bet + lamed), the result of a man and a woman joined together.

Here we have the idea of the most basic unit of the house or family being the man and woman united; the house increases and is renewed when sons (and daughters) are added to the basic unit. The idea of intentional single parenthood is foreign to the Hebraic worldview. Thus the special instructions concerning the care of widows and orphans as a universal protected class in Scripture, since fathers are indispensable.

Shore, haven is Strong’s H2348, chowph, a concrete noun, itself from an unused primitive root meaning “to cover.” The unused root is not listed in Strong’s, but Gesenius’ Hebrew Lexicon lists it as chet + pey + pey:

chet = the wall, thus outside, divide, half
pey = the mouth, thus open, blow, scatter, edge
pey = the mouth, thus open, blow, scatter, edge

The story the pictographs are telling is of a wall (chet) opening (pey) which opens (pey); i.e., a cove, as the land is a wall (chet) along the shore, but where an opening (pey) opens (pey) in the wall, the ship finds a haven of rest.

The blessing is prophesying over Zebulun that his dwelling place will be a haven of rest as the fruit of his harmonious unity. The blessing is likewise prophesying to us that harmonious unity between the husband and the wife creates within their home an oasis and haven of rest.