Jacob gathered his twelve sons around his golden bed to reveal the future. But something went wrong. According to Targum Jonathan, Jacob intended to show them "the hidden mysteries, the ends concealed, the recompense of reward for the righteous, the retribution of the wicked, and the bower of Eden." The twelve tribes surrounded his bed, the Shekhinah (the Divine Presence) was revealed—and then "the end for which the King Messiah is to come had been concealed from him." God shut the vision down. Jacob could see everything except the one thing that mattered most.
The blessings that follow are transformed from the Torah's poetic oracles into detailed prophetic histories. Reuben learns exactly what his sin cost him: "To thee belonged the birthright, and the high priesthood, and the kingdom; but because thou hast sinned, the birthright is given to Joseph, the kingdom to Judah, and the priesthood to Levi." Three gifts, redistributed to three brothers. Jacob then compares Reuben to "a little garden in the midst of which there enter torrents swift and strong, which it cannot bear"—overwhelmed by impulse.
Simeon and Levi are called "brothers of the womb" whose "thoughts are of sharp weapons for rapine." But Jacob's real concern is practical: "If they dwell together, no king nor ruler may stand before them." They are too dangerous as allies. So Jacob deliberately splits Simeon's inheritance into two portions and scatters Levi among all the tribes.
The Judah oracle becomes an elaborate Messianic prophecy. "Kings shall not cease, nor rulers, from the house of Judah, nor scribes teaching the law from his seed, till the time that the King the Messiah shall come, the youngest of his sons; and on account of him shall the peoples flow together." The Targum then paints a vivid portrait: "How beauteous is the King, the Messiah who will arise from the house of Judah! He hath girded his loins, and descended, and arrayed the battle against his adversaries, slaying kings with their rulers." The mountains turn red with blood. His garments are "dipped in blood, like the outpressed juice of grapes." Yet his eyes "cannot look upon what is unclean, nor on the shedding of the blood of the innocent."
Issachar becomes "an ass in the law"—not an insult but a compliment. His tribe is "a strong tribe, knowing the order of the times." The Targum says Issachar "saw the rest of the world to come that it is good" and "bowed his shoulders to labour in the law." He chose Torah study over worldly ambition.
The Dan oracle names names. "A chosen man shall arise from the house of Dan, like the basilisk which lieth at the dividing of the way." This is Samson, identified explicitly: "Even thus will Shimshon bar Manoach slay all the heroes of Philistia." But when Jacob sees both Gideon and Samson in his vision, he rejects both: "I expect not the salvation of Gideon, nor look I for the salvation of Samson; for their salvation will be the salvation of an hour. But for Thy salvation have I waited, O Lord; for Thy salvation is the salvation of eternity."
Joseph's blessing is the longest and most personal. The Targum says Joseph "became great because thou didst subdue thy inclination in the matter of thy mistress, and in the work of thy brethren." His greatness came from resisting Potiphar's wife. When Egyptian women threw jewelry at him from the walls, "thine eyes thou wouldst not lift up on one of them, to become guilty in the great day of judgment."
Benjamin's blessing places the Temple in his territory: "In his land will dwell the Shekhinah of the Lord of the world, and the house of the sanctuary be builded in his inheritance." The morning and evening sacrifices are described—the daily tamid offerings that would define Temple worship for a thousand years. Then Jacob gathered his feet into the bed, "expired, and was gathered unto his people."