His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk.
Glorious things are here said of Judah. The mention of the crimes of the three elder of his sons had not so put the dying patriarch out of humour but that he had a blessing ready for Judah, to whom blessings belonged. Judah's name signifies praise, in allusion to which he says, Thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise, Gen 49:8.
Commenting on Genesis 49:8-12
His eyes shall be red with wine,.... Signifying, not the intemperance of this tribe, and their immoderate use of wine, and the effect of it on them; but the goodness and generosity of their wine, that if drank plentifully of, and especially to excess, would have such an effect, see Pro 23:29 and, as applied to the Messiah, the antitype of Judah, and who was...
Gen 49:8-12 Judah, the fourth son, was the first to receive a rich and unmixed blessing, the blessing of inalienable supremacy and power. “Judah thou, thee will thy brethren praise! thy hand in the neck of thy foes! to thee will thy father’s sons bow down!” אתּה, thou, is placed first as an absolute noun, like אני in Gen 17:4; Gen 24:27; יודוּך is a...
Commenting on Genesis 49:8-12