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include wine, and this would require a cup or some Later, in his blessing of the descendants of Joseph,
similar vessel to put it in. From this came Asher's em- Moses said: "His glory is like the firstling of his bul-
blem, a covered Cup or Goblet. lock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns: with
them he shall push the people together to the ends of
The blessing given to Issachar is recorded in verse 14. the earth: and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim
Of him it states: "Issachar is a strong ass couching and the thousands of Manasseh" (Deut. 33:17).
down between two burdens." Here we see that the ani-
mal to which he is likened, and which became the em- Here Joseph is likened to an Ox and to a Unicorn. We
blem of the tribe descended from him, was a Laden should also note the repetition of, and emphasis on,
Ass. the word "horns." In the blessing given by Moses,
therefore, we see that Joseph is likened or related to
The blessing given to Zebulun is recorded in verse 13. an Ox, a Unicorn and a Horn. When these are added to
It says: "Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; the things to which he is likened in the blessing given
and he shall be for an haven of ships; and his border him by his father Jacob, we see that Joseph is likened
shall be unto Zidon." Although this does not actually or related to: an Olive Branch, some Arrows, an Ox, a
liken him to any animal or object, it certainly relates Unicorn and a Horn. These were then inherited by and
him to a haven or harbour and to ship traffic, and thus divided between Joseph's two sons, Ephraim and
to ships. As it would be difficult to picture either a Manasseh, with the Ox, the Unicorn and the Horn be-
harbour or ship traffic on an ensign or banner, the al- coming the emblems of the Tribe of Ephraim, and the
ternate was to represent Zebulun as a Ship, and so a Olive Branch and a Bundle of Arrows the emblems of
Ship became the emblem of the Tribe of Zebulun. the Tribe of Manasseh.
Strangely enough, however, the territory allotted to the
Tribe of Zebulun in ancient Israel was inland. It had no In blessing Benjamin, the youngest of his sons, Jacob
harbour and apparently did not touch the sea at any said, as recorded in verse 27: "Benjamin shall ravin as
point. It would seem, therefore, that this blessing was a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at
prophetic of some future time, after Zebulun had left night he shall divide the spoil." In this blessing Benja-
Palestine. min is definitely likened to a wolf, and so a wolf be-
came the emblem of Benjamin and of the tribe
In considering the blessing given to Joseph we must descended from him.
remember that his descendants were divided into two
tribes, bearing the names of his two sons Ephraim and In considering the various animals, objects and other
Manasseh. Consequently, the blessing given to Joseph things mentioned in Jacob's prophetic blessings of his
was in part inherited by both of these tribes, and in part sons, it is important to note that, while each of them
divided between them. was likened or related to some one animal or object,
or to some personal characteristic, which then became
The part of the blessing which concerns our study is his official emblem, some of them were likened or re-
recorded in verses 22-24, where we read: "Joseph is a lated to more than one. Consequently, some of the
faithful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose tribes had only one emblem while others had two or
branches run over the wall: the archers have sorely more. These are listed on the next page.
grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him: but his
bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were In the list, under the heading "Primary Emblems," we
made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob." see the official emblems of the Twelve Tribes as dis-
Joseph is here likened to a Bough or Branch, which, in played on their ensigns in accordance with the com-
view of other statements in the Bible referring to Is- mand: "Every man of the children of Israel shall
rael as an Olive Tree (Romans 11:24), has always been pitch...with the ensign of their father's house."
understood to be an Olive Branch.
Those listed under the heading "Secondary Emblems"
In the next verse enemy archers are said to shoot at Jo- are the additional likenesses mentioned in connection
seph and, as the archers shoot arrows, it follows that with some of the tribes in the blessings given by Jacob
there is an implied relationship between him and some and later by Moses or, as in the case of Simeon, they
Arrows. were adopted to commemorate some historic event.
These were not the official emblems of the tribes and,

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