Genesis 49

Genesis 49 read aloud, in a fresh direct translation from the Hebrew — plain modern English, nothing added. Translator's notes: • Genesis 49:4 — פַּחַז כַּמַּיִם (pachaz kammayim): chose "Unstable as water". Alternatives: "Reckless as water"; "Rushing on like water". Why: pachaz is a rare word for reckless rushing; the water image is kept while its exact force is recorded here. • Genesis 49:5 — מְכֵרֹתֵיהֶם (mekheroteihem): chose "their weapons". Alternatives: "their swords"; "their agreements"; a word of uncertain foreign origin. Why: the noun is otherwise unknown; the weapons sense is required by the pairing with "instruments of violence". • Genesis 49:10 — שִׁילֹה (shiloh): chose "Shiloh". Alternatives: "until he comes to whom it belongs"; "until tribute comes to him". Why: the word's form and reference are genuinely disputed, so the name form is kept rather than resolving it by interpretation. • Genesis 49:21 — אִמְרֵי־שָׁפֶר (imrei shafer): chose "beautiful fawns". Alternatives: "beautiful words" (a doe that speaks fair words). Why: in a blessing built of animal images, the offspring sense fits Naphtali's doe; the speech reading is a real and old alternative. • Genesis 49:22 — בֵּן פֹּרָת (ben porat): chose "a fruitful bough". Alternatives: "a fruitful son"; "a young wild donkey" (a proposed re-reading of the consonants). Why: the spring and branches that follow in the same verse fix the plant image here.