Verse Lens · Context pointer
Genesis 49:14 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 14. 14Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens:
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Role in This Section
Issachar is compared to a strong donkey crouching among a divided resting place, saddlebags, sheepfolds, or burdens. The rare final word and verse 15 are needed before judging the image.
Read It With
- Genesis 49:1–28
Read verses 14–15 together. Strength, rest, good land, burden, and tribute form one portrait whose tone can be partly positive and partly critical.
Why It Needs Context
The animal image cannot by itself prove laziness, strength, servitude, or one exact tribal history; verse 15 supplies the movement into labor and subjection.
Read Genesis 49:14–15 together
Why these verses belong together: The strong donkey, resting place, good land, burden, and tribute belong to one compressed portrait.
Verse 14. 14 Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens:
Verse 15. 15 And he saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant; and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute.
Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Genesis 49:1–28 — Jacob Speaks Over His Twelve SonsSources used for this context pointer
How certain is this explanation? uncertain
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Displayed text, family antecedents, tribal reception, royal trajectory, and Christian canonical reception.
Exact location: Genesis 49:1–28 with Genesis 34:1–31; 35:22; 37–48; 50:15–26; Deuteronomy 33; Judges 5; 1 Chronicles 5:1–2; 2 Samuel 7; Psalm 60; and Revelation 5:5 in the pinned standardized 1769 KJV
Open source ↗hebrew text morphology and lemma data
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible — Genesis
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project
Open Scriptures, Version 2.2 released 2021; repository inspected 2026
Supports: Poetic structure, wordplay, difficult forms, leadership, animal images, divine titles, and Joseph's distinction.
Exact location: WLC Genesis 49:1–28, especially be'acharit hayyamim, pachaz kammayim, mekheroteihem, yiqqeru shor, shevet, mechoqeq, shiloh, mishpethayim, Gad wordplay, Naphtali wording, ben porat, avir ya'aqov, ro'eh, even yisra'el, and nezir echav
Open source ↗