What Does Genesis 49:27 Mean in the King James?
Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The wolf’s appetite ends not in consumption alone, but in apportioning what it takes.
THE MEANING
Benjamin, whose name means “son of the right hand,” stands in a picture of force: the wolf seizes in the morning, consumes, then divides what it has taken by night. Appetite, power, and distribution form one continuous movement, lasting from first light to evening.
THE ROOT
יִטְרָף
yitraf
GROWS FROM
טרף
ṭ-r-p
To tear, seize, or catch as prey.
“ravin” in this verse is yitraf. The word holds more than appetite: it pictures prey being seized and torn. The same root appears in Genesis 37:33 as “rent in pieces,” bringing the wolf’s violence into focus.
ALSO GROWS
ṭāraph: To tear or seize as prey.
טָרַף
This verbal form names the force of the wolf’s attack.
ṭereph: Prey or food taken by hunting.
טֶרֶף
The prey is both what the wolf tears and what it consumes.
שָׁלָל
shalal
GROWS FROM
שלל
š-l-l
To strip away or plunder; the seized goods are called spoil.
“Spoil” here is not simply what remains after a hunt. Its root carries the sense of plunder, so the evening scene continues the taking: the wolf divides the goods it has seized.
ALSO GROWS
shalal: To plunder or strip away.
שָׁלַל
The verb shows the active taking contained in the idea of spoil.
shalal: Booty or spoil taken from another.
שָׁלָל
This noun names what the wolf divides after its hunt.
THE PATTERN
Predatory power watches, seizes, and consumes what it can claim.
Like as a lion that is greedy of his prey, and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places.Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.THE THREAD
And he knew it, and said, It is my son’s coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces.Genesis 37:33 uses the same root, טרף (ṭ-r-p), behind “ravin” here in the phrase “rent in pieces.” The shared word links the wolf’s tearing of prey with the stark language of a body torn apart.
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