5. THE FAVORED JOSEPH AND BENJAMIN 22-27 a. Joseph. The main point of Joseph’s portion is blessing. Yes, there is danger ahead but there will also be prosperity and abundance. Jacob speaks of the Mighty One, the Shepherd, which is what Jacob called God in the previous chapter, the Stone of Israel, the God of your father, and the Shaddai the Almighty. Jacob praises God for his blessings which he saw were greater than Isaac and Rebekah’s blessings. He prays that these blessings of God would be upon Joseph. b. Benjamin. He is the youngest and last mentioned. His tribe would be like a hungry wolf, which is a great warrior, who brings about a swift defeat and would experience prosperity. We see his family play a large role in the history of Israel. They are the mighty left-handed warriors of Judges. Ehud, King Saul, Esther and Mordecai, and even the apostle Paul were Benjaminites. Matthew Henry saw something of Paul in this when he wrote, “in the morning of his day, devour the prey as persecutor, but, in the evening, divided the spoil as a preacher.”