Bible Strands
Genesis 49:11
He ties his donkey to the vine, his colt to the choicest branch. He washes his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jacob speaks these words to his son Judah during his final blessings before death. The declaration occurs in the immediate aftermath of Genesis 49:10, where Jacob outlines Judah’s enduring royal authority.
The words — The Hebrew verb אֹסְרִי ('o.se.Ri) means "he ties" or "binding," and כִּבֵּס (ki.Bes) translates literally as "he will wash." These terms anchor the verse’s concrete actions before any symbolic application.
The thread — Garments washed in wine and blood recur in Isaiah 63:1 as a marker of divine judgment and in Revelation 7:14 as a symbol of purification. Joel 3:18 similarly links abundant wine to future covenant restoration.
Why it lands — The text presents exaggerated agricultural and royal imagery to describe Judah’s lineage. It requires the reader to note how physical abundance functions as a structural marker of covenant promise rather than a literal agricultural forecast.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass’s colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes:
Cross-references
- Isaiah 63:1 Who is this coming from Edom, from Bozrah with crimson-stained garments? Who is this robed in splendor, marching in the greatness of His strength? “It is I, proclaiming vindication, mighty to save.”
- Joel 3:18 And in that day the mountains will drip with sweet wine, and the hills will flow with milk. All the streams of Judah will run with water, and a spring will flow from the house of the LORD to water the Valley of Acacias.
- Revelation 7:14 “Sir,” I answered, “you know.” So he replied, “These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
- 1 Kings 4:20 The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand on the seashore, and they were eating and drinking and rejoicing.
- 1 Kings 4:25 Throughout the days of Solomon, Judah and Israel dwelt securely from Dan to Beersheba, each man under his own vine and his own fig tree.
- Micah 4:4 And each man will sit under his own vine and under his own fig tree, with no one to frighten him. For the mouth of the LORD of Hosts has spoken.
- Revelation 19:18 so that you may eat the flesh of kings and commanders and mighty men, of horses and riders, of everyone slave and free, small and great.”
- 2 Kings 18:32 until I come and take you away to a land like your own—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey—so that you may live and not die. But do not listen to Hezekiah, for he misleads you when he says, ‘The LORD will deliver us.’