Woolwich Evangelical Church

Jacob's prophecy of Judah is poetic and mysterious. Its climax is an apparently obscure reference to the vine, but here is a glimpse of terror and of grace. Every word is important, even the word order in the original serves to emphasise this double sense. A doubled doubling down underscores the emphasis. Incidentally the three hints of violence in the verse are: the dark red sense of the 'choice vine', the 'cut short' word for garment, and the blood of the grape, though other Bible allusions render thus explicit. I erred in recalling the third. Ponder Gethsemane and Calvary afresh.