Von Rad and others consider the blessings in 49.1b-27 to be an insertion in what is a narrative text that begins with 49.1a and continues after the inserted material with 28b. However, translators will have to translate the full text as it exists in the Hebrew and as represented in Revised Standard Version.

All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: these points back to the twelve sons of Jacob in verses 3-27.

This is what their father said: this refers to the content of verses 3-27.

Blessing each with the blessing suitable to him: the wording is repetitive and is literally “and he blessed them each one whom after his blessing he blessed them.” As noted at the beginning of the chapter, the term “blessing” is really inappropriate in English and many other languages for the content of much of what Jacob says to the sons. Here in verse 28 is the only occurrence of words for “blessing” in the Hebrew text of this subdivision. Good News Translation, Anchor Bible, and New Jerusalem Bible (in part) show us one possible way to deal with the problem: to render the Hebrew terms as “give a parting message” or “say farewell,” as in 47.10, where the same verb is used. This is a particularly good recommendation for those languages in which “parting words” or “last words” in a deathbed context give the sense of speaking about the inheritance and the leadership of the clan. Anchor Bible “as he bade them farewell, addressing to each an appropriate parting message” and Good News Translation are good models. Examples of renderings from two other translations are “These are the words the old man gave to them when he spoke his last words, and he gave words appropriate to each one of them,” and “Like this the old man Jacob spoke to his twelve sons and said good-bye to them. He gave the right word to each of his sons.”

In some languages the first line of the verse comes more appropriately at the end; for example, “Jacob spoke like that and … He gave the right word to each of his sons. From those twelve sons the twelve tribes of Israel were descended.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .