Charles Ellicott Commentary Genesis 49:22-26

"Joseph is a fruitful bough, A fruitful bough by a fountain; His branches run over the wall. The archers have sorely grieved him, And shot at him, and persecute him: But his bow abode in strength, And the arms of his hands were made strong, By the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, (From thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel), Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee, And by the Almighty, who shall bless thee, With blessings of heaven above, Blessings of the deep that coucheth beneath, Blessings of the breasts, and of the womb. The blessings of thy father Have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors Unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: They shall be on the head of Joseph, And on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren." — Genesis 49:22-26 (ASV)

Joseph. —The blessing of Joseph is, in many respects, the most remarkable of them all. Jacob, throughout this process, seems to be struggling with himself, anxious to bestow more than was in his power. Joseph was his dearest son, the child of his chief and most beloved wife; he was, too, the savior of Israel’s family, and the actual ruler of Egypt. His father had even bestowed upon him the portion of the firstborn by giving him two tribes, and to the rest only one. Nevertheless, he cannot bestow the sovereignty upon him.

In clear terms, he had described Judah as the lion, whose lordly strength would give Israel victory and dominion, and the scepter must remain his until He whose right it is to rule should come. And so, Jacob repeatedly magnifies, though in obscure terms, his blessing upon Joseph, which, when analyzed, amounts simply to abundant fruitfulness, with no Messianic or spiritual prerogative. Beginning with this, Jacob next dwells upon Joseph’s trials and the manliness with which he had borne and overcome them; he then magnifies the blessedness of the earthly lot of his descendants, won for them by Joseph's personal worth, and concludes his words with a description of this.