Benjamin is ravenous as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.
All Commentaries on Genesis 49:27 Go To Genesis 49
Ambrose of Milan
AD 397
The devil has very many wolves that he sends against the sheep of Christ. And therefore he whom Joseph prefigured, in order to protect his own sheep, seized the very enemy that was coming to plunder the sheep, the wolf Paul, and from a persecutor turned him into a teacher. Of him Jacob says, just as it is written, “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; in the morning he shall still be eating, and for the evening he shall distribute food among chiefs.” He was a wolf when he scattered and devoured the sheep of the church; but he who had been a wolf became a shepherd. He was a wolf when he was Saul, when he would go into houses and drag men and women off to prison. He was a wolf when he breathed threats of murder against the disciples of the Lord and asked for letters from the chief priests to seize the humble servants of Christ. Jesus blinded him with an outpouring of light, as if he were a wolf roaming abroad in the darkness of night. And so, when Rachel gave birth to Benjamin, she called his name “son of my sorrow,” as a prophecy that from that tribe Paul would come, to afflict the sons of the church in the time of his persecution and to trouble their mother with a grievous sorrow. But nonetheless, at a later time, the same Paul distributed food among chiefs when he preached the word of God to the Gentiles and stirred very many to faith, for they received the grace of the Lord through his preaching, as did the deputy of the proconsul Paulus and the chief Publius. Moreover, when Moses blessed the tribe of Benjamin, he also said aptly, “The beloved of the Lord shall dwell confidently, and God shall overshadow him all the days, and the beloved of the Lord shall rest between his shoulders.” Paul was also made a vessel of election, for he was converted only through the Lord’s compassionate love. For this reason he attributes nothing to his own merit but assigns everything to Christ and says, “For I am the least of the apostles and am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace in me has not been to no effect.” He dwelt confidently in the house that he used to empty of its inhabitants; he dwelt in the habitations of Christ, whereas before he used to roam in the woods like a wolf. And God overshadowed him when Christ appeared to him. Although he saw nothing when his eyes were opened, still he saw Christ. And it was fitting that he saw Christ present and also heard him speaking. That overshadowing is not the overshadowing of blindness but of grace. Indeed, it is said to Mary: “The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow you.”
