Issachar is a strong donkey crouching down between two burdens:
Read Chapter 49
George Leo Haydock
AD 1849
Strong. Hebrew, "bony ass. "Many of Jacob's children are compared to animals, which was customary in the eastern style. Homer compares Ajax with the ass, for his strength and patience, Iliad xii. Jacob thus indicates the laborious disposition of Issachar's tribe, which did not delight in war. Their country was the most fruitful of all Galilee. (Calmet)
Above we have taken into consideration that one who erred because of the threefold impulse of the soul (as a weakness of the entire soul), which is divided into carnal passion symbolized by Reuben, into anger symbolized by Simeon and into illdirected prudence symbolized by Levi. But then we have shown this person when he repents in the figure of Judah and is largely converted in the figure of Zebulun. In Issachar, which means “reward,” we see this man wait for the reward of his good works; and since he has not only driven away the evil but has also wished for the good, he rests in the midst of his lots. In the midst is the one who, according to the warning of the Wisdom, turns neither to the left nor the right, that is, who stays and walks on the right path of virtue. Here the “lots” can be interpreted in this manner: “lot” is understood as that which allows people to obtain a part of the inheritance. This does not appear to happen casually, as the pagans think, but is decreed by the j...
