The interpretation timeline

Gen 49:24

How this passage has been read — the sources, oldest to newest.

From the early Church Fathers to now.

Gen 49:24 · Douay-Rheims
“His bow rested upon the strong, and the bands of his arms and his hands were loosed, by the hands of the mighty one of Jacob: thence he came forth a pastor, the stone of Israel.”
Scholastic c. 1100 – 1500
1105
A.D.
Rashi Jewish
1040–1105
“ותשב באיתן קשתו means his power (i.e. his rule as viceroy) was strongly (באיתן) established. קשתו means his power. ויפזו זרעי ידיו — This refers to the placing of the king’s signet-ring on his hand, יפזו being connected in meaning with the expression (1 Kings 10:18) זהב מופז “the finest gold”, so that the translation would be “his hands were made golden”. This happened to him from the hands of (i.e. through the instrumentality of) the Holy One, blessed be He, who is the Mighty One (אביר) of Jacob. From here (from his position as Viceroy) he rose to become the Feeder of the Foundation Stone of the Israelites, i.e. of the Originator of the tribes of Israel (Jacob). The word אבן, stone, has here the same sense as in (Zechariah 4:7) אבן הראשה, “the chief stone”, where it denotes high position. Onkelos also translates it in this manner: His translation of the verse is as follows: ותשב he translates by “and the prophecy returned upon (was fulfilled in) them (the brethren) i.e. the prophecy contained in the dreams which he dreamed regarding them was fulfilled, “because he observed the Law in secret” — this is an addition made by Onkelos, having no words in the Hebrew text to correspond to it. “And he put in “The Might his trust” is the translation of the Hebrew words באיתן קשתו. The following is how the wording of the Targum fits in with the Hebrew text: “His prophecy was fulfilled (וַתָּשָׁב) because the might (איתן) of the Holy One, blessed be He, served him as his bow (קשתו) and trusty weapon; therefore gold was placed on his arms” — the last words being the Targum of לכך] ויפזו זרועי ידיו], taking ויפזו as connected in meaning with פז, fine gold. אבן ישראל Onkelos takes אבן as an abbreviation of אב ובן and therefore renders it by אבהן ובנין the fathers and children meaning Jacob and his sons. And our rabbis expounded, AND HE BROUGHT BACK HIS BOW WITH STRENGTH, as being about the suppressing of his impulse with the wife of his master. And it calls it a bow, because the seed shoots out like an arrow. ויפזו זרעי ידיו AND HIS FOREARMS WERE GILDED (VAYAFOZU) — (is read) like, 'and they were spread' (vayafotsu), since his seed went out from between the fingers of his hands. מידי אביר יעקב FROM THE HANDS OF THE STRENGTH OF JACOB — As an image of the replica of his father was shown to him, etc., as it is found in Sotah 36b.”
Source
165 years pass — nothing from this stretch is hosted yet
1270
A.D.
Ramban Jewish
1194–1270
“BY THE HANDS OF THE MIGHTY ONE OF JACOB. This befell him from the Holy One, blessed be He, Who is the Mighty One of Jacob. And from there [from his position as viceroy], he became worthy to be the feeder of the foundation stone of Israel, that is, the source of the tribes of Israel. The word “even” (stone) has the same meaning here as the word “even” in the expression, the chief stone, [where it means high position]. This is the language of Rashi. “From the G-d of thy father did this befall you, and He will help you. [And with the Almighty, i.e.,] and your heart was with the Holy One, blessed be He, when you did not hearken to the words of your mistress, and He will bless you.” This is also the language of Rashi. Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra said that the letter mem in the expression, mei’e-il avicha (‘from’ the G-d of thy father), is also to apply to the expression, ve’eith Sha-dai, [as if it read, umei’eith Sha-dai (and ‘from’ the Almighty)], and He will bless thee.…”
Source
Modern · 1953 →

The in-app commentary runs from the Fathers to the early-modern record, then stops — that's where the public-domain sources end, not where the reading does. For the modern reading, follow the sources directly.