Genesis 48

Some time after this, someone told Joseph, "Listen, your father is sick." So Joseph took his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, with him.

1And it came to pass after these things, that one told Joseph, Behold, thy father is sick: and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.

2Someone told Jacob, "Listen, your son Joseph is coming to see you." So Israel gathered his strength and sat up on the bed.

2And one told Jacob, and said, Behold, thy son Joseph cometh unto thee: and Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed.

NoteJacob and Israel are two names for the same man; God renamed him Israel earlier in Genesis, and from here on the narrator moves between the two names freely, sometimes within a single sentence.

3Jacob said to Joseph, "God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and he blessed me there.

3And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me,

Note"God Almighty" translates the Hebrew title El Shaddai, an ancient name whose exact sense is uncertain: it may mean "God of the mountain" or "God the sufficient one." Luz was the older name of the town Jacob renamed Bethel, where he had earlier seen a stairway reaching to heaven.

4He said to me, 'Listen, I will make you fruitful and give you many children. I will make you into a large group of peoples, and I will give this land to your descendants after you, to belong to them forever.'

4And said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people; and will give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession.

5So now your two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you here in Egypt, are mine. They will be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine.

5And now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine.

NoteThis is a formal act of adoption. Jacob is saying that Joseph's two sons will count as his own sons rather than his grandsons, and so will each receive a share of the family land in their own right, alongside Jacob's other sons. Reuben and Simeon are named because they were Jacob's two eldest, so the comparison places Ephraim and Manasseh at the top of the list. The practical effect is that Joseph's line receives two shares instead of one.

6But the children born to you after them will be yours. In the land they receive, they will be counted under the names of their brothers.

6And thy issue, which thou begettest after them, shall be thine, and shall be called after the name of their brethren in their inheritance.

NoteAny later sons of Joseph would not become tribes of their own; they would be registered within the territory allotted to Ephraim or Manasseh and inherit as part of those groups.

7As for me, when I was coming back from Padan, Rachel died beside me in the land of Canaan, while we were still on the road, with only a short distance left to go to Ephrath. I buried her there, on the road to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem."

7And as for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan in the way, when yet there was but a little way to come unto Ephrath: and I buried her there in the way of Ephrath; the same is Bethlehem.

NotePadan (Paddan-aram) was the region in upper Mesopotamia where Jacob had lived for twenty years with his uncle Laban. Rachel was Jacob's favorite wife and Joseph's mother; she died giving birth to Benjamin on the journey home, and Jacob is explaining to Joseph why she lies buried by the roadside rather than in the family tomb.

8Then Israel looked at Joseph's sons and said, "Who are these?"

8And Israel beheld Joseph’s sons, and said, Who are these?

9Joseph said to his father, "They are my sons, whom God has given me in this place." And Israel said, "Please bring them to me, and I will bless them."

9And Joseph said unto his father, They are my sons, whom God hath given me in this place. And he said, Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will bless them.

10Now Israel's eyes were weak from old age, so that he could not see. Joseph brought the boys close to him, and Israel kissed them and put his arms around them.

10Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he could not see. And he brought them near unto him; and he kissed them, and embraced them.

11Israel said to Joseph, "I never expected to see your face, and look, God has let me see your children too."

11And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face: and, lo, God hath shewed me also thy seed.

12Then Joseph took them away from his father's knees, and he bowed down with his face to the ground.

12And Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth.

NotePlacing children on or between the knees of an older man was a recognized gesture in the ancient Near East by which he acknowledged them as his own. Joseph now lifts the boys back off Jacob's knees so that the formal blessing can be given.

13Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel's right hand, and he brought them close to his father.

13And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near unto him.

NoteJoseph positions the boys so that Manasseh, the elder, will receive Jacob's right hand. The right hand was understood to convey the stronger or primary blessing, and the elder son was expected to receive it.

14But Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and he laid his left hand on Manasseh's head. He crossed his hands on purpose, even though Manasseh was the firstborn.

14And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh was the firstborn.

NoteA firstborn son normally held a recognized legal advantage: a double share of the inheritance and the leading position among his brothers. Jacob deliberately crossing his hands overturns that expectation. The Hebrew verb translated "crossed" or "guiding wittingly" is rare and its exact sense is debated, but it clearly indicates a knowing, intentional act rather than a mistake by a blind old man.

15He blessed Joseph and said, "May the God my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked before, the God who has fed me all my life long to this day,

15And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day,

Note"Walked before" is an idiom for living one's whole life in someone's presence and service. "Fed me" translates a Hebrew word meaning "shepherded me", the image is of God as a herdsman leading and providing for an animal in his care.

16the angel who has rescued me from all harm, bless these boys. May my name be spoken over them, and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they grow into a great many people across the earth."

16The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.

Note"Redeemed" translates a Hebrew legal term: a redeemer was the relative obliged to buy a family member out of debt or slavery, buy back sold land, or avenge a killing. Applying it here casts God as the kinsman who bought Jacob out of every trouble. "Let my name be named on them" means let them be counted as belonging to his family and carry its identity.

17When Joseph saw that his father had laid his right hand on Ephraim's head, it displeased him. He took hold of his father's hand to move it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head.

17And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he held up his father’s hand, to remove it from Ephraim’s head unto Manasseh’s head.

18Joseph said to his father, "Not this way, my father. This one is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head."

18And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head.

19But his father refused and said, "I know it, my son, I know it. He too will become a people, and he too will be great. But truly his younger brother will be greater than he is, and his descendants will become a great many nations."

19And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.

Note"A great many nations" translates a Hebrew phrase literally meaning "the fullness of the nations", a large population filling out into many peoples.

20So he blessed them that day, saying, "Israel will use your names when they bless someone, saying, 'May God make you like Ephraim and like Manasseh.'" And he put Ephraim before Manasseh.

20And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh.

Note"Israel" here means the nation descended from Jacob, not Jacob himself. The point is that Ephraim's and Manasseh's names will become the standard wording of a blessing, the benchmark people invoke when wishing prosperity on someone.

21Then Israel said to Joseph, "Listen, I am dying, but God will be with you and will bring you back to the land of your fathers.

21And Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I die: but God shall be with you, and bring you again unto the land of your fathers.

22And I have given you one portion more than your brothers, land that I took from the Amorite with my sword and with my bow."

22Moreover I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.

NoteThe Hebrew is ambiguous. The word for "portion" is *shekem*, which also means "shoulder" or "ridge of land" and is the name of the town Shechem, so the line can mean either "one share more than your brothers" or "the ridge of land" or "Shechem." "The Amorite" was a broad term for the peoples living in Canaan before Israel; here it stands for the earlier inhabitants generally. No earlier account of Jacob capturing land by force is recorded in Genesis, and the reference is unexplained.