1Joseph with his sons visiteth his sick father, who strengtheneth himself to bless them. 3He repeateth God's promise; taketh Ephraim and Manasseh as his own; and telleth Joseph of his mother's grave. 8He blesseth Joseph's two sons with their father, and preferreth the younger before the elder. 21He prophesieth their return to Canaan, in which he giveth Joseph a double portion.
1AND it came to pass after these things, that one told Joseph, Behold, thy father is sick: and he 1took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
1 Namely, in going to his father, to see and to visit him.
2And one told Jacob, and said, Behold, thy son Joseph cometh unto thee: and Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed.
3And Jacob said unto Joseph, 2God Almightya appeared unto meb at 3Luz in the land of Canaan, and 4blessed me,
2 See Gen. 17 on verse 1.
a Gen. 17:1.
b Gen. 35:6.
3 Otherwise called Bethel, see Gen. 28:19; 35:6.
4 That is, He renewed and confirmed there unto me the blessing promised to my father, and grandfather, which are to be delivered from hand to hand to our posterities.
4And said unto me, Behold,c I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people; and will give this 5land to thy seed after thee 6for an everlasting possession.
c Gen. 28:3; 35:11.
5 Namely, the land of Canaan.
6 Hebr. a possession of eternity, namely, during all the time of the law, as to the earthly Canaan, but for times without end in regard of the heavenly. See Gen. 13:15; 17:7, 13, with the annotation.
5¶And now thy two sons, 7Ephraim and Manasseh, whichd were born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt, are 8mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine.
7 Ephraim is already preferred here; see the reason mentioned in verse 19.
d Gen. 41:50; 46:20.
8 That is, my will and meaning is, that in the sharing of my goods, and the land of Canaan, each of them shall be accounted an immediate co-heir, a peculiar tribe, as if they were begotten by myself, and not by thee, Joshua 14:4; 16:1; 17:17. Thus Joseph, who was to have otherwise but a single share of the inheritance, as the rest of his brethren, obtained a double portion here, which appertained to Reuben, as the first born. See Gen. 29:32, but it was taken from him, and transferred on Joseph, 1 Chron. 5:1, 2, for the reason mentioned Gen. 49:3, 4.
6And 9thy issue, which thou begettest after them, 10shall be thine, and 11shall be called after the name of their brethren in their inheritance.
9 That is, the children whom thou mayest get hereafter, besides Manasseh and Ephraim.
10 That is, they shall be counted thy offspring, or proper issue, and my grandchildren by thee.
11 That is, they shall be comprehended in the division of the land, with one of these two brethren, and not make peculiar tribes by themselves, as these two. To be called after, or, by, or, over a name, is to be denominated by the same, and accounted or comprehended under or together with the same. See Deut. 28:10; Amos 9:12 and compare below verse 16.
7And as for me, when I came from 12Padan, Rachele died 13by me in the land of Canaan in the way, 14when yet there was but a little way 15to come unto Ephrath: and I buried her there in the way of Ephrath; the same is Beth-lehem.
12 Other, Padan-aram. See Gen. 25:20; 35:9.
e Gen. 35:19.
13 Other, died over me; as if one would say, in my bosom, within my arms. Other, before me, that is, in my presence, before my eyes.
14 See Gen. 35 on verse 16.
15 See Gen. 35 on verses 16, 19.
8And Israel beheld Joseph's sons, and said, 16Who are these?
16 Jacob’s sight was grown dim with age, verse 10, so that casting his eyes upon these sons of Joseph, he could not exactly discern and know who they were.
9And Joseph said unto his father, They are my sons, whom God hath given me in this place. And he said, 17Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, 18and I will bless them.
17 Hebr. take them; that is, take them and bring them. The word to take is frequently used thus. See Gen. 12:15.
18 That is, that I may declare unto them the promises of God, how He will bless them, and confirm it to them with the laying of my hands upon them, according to the manner of the patriarchs’ blessing. See Gen. 27 on verse 4.
10Now the eyes of Israel were 19dim for age, so that 20he could not see. And he brought them near unto him; 21and he kissed them, and 22embraced them.
19 That is, dull and dark, not able to discern distinctly.
20 That is, not well, as verse 8.
21 See Gen. 27 on verse 26.
22 See Gen. 29:13; 33:4.
11And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face: and, lo, God hath shewed me also thy seed.
12And Joseph brought them out 23from between his knees, and 24he bowed himself with his face to the earth.
23 Namely, from Jacob’s knees, between which he held the youths embracing them. But Joseph meant to place them orderly before him, one by one, that so they might receive his blessing in the accustomed manner.
24 Showing civil respect to his father and returning him thanks for the honor and affection testified to him and his children.
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.
14And Israel stretched out his right hand, and 25laid it upon Ephraim's head, who was the 26younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh’s head, 27guiding his hands wittingly; 28for Manasseh was the firstborn.
25 Hebr. set.
26 That is, of years.
27 Hebr. he made his hands wise; that is, he did not by haphazard, or by mistake, but of good prior knowledge, as a prophet, performing the will of God, without regard to the firstborn. The laying on of hands, here first mentioned in the Scripture, was usual at this time and afterwards: first, in blessings, as here, and Mat. 19:15; secondly, in sacrifices, Lev. 1:4, see the annotation there; thirdly, in judging, and punishing, Lev. 24:14; fourthly, in consecrating and ordaining for offices, Num. 8:10; Deut. 34:9; Acts 6:6; 1 Tim. 4:14; fifthly, in doing of miracles, Mark 6:5; Luke 4:40; Acts 28:8, etc.
28 Other, howbeit.
15¶And he blessedf29Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day,
f Heb. 11:21.
29 Namely, in his children; as it appears in verse 16.
16Theg30Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and 31let 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.
g Gen. 31:42; 32:1.
30 While Jacob requests the same of this Angel as he had prayed of God in verse 15, therefore this cannot be understood of a created angel, but must be meant of the Son of God. See Gen. 22 on verse 11.
31 That is, let them be accounted my own progeny, and called Abraham’s, Isaac’s, and my own children. This happened so, for they were ever after held and placed among the twelve tribes of Israel, as Jacob’s own immediate issue. Compare the annotation Gen. 48 on verse 6.
17And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it 32displeased him: and he held up his father's hand, to remove it from Ephraim's head unto Manasseh's head.
32 That is, it was evil in his eyes; see Gen. 21 on verse 11.
18And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head.
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 33greater than he, and his seed shall become ah34multitude of nations.
33 When the Israelites were first numbered in the wilderness, Ephraim was first brought in, and had eight thousand three hundred men more than Manasseh, as is to be seen, Num. 1:32, 33, 35; 2:19, 21.
h Ruth 4:11, 12.
34 Hebr. fullness.
20And he blessed them that day, saying, 35In thee shall 36Israel bless, saying, Godi make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh.
35 Other, after thee, that is, by thy example, as if he said: The Israelites, blessing or wishing prosperity one to another, they shall take thee for an example or pattern, as the following words do plainly hold forth. See the like manner of blessing, Ruth 4:11, and for cursing, Jer. 29:22.
36 That is, my posterity, the Israelites.
i Jer. 31:20.
21And Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, 37I die: but God shall be with you, and bring you again 38unto the land of your fathers.
37 That is, I shall soon die; the present time used for the time which shall soon arrive and already is. Compare Gen. 19:13; 20:3; John 14:2.
38 That is, into the land of Canaan.
22Moreoverj I have given to thee 39one portion 40above thy brethren, whichk I 41took out of the hand of the 42Amorite with my sword and with my bow.
j Joshua 13:7; 16:1; 17:1.
39 The Hebrew word signifies properly a shoulder, or, back, as Gen. 9:23, and afterwards by likeness, a piece, part or portion of land, somewhat high or elevated; as here. But Jacob, as a prophet, aims likewise at the name of the city of Shechem, which was located in that land by the hill side, see Gen. 12:6, and fell afterwards to the tribe of Ephraim, Joshua 20:7, wherein Joseph’s bones were likewise buried, Joshua 24:32, as in the land which his father had prophetically assigned and bestowed upon him, John 4:5; understanding not only the piece of land, which he had bought for an hundred pieces of money, Gen. 33:19, but likewise all the land or territory of the city of Shechem, which Simeon and Levi took by force of arms, and plundered; Gen. 34:25, 26.
40 Namely, in regard of the right of the firstborn, Deut. 21:17, which Reuben had forfeited, and was conferred upon Joseph, 1 Chron. 5:1, (as to the double portion of inheritance) he being the firstborn by the worthier wife.
k Joshua 24:8.
41 Namely, when after the massacre of the Shechemites, I was compelled to stand upon my armed guard, for fear of the neighboring Canaanites, not to be surprised by them. Now God having blessed my care and watchfulness, by sending a terror upon all the inhabitants round about, I kept that piece of land, which now, through God’s blessing, I hold and account of as my own, as hereafter also it shall appertain to thy posterity for their use and possession. Or otherwise, which I shall take by the sword and the bow of my posterity.
42 Hebr. of the Amorites. He puts down the name of one of the nations for all the Canaanites, since the Amorites were one of the most powerful nations in the land of Canaan, as appears, Amos 2:9. So likewise Gen. 15:16, and Joshua 10:5.