Genesis 48

This chapter comes near the end of Genesis and brings the Joseph narrative toward its close. In the preceding chapter, Genesis 47, Jacob had Joseph swear to bury him in Canaan. Here the ailing Jacob blesses Joseph's sons, and in the following chapter, Genesis 49, he blesses his twelve sons.

Outline

• Verses 1–2 Joseph hears that his father is sick and goes to him with his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. Jacob (Israel) gathers his strength and sits up on the bed.
• Verses 3–7 Jacob recounts how God Almighty appeared to him at Luz and promised him fruitfulness and the land. He claims Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born in Egypt, as his own sons, just as Reuben and Simeon are, and decrees that any children born to Joseph afterward will receive their inheritance under the names of their older brothers. He then recalls burying Rachel on the way to Ephrath (Bethlehem).
• Verses 8–12 Jacob, whose eyes are dim, asks, "Who are these?" He embraces and kisses the boys, saying that he has lived to see even his grandchildren, and Joseph bows with his face to the ground.
• Verses 13–16 Joseph positions the boys so that Manasseh, the firstborn, stands at Jacob's right hand. Jacob crosses his arms, places his right hand on Ephraim, and blesses them in the name of the God of Abraham and Isaac, the God who fed him all his life, and the Angel who redeemed him from all evil.
• Verses 17–20 When Joseph tries to move his father's hand, Jacob refuses, saying, "I know it, my son, I know it." He declares that the younger brother will be greater and sets Ephraim before Manasseh.
• Verses 21–22 Jacob says that God will bring them back to the land of their fathers. He then gives Joseph an additional portion, which he took from the Amorites with his sword and bow.

Key Verses

• Genesis 48:5 "Ephraim and Manasseh... are mine" — the basis for each of Joseph's two sons becoming a tribe.
• Genesis 48:14 "guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh was the firstborn" — the central scene of the chapter, in which the younger brother, not the firstborn, is given precedence.
• Genesis 48:20 "God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh" — a phrase that later became a customary formula of blessing.

People and Places

• Jacob — also called "Israel" in this chapter.
• Joseph — Jacob's favored son.
• Manasseh and Ephraim — Joseph's two sons, born in Egypt; Manasseh is the elder.
• Rachel — Joseph's mother.
• Abraham and Isaac — Jacob's grandfather and father.
• Luz — the place Jacob named Bethel after encountering God there (Genesis 28:19).
• Bethlehem — the text identifies Ephrath as Bethlehem.
• Canaan and Egypt — the Promised Land and the land where Jacob is sojourning.
• The Amorites — one of the peoples who lived in Canaan.

Points for Reflection

• The tribes and the firstborn's portion: Ephraim and Manasseh are later counted among the twelve tribes of Israel. First Chronicles 5:1–2 records that the birthright passed from Reuben to the sons of Joseph.
• The younger preferred: The same theme seen with Isaac and Ishmael and with Jacob and Esau appears again here. Many interpreters read it as showing that God's election does not follow the human order of birth. Ephraim later also serves as a name representing the northern kingdom of Israel (as in Hosea and elsewhere).
• The "Angel" in verse 16: Some interpret this as an angel. Others, noting that the Angel is set in parallel with God in the preceding lines, see it as a manifestation of God himself—that is, an appearance of Christ before his incarnation.
• The crossed arms: Since the time of some of the Church Fathers, Christian interpreters have seen in this gesture the shape of the cross. This is, however, a later interpretation and not something the text itself states. The scene of blessing by laying hands on the head is often cited as Old Testament background to the laying on of hands.
• The "portion" in verse 22: The Hebrew word here is the same as the place name Shechem, so some translate or read it as "the land of Shechem." Joseph's bones were buried at Shechem (Joshua 24:32), and John 4:5 mentions the land that Jacob gave to Joseph (John 4). The taking of land by sword and bow is not recorded elsewhere, and interpretations of it differ.
• The New Testament and tradition: Hebrews 11:21 states that by faith Jacob blessed the sons of Joseph (Hebrews 11). In Judaism, following verse 20, there is a custom of blessing sons on Sabbath eve with the words, "May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh."