Jacob Blesses Ephraim and Manasseh
Some time later Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” So he set out with his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. Gen 41:50-52Gen 46:20Gen 50:23Psa 128:6Jhn 11:3Job 42:16 When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel rallied his strength and sat up in bed. 1Sa 23:16Deu 3:28Eph 6:10Pro 23:15Psa 41:3Neh 2:18
Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty 1appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and there He blessed me Gen 35:9-12Exo 6:3Gen 17:1Gen 28:3Gen 28:12-19Gen 35:6-7Hos 12:4Jdg 1:23 and told me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you; I will make you a multitude of peoples, and will give this land to your descendants after you as an everlasting possession.’ Gen 17:8Gen 35:11Amo 9:14-15Deu 32:8Exo 1:7Gen 12:2Gen 13:15-16Gen 17:13
And now your two sons born to you in Egypt before I came to you here shall be reckoned as mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine. Gen 41:50-52Gen 46:20Jos 14:41Ch 5:1-2Jos 13:72Co 6:18Rev 7:6-7Eph 1:5 Any children born to you after them shall be yours, and they shall be called by the names of their brothers in the territory they inherit. Jos 14:4
Now as for me, when I was returning from Paddan, 2 to my sorrow Rachel died along the way in the land of Canaan, some distance from Ephrath. So I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem). Gen 35:16-19Gen 35:9Mat 2:181Sa 1:11Sa 10:21Sa 17:12Gen 25:20Mic 5:2
When Israel saw the sons of Joseph, he asked, “Who are these?”
Joseph said to his father, “They are the sons God has given me in this place.” Gen 27:4Gen 33:5Heb 11:211Ch 25:51Ch 26:4-51Sa 1:201Sa 1:271Sa 2:20-21
So Jacob said, “Please bring them to me, that I may bless them.”
Now Israel’s eyesight was poor because of old age; he could hardly see. Joseph brought his sons to him, and his father kissed them and embraced them. Gen 27:1Gen 27:271Ki 19:201Sa 3:21Sa 4:15Gen 31:55Gen 45:15Isa 59:1
“I never expected to see your face again,” Israel said to Joseph, “but now God has let me see your children as well.” Eph 3:20Gen 45:26Gen 37:33Gen 37:35Gen 42:36
Then Joseph removed his sons from his father’s knees and bowed facedown. Gen 42:61Ki 2:192Ki 4:37Eph 6:1Exo 20:12Exo 34:8Gen 18:2Gen 19:1
And Joseph took both of them—with Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand—and brought them close to him. But Israel stretched out his right hand and put it on the head of Ephraim, the younger; and crossing his hands, he put his left on Manasseh’s head, although Manasseh was the firstborn. Gen 41:511Ti 4:141Ti 5:22Act 13:3Act 6:6Act 8:17-19Deu 34:9Exo 15:6 Then he blessed Joseph and said: Gen 17:1Col 2:6Heb 11:211Co 10:311Ki 3:61Ti 6:6-102Co 1:12Deu 33:1
“May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked,
the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day,
the angel 3who has redeemed me from all harm— Psa 34:22Gen 28:13-15Gen 48:5Gen 49:222Ti 4:18Act 15:17Jos 17:17Num 26:28-37
may He bless these boys.
And may they be called by my name
and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac,
and may they grow into a multitude upon the earth.”
When Joseph saw that his father had placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head, he was displeased and took his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s. Gen 48:14Rom 9:7-81Ch 21:71Ki 16:251Sa 16:7Gen 28:8Gen 38:10Num 11:1 “Not so, my father!” Joseph said. “This one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.” Act 10:14Act 11:8Exo 10:11Gen 19:18Gen 27:15Gen 29:26Gen 43:33Gen 49:3
But his father refused. “I know, my son, I know!” he said. “He too shall become a people, and he too shall be great; nevertheless, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations.” Deu 33:17Num 1:33-35Gen 17:20-21Gen 25:28Gen 48:14Deu 1:10Ezk 27:10Isa 7:17
So that day Jacob blessed them and said: Rut 4:11-12Gen 24:60Gen 28:3Num 10:22-23Num 13:11Num 13:16Num 2:18-21Num 7:48
“By you shall Israel pronounce this blessing:
‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’”
So he put Ephraim before Manasseh.
Then Israel said to Joseph, “Look, I am about to die, but God will be with you and bring you back to the land of your fathers. Gen 46:4Gen 50:24Gen 26:3Gen 28:15Heb 7:23-25Heb 7:31Ki 2:2-42Pe 1:14 And to you, as one who is above your brothers, I give the ridge of land 4that I took from the Amorites with my sword and bow.” Jhn 4:5Jos 24:321Ch 5:2Amo 2:9Deu 21:17Gen 15:16Gen 33:19Gen 34:28