90 | Genesis 47:30
found fa vor in your eyes , put your hand un der my thigh and prom ise that you will show me kind ness and faith ful ness . Do not bury me in Egypt , 30 but when I rest with my fa thers , car ry me out of Egypt and bury me where they are bur ied .” “ I will do as you say ,” he said .
31
“ Swear to me ,” he said . Then Jo seph swore to him , and Is ra el wor shiped as he leaned on the top of his staff . a
Manasseh and Ephraim
Some time lat er Jo seph was told , “ Your
48 fa ther is ill .” So he took his two sons Manas seh and Ephra im along with him . 2 When Ja cob was told , “ Your son Jo seph has come to you ,” Is ra el ral lied his strength and sat up on the bed .
3
Ja cob said to Jo seph , “ God Al mighty b ap peared to me at Luz in the land of Ca naan , and there he blessed me 4 and said to me , ‘ I am go ing to make you fruit ful and in crease your num bers . I will make you a com mu ni ty of peo ples , and I will give this land as an ever last ing pos ses sion to your descen dants af ter you .’
5
“ Now then , your two sons born to you in Egypt be fore I came to you here will be reck oned as mine ; Ephra im and Ma nas seh will be mine , just as Reuben and Sim e on are mine . 6 Any chil dren born to you af ter them will be yours ; in the ter ri to ry they in her it they will be reck oned un der the names of their broth ers . 7 As I was re turn ing from Pad dan , c to my sor row Ra chel died in the land of Ca naan while we were still on the way , a lit tle dis tance from Eph rath . So I bur ied her there be side the road to Eph rath ” ( that is , Beth le hem ).
8
When Is ra el saw the sons of Jo seph , he asked , “ Who are these ?”
9
“ They are the sons God has giv en me here ,” Jo seph said to his fa ther .
Then Is ra el said , “ Bring them to me so I may bless them .”
10
Now Is ra el ’ s eyes were fail ing be cause of old age , and he could hard ly see . So Jo seph brought his sons close to him , and his fa ther kissed them and em braced them .
11
Is ra el said to Jo seph , “ I nev er ex pect ed to see your face again , and now God has al lowed me to see your chil dren too .”
12
Then Jo seph re moved them from Is ra el ’ s knees and bowed down with his face to the ground . 13 And Jo seph took both of them , Ephra im on his right to ward Is ra el ’ s left hand and Ma nas seh on his left to ward Is ra el ’ s right hand , and brought them close to him . 14 But Is ra el reached out his right hand and put it on Ephra im ’ s head , though he was the youn ger , and cross ing his arms , he put his left hand on Ma nas seh ’ s head , even though Ma nas seh was the first born .
15
Then he blessed Jo seph and said ,
“ May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked faithfully , the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day ,
16 the Angel who has delivered me from all harm
— may he bless these boys . a
31 Or Israel bowed down at the head of his bed b
3 Hebrew
El-Shaddai c
7 That is , Northwest Mesopotamia
47:30 bury me This indicates Jacob ’ s hope that his people would return to the promised land of Canaan ( see 15:1 – 16 ). where they are buried See 25:9 ; 35:29 . 47:31 worshiped The Hebrew text here indicates that Jacob bows ; Jacob may be worshiping or expressing thanks — or both .
48:1 – 22 With his death approaching , Jacob blesses his sons — a process that continues through ch . 49 . In this chapter he incorporates Ephraim and Manasseh , Joseph ’ s sons , into the Abrahamic covenant by formally adopting them ( 12:1 – 3 ; 15 ; 17:1 – 14 ). They thereby become entitled to a portion of the promised land and are eventually included in the 12 tribes of Israel . If Manasseh and Ephraim were simply added to the tribes of Israel , their inclusion would make it so that there are more than 12 tribes . However , Manasseh and Ephraim take Joseph ’ s place as a land-inheriting tribe . In addition , Levi is excluded from receiving a proper land inheritance ( Jos 13:33 ; 16 – 17 ). This makes it so that the tribes who inherit land equals 12 . A total of 12 tribes can also be arrived at by only counting the sons of Jacob ( Israel ) — with Manasseh and Ephraim being viewed as tribes of Joseph ( Josh 16:4 ). Manasseh is even referred to in later texts as a half-tribe ( Jos 1:12 ; 4:12 ; 12:6 ), but this is primarily because half the tribe took an inheritance on the east side of the Jordan River and the other half took territory on the west side ( Jos 13:1 – 14,29 – 33 ).
As in other parts of Genesis , this chapter continues the literary motif of the older brother — who would culturally be expected to be the major inheritor and leader of the overall family clan — serving the younger . Despite Joseph ’ s protests , Jacob gives the greater blessing to Ephraim , Joseph ’ s younger son . This is the pattern of Jacob ’ s life , and he continues it here ( see Ge 25:23 ).
48:1 Manasseh and Ephraim See 41:50 – 52 ; note on 41:51 ; note on 41:52 . 48:3 God Almighty See note on 17:1 . Luz See note on 28:19 . 48:5 mine Jacob formally adopts his two grandchildren . Intrafamily adoptions are well attested to in the ancient Near East . 48:7 Paddan This refers to Paddan Aram ( see 25:20 ; 28:2,5,6 – 7 ). Rachel See ch . 29 ; note on 29:6 . Ephrath See 35:16 – 19 ; note on 35:16 . 48:8 Who are these This may be due to Jacob ’ s age — he has poor eyesight ( v . 10 ). However , it is probably an allusion to Isaac ’ s blessing of Jacob , when he took his brother ’ s birthright because in v . 9 Jacob uses the same word Isaac did ( compare 27:4 and note ). However , the overall wording of the blessing appears to be part of a customary legal procedure ( see 27:18 ). 48:16 the Angel The Hebrew phrase used here , ha mal ’ akh , likely refers to the Angel of God ( or Angel of