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