Genesis 48:2

2 When Joseph arrived, Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to see you.” So Jacob gathered his strength and sat up in his bed.

Genesis 48:2 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 48:2

And [one] told Jacob
The same that came from Jacob to Joseph might be sent back by him to, his father, to let him know that he was coming to see him, or some other messenger sent on purpose; for it can hardly be thought that this was an accidental thing on either side: and said, behold, thy son Joseph cometh unto thee;
to pay him a visit, and which no doubt gave him a pleasure, he being his beloved son, as well as he was great and honourable: and Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon his bed;
his spirits revived, his strength renewed, he got fresh vigour on hearing his son Joseph was coming; and he exerted all his strength, and raised himself up by the help of his staff, and sat upon his bed to receive his son's visit; for now it was when he blessed the sons of Joseph, that he leaned upon the top of his staff and worshipped, as the apostle says, ( Hebrews 11:21 ) .

Genesis 48:2 In-Context

1 One day not long after this, word came to Joseph, “Your father is failing rapidly.” So Joseph went to visit his father, and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.

2 When Joseph arrived, Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to see you.” So Jacob gathered his strength and sat up in his bed.

3 Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me.

4 He said to me, ‘I will make you fruitful, and I will multiply your descendants. I will make you a multitude of nations. And I will give this land of Canaan to your descendants after you as an everlasting possession.’

5 “Now I am claiming as my own sons these two boys of yours, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born here in the land of Egypt before I arrived. They will be my sons, just as Reuben and Simeon are.

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew Israel; also in 48:8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 21 . See note on 35:21 .