Genesis 48:15-22

15 And he blessed Joseph and said, "The God ¹before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day,

16 ²the angel who has ³redeemed me from all evil, bless the boys; and in them let ⁴my name be carried on, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them ⁵grow into a multitude^[a] in the midst of the earth."

17 When Joseph saw that his father ⁶laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him, and he took his father's hand to move it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head.

18 And Joseph said to his father, "Not this way, my father; since this one is the firstborn, put your right hand on his head."

19 But his father refused and said, ⁷"I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great. Nevertheless, ⁸his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude^[b] of nations."

20 So he blessed them that day, saying, "By you Israel will pronounce blessings, saying, ⁹'God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh.'"Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh.

21 Then Israel said to Joseph, "Behold, I am about to die, but ¹⁰God will be with you and will bring you again to the land of your fathers.

22 Moreover, I have given to ¹¹you rather than to your brothers one mountain slope^[c] that I took from the hand of the Amorites with my sword and with my bow."

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Genesis 48:15-22 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 48

Joseph, hearing that his father Jacob was sick, paid him a visit, Ge 49:1,2; at which time Jacob gave him an account of the Lord's appearing to him at Luz, and of the promise he made unto him, Ge 49:3,4; then he adopted his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, and blessed them, and Joseph also, Ge 49:5-16; and whereas he crossed his hands when he blessed the sons of Joseph, putting his right hand on the youngest, and his left hand on the eldest, which was displeasing to Joseph, he gave him a reason for so doing, Ge 49:17-20; and then assured him that God would bring him, and the rest of his posterity, into the land of Canaan, where he assigned him a particular portion above his brethren, Ge 49:21,22.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 11

1. Genesis 17:1; Genesis 24:40
2. Genesis 28:15; Genesis 31:11, 13, 24; Exodus 23:20
3. Isaiah 44:22, 23; Isaiah 49:7; Isaiah 63:9; [2 Samuel 4:9; Psalms 34:22; Psalms 121:7]
4. Amos 9:12; Acts 15:17
5. [Numbers 26:34, 37]
6. ver. 14
7. [See ver. 17 above]
8. Numbers 1:33, 35; Numbers 2:19, 21; Deuteronomy 33:17
9. [Ruth 4:11, 12]
10. Genesis 46:4; Genesis 50:24
11. Joshua 24:32; John 4:5

Footnotes 3

[a]. Or let them be like fish for multitude
[b]. Hebrew fullness
[c]. Or one portion of the land; Hebrew shekem, which sounds like the town and district called Shechem

The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.