Genesis 48:6

6 If you have any more sons, they will not be considered mine; the inheritance they get will come through Ephraim and Manasseh.

Genesis 48:6 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 48:6

And thy issue, which thou begettest after them, shall be
thine
The children of Joseph, that either were, or would be begotten after Ephraim and Manasseh; though whether ever any were is not certain; and this is only mentioned by way of supposition, as Jarchi interprets it, "if thou shouldest beget" these should be reckoned his own, and not as Jacob's sons, but be considered as other grandchildren of Jacob's were, and not as Ephraim and Manasseh: [and] shall be called after the name of their brethren in their
inheritance;
they should not have distinct names, or make distinct tribes, or have a distinct inheritance; but should be called either the children of Ephraim, or the children of Manasseh, and should be reckoned as belonging either to the one tribe, or the other, and have their inheritance in them, and with them, and not separate.

Genesis 48:6 In-Context

4 He said to me, "I will give you many children, so that your descendants will become many nations; I will give this land to your descendants as their possession forever.' "

5 Jacob continued, "Joseph, your two sons, who were born to you in Egypt before I came here, belong to me; Ephraim and Manasseh are just as much my sons as Reuben and Simeon.

6 If you have any more sons, they will not be considered mine; the inheritance they get will come through Ephraim and Manasseh.

7 I am doing this because of your mother Rachel. To my great sorrow she died in the land of Canaan, not far from Ephrath, as I was returning from Mesopotamia. I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath." (Ephrath is now known as Bethlehem.)

8 When Jacob saw Joseph's sons, he asked, "Who are these boys?"