Genesis 48:11

11 Israel said to Joseph, "I did not expect to see your face; and here God has let me see your children also."

Genesis 48:11 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 48:11

And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy
face
Some years ago he never expected to have seen him any more; he had given him up for lost, as a dead man, when his sons brought him his coat dipped in blood; and by reason of the long course of years which passed before ever he heard anything of him: and, lo, God hath showed me also thy seed;
it was an additional favour to see his offspring; it can hardly be thought, that in a course of seventeen years he had been in Egypt, he had not seen them before, only he takes this opportunity, which was the last he should have of expressing his pleasure on this occasion.

Genesis 48:11 In-Context

9 Joseph said to his father, "They are my sons, whom God has given me here." And he said, "Bring them to me, please, that I may bless them."

10 Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, and he could not see well. So Joseph brought them near him; and he kissed them and embraced them.

11 Israel said to Joseph, "I did not expect to see your face; and here God has let me see your children also."

12 Then Joseph removed them from his father's knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth.

13 Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's left, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel's right, and brought them near him.