Genesis 48:1-6

1 And so when these things were done, it was told to Joseph, that his father was sick. And he took his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, and he disposed him to go. (And so after that these things were done, it was told to Joseph, that his father was sick. And he took his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, and he went to him.)
2 And it was said to the eld man, Lo! thy son Joseph cometh to thee; which was comforted (who was strengthened), and sat up in the bed.
3 And when Joseph entered to him, he said, Almighty God appeared to me in Luz (Almighty God appeared to me at Luz), which is in the land of Canaan, and blessed me,
4 and (he) said, I shall increase thee, and multiply thee, and I shall make thee into companies of peoples, and I shall give to thee this land, and to thy seed after thee, into everlasting possession (and I shall give this land to thee, and to thy descendants after thee, for an everlasting possession).
5 Therefore thy two sons, that be born to thee in the land of Egypt, before that I came hither to thee, shall be mine; Ephraim and Manasseh, as Reuben and Simeon, shall be areckoned to me (Ephraim and Manasseh, just like Reuben and Simeon, shall be reckoned as mine);
6 forsooth the others which thou shalt beget after them shall be thine; and they shall be called by the name of their brethren in their possessions (and they shall be called after the names of their brothers in their inheritance).

Genesis 48:1-6 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.

Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.