Joseph Brings His Sons
48 1 Some time later, Joseph was told, "Look, your father is ill." So he took his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, with him. 2 When Jacob was told, "Look, your son Joseph has come to you," Israel summoned his strength and sat up on the bed. 3 Jacob said to Joseph, "El Shaddai — our Father Almighty — appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, 4 and he said to me, 'I am going to make you fruitful and multiply you. I will make you into a company of peoples, and I will give this land to your offspring after you as an everlasting possession.' 5 And now, your two sons born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you here — they are mine. Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are. 6 But the children you father after them shall be yours; they will be counted under their brothers' names in the inheritance. 7 As for me, when I came from Paddan, Rachel died beside me in the land of Canaan on the way, when we were still some distance from Ephrath; and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath" (that is, Bethlehem).
8 When Israel saw Joseph's sons, he said, "Who are these?"
9 Joseph said to his father, "They are my sons, whom our Father has given me here." And he said, "Please bring them to me, so I can bless them."
10 Now Israel's eyes were dim with age; he could not see well. So Joseph brought them near him, and he kissed them and embraced them. 11 Israel said to Joseph, "I never expected to see your face, and now our Father has even let me see your offspring." 12 Then Joseph took them from between his father's knees and bowed with his face to the ground. a a v12 Placing children between the knees was an ancient gesture of formal adoption. 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. 14 But Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, crossing his hands — for Manasseh was the firstborn. 15 Then he blessed Joseph and said, "Our Father, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked — our Father who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day b b v15 Jacob names our Father as his shepherd — the first time in scripture our Father is given this title. The Shepherd theme reaches forward to Psalm 23, to the Shepherd of Israel in Isaiah and Ezekiel, and finds its fullness in Jesus, who calls himself the Good Shepherd. 16 the Messenger who has redeemed me from all evil — bless the boys. May my name live on in them, and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and may they grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth." c c v16 The messenger who redeems Jacob is our Father himself — the one who has appeared, wrestled, and walked with him through his whole life.
17 When Joseph saw that his father had laid his right hand on Ephraim's head, it displeased him; he took his father's hand to move it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head. 18 Joseph said to his father, "No, my father; this one is the firstborn — put your right hand on his head."
19 But his father refused and said, "I know, my son, I know. He too will become a people, and he too will be great. Yet his younger brother will be greater than him, and his offspring will become a multitude of nations." 20 So he blessed them that day, saying, "Your names will be used as a blessing in Israel; people will say, 'May our Father make you like Ephraim and like Manasseh.'" And he put Ephraim before Manasseh. 21 Then Israel said to Joseph, "Look, I am about to die, but our Father will be with you and will bring you back to the land of your fathers. 22 And to you, rather than to your brothers, I have given one mountain slope that I took from the hand of the Amorites with my sword and with my bow." d d v22 This "mountain slope" likely refers to the region of Shechem, which would become central territory for the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh.
