Genesis · chapter 48 of 50
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Genesis 48 tells how Jacob, ill, receives Joseph and his sons Manasseh and Ephraim. He adopts them as his own and, as he blesses them, crosses his hands and places his right hand on Ephraim, the younger. Joseph is displeased, but Jacob explains that the younger will be greater. Jacob declares that God will bring his descendants back and gives Joseph one portion of land more than his brothers.
Genesis 47 ended with Jacob's oath about his burial. Genesis 48 shows Jacob's last acts with Joseph and his sons, and it is one more sign that God does not follow human order: the younger is preferred, as happened with Isaac, Jacob and Joseph. It is the prelude to the blessings of chapter 49.
Joseph is told that his father is ill, and he takes his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, and goes to see him. Israel summons his strength and sits up in bed. He reminds Joseph how God Almighty appeared to him at Luz, in Canaan, and promised to multiply him and give the land to his descendants. He declares that Ephraim and Manasseh, born in Egypt, will be his, like Reuben and Simeon. Any children Joseph has after them will be his own, and will be counted under the names of their brothers. He also recalls the death of Rachel on the way to Ephrath, that is, Bethlehem.
Jacob, nearly blind with age, sees the boys and asks who they are. Joseph answers that they are the sons God has given him here. Jacob brings them close, kisses them and embraces them. He says he never expected to see Joseph's face, and that God has let him see his offspring too. Joseph takes the boys from between Jacob's knees and bows down. He places Ephraim at Jacob's left and Manasseh at his right, as is proper for the firstborn.
Jacob crosses his hands, placing his right hand on Ephraim and his left on Manasseh. He blesses Joseph, saying that the God before whom Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has shepherded him all his life, and the angel who has redeemed him from all evil, bless the boys. Joseph is displeased and tries to correct him, but Jacob says he knows what he is doing: Manasseh too will become a great people, but his younger brother will be greater, and his descendants will become a multitude of nations. He blesses them, saying that in Israel they will use their names in blessing. Finally Jacob tells Joseph that he is about to die, but that God will be with them and bring them back to the land of their fathers, and he gives Joseph one portion of land more than his brothers.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
Jacob declares that Ephraim and Manasseh will be his, like Reuben and Simeon. By adopting Joseph's sons, Jacob gives Joseph a double portion in Israel, which is why the tribes number twelve, with Joseph represented by two.
Jacob blesses the boys by invoking the God who has been his shepherd, and the angel who redeemed him from all evil. It is a confession of faith from an old man who looks at his life and acknowledges that God guided and cared for him from the beginning.
Jacob says he knows what he is doing: the younger brother will be greater than the older. God's plan, once again, does not follow the human order of birth, and the blessing depends on his free choice, not on expected rights.
Jacob tells Joseph that he is about to die, but that God will be with them and bring them back to the land of their fathers. Even at the end of his life, Jacob holds on to hope in the promise that will be fulfilled beyond his death.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: His two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. — Genesis 48:1
Answer: That he would make him fruitful, multiply him and give that land to his descendants. — Genesis 48:3-4
Answer: As his own, like Reuben and Simeon. — Genesis 48:5
Answer: He crossed them, placing his right hand on Ephraim, the younger. — Genesis 48:14
Answer: As the God before whom his fathers walked and who had shepherded him all his life. — Genesis 48:15
Answer: That he knew what he was doing: the younger would be greater than the older. — Genesis 48:19
Genesis 48 shows how an elderly man uses his last days to bless the next generation and remind them of God's promises. In a Sunday school class or small group, the chapter encourages older believers to pass on their faith and younger ones to listen to them.
The chapter also challenges the idea that privilege depends on order or merit. God chooses the younger once again. Ask where you tend to value people by their position, and how you can remember that God's grace is free and does not depend on our rights.
Genesis 48 ends with Jacob's promise that God will bring his family back to Canaan. In Genesis 49 Jacob will gather all his sons and tell them what will happen to them in days to come.
By adopting them as his own, Jacob gives them a full inheritance among the tribes of Israel, as if they were his sons. In this way Joseph receives the share of the firstborn, which Reuben lost, and that is why later lists include tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim.
Normally the right hand was placed on the firstborn, who was Manasseh. By crossing his hands and placing the right on Ephraim, Jacob indicates that God has chosen the younger. It was no mistake, and Jacob explains it.
The text speaks of a portion in the region of Shechem, which Jacob says he took from the Amorites. Joshua 24:32 says Joseph's bones were buried at Shechem, in the plot that Jacob bought.