Genesis 48King James Version
Joseph brings his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim to his dying father for a blessing. Jacob crosses his hands, putting his right hand on the younger boy Ephraim. Joseph tries to correct him. Jacob refuses. He blesses both, gives Ephraim the greater blessing, and names them as heirs alongside his own sons.
Joseph hears his father is sick and brings his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, to Jacob. Jacob tells the story of God's promise at Bethel. He adopts Ephraim and Manasseh as his own sons, giving them inheritance equal to Reuben and Simeon. He blesses them with crossed hands, putting his right hand on Ephraim, the younger. Joseph tries to correct him; Jacob refuses. He says Ephraim's descendants will be greater than Manasseh's.
Jacob deliberately crosses his hands to bless the younger over the older, making the reversal of primogeniture a conscious theological act rather than an accident.
19: "And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he." Jacob who was the younger son blessed over the elder now blesses the younger over the elder with his eyes open.
Jacob has been in Egypt for 17 years. He is now 147 years old. His blessing ceremony is formal: the boys are brought between his knees and then positioned for the laying on of hands. Joseph's attempt to guide his father's right hand to Manasseh is physically described: he reached out his hand and took hold of his father's hand to move it. Jacob holds firm.
Jacob/Israel, dying but clear-sighted; Joseph, deferential and protective; Ephraim, the younger who receives the greater blessing; Manasseh, the firstborn who receives the secondary blessing.
Ephraim becomes the dominant tribe of the northern kingdom. 'Ephraim' is frequently used as a synonym for the northern kingdom in the prophets. Jacob's deliberate crossing of hands makes him the agent of the same reversal he experienced, and he knows exactly what he is doing. The chapter continues the Genesis pattern: the expected order gets overturned.
For when you see a pattern in your life you only understand by looking backward. Jacob's adoption of Ephraim and Manasseh as his own sons gives Joseph a double portion, the birthright that Reuben forfeited. Jacob is settling everything before he goes.
1And it came to pass after these things, that one told Joseph, Behold, thy father is sick: and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
2And one told Jacob, and said, Behold, thy son Joseph cometh unto thee: and Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed.
3And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me,
4And said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people; and will give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession.
5And now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine.
6And thy issue, which thou begettest after them, shall be thine, and shall be called after the name of their brethren in their inheritance.
7And as for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan in the way, when yet there was but a little way to come unto Ephrath: and I buried her there in the way of Ephrath; the same is Bethlehem.
8And Israel beheld Joseph's sons, and said, Who are these?
9And Joseph said unto his father, They are my sons, whom God hath given me in this place. And he said, Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will bless them.
10Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he could not see. And he brought them near unto him; and he kissed them, and embraced them.
11And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face: and, lo, God hath shewed me also thy seed.
12And Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth.
13And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel's right hand, and brought them near unto him.
14And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh's head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh was the firstborn.
15And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day,
16The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.
17And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he held up his father's hand, to remove it from Ephraim's head unto Manasseh's head.
18And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head.
19And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.
20And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh.
21And Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I die: but God shall be with you, and bring you again unto the land of your fathers.
22Moreover I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.