Genesis 48:1-22
1 And 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.
2 And one told Jacob, and said, Behold, thy son Joseph cometh unto thee: and Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed.
3 And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me,
4 And 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.
5 And 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.
6 And thy issue, which thou begettest after them, shall be thine, and shall be called after the name of their brethren in their inheritance.
7 And 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.
8 And Israel beheld Joseph's sons, and said, Who are these?
9 And 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.
10 Now the eyes of Israel were dima for age, so that he could not see. And he brought them near unto him; and he kissed them, and embraced them.
11 And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face: and, lo, God hath shewed me also thy seed.
12 And Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth.
13 And 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.
14 And 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.
15 And 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,
16 The 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 growb into a multitude in the midst of the earth.
17 And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeasedc him: and he held up his father's hand, to remove it from Ephraim's head unto Manasseh's head.
18 And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head.
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, and his seed shall become a multituded of nations.
20 And 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.
21 And Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I die: but God shall be with you, and bring you again unto the land of your fathers.
22 Moreover 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.
Genesis 48:1. His two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. We here see again with what alacrity, reverence and devotion the sons of the holy patriarchs awaited the final benediction of their departing Sires, while the children after the flesh paid no regard to it. God had on special occasions appeared to the patriarchs, and blessed them and their seed. The believing children therefore awaited it at the hands and from the prophetic spirit of their sires, being assured that they had a right to confer it. In the christian church the same custom is preserved, on the admission of young people to communion; on the appointment of ministers to their work; and in the apostolic age, they laid their hands upon them anew for almost every important mission, praying devoutly for God to give the Spirit.
Genesis 48:5. Ephraim and Manasseh. Jacob, guided by the Spirit of God, preferred Ephraim before Joseph's firstborn. He received them not as grandsons, but as sons begotten of his own body, and made them heads of tribes. Thus Ephraim shared with Reuben in the double portion given to the firstborn.
Genesis 48:6. And thy issue. Whatever issue Joseph might have, if any survived, they were associated with the two half tribes of which his sons were the heads.
Genesis 48:14. Israel guiding his hands wittingly. Joseph having placed his sons kneeling, and in order, according to their age, to receive the blessing, Israel, as Tertullian supposes, crossed his hands to confer it.
Genesis 48:16. The angel which redeemed me. The word Angel, being joined here with Goel, is not equivocal. He is the angel who appeared to Abraham under the oak of Mamrè, and called to him out of heaven by the name of Elohim, and of JEHOVAH. Genesis 18:22. He is the ever-living Goel of Job; his only Redeemer and hope. Genesis 19:25. He is our near kinsman, to whom belonged the right of redemption. Ruth 3:12. Boaz said to Ruth, “There is a kinsman [Goel] nearer than I.” He is our Saviour and deliverer, as the word is constantly rendered in the book of Psalms. The christian fathers have so understood the word, and with common consent. Vide Bulli def. fid. This is the Word which was in the beginning, the Word that was made flesh, and dwelt among us. He is the Angel whom Jacob invoked in his last moments, as he had done through life; he is the Lord Jesus to whom St. Stephen commended his spirit. Acts 7:59. Where then, oh Socinian, where is thy Redeemer!
Genesis 48:22. Which I took with my sword. The scriptures being silent concerning any violence used by Jacob, we can only say that some of the ancients have thought that Jacob retook Shechem a second time out of the hands of the Amorites; others have thought that he fought to rescue the sepulchre of his fathers; but certain it is, that Shechem was given to Joseph's children. Joshua 17:1; 2 John 1:4 2 John 1:4:5. There also Joseph's bones were interred. But many think, that the patriarch solely alludes here to the act of Simeon and Levi, who put the males of Shechem to the sword.
REFLECTIONS.
Jacob still remembered, and now recited, the promises which God first made him at Bethel or Luz; for God had made them to him and his children. In like manner let every believer keep his eye fixed on the promises through the whole of his pilgrimage, for those gracious words of God which comforted and encouraged him in his youth, or in his trouble, must encourage him to the end, and be the prop and support of his children. The recollection of past mercies seems, where faith is kept in exercise, to recal all the ancient heaven felt in the soul, when God delivered us in the day of trouble.
This venerable patriarch, on the approach of Joseph to his bed, was reminded of Rachel, though now dead more than half a century; and he wished Joseph to know that he received the birthright on her account. But oh how much does the recollection of saints in glory, whom we once so dearly loved, enliven the gloomy aspect of the grave. Wearied with the evils of life, and with the crimes of men, the good man wants to associate with the society of the blessed. He wishes to shake off the cumbrous load of flesh, whose infirmities daily increase; he wishes to pierce the veil of futurity, and escape away. At length death suddenly throws open the massy gates, unfolds the scenes of glory, and his soul springs up into everlasting life.
How happy, how divinely happy is the aged man, who in dying, sees himself surrounded with children and with grandchildren kneeling for a blessing, and in a fair way both for worldly and everlasting prosperity. This heightens the joys of dying, and augments the hopes of heaven. And surely this, with the children of the righteous, should be no small motive to conversion and piety. This divine change will, above all considerations, augment the joys of a good father in his last moments, and the want of it will be the greatest affliction of his soul.
But the lustre of Joseph's blessing, on account of righteousness, eclipsed the glory of Reuben, on account of sin, and a sin committed forty years before. Mark then, oh my soul, the consequences of a single crime. Not to mention the destruction to which it exposes both body and soul, the consequences, even where the sincerest repentance follows, may be lasting as life, and afflictive to our children after death. The God of Israel is a jealous God, and it is better to die than to revolt against his arm.
In conferring those blessings, was the patriarch prompted by the Spirit to bless Ephraim above Manasseh? Then we learn that divine endowments, spiritual offices and temporal gifts, are bestowed by a sovereign act of God's good pleasure. Are all apostles? Are all evangelists? Do all speak with tongues? If the secondary gifts and blessings are our allotment, let us adore him for what we have and diligently improve them, that at his coming we may be called good and faithful servants, and be invited to enter into the joy of our Lord. And it is one presumed mark of Reuben's repentance, that we never hear that he murmured either against Jacob, or against Joseph.