Genesis 48:5 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Genesis 48:5
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.
two · cardinal number, both genders dual construct
sons
בָנֶיךָ֩va.nei.Kha
H1121
a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
Ephraim
אֶפְרַ֙יִם֙'ef.Ra.yim
H669
Ephrajim · proper noun, a man's name
Manasseh
וּמְנַשֶּׁ֔הu.me.na.Sheh
H4519
Menashsheh · conjunction + proper noun, a man's name
born
הַנּוֹלָדִ֨יםha.no.la.Dim
H3205
to bear young · definite article + verb, niphal active participle, masculine plural absolute
land
בְּאֶ֣רֶץbe.'E.retz
H776
the earth (at large · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct
Egypt
מִצְרַ֗יִםmitz.Ra.yim
H4714
Mitsrajim · proper noun, a place name
before
עַד'ad-
H5704
as far (or long · preposition
came
בֹּאִ֥יbo.'I
H935
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · verb, qal infinitive construct + pronominal suffix
Egypt
מִצְרַ֖יְמָהmitz.Ray.mah
H4714
Mitsrajim · proper noun, a place name + directional suffix
Reuben
כִּרְאוּבֵ֥ןkir.'u.Ven
H7205
Reuben · preposition + proper noun, a man's name
Simeon
וְשִׁמְע֖וֹןve.shim.'on
H8095
Shimon · conjunction + proper noun, a man's name
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Genesis 41:50-52 And unto Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, which Asenath the daughter of Poti-pherah priest of On bare unto him.
Genesis 46:20 And unto Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, which Asenath the daughter of Poti-pherah priest of On bare unto him.
Joshua 14:4 For the children of Joseph were two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim: therefore they gave no part unto the Levites in the land, save cities to d…
Joshua 13:7 Now therefore divide this land for an inheritance unto the nine tribes, and the half tribe of Manasseh,
1 Chronicles 5:1-2 Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel, (for he was the firstborn; but, forasmuch as he defiled his father’s bed, his birthright was…
2 Corinthians 6:18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
Revelation 7:6-7 Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nepthalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses were seale…
Leviticus 20:26 And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Genesis 48:1-7
Here, I. Joseph, upon notice of his father's illness, goes to see him; though a man of honour and business, yet he will not fail to show this due respect to his aged father, Gen 48:1. Visiting the sick, to whom we lie under obligations, or may have opportunity of doing good, either for body or soul, is our duty. The sick bed is a proper place both for giving comfort and counsel to others and receiving instruction ourselves. Joseph took his two sons with him, that they might receive their dying grandfather's blessing, and that what they might see in him, and hear from him, might make an abiding impression upon them. Note, 1. It is good to acquaint young people that are coming into the world w…
thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh--It was the intention of the aged patriarch to adopt Joseph's sons as his own, thus giving him a double portion. The reasons for this procedure are stated (Ch1 5:1-2).
are mine--Though their connections might have attached them to Egypt and opened to them brilliant prospects in the land of their nativity, they willingly accepted the adoption (Heb 11:25).
Adam Clarke on Genesis 48:5
And now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh - are mine - I now adopt them into my own family, and they shall have their place among my twelve sons, and be treated in every respect as those, and have an equal interest in all the spiritual and temporal blessings of the covenant.
John Gill on Genesis 48:5
And now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh,.... Ephraim was the youngest, but is mentioned first, as he afterwards was preferred in the blessing of him:
which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt, before I came unto thee into Egypt; and therefore must be twenty years of age, or upwards: for Jacob had been in Egypt seventeen years, and he came there when there had been two years of famine, and Joseph's sons were born to him before the years of famine began, Genesis 41:50; of these Jacob says, they
are mine: as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine; that is, by adoption; should be reckoned not as his grandchildren, but as his children, even as his two eldest sons, Reuben and Simeon; and…
The Church Fathers
This clearly shows [that Jacob makes Ephraim and Manasseh his own]. Since Jacob had twelve sons, to whom the twelve tribes owed their existence, he distributed the two sons of Joseph into two tribes; and so the tribes became thirteen as the tribe of Joseph was divided between his two sons. And therefore Paul himself, the apostle, was related to these events. After being chosen among the tribes, he was counted the thirteenth after the apostles, and so he was sent to the Gentiles as apostle.
Joseph was eager to receive the blessing (Gen. XLVIII, 1 et seq.). Finally, he presented his sons Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Jacob blessed. And because he had twelve sons, and the thirteenth was to be the apostle Paul, as if a later chosen one, the thirteenth Tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim were sanctified in both, so that Paul would not be found outside the number of the paternal Tribes, who was an outstanding preacher of the Old and New Testament and could easily prove his inheritance of the paternal blessing.
(Verse 5.) And now behold, your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine, Ephraim and Manasseh, just as Reuben and Simeon shall be mine. But any children born to you after them shall be yours. They shall be called by the names of their brothers. If anyone doubted that seventy persons, the children of Israel, had entered Egypt, and that at the time when Jacob entered Joseph had not nine but only two sons, this is confirmed in the present chapter. Indeed, Jacob himself speaks, saying that he had two sons, not nine. And what he says, 'Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon,' that means, just as Reuben and Simeon were two tribes and were called by their own names, so Ephraim and Manasseh shall be two tribes, and they shall produce two peoples, and thus they shall inherit the land of promise, just like my sons. But the remaining sons, he says, whom you will bear after my death, showing that they were not yet born at that time, shall be yours.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Jacob — One who follows on another’s heels; supplanter, (Gen. 25:26; 27:36; Hos. 12:2-4), the second born of the twin sons of Isaac by Rebekah. He was born probably at Lahai-roi, when his father was…
Adoption · .Of Joseph’s — .Of Joseph’s
Ephraim · .Adopted by Jacob — .Adopted by Jacob
Ephraim, Tribe Of · Descended from Joseph’s second son adopted by Jacob — Descended from Joseph’s second son adopted by Jacob
Israel · place — place
Manasseh · .Adopted by Jacob on his — .Adopted by Jacob on his
Manasseh, The Tribe Of · Descended from Joseph’s eldest son adopted by Jacob — Descended from Joseph’s eldest son adopted by Jacob
Tribes Of Israel, The · Manasseh and Ephraim numbered among, instead of Joseph and Levi — Manasseh and Ephraim numbered among, instead of Joseph and Levi
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
And now thy two sons. Jacob confers on his son the special privilege, that he, being one, should constitute two chiefs; that is, that his two sons should succeed to an equal right with their uncles, as if they had been heirs in the first degree. But what is this! that a decrepit old man assigns to his grandchildren, as a royal patrimony, a sixth part of the land in which he had entered as a stranger, and from which now again he is an exile! Who would not have said that he was dealing in fables? It is a common proverb, that no one can give what he has not. What, therefore, did it profit Joseph to be constituted, by an imaginary title, lord of that land, in which the donor of it was scarcely p…
Referring to the promise which the Almighty God had given him at Bethel (Gen 35:10. cf. Gen 38:13.), Israel said to Joseph (Gen 48:5): "And now thy two sons, which were born to thee in the land of Egypt, until (before) I came to thee into Egypt...let them be mine; Ephraim and Manasseh, like Reuben and Simeon (my first and second born), let them be mine." The promise which Jacob had received empowered the patriarch to adopt the sons of Joseph in the place of children. Since the Almighty God had promised him the increase of his seed into a multitude of peoples, and Canaan as an eternal possession to that seed, he could so incorporate into the number of his descendants the two sons of Joseph wh…
Jacob, prompted by his memory of Rachel (see 35:16-20), blessed Joseph by elevating his two sons as coheirs with his other sons—the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh would have shares along with the other tribes that came from Jacob (see Josh 16–17). Jacob also gave Ephraim, Joseph’s younger son, the birthright (see 1 Chr 5:1-2). As a result of this blessing, Ephraim and Manasseh became large and powerful tribes (see Josh 17:14-18).
Rashi on Genesis 48:1
ויקח את שני בניו עמו AND HE TOOK HIS TWO SONS WITH HIM — so that Jacob would bless them before his death.
