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Genesis 48:13

in Genesis 48

And Joseph took both of them—with Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand—and brought them close to him.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

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.

KJV

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.

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This verse in Genesis 48

Commentary

3 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

Joseph took both of them

on Genesis 48:13-14

Joseph sets the elder under his father's right hand. Israel crosses his hands and lays the right on Ephraim's head. The Hebrew verb behind the crossing is the verb for acting with understanding, so the old man knows what his hands are doing. Adam Clarke marks this as the first hands laid on a head to bless.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's left hand,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

proposed

Joseph took them both--The very act of pronouncing the blessing was remarkable, showing that Jacob's bosom was animated by the spirit of prophecy.

How the passage was read

What the Jewish commentators add

Its meaning is: And Joseph had taken them both. 18 In other words va-yikkach (took) is a pluperfect that means had taken.
Ibn Ezra: Spain, 1089–1167 · Ibn Ezra on Genesis 48:13:1, via Sefaria, Ibn Ezra's commentary on the Pentateuch, tran. and annot. by H. Norman Strickman and Arthur M. Silver. Menorah Pub., 1988-2004
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
This verse should have followed And he blessed them that day, etc. (v. 20). 15 So Krinsky, Weiser and Cherez.
Ibn Ezra: Spain, 1089–1167 · Ibn Ezra on Genesis 48:12:1, via Sefaria, Ibn Ezra's commentary on the Pentateuch, tran. and annot. by H. Norman Strickman and Arthur M. Silver. Menorah Pub., 1988-2004

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 6 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.

The words behind it

16 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיִּקַּ֣חand he took

    vaiyikachH3947 →966 times

  • יוֹסֵף֮Joseph

    yosefH3130 →213 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • שְׁנֵיהֶם֒[the] two of them

    sheneihemH8147 →768 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • אֶפְרַ֤יִםEphraim

    ʾefrayimH669 →180 times

  • בִּֽימִינוֹ֙at right [hand] his

    biminoH3225 →140 times

  • מִשְּׂמֹ֣אלfrom [the] left of

    misemolH8040 →54 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לIsrael

    yisraelH3478 →2507 times

  • וְאֶת־and <obj.>

    veetH853 →10935 times

  • מְנַשֶּׁ֥הManasseh

    menashehH4519 →146 times

  • בִשְׂמֹאל֖וֹat left [hand] his

    vismoloH8040 →54 times

  • מִימִ֣יןfrom [the] right of

    miminH3225 →140 times

  • יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לIsrael

    yisraelH3478 →2507 times

  • וַיַּגֵּ֖שׁand he brought [them] near

    vaiyageshH5066 →125 times

  • אֵלָֽיו׃to him

    ʾelavH413 →5510 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Where this verse is studied

About Genesis

The Garden of Eden, Thomas Cole, 1828, Amon Carter Museum of American Art. Public domain.
The Garden of Eden, Thomas Cole, 1828, Amon Carter Museum of American Art. Public domain.
Genesis: the study guide →Read Genesis 48 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).

Read on in Genesis 48 →