Genesis 48:20
in Genesis 48So that day Jacob blessed them and said: “By you shall Israel pronounce this blessing: ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’” So he put Ephraim before Manasseh.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee will Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Genesis 48
Commentary
5 notes on this verseIn thee shall Israel bless - That is, in future generations the Israelites shall take their form of wishing prosperity to any nation or family from the circumstance of the good which it shall be known that God has done to Ephraim and Manasseh: May God make thee as fruitful as Ephraim, and multiply thee as Manasseh! So, to their daughters when married, the Jewish women are accustomed to say, God make thee as Sarah and Rebekah! The forms are still in use.
This site's exposition
So he put Ephraim before Manasseh
The blessing becomes a set form of words for Israel to use. Adam Clarke reports Jewish families in his own day praying it over their sons, with Sarah and Rebekah named over their daughters. The verse closes by saying he put Ephraim before Manasseh. The prophets afterwards use Ephraim as the name of the whole northern kingdom.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
Do you see how God's grace foretold this to him and how, moved by a prophetic spirit, he blessed Joseph's sons in this way, foreseeing as already present and visible to the brothers what would happen so long afterward? This is what prophecy is like, after all. Just as the eyes of the body can form an image of nothing beyond visible things, so the eyes of faith do not see visible things but form an image of things that are due to happen many generations later. You will gain a more precise notion of this from the blessings he bestows on his own sons.
Finally, the Lord, speaking in a spiritual manner about the people, declared this to be a mystery. For when the son thought his father had made a mistake due to his dull appearance, he wanted to turn his hands around, saying, 'Not so, Father, for this one is the firstborn; place your right hand on his head.' But his father refused and said, 'I know, my son, I know. He will also become a people, and he will be exalted. However, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his descendants will become a multitude of nations.' (Genesis 48:18-19).
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And he blessed them that day,....
The words behind it
17 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיְבָ֨רֲכֵ֜ם | vayvarakhem | and he blessed them | H1288 → | 330 times |
| בַּיּ֣וֹם | baiyom | on the day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הַהוּא֮ | hahu' | <the> that | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| לֵאמוֹר֒ | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| בְּךָ֗ | bekha | by you | ||
| יְבָרֵ֤ךְ | yevarekh | it will bless | H1288 → | 330 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| לֵאמֹ֔ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| יְשִֽׂמְךָ֣ | yesimkha | may he make you | H7760 → | 584 times |
| אֱלֹהִ֔ים | ʾelohim | God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| כְּאֶפְרַ֖יִם | keefrayim | like Ephraim | H669 → | 180 times |
| וְכִמְנַשֶּׁ֑ה | vekhimnasheh | and like Manasseh | H4519 → | 146 times |
| וַיָּ֥שֶׂם | vaiyasem | and he put | H7760 → | 584 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| אֶפְרַ֖יִם | ʾefrayim | Ephraim | H669 → | 180 times |
| לִפְנֵ֥י | lifnei | <to> before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| מְנַשֶּֽׁה׃ | menasheh | Manasseh | H4519 → | 146 times |
וַיְבָ֨רֲכֵ֜םand he blessed them
vayvarakhemH1288 →330 times
בַּיּ֣וֹםon the day
baiyomH3117 →2304 times
הַהוּא֮<the> that
hahu'H1931 →1879 times
לֵאמוֹר֒<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
בְּךָ֗by you
bekha
יְבָרֵ֤ךְit will bless
yevarekhH1288 →330 times
יִשְׂרָאֵל֙Israel
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
לֵאמֹ֔ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
יְשִֽׂמְךָ֣may he make you
yesimkhaH7760 →584 times
אֱלֹהִ֔יםGod
ʾelohimH430 →2601 times
כְּאֶפְרַ֖יִםlike Ephraim
keefrayimH669 →180 times
וְכִמְנַשֶּׁ֑הand like Manasseh
vekhimnashehH4519 →146 times
וַיָּ֥שֶׂםand he put
vaiyasemH7760 →584 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
אֶפְרַ֖יִםEphraim
ʾefrayimH669 →180 times
לִפְנֵ֥י<to> before
lifneiH6440 →2123 times
מְנַשֶּֽׁה׃Manasseh
menashehH4519 →146 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Genesis 24:60And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “Our sister, may you become the mother of thousands upon thousands. May your offspring possess the gates of their enemies.”
it leads to
- Genesis 22:17
I will surely bless you, and I will multiply your descendants like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will possess the gates of their enemies.
- Genesis 17:16
And I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will descend from her.”
- Ruth 4:11–12
“We are witnesses,” said the elders and all the people at the gate. “May the LORD make the woman entering your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel.…
- Genesis 28:3
May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, so that you may become a company of peoples.
- Genesis 22:17
Through
Genesis 28:3May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, so that you may become a company of peoples.
it leads to
- Genesis 48:3
Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and there He blessed me
- Genesis 35:11
And God told him, “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation—even a company of nations—shall come from you, and kings shall descend from you.
- Genesis 1:28
God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature…
- Genesis 22:17–18
I will surely bless you, and I will multiply your descendants like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will possess the gates of their enemies.
- Genesis 48:3
Where this verse is studied
About Genesis
Who and where
3 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PersonPatriarchsJacobThe heel-grasping supplanter reshaped at Peniel into 'Israel, he who strives with God' — father of the twelve tribes.
- PersonLate monarchyManassehJudah's longest-reigning and worst king, who filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; the book names his apostasy as the cause of 586…
- PlaceJudeaEphraimThe town near the wilderness where Jesus withdrew with His disciples before the last Passover (John 11:54).
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Ambrose of Milan, THE PATRIARCHS 1.5; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 66.12; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).