Genesis 48:22
in Genesis 48And to you, as one who is above your brothers, I give the ridge of land that I took from the Amorites with my sword and bow.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
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.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Genesis 48
Commentary
8 notes on this verse(Verse 22.) And I gave ((Or, do)) to you Sicima, the special one, over your brothers, which I received from the hands of the Amorites with my sword and arrow. Sicima, according to Greek and Latin custom, is declined. Otherwise, in Hebrew it is called Sichem, as John the Evangelist also testifies (IV, 5): although erroneously, it is read as Sichar, the error has prevailed: and now it is the city of Neapolis, the city of the Samaritans.
This site's exposition
the ridge of land that I took from the Amorites
The Hebrew word behind the ridge of land is shechem, a shoulder of ground. Jerome and Matthew Henry read it as the town of Shechem and the parcel Jacob bought there at Genesis 33:19. Genesis never tells of taking it with sword and bow. Joshua 24:32 buries Joseph's bones in that plot, and John 4:5 sets Jesus on the same ground.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
After he blessed the sons and promoted the younger ahead of the elder by way of forecasting the future, he wanted to convince Joseph that it was not idly or to no purpose that he had done this but to foretell what was due to happen. So he predicted his own death and the fact that they would return from foreign parts to Canaan, the land of their ancestors, and raised sound hope in them so as to cheer them up with the expectation. The hope of good things to come, after all, always mitigates the troubles of the present life.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
These lands he settled upon Joseph; mention is made of this grant, John iv. Pursuant to it, this parcel of ground was given to the tribe of Ephraim as their right, and the lot was never cast upon it; and in it Joseph's bones were buried, which perhaps Jacob had an eye to as much as to any thing in this settlement.
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 Beth-lehem.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-scripture
Moreover, I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Moreover I have given to thee one portion - שכם אחד shechem achad, one shechem or one shoulder. We have already seen the transactions between Jacob and his family on one part, and Shechem and the sons of Hamor on the other.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
moreover I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren--This was near Shechem (Ge 33:18; Joh 4:5; also Jos 16:1; And it is probable that the Amorites, having seized upon it during one of his frequent absences, the patriarch, with the united forces of his tribe, recovered it from them by his sword and his bow.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase+unbalanced-parens
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַאֲנִ֞י | vaani | and I | H589 → | 874 times |
| נָתַ֧תִּֽי | natati | I give | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| לְךָ֛ | lekha | to you | ||
| שְׁכֶ֥ם | shekhem | a shoulder | H7926 → | 21 times |
| אַחַ֖ד | ʾachad | one | H259 → | 971 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | over | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| אַחֶ֑יךָ | ʾacheikha | brothers your | H251 → | 630 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֤ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| לָקַ֙חְתִּי֙ | lakachti | I took | H3947 → | 966 times |
| מִיַּ֣ד | miyad | from [the] hand of | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| הָֽאֱמֹרִ֔י | haemori | the Amorite[s] | H567 → | 87 times |
| בְּחַרְבִּ֖י | becharbi | by sword my | H2719 → | 413 times |
| וּבְקַשְׁתִּֽי׃ פ | uvekashti | and by bow my | H7198 → | 76 times |
וַאֲנִ֞יand I
vaaniH589 →874 times
נָתַ֧תִּֽיI give
natatiH5414 →2011 times
לְךָ֛to you
lekha
שְׁכֶ֥םa shoulder
shekhemH7926 →21 times
אַחַ֖דone
ʾachadH259 →971 times
עַל־over
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
אַחֶ֑יךָbrothers your
ʾacheikhaH251 →630 times
אֲשֶׁ֤רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
לָקַ֙חְתִּי֙I took
lakachtiH3947 →966 times
מִיַּ֣דfrom [the] hand of
miyadH3027 →1618 times
הָֽאֱמֹרִ֔יthe Amorite[s]
haemoriH567 →87 times
בְּחַרְבִּ֖יby sword my
becharbiH2719 →413 times
וּבְקַשְׁתִּֽי׃ פand by bow my
uvekashtiH7198 →76 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
John 4:5So He came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.
it leads to
- Genesis 33:19
And the plot of ground where he pitched his tent, he purchased from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for a hundred pieces of silver.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Joshua 24:32
And the bones of Joseph, which the Israelites had brought up out of Egypt, were buried at Shechem in the plot of land that Jacob had purchased from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father,…
- Genesis 33:19
Through
Genesis 15:16In the fourth generation your descendants will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”
it leads to
- 1 Kings 21:26
He committed the most detestable acts by going after idols, just like the Amorites whom the LORD had driven out before the Israelites.)
- Daniel 8:23
In the latter part of their reign, when the rebellion has reached its full measure, an insolent king, skilled in intrigue, will come to the throne.
- Exodus 12:40
Now the duration of the Israelites’ stay in Egypt was 430 years.
- Matthew 23:32–35
Fill up, then, the measure of the sin of your fathers.
- 1 Kings 21:26
Through
1 Chronicles 5:2And though Judah prevailed over his brothers and a ruler came from him, the birthright belonged to Joseph.
it leads to
- Matthew 2:6
‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of My people…
- Micah 5:2
But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come forth for Me One to be ruler over Israel—One whose origins are of old, from the days…
- Matthew 2:6
Where this verse is studied
About Genesis

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Hebrew Questions on Genesis; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 67.2; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
