SDMB weekly Bible Study (SDMBWBS)-Week 33 Genesis 48

Cafe Society
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Welcome to the SDMB weekly Bible Study (SDMBWBS). This week we will be discussing Genesis** 48**. Since the discussion can turn into a very broad and hijackable thread, we would like the following rules to be adhered to:

  1. These SDMBWBS threads are to deal with the books and stories in the Bible as literature. What I’m hoping to achieve is an understanding of the stories, the time in which they were written, context, and possibly its cultural relevance.

  2. While it is up to the individual to choose to believe or disbelieve any portion, that is not to be the discussion of the thread. If you must, please choose to witness/anti-witness in Great Debates.

  3. The intention is to go through the Bible from front to back in order. While different books are needed to be referred to in order to understand context, please try and keep the focus on the thread’s selected chapter(s)/verse(s).

  4. Since different religions have chosen which books to include or omit, the threads will use the Catholic version of 46 Old Testament Books and 27 New Testament Books. It’s encouraged to discuss why a book was included/omitted during the applicable threads only. BibleHub, as far as I know, is a good resource that compiles many different versions of the verses into one page.(Also the SDMB Staff Reports on Who Wrote the Bible). Please feel free to use whatever source you want, including-and even more helpfully-the original language.

  5. Hopefully we can get through these threads with little to no moderation. A gentle reminder that if a poster comes in and ignores these rules, please use the “report post” function instead of responding.

Links to previous threads:
Genesis 1:1 to 2:25
Genesis 3
Genesis 4
Genesis 5-6
Genesis 7-9:17
Genesis 9:18-10:32
Genesis 11
Genesis 12-13
Genesis 14-15
Genesis 16
Genesis 17
Genesis 18-19
Genesis 20-22
Genesis 23-24
Genesis 25
Genesis 26:1-33
Genesis 26:34-Genesis 28:9
Genesus28:10-30:24
Genesis 30:25-31:55
Genesis 32
Genesis 33
Genesis 34
Genesis 35-36
Genesis 37
Genesis 38
Genesis 39
Genesis 40
Genesis 41
Genesis 42 & 43
Genesis 44
Genesis 45
Genesis 46
Genesis 47

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[Genesis 48

New International Version (NIV)](Genesis 48 NIV - Manasseh and Ephraim - Some time later - Bible Gateway)

Manasseh and Ephraim

48 Some time later Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim along with him. 2 When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel rallied his strength and sat up on the bed.

3 Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and there he blessed me 4 and said to me, ‘I am going to make you fruitful and increase your numbers. I will make you a community of peoples, and I will give this land as an everlasting possession to your descendants after you.’

5 “Now then, your two sons born to you in Egypt before I came to you here will be reckoned as mine; Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine. 6 Any children born to you after them will be yours; in the territory they inherit they will be reckoned under the names of their brothers. 7 As I was returning from Paddan, to my sorrow Rachel died in the land of Canaan while we were still on the way, a little distance from Ephrath. So I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem).

8 When Israel saw the sons of Joseph, he asked, “Who are these?”

9 “They are the sons God has given me here,” Joseph said to his father.

Then Israel said, “Bring them to me so I may bless them.”

10 Now Israel’s eyes were failing because of old age, and he could hardly see. So Joseph brought his sons close to him, and his father kissed them and embraced them.

11 Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face again, and now God has allowed me to see your children too.”

12 Then Joseph removed them from Israel’s knees and bowed down with his face to the ground. 13 And Joseph took both of them, Ephraim on his right toward Israel’s left hand and Manasseh on his left toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them close to him. 14 But Israel reached out his right hand and put it on Ephraim’s head, though he was the younger, and crossing his arms, he put his left hand on Manasseh’s head, even though Manasseh was the firstborn.

15 Then he blessed Joseph and said,
“May the God before whom my fathers
Abraham and Isaac walked faithfully,
the God who has been my shepherd
all my life to this day,
16 the Angel who has delivered me from all harm
—may he bless these boys.
May they be called by my name
and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac,
and may they increase greatly
on the earth.”

17 When Joseph saw his father placing his right hand on Ephraim’s head he was displeased; so he took hold of his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. 18 Joseph said to him, “No, my father, this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.”

19 But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He too will become a people, and he too will become great. Nevertheless, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his descendants will become a group of nations.” 20 He blessed them that day and said,
“In your name will Israel pronounce this blessing:
‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’”

So he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.

21 Then Israel said to Joseph, “I am about to die, but God will be with you and take you back to the land of your fathers. 22 And to you I give one more ridge of land than to your brothers, the ridge I took from the Amorites with my sword and my bow.”

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So Jacob, dying, calls Joseph and his two sons to his death-bed. The last death-bed summons was in Gen 35:29, when Isaac calls Jacob and Esau. The statement “Your father is ill” is the first mention of illness in the bible.

This chapter has two main themes: (1) Joseph’s sons are adopted by Jacob, and so elevated to the status of tribes of Israel; and (2) Ephraim is favored over the first-born Manasseh.

Verse 3: Luz is the original name of Bethel, the location of the ladder-dream.

In v 3 – 4, Jacob repeats the Patriarchal covenant, about possession of the land and a multitude of descendents. Jacob is trying to pass this on to Joseph. There’s a delicious ambiguity here, is Jacob still showing favoritism to Joseph? He still hasn’t learned??

The term “everlasting possession” in v 4 is in contrast to 47:11 where Pharaoh grants possession. Pharaoh’s grant is temporary; God’s grant is everlasting.

In verse 7, Jacob makes the astounding statement that everything that has happened, for good or bad, was because of Rachel! This verse is also interesting (possibly unique) because of lumping together so many geographical references in one sentence.

Verse 10: Jacob kisses and embraces Joseph’s sons. These two verbs appear together only two other times in the bible, in reverse order: Gen 29:13 (Laban to Jacob) and 33:4 (Esau to Jacob.) The boys are put on Jacob’s knees, a symbol of acceptance and adoption. Joseph (second most powerful person in Egypt) bows low to Jacob, a reversal of his dream.

Jacob goes to bless Joseph’s sons, and gets the order wrong. Joseph tries to correct Jacob: let’s not start up that sibling rivalry thing again! But Jacob is still trying to pass on the patriarchal heritage, and favors one over the other.

Eventually, the tribe of Ephraim will outshine Manassah (the first born), so that the name “Ephraim” becomes synonymous with the kingdom of Israel. To this day, traditional Jewish parents follow Jacob’s instructions, and bless their sons on Sabbath eve by saying, “May you be like Ephraim and Manassah.”

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Nothing to add, other than to say I’ve enjoyed each of these threads over the past few months. The insight and analysis offered by all Dopers, expert and amateur alike, have been interesting and instructive.

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Genesis 49+50 thread