Joseph Part 17: Jacob Blesses Joseph's Sons

Jacob Blesses Joseph’s Sons

We are about to get to the center of the final act, which is where we're gonna find a bunch of blessings and even a curse.

And what we're gonna do is set the stage for the blessings at the center here with matching stories that are on either side of them, which is about Yaaqov on his deathbed, giving his final wishes. So what we're gonna start reading right now, all the way through to the blessings and then on the other side of it, is all like a deathbed scene.

So that's the narrative setting. So the action really halts in terms of, there's no more moving around

To and fro exiles like sojourning. It's just all happening in one room. Just a bunch of conversations happening in a room. So if you were to turn this part into a movie, you would have to find a way to make it exciting because there's not a lot of actual action happening.

We're gonna read a very short paragraph of his first deathbed request, which is to be buried up in Canaan, to not be left in Egypt. That concludes this first part.

Then what's gonna come is a blessing for Joseph's two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, and the inversion of the firstborn again. 

Then we're gonna get a blessing and a curse on the 12 sons. And then we're gonna come back and Yaaqov is gonna make the same request again, except this time make them swear an oath. 

Genesis 47:28–31 CSB

28 Now Jacob lived in the land of Egypt 17 years, and his life span was 147 years. 29 When the time approached for him to die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “If I have found favor with you, put your hand under my thigh and promise me that you will deal with me in kindness and faithfulness. Do not bury me in Egypt. 30 When I rest with my ancestors, carry me away from Egypt and bury me in their burial place.” Joseph answered, “I will do what you have asked.” 31 And Jacob said, “Swear to me.” So Joseph swore to him. Then Israel bowed in thanks at the head of his bed.

"And Yaaqov lived in the land of Egypt for 7 and 10 years." 17.

Remember how old Yoseph was when the story started? He was 17 so that’s intersting

"The days of Yaaqov and the years of his life were 7 and 40 and 100.

And the days for Yisrael to die came near. And he called for his son Yoseph. And he said to him, 'If, please, I found favor in your eyes, please put your hand under my thigh and perform loyal love and faithfulness to me. Please don't bury me in Egypt.

I will lay down with my fathers. You will take me up from Egypt, you'll bury me in their graves.' And so Yoseph said, 'I will do according to your word.'"

"'Swear a oath to me.' So he swore a oath to him. Then Yisrael bowed down at the head of his bed."

The word "oath" is spelled with the same Hebrew letters as the word "seven." So that becomes a wordplay bookend. He was 7 and 10 years in Egypt, making the 7 and 40 and 100. 

So look at how the seven, the number seven is a little, creates a little symmetrical frame of just verse 28. And then that sentence as a whole creates a little symmetrical frame around this deathbed scene here with oath and seven.

Like Grandson, Like Grandfather

Yaaqov requests that Yoseph specifically take up his body for burial with his fathers in Canaan. This act is portrayed on analogy to the promise the Abraham requested of his servant (likely Eliezer) in Genesis 24.

Like Abraham, who sought to protect the integrity of God’s promise to him by ensuring that Isaac marry within the chosen line, Yaaqov seeks to protect the future integrity of God’s promise by ensuring that his family’s time in Egypt isn’t permanent and they return to the promised land one day.

So there you go. The stage is set. Now, the second time this is gonna happen, on the other side of the blessings, it's gonna be the same promise, but filled out even more. And that's often how these repetitions work, is that the second one will give you a little more insight into the first one, but then the second one often heightens or intensifies or contrasts or flips, something like that.

Genesis 48-49 Within the Torah as a Whole

The Torah has two bookend frame stories about the final words and death of the leading figure in the story: Yaaqov in Genesis and Moses in Deuteronomy.

Both Yaaqov and Moses offer a final series of poetic blessings or curses on the twelve sons of Yisrael (//Gen. 49  Deut. 28, 32-33).

Both Yaaqov and Moses open their poems by claiming that their words speak of realities that are present and future.

In both stories, the dying patriarch warns of a future time of ruin and exile that will be followed by a restoration of the land of promise and the Eden-blessing (Gen. 48:21; 50:24-25 // Deut. 28, 30).

In both stories, the vocabulary of the Eden story fills the poems and narratives (Gen. 48-50 // Deut. 27-34).

The Torah features bookends that both end with the sons of Israel outside the land of promise, waiting for Yahweh to act and bring the next generation into the full realization of the Eden blessing. Yaaqov and Moses offer warnings and hope, and together they offer the readers of the TaNaK in its final form a challenge and a comfort that Yahweh will yet fulfill his ancient promises to Abraham.

So we come to the conclusion of the Genesis scroll, and that's gonna flip and transition into the focus on the story of the tribes down in Egypt. That's Exodus. Their exodus out of Egypt and their journey to Mount Sinai, which begins the second half of Exodus, all of Leviticus, and then about the first third of Numbers. And so you have the journey in Egypt and then out of Egypt through the wilderness to Mount Sinai. The Sinai narrative makes up the literary center of the Torah. And then Numbers begins the next journey through the wilderness. And then it's through the wilderness to sitting across the Jordan at the promised land, that's where Numbers ends. 

And then Deuteronomy is the bookend. And so Deuteronomy ends up matching in all of these fascinating ways, things that are going on in the Genesis scroll. And one of them is the way Deuteronomy concludes with Moses, who's gonna die and die in exile like Jacob. he's only gonna hear and see the land, but he will not get to experience it. And there's a focus on his burial at the end of Deuteronomy, just like there's gonna be a focus on Jacob's burial. And what Moses is gonna do is challenge Israel to follow the laws of the Torah. And that's not a thing for Jacob's sons, 'cause we haven't gotten there yet. But Moses is going to utter two long poems that correspond to the long poems in Genesis 48 and 49. And even more, the poem in Genesis 49 goes through all of the 12 sons. The poem in Deuteronomy 33 goes through all of the 12 tribes, starting with Reuben, then going to Yehudah, then to Levi. And he just, he works through it. 

And both of them have nearly identical introductions. In Genesis 49, Yaaqov gathers his sons and says, "Gather around. I'm going to tell you a thing that will happen at the end of days." Be'akharit hayyamim. 

The first word of Genesis is "in the beginning." Here we are near the end of Genesis, talking about the end, "at the end of days." And then, so that's Genesis. But Genesis introduces the Torah in the beginning. And here we are at the end of the Torah in Deuteronomy 31. And Moses says, "Gather to me all the elders of the tribes." Oh yeah, the 12 sons become the 12 tribes. "For I know that after my death, you are all going to act corruptly and evil will happen to you at the end of days.

And Moshe spoke the words of the song." So Jacob dies anticipating the going up out of Egypt. Moses dies anticipating the leaving of the promised land, going to a new Egypt that will be Babylon. So come on.

when we read these chapters, we are touching like a central artery of the themes of the Torah. We're right to the center here about how the Eden blessing is gonna be restored to all humanity through this family to bring an end to the curse. That's what this is about.

 In some way, even if you don't know in any particular moment what it has to do with that, it has to do with that. It's just a matter of, I just need to do more reading and meditating if I don't see that yet.

Genesis 48:1–12 CSB

1 Some time after this, Joseph was told, “Your father is weaker.” So he set out with his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. 2 When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel summoned his strength and sat up in bed. 3 Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me. 4 He said to me, ‘I will make you fruitful and numerous; I will make many nations come from you, and I will give this land as a permanent possession to your future descendants.’ 5 Your two sons born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt are now mine. Ephraim and Manasseh belong to me just as Reuben and Simeon do. 6 Children born to you after them will be yours and will be recorded under the names of their brothers with regard to their inheritance. 7 When I was returning from Paddan, to my sorrow Rachel died along the way, some distance from Ephrath in the land of Canaan. I buried her there along the way to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem). 8 When Israel saw Joseph’s sons, he said, “Who are these?” 9 And Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons God has given me here.” So Israel said, “Bring them to me and I will bless them.” 10 Now his eyesight was poor because of old age; he could hardly see. Joseph brought them to him, and he kissed and embraced them. 11 Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face again, but now God has even let me see your offspring.” 12 Then Joseph took them from his father’s knees and bowed with his face to the ground.

"So it came about after these things that he said to Yoseph, 'Look, your father is sick.' And he took his two sons with him, Manasseh and Ephrayim.

And he told Yaaqov, and said, 'Look, your son is coming to you.'" Who's the he?

This is good. Did you see in verse 2, just somebody told Yaaqov. Who? They say it doesn't matter, it's like if it was a stage play, it would just be somebody yelling from the side stage or something. Your son comes to you. "So he strengthened himself and sat up on the bed.

Yaaqov said to Yoseph, 'El Shaddai became seen, visible to me in Luz,'" which is both a place that is also named Bethel, but the word "luz" means "almond tree," which are trees that typically appear in little orchards and gardens. So Yahweh appeared to me at, you know, a little garden-like almond tree in the land of Canaan. And of course I got a blessing at the garden tree, right? That's how he operates. "And he said to me, 'Look, I'm about to make you fruitful and multiply.

I will give you to become an assembly of nations,'" plural.

"I will give this land to your seed after you, an eternal possession." Okay, so the land of Canaan is specified here, but then also here in the center is that you, singular, your 70 will become an assembly of nations.

So that's bigger than tribes.

Nations. 

"Now your two sons who were born for you in the land of Egypt, you know, before I came to you in Egypt, they will become mine, Ephrayim and Manasseh.

Like Reuven and Shimon, they will be mine. And your family, which you cause to be born after them, any children you have from here on out, they're yours. But these two are mine.

By the name of their brothers, they will be called in their inheritance." Ephrayim and Manasseh, they are being adopted into the sons of Jacob.

"You know, as for me, when I came from Paddan-Aram," that's his exile, his 20 year exile. "You know, Rachel died on me in the land of Canaan on the road with one more stretch of land before you enter Ephrathah.

And so I buried her there by the road to Ephrathah.' We Israelites today, we call that place Bethlehem."

So look at his speech. He recalls the day that he came back into the land after his 20-year exile and he got a blessing of fruitfulness and multiplication at the garden tree.  That is matched and contrasted with literally the next story in Genesis 35, which was marked by arrival back in the land and blessing, and arrival back in the land and death. And the death of whom? Of Yoseph's mom who he's talking to here.

So there was life and death when he came back into the land.

And then in the center of that is this adoption scene.

Blessing, Blessing, Everywhere!

The Hebrew vocabulary of blessing fills this story by using the repetition of the word “blessing” itself (ברך ,ברכה) and by using synonyms, related words, and homonym wordplays.

“bless, blessing”in (ברך)  Genesis 48:3, 9, 15, 16, 20

“knees”in (ברכים)  Genesis 48:12

“fruit/fruitful” in Gen. 48:4

“Ephrayim” (, whose name has the word “fruit“ in the center, seeאפרים Gen. 41:52)

“Ephratah” (, a place name with the verb “be fruitful” in the center)אפרתה

“multiply” (, associated with the blessing back ininרבה Gen. 1:21, 28)  Genesis 48:4

All these repetitions of blessing make it clear that the full scale of the Eden blessing that has been passed on to each generation is now being inherited by the next generation.

The Adoption of Yoseph’s Egyptian Sons

Recall from Genesis 41 that Yoseph’s two sons are half-Egyptian, and they are from the lineage of Egypt’s priesthood located in On.

Genesis 41:45

Genesis 41:45 NASB95

45 Then Pharaoh named Joseph Zaphenath-paneah; and he gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, as his wife. And Joseph went forth over the land of Egypt.

Then Pharaoh named Yoseph Zaphenath-paneah; and he gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, as his wife. And Yoseph went forth over the land of Egypt.

Genesis 41:50–52 NASB95

50 Now before the year of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, bore to him. 51 Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, “For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household.” 52 He named the second Ephraim, “For,” he said, “God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”

50 Now before the year of famine came, two sons were born to Yoseph, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, bore to him. 51 Yoseph named the firstborn Manasseh, “For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household.” 52 He named the second Ephraim, “For,” he said, “God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”

*Key Words Adapted by Teacher

This important fact about Yoseph’s sons also needs to be connected to the fact that Yaaqov fully adopts Yoseph’s Egyptian sons as his own (Gen. 48:5-6).

This incorporation of Egyptian sons into the Eden blessing given to Abraham is crucially important for the overall story of tribal families in Genesis. This is yet another moment where the lineage of Ham begins to merge back together with the lineage of Shem (Recall Noah’s sons from Gen. 9:18-27, 10:1-32). Here, the sons of Ham are connected into the line of Shem and the family of Abraham, which means they are connected to the Eden blessing.

Later biblical authors will draw upon this connection when they describe the ultimate restoration of Egypt into the Eden blessings that God has in store for the new creation (for example, see Isa. 19:18-25 and 45:11-15).

This pattern will be developed more in the Prophets and Writings as more descendants from Ham are brought into Abraham’s blessing (Rahab and the Gibeonites in Josh. 2 and 9), as well as the sons of Lot (through Ruth the Moabite) and Esau (through Caleb the Kenazite, see Num. 13-14).

we're back to our theme of every time God peels off a chosen one, there is a non-chosen, but as you follow the non-chosen through Genesis, they constantly are being reconnected and integrated into the chosen line.

And here's another example where this is Shem and Ham, right here. Ham through Egypt, and then Shem now through Abraham and onto Jacob. And in the seed of Yoseph, Ham and Shem become one after their blessing and curse separation. After the ark.  Egypt is here being woven in to the tribe. Two of the tribes are part Egyptian.

This is right at the moment where he says, "I will make you an assembly of nations," plural. 

this is a really big theme as you read on into the Prophets, what you're gonna start to see, all the Prophets will have a collection of oracles against Israel, usually Judah or Ephrayim, the northern tribes. And with most of the big prophetic books, all of them have a section that are the oracles against the nations. And in Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Ezekiel, Egypt has big long sections dedicated to Egypt.

And what you find in every case is there's lots of criticism and justice, divine judgment being thrown at these nations. But there's almost always a little twist and a little pivot. 

Isaiah 19 NIV

1 A prophecy against Egypt: See, the Lord rides on a swift cloud and is coming to Egypt. The idols of Egypt tremble before him, and the hearts of the Egyptians melt with fear. 2 “I will stir up Egyptian against Egyptian— brother will fight against brother, neighbor against neighbor, city against city, kingdom against kingdom. 3 The Egyptians will lose heart, and I will bring their plans to nothing; they will consult the idols and the spirits of the dead, the mediums and the spiritists. 4 I will hand the Egyptians over to the power of a cruel master, and a fierce king will rule over them,” declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty. 5 The waters of the river will dry up, and the riverbed will be parched and dry. 6 The canals will stink; the streams of Egypt will dwindle and dry up. The reeds and rushes will wither, 7 also the plants along the Nile, at the mouth of the river. Every sown field along the Nile will become parched, will blow away and be no more. 8 The fishermen will groan and lament, all who cast hooks into the Nile; those who throw nets on the water will pine away. 9 Those who work with combed flax will despair, the weavers of fine linen will lose hope. 10 The workers in cloth will be dejected, and all the wage earners will be sick at heart. 11 The officials of Zoan are nothing but fools; the wise counselors of Pharaoh give senseless advice. How can you say to Pharaoh, “I am one of the wise men, a disciple of the ancient kings”? 12 Where are your wise men now? Let them show you and make known what the Lord Almighty has planned against Egypt. 13 The officials of Zoan have become fools, the leaders of Memphis are deceived; the cornerstones of her peoples have led Egypt astray. 14 The Lord has poured into them a spirit of dizziness; they make Egypt stagger in all that she does, as a drunkard staggers around in his vomit. 15 There is nothing Egypt can do— head or tail, palm branch or reed. 16 In that day the Egyptians will become weaklings. They will shudder with fear at the uplifted hand that the Lord Almighty raises against them. 17 And the land of Judah will bring terror to the Egyptians; everyone to whom Judah is mentioned will be terrified, because of what the Lord Almighty is planning against them. 18 In that day five cities in Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the Lord Almighty. One of them will be called the City of the Sun. 19 In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the heart of Egypt, and a monument to the Lord at its border. 20 It will be a sign and witness to the Lord Almighty in the land of Egypt. When they cry out to the Lord because of their oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and he will rescue them. 21 So the Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians, and in that day they will acknowledge the Lord. They will worship with sacrifices and grain offerings; they will make vows to the Lord and keep them. 22 The Lord will strike Egypt with a plague; he will strike them and heal them. They will turn to the Lord, and he will respond to their pleas and heal them. 23 In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. 24 In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth. 25 The Lord Almighty will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance.”

In Isaiah chapter 19 is the oracle concerning Egypt. And you know, verse 1, it's a typical Isaiah critique against the powers. Speaking truth to power. I mean, he's just, "You guys are going down, cruel masters. The waters of the sea are gonna dry up. The river will become dry." Yeah. This is all Exodus and the 10 plagues, yep.

So when you get down, "Your wise men are fools." Think of the wise men and the dreams. Yeah, or the sorcerers who can do some of the Moses tricks, but not all of them.  So this is all connected to the Exodus narrative. 

And so you go on down, and then all of a sudden, in verse 18, things take a shift after Egypt's de-created again.

Verse 18. "In that day, five cities in the land of Egypt will start speaking the language of Canaan," that is, proto-Semitic Hebrew.

"And the people of Egypt will start swearing their allegiance to Yahweh.". "And one of those five cities will be called the City of the Sun." Think, in Egyptian religion, the sun god, or Ra. When we say like Ramses, the R-A is the sun god.

So even the City of the Sun, which is at the center of Egyptian religion, will become a place of allegiance to Yahweh.

"In that day, there will be an altar to Yahweh at the center of Egypt. A monument to Yahweh. It will be a sign and a witness to Yahweh Almighty. And when Egypt cries out to Yahweh because of their oppressors, Yahweh will send a savior and defender to rescue Egypt."

So the Exodus story that set the paradigm that was for Israel in Egypt is now being universalized for the nations.

Because all the nations are caught in the web of the snake, under the oppressor. 

And so Yahweh, what Yahweh did for Israel, was always meant to be a sign and a symbol of what he is doing and wants to do for all the nations. 

"So Yahweh will reveal himself to the Egyptians. They will acknowledge Yahweh, they will worship Yahweh, just like the Israelites do. Yahweh may have struck Egypt with a plague, but his strike is to bring them to healing."

Isaiah, striking Israel to lead them to healing leads to the striking of the servant so he can become the source of healing. 

And they'll all turn to Yahweh. But here's, this is the good one. 

"In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria." So they're on opposite ends of that section of the world. And these were two places where Israel went into exile. The Assyrian exile of the northern tribes. the tribes of Joseph went into exile into Assyria. It's Judah that went to Babylon. "The Egyptians and the Assyrians will worship, you know, together." They'll have, like, a worship, good old-fashioned prayer meeting. 

 "In that day, Israel will be a third alongside with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the land. Yahweh will bless them and say, 'Blessed be Egypt, my people, Assyria, my handiwork, Israel, my inheritance.'"

All this language is very Israel-centric. The Exodus defender, the temple, the altar, the blessing. And here, it's being universalized out specifically to Egypt and Assyria, both of which are descendants from Ham in the table of nations, in the 70 in Genesis 10.

And so here we are in Genesis 48 where Egypt is adopted into the tribes of blessing. 

Verse 8. "Yaaqov saw the sons of Yoseph, and said, 'Who are these?' And Yoseph said to his father, 'Well, these are the sons that Elohim gave me in this place.' And he said, 'Ah, bring them to me please so that I can bless them.' Sorry, if you're confused right now, I should give you a piece of information, his eyes are really heavy from age and so he can't see anything." Notice how the confusion is given a delayed explanation so it's placed at the literary center. Normally we would think you give the information first so that you're not confused, but here you're confused so that the symmetry of this section can work. 

"He drew them near to him, he kissed them, he embraced them." That's what happens when the two become unified. "Yisrael said to Yoseph, 'Man, I hadn't even considered I would see your face.

Elohim has let me see even your seed.' So Yoseph brought them from upon his knees and they bowed down, faces to the ground."

Ephraim and Manasseh