Genesis 48.5-12-Jacob Adopts Ephraim and Manasseh
Tuesday April 10, 2007
Genesis: Genesis 48:5-12-Jacob Adopts Ephraim and Manasseh
Lesson # 310
Please turn in your Bibles to Genesis 48:1.
This evening we will continue with our study of Genesis 48, which is divided into four sections: (1) The introduction to Jacob blessing Joseph (48:1-2). (2) Jacob adopts Joseph’s sons in order to elevate them to the status of founding fathers (48:3-12). (3) Jacob confers blessing on Joseph who is represented by his sons with Ephraim receiving the greater blessing (48:13-20). (4) Jacob gives Joseph the portion of the land he took from the Amorites (48:21-22).
Although Jacob adopts Joseph’s two sons, giving them founding father status, which would make the total number of tribes in Israel as thirteen, the number of tribes in Israel still remained at twelve by eliminating the tribe of Levi’s territorial share (See Joshua 14:1-4).
Genesis 48-50 brings to a conclusion the story of Jacob, which began in Genesis 35 and the story of Joseph, which began in Genesis 37.
There are two significant themes recorded in Genesis 48: (1) Jacob adopts Joseph’s sons and elevates them to the status of Israelite tribes. (2) Ephraim receives a greater status over the first-born Manasseh.
Last Thursday we studied Genesis 48:1-4, which records Joseph visiting his father after being informed that he has become sick and his father in turn recalls the promises that God gave him before entering into the ceremony of adopting Joseph’s two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh.
This evening we will study Genesis 48:5-12, which records Jacob adopting Joseph’s two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh.
Genesis 48:1, “Now it came about after these things that Joseph was told, ‘Behold, your father is sick.’ So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim with him.”
Genesis 48:2, “When it was told to Jacob, ‘Behold, your son Joseph has come to you,’ Israel collected his strength and sat up in the bed.”
Genesis 48:3-4, “Then Jacob said to Joseph, ‘God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, and He said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and numerous, and I will make you a company of peoples, and will give this land to your descendants after you for an everlasting possession.’”
Genesis 48:5, “Now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are.”
“Now” is composed of the conjunction we (w+) (waw) and the adverb `attah (hT*u^) (at-taw), which is used in a logical sense demonstrating Israel’s faith and logic in adopting Joseph’s two sons.
It expresses the idea that if God assured Israel that his descendants would become a “company of peoples,” then he was justified in adopting two more sons who would contribute to the numerical growth of his people.
Joseph’s two sons were twenty years of age since Genesis 41:50 records that Joseph’s two sons were born a year before the famine and Genesis 47:28 records that Jacob lived in Egypt for seventeen years and Genesis 45:11 records that Jacob and his sons arrived in Egypt when there were five more years of famine to come.
Therefore, if Jacob lived in Egypt seventeen years and arrived in Egypt with five years remaining in the famine and Joseph’s sons were born a year before the famine, then Joseph’s sons would be twenty years of age.
Israel adopts Joseph’s two sons as his own and gives them equal standing with Joseph’s brothers as indicated by the statement “Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are.”
He was bestowing on Joseph the double portion of the birthright and was also in effect elevating Joseph to the level of himself.
The adoption of Joseph’s two sons by Israel put them on a par with Reuben and Simeon and as a result each of them would receive one portion, but in so doing Joseph received a double portion.
Joseph received the rights of the firstborn and a double portion of his father’s inheritance, which goes along with it and not Reuben who was Jacob’s firstborn since Reuben was stripped of his birthright as the firstborn because he had sex with his father’s concubine Bilhah (See Genesis 35:22; 49:3-4; 1 Chronicles 5:1).
1 Chronicles 5:1-2 speaks of the birthright being given to Joseph rather than Reuben because Reuben slept with his father’s concubine.
1 Chronicles 5:1-2, “Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel (for he was the firstborn, but because he defiled his father's bed, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph the son of Israel; so that he is not enrolled in the genealogy according to the birthright. Though Judah prevailed over his brothers, and from him came the leader, yet the birthright belonged to Joseph).”
The firstborn had a privileged status (See Genesis 43:33; 49:3) and the right of succession (2 Chronicles 21:3) and received a double portion of his father’s inheritance (Deut. 21:17).
The father’s inheritance was divided among his sons and the firstborn always has right to two of these portions.
Therefore, if there are ten sons, the firstborn receives two portions and the other nine split eight portions or if there are only two sons then the firstborn inherits everything.
As we noted in our study of Esau and Jacob, in the days of the patriarchs it was the custom of the day that the oldest son receive a double portion of the inheritance.
However, the father could change this if in his opinion it warranted it and so Jacob was perfectly within his rights to transfer the birthright from Reuben to Joseph since the latter demonstrated that he was better suited for the responsibility than the former.
The Scriptures record that the birthright was transferable where the youngest can displace the eldest as in the cases of Joseph and Judah, Reuben, and Ephraim and Manasseh, Moses and Aaron, David and his six older brothers, Solomon and Adonijah.
Israel decided to bestow the double inheritance of the firstborn directly to Joseph’s sons rather than to Joseph himself and by adopting Joseph’s sons, Israel was making them of equal rank to Simeon and Levi.
Both Ephraim and Manasseh would be counted as Israel’s two sons, which was important to understand when it came time to divide the land of Canaan since they would each receive a portion of land.
Therefore, Joseph did not become a tribe in Israel but his two sons did.
Usually, the next oldest would receive the rights of the firstborn and the double portion of the father’s inheritance but in the case of Simeon and Levi who were the next oldest, they too lost out on the firstborn status and inheritance because they were guilty of the massacre of all the men of Shechem (See Genesis 34; 49:5-6).
Therefore, we see that Joseph received this privileged status in an unusual way.
Genesis 48:1 lists Manasseh first since he was the first-born and Ephraim second and this is important since this represents Joseph’s viewpoint that by primogeniture rights the older will be greater than the younger.
However, in Genesis 48:5 the names flip flop expressing Israel’s Spirit guided intention to put Ephraim first in the blessing (See Genesis 49:19-20) and anticipating the leadership role he would have.
In the adoption ceremony, Israel would have placed the two boys by his knees, which would symbolize his giving them birth in place of Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On.
The fact that Israel adopted his grandchildren was not unusual in the days of the patriarchs and is well attested in the Bible (See Ruth 4:16-17; Esther 2:7).
Records of grandfathers adopting their grandchildren are also well attested in ancient Near Eastern documents.
Genesis 48:6, “But your offspring that have been born after them shall be yours; they shall be called by the names of their brothers in their inheritance.”
Israel’s statement “but your offspring that have been born after them (Ephraim and Manasseh) shall be yours” means that while Ephraim and Manasseh were now considered as his sons (See Numbers 26:28-37; 1 Chronicles 7:14-29), any other children Joseph might have in the future were to be considered his.
The statement “they shall be called by the names of their brothers” means that although any children born to Joseph in the future would be considered his, they would perpetuate the names of Ephraim and Manasseh and be incorporated into the tribes that bear their names (See Genesis 38:6; Deuteronomy 25:5-6).
“Inheritance” is the noun nachalah (hl*j&n^) (nakh-al-aw), which denotes some type of property, which was inalienable and within the context of Genesis 48:6 refers to the land of Canaan, which God promised to Israel.
Therefore, the prepositional phrase “in their inheritance” refers to the distribution of land among the twelve tribes of Israel.
The prepositional phrase “in their inheritance” means that Joseph’s territory in the land of Canaan would be divided into two tribes because Levi did not receive land (See Joshua 14:4), thus there was still a total of twelve tribes in Israel and not thirteen.
It means that any other children born to Joseph would not constitute separate tribal entities but rather would be incorporated into the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh and would partake of the inheritance of these two.
Genesis 48:7, “Now as for me, when I came from Paddan, Rachel died, to my sorrow, in the land of Canaan on the journey, when there was still some distance to go to Ephrath; and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).”
In Genesis 48:7, Israel gives the “reason” why he is adopting Ephraim and Manasseh.
Rachel was not only Israel’s favorite wife but she was also chosen by him whereas Leah he did not choose and neither did he choose Bilhah and Zilpah, the concubines.
Israel wanted Joseph to know that as the oldest son of Rachel, who was the one he intended to marry and not Leah, that Joseph should have the birthright with its double portion of the inheritance.
However, since the custom of the time would not ordinarily permit this, Israel found a way of blessing Joseph’s two sons.
The fact that Joseph’s two sons received the double portion of the inheritance was fully justified since Joseph delivered the entire family from starvation and was thus his by merit.
The name “Paddan” is the proper noun Paddan (/D*P^) (pad-dawn), which means “field, plain” and refers to the city of Nahor, which was founded by Abraham’s brother who named it after himself and was the place in which Laban resided and is also called in Scripture “Paddan Aram.”
The death of Rachel while giving birth to Benjamin is recorded in Genesis 35:16-20.
“Ephrath” is the proper noun `ephrathah (htrp+a#) (ef-raw-thaw), which means, “fruitful region,” which according to Genesis 35:19 is the older name of “Bethlehem.”
Genesis 48:8, “When Israel saw Joseph's sons, he said, ‘Who are these?’”
Although Israel’s eyesight was poor, his question “who are these?” does not mean he didn’t recognize Ephraim and Manasseh because he was blind since he had proposed already to adopt them by name according to Genesis 48:5.
Furthermore, it is very unlikely that Israel had never met Ephraim and Manasseh during his seventeen years in Egypt.
In fact, Israel’s question “who are these?” was the second stage of the legal adoptive process, namely, the establishment of the true identity of the candidates for adoption by formal interrogation of the natural father (Nahum Sarna, JPS Torah Commentary, Jewish Publication Society, page 327).
Israel’s question calls to mind the question at a wedding where the pastor asks the question “who gives this woman to this man?” which is not said in ignorance but as part of the ceremony.
Genesis 48:9, “Joseph said to his father, ‘They are my sons, whom God has given me here.’ So he said, ‘Bring them to me, please, that I may bless them.’”
Notice that Joseph does “not” name his sons indicating that Israel knows their names.
Joseph’s statement “They are my sons, whom God has given me here (Egypt)” demonstrates that he considered Ephraim and Manasseh as gifts from the Lord.
Psalm 127:3, “Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward.”
This statement expresses Joseph’s faith in God’s promise of numerous descendants for the patriarchs.
Israel’s statement “Bring them to me, please, that I may bless them” expresses his intention to bless Ephraim and Manasseh.
There is a touch of irony here in that in the past, we have seen that Jacob had secured his father’s blessing for himself by means of deceit whereas Joseph secures blessing for his sons by means of honesty.
“Bless” is the verb barakh (Er^B*) means, “to endue with power for success, prosperity, fecundity, longevity, etc.”
Therefore, Israel is expressing his intention to “bless” Ephraim and Manasseh in the sense that he desires that God would “endue” them “with power for success, prosperity, fecundity (offspring in large numbers) and longevity.”
Genesis 48:10, “Now the eyes of Israel were so dim from age that he could not see. Then Joseph brought them close to him, and he kissed them and embraced them.”
“Were so dim” is the verb kavedh (db@K*) (kaw-vad), which is used in a figurative sense for the eyesight of Israel being poor implying that he could see but not well.
This is indicated by Israel’s statement in Genesis 48:11 that God had let him see Joseph’s two sons, thus indicating he could see.
Therefore, a comparison of the verb kavedh, which means, “were poor” and the statement in Genesis 48:11 “God has let me see your children as well” indicates that the statement in Genesis 48:10 “he (Israel0 could not see” means that Israel “could not see well.”
Like his father Isaac, Jacob’s eyesight failed him in his old age (See Genesis 27:1).
In Genesis 48:10, Joseph’s sons are brought closer to Israel for the adoption whereas in Genesis 48:13 they are brought close to him for the blessing.
Israel kissed and embraced his two grandsons, Ephraim and Manasseh while they were between his knees according to the statement in Genesis 48:12 that Joseph took the boys from Israel’s knees after the adoption ceremony.
The fact that Israel kissed and embraced Ephraim and Manasseh was not only an expression of genuine affection for his grandchildren but it also these gestures held ritualistic significance and were a part of the adoptive process and was equivalent to saying that they were his children (See Waltke, Genesis, page 598, Zondervan).
Genesis 48:11, “Israel said to Joseph, ‘I never expected to see your face, and behold, God has let me see your children as well.’”
Israel’s two statements are an acknowledgement on his part of God’s providential care for him and his family as well as God’s grace who remained faithful to him even when he was unfaithful to God.
Israel’s statement “I have never expected to see your (Joseph’s) face” expresses his belief for many years that Joseph was dead, killed by wild animals.
Bruce K. Waltke gives an insightful comment, he writes, “The adoption ceremony begins with Joseph crediting God for his sons and ends with Jacob praising God. God blesses both father and grandfather through these boys. To Joseph they are an incredible gift after years of affliction; to Jacob they are an incredible vision after he had lost all hope of ever seeing Joseph. Joseph’s and Jacob’s reflections of God’s present blessings set the spiritual milieu for the blessings that follow.” (Genesis, page 598, Zondervan)
Genesis 48:12, “Then Joseph took them from his knees, and bowed with his face to the ground.”
The statement “Joseph took them from his knees” indicates that the adoption ceremony has ended.
The expression “from his knees” does not imply that Joseph’s twenty year old sons were sitting on the knees of Israel who was an elderly bed ridden man but rather it means that the boys had stood by their grandfather’s knees or leaned over them.
Out of great love and respect for his father and to honor him, Joseph is recorded as bowing down after removing his two sons from his father’s side.
Even though Joseph was equal to Pharaoh, he still found it appropriate to honor his father by bowing down to him.
Therefore, we see Joseph once again honoring his father with this act of respect.
Exodus 20:12, “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you.”
Ephesian 6:2, “HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER(which is the first commandment with a promise).”
Honoring your father and mother involves not only financial support if necessary but also care and concern and personal involvement with them.
Honor of parents involves providing for parents when they can no longer provide for themselves.
Proverbs 23:22, “Listen to your father who begot you, and do not despise your mother when she is old.”
Just as parents spend twenty or so years taking care of and providing for their children, so their children are to spend whatever time and money necessary to care and provide for their parents should the parents be no longer able to do so for themselves.