Genesis 48

## Summary Genesis 48 narrates Jacob's (Israel's) final blessing of Joseph's two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, in Egypt. Jacob adopts the two grandsons as his own, recalls God's promise at Luz, and — despite Joseph's objection — deliberately places his right hand on the younger Ephraim rather than the firstborn Manasseh, declaring that the younger will become greater. ## Key words - *bekhor* ("firstborn", H1060) — used in verses 14 and 18 to mark Manasseh's legal status; the term itself never changes, even as the narrative shows the blessing order diverging from birth order. - *yamin* ("right [hand]", H3225G) — repeated in vv.13-14, 17-18; the right hand's placement is the physical marker of primary blessing, and its arrangement is described as *sikkel* ("he laid cross-wise", H7919B, piel), a distinct verb form emphasizing the deliberate crossing of the arms. - *tzair* ("young", H6810, adjective) — applied to Ephraim in v.14, explicitly contrasted with *bekhor* applied to Manasseh, so the text names both statuses side by side in the same verse. - *yigdal* ("he will become great", H1431, qal imperfect) — used twice in v.19, once for Manasseh ("he too will become great") and once for the "younger brother" (*ha-qaton*, H6996H) who "will become great more than him" (*mimennu*, H4480A), the comparative construction carrying the reversal. - *higgesh* ("he brought near", H5066H, hiphil) — occurs in vv.10 and 13, marking the physical staging: Joseph brings the boys near for the blind Jacob to touch and position them. ## What the text says The Hebrew narrative in vv.13-14 sets up a spatial arrangement before the verbal blessing: Joseph positions Ephraim at his own right, opposite Israel's left, and Manasseh at his own left, opposite Israel's right — matching birth order. But Israel's action is described with *shalach* ("he stretched out", H7971K) his right hand, and the verb *sikkel* ("he laid cross-wise") specifies that he crossed his arms to place the right hand on Ephraim, who is identified parenthetically as *ha-tzair* ("the young [one]"), and the left on Manasseh, identified by the causal clause *ki Menashsheh ha-bekhor* ("for Manasseh [was] the firstborn"). The grammar explicitly juxtaposes the physical crossing of the hands with the stated birth-order fact, so the text itself flags the action as contrary to expectation before Joseph reacts. In v.19 Jacob's reply to Joseph's correction uses two parallel qal imperfect clauses — "he too will become a people... he too will become great" (*gam-hu yihyeh-le-'am... gam-hu yigdal*) — applied to Manasseh, followed by a contrastive clause introduced by *ve-ulam* ("but", H0199) stating that "his younger brother" (*achiv ha-qaton*) "will become great more than him" (*yigdal mimennu*). The comparative preposition *min* ("more than") is the grammatical element carrying the ranking between the two. ## Differences between versions In v.14, the LXX renders the Hebrew *sikkel et-yadav* ("he laid his hands cross-wise") with ἐναλλὰξ τὰς χεῖρας ("interchanging the hands"), conveying the same crossing action without a single-word equivalent to the Hebrew piel verb. In v.16 the Hebrew *ha-mal'akh ha-go'el* ("the angel/messenger who redeems") is rendered in the LXX as ὁ ἄγγελος ὁ ῥυόμενος ("the angel who rescues") and in the Vulgate as *angelus qui eruit* ("the angel who delivered"), both translating *go'el* (H1350A, "redeem/deliver") with verbs of rescue rather than a technical kinship-redemption term.