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THE MESSAGE
Genesis 48:18
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
- Nave'sDictionaries:
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- CondensedParallel Translations
Yosef said to his father, "Not so, my father; for this is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head."
And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head.
And Joseph said to his father, "Not so, my father; because this one is the firstborn. Put your right hand upon his head."
Joseph said to his father, "You are doing it wrong, Father. Manasseh is the firstborn son. Put your right hand on his head."
Joseph said to his father, "Not so, my father, for this is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head."
Joseph said to his father, "Not so, my father, for this is the firstborn; place your right hand on Manasseh's head."
And Joseph said to his father, "Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn. Place your right hand on his head."
And Ioseph sayde vnto his father, Not so, my father, for this is the eldest: put thy right hand vpon his head.
And Joseph said to his father, "Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn. Place your right hand on his head."
Joseph said, "Father, you have made a mistake. This is the older boy. Put your right hand on him."
Yosef said to his father, "Don't do it that way, my father; for this one is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head."
And Joseph said to his father, Not so, my father, for this is the firstborn: put thy right hand on his head.
Joseph said to his father, "You have your right hand on the wrong boy. Manasseh is the firstborn. Put your right hand on him."
And Joseph said to his father, "Not this way, my father; since this one is the firstborn, put your right hand on his head."
And Joseph said to his father, Not so, my father; for this is the first-born; put your right hand upon his head.
He said to his father, "Not that way, father. This is the older boy; put your right hand on his head."
Joseph said to his father, “Not that way, my father! This one is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head.”
And Joseph said to his father, Not so, my father! For this one is the first-born; put your right hand on his head.
& sayde vnto him: Not so my father, this is ye firstborne, laye yi right hade vpo his heade.
And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father; for this is the first-born; put thy right hand upon his head.
And Joseph said to his father, Not so, my father, for this is the older; put your right hand on his head.
And Ioseph sayde vnto his father, Not so my father, for this is the first borne: put thy right hande vpon his head.
And Joseph said unto his father: 'Not so, my father, for this is the first-born; put thy right hand upon his head.'
And Ioseph saide vnto his father, Not so my father: for this is the first borne; put thy right hand vpon his head.
And Joseph said to his father, Not so, father; for this is the first-born; lay thy right-hand upon his head.
And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head.
"Not so, my father!" Joseph said. "This one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head."
And he seide to the fadir, Fadir, it acordith not so; for this is the firste gendrid; sette thi riyt hond on the heed `of hym.
and Joseph saith unto his father, `Not so, my father, for this [is] the first-born; set thy right hand on his head.'
And Joseph said to his father, Not so, my father; for this is the first-born; put your right hand on his head.
And Joseph said to his father, Not so, my father; for this [is] the first-born; put thy right hand upon his head.
Joseph said to his father, "Not so, my father; for this is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head."
And Joseph said to his father, "Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head."
"No, my father," he said. "This one is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head."
Joseph said to his father, "Not this way, my father, for this one is the first-born. Place your right hand on his head."
Joseph said to his father, "Not so, my father! Since this one is the firstborn, put your right hand on his head."
And Joseph said unto his father - Not so, my father! for, this, is the firstborn, lay thy right hand upon his head.
And he said to his father: It should not be so, my father; for this is the firstborn, put thy right hand upon his head.
And Joseph said to his father, "Not so, my father; for this one is the first-born; put your right hand upon his head."
Joseph said to his father, "Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn. Place your right hand on his head."
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
Not so: Genesis 19:18, Exodus 10:11, Matthew 25:9, Acts 10:14, Acts 11:8
for this: Genesis 27:15, Genesis 29:26, Genesis 43:33, Genesis 49:3
Reciprocal: Genesis 41:51 - called Genesis 48:14 - firstborn Joshua 17:1 - the firstborn
Cross-References
But Lot protested, "No, masters, you can't mean it! I know that you've taken a liking to me and have done me an immense favor in saving my life, but I can't run for the mountains—who knows what terrible thing might happen to me in the mountains and leave me for dead. Look over there—that town is close enough to get to. It's a small town, hardly anything to it. Let me escape there and save my life—it's a mere wide place in the road."
Rebekah took the dress-up clothes of her older son Esau and put them on her younger son Jacob. She took the goatskins and covered his hands and the smooth nape of his neck. Then she placed the hearty meal she had fixed and fresh bread she'd baked into the hands of her son Jacob.
"We don't do it that way in our country," said Laban. "We don't marry off the younger daughter before the older. Enjoy your week of honeymoon, and then we'll give you the other one also. But it will cost you another seven years of work."
Reuben, you're my firstborn, my strength, first proof of my manhood, at the top in honor and at the top in power, But like a bucket of water spilled, you'll be at the top no more, Because you climbed into your father's marriage bed, mounting that couch, and you defiled it.
"They answered, ‘There might not be enough to go around; go buy your own.'
Peter said, "Oh, no, Lord. I've never so much as tasted food that was not kosher."
Gill's Notes on the Bible
And Joseph said unto his father, not so, my father,.... It is not right, it should not so be, that the right hand should be put on the youngest, and the left hand on the eldest;
for this [is] the firstborn; directing him to Manasseh, and seeking to guide his hand towards him:
put thy right hand upon his head; Joseph was for proceeding according to the order of birthright, but Jacob was directed by a spirit of prophecy, as follows.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
- Joseph Visits His Sick Father
The right of primogeniture has been forfeited by Reuben. The double portion in the inheritance is now transferred to Joseph. He is the first-born of her who was intended by Jacob to be his first and only wife. He has also been the means of saving all his father’s house, even after he had been sold into slavery by his brethren. He has therefore, undeniable claims to this part of the first-born’s rights.
Genesis 48:1-7
After these things. - After the arrangements concerning the funeral, recorded in the chapter. “Menasseh and Ephraim.” They seem to have accompanied their father from respectful affection to their aged relative. “Israel strengthened himself” - summoned his remaining powers for the interview, which was now to him an effort. “God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz.” From the terms of the blessing received it is evident that Jacob here refers to the last appearance of God to him at Bethel Genesis 35:11. “And now thy sons.” After referring to the promise of a numerous offspring, and of a territory which they are to inherit, he assigns to each of the two sons of Joseph, who were born in Egypt, a place among his own sons, and a separate share in the promised land. In this way two shares fall to Joseph. “And thy issue.” We are not informed whether Joseph had any other sons. But all such are to be reckoned in the two tribes of which Ephraim and Menasseh are the heads. These young men are now at least twenty and nineteen years of age, as they were born before the famine commenced. Any subsequent issue that Joseph might have, would be counted among the generations of their children. “Rachel died upon me” - as a heavy affliction falling upon me. The presence of Joseph naturally leads the father’s thoughts to Rachel, the beloved mother of his beloved son, whose memory he honors in giving a double portion to her oldest son.
Genesis 48:8-16
He now observes and proceeds to bless the two sons of Joseph. “Who are these?” The sight and the observant faculties of the patriarch were now failing. “Bring them now unto me, and I will bless them.” Jacob is seated on the couch, and the young men approach him. He kisses and folds his arms around them. The comforts of his old age come up before his mind. He had not expected to see Joseph again in the flesh, and now God had showed him his seed. After these expressions of parental fondness, Joseph drew them back from between his knees, that he might present them in the way that was distinctive of their age. He then bowed with his face to the earth, in reverential acknowledgment of the act of worship about to be performed. Joseph expected the blessing to be regulated by the age of his sons, and is therefore, careful to present them so that the right hand of his dim-sighted parent may, without any effort, rest on the head of his first-born. But the venerable patriarch, guided by the Spirit of him who doth according to his own will, designedly lays his right hand on the head of the younger, and thereby attributes to him the greater blessing.
The imposition of the hand is a primitive custom which here for the first time comes into notice. It is the natural mode of marking out the object of the benediction, signifying its conveyance to the individual, and implying that it is laid upon him as the destiny of his life. It may be done by either hand; but when each is laid on a different object, as in the present case, it may denote that the higher blessing is conveyed by the right hand. The laying on of both hands on one person may express the fulness of the blessing conveyed, or the fullness of the desire with which it is conveyed.
Genesis 48:15-16
And he blessed Joseph. - In blessing his seed he blesses himself. In exalting his two sons into the rank and right of his brothers, he bestows upon them the double portion of the first-born. In the terms of the blessing Jacob first signalizes the threefold function which the Lord discharges in effecting the salvation of a sinner. “The God before whom walked my fathers,” is the Author of salvation, the Judge who dispenses justice and mercy, the Father, before whom the adopted and regenerate child walks. From him salvation comes, to him the saved returns, to walk before him and be perfect. “The God, who fed me from my being unto this day,” is the Creator and Upholder of life, the Quickener and Sanctifier, the potential Agent, who works both to will and to do in the soul. “The Angel that redeemed me from all evil,” is the all-sufficient Friend, who wards off evil by himself satisfying the demands of justice and resisting the devices of malice. There is a beautiful propriety of feeling in Jacob ascribing to his fathers the walking before God, while he thankfully acknowledges the grace of the Quickener and Justifier to himself. The Angel is explicitly applied to the Supreme Being in this ministerial function. The God is the emphatic description of the true, living God, as contradistinguished from all false gods. “Bless the lads.” The word bless is in the singular number. For Jacob’s threefold periphrasis is intended to describe the one God who wills, works, and wards. “And let my name be put upon them.” Let them be counted among my immediate sons, and let them be related to Abraham and Isaac, as my other sons are. This is the only thing that is special in the blessing. “Let them grow into a multitude.” The word grow in the original refers to the spawning or extraordinary increase of the finny tribe. The after history of Ephraim and Menasseh will be found to correspond with this special prediction.
Genesis 48:17-22
Joseph presumes that his father has gone astray through dulness of perception, and endeavors to rectify his mistake. He finds, however, that on the other hand a supernatural vision is now conferred on his parent, who is fully conscious of what he is about, and therefore, abides by his own act. Ephraim is to be greater than Menasseh. Joshua, the successor of Moses, was of the tribe of Ephraim, as Kaleb his companion was of Judah. Ephraim came to designate the northern kingdom of the ten tribes, as Judah denoted the southern kingdom containing the remaining tribes; and each name was occasionally used to denote all Israel, with a special reference to the prominent part. “His seed shall be the fullness of the nations.” This denotes not only the number but the completeness of his race, and accords with the future pre-eminence of his tribe. In thee, in Joseph, who is still identified with his offspring.
At the point of death Jacob expresses his assurance of the return of his posterity to the land of promise, and bestows on Joseph one share or piece of ground above his brethren, which, says he, I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow. This share is, in the original, שׁכם shekem, Shekem, a shoulder or tract of land. This region included “the parcel of the field where he had spread his tent” Genesis 33:19. It refers to the whole territory of Shekem, which was conquered by his sword and his bow, inasmuch as the city itself was sacked, and its inhabitants put to the sword by his sons at the head of his armed retainers, though without his approval Genesis 34:0. Though he withdrew immediately after to Bethel Genesis 35:0, yet he neither fled nor relinquished possession of this conquest, as we find his sons feeding his flocks there when he himself was residing at Hebron Genesis 37:13. The incidental conquest of such a tract was no more at variance with the subsequent acquisition of the whole country than the purchase of a field by Abraham or a parcel of ground by Jacob himself. In accordance with this gift Joseph’s bones were deposited in Shekem, after the conquest of the whole land by returning Israel. The territory of Shekem was probably not equal in extent to that of Ephraim, but was included within its bounds.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Genesis 48:18. Joseph said - Not so, my father — Joseph supposed that his father had made a mistake in laying his right hand on the head of the youngest, because the right hand was considered as the most noble, and the instrument of conveying the highest dignities, and thus it has ever been considered among all nations, though the reason of it is not particularly obvious. Even in the heavens the right hand of God is the place of the most exalted dignity. It has been observed that Joseph spoke here as he was moved by natural affection, and that Jacob acted as he was influenced by the Holy Spirit.
