the Sunday after Christmas
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THE MESSAGE
Genesis 48:9
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
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- CondensedParallel Translations
Yosef said to his father, "They are my sons, whom God has given me here." He said, "Please bring them to me, and I will bless them."
And Joseph said unto his father, They are my sons, whom God hath given me in this place. And he said, Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will bless them.
Then Joseph said to his father, "They are my sons whom God has given me here." And he said, "Please bring them to me that I may bless them."
Joseph said to his father, "They are my sons that God has given me here in Egypt." Israel said, "Bring your sons to me so I may bless them."
Joseph said to his father, "They are the sons God has given me in this place." His father said, "Bring them to me so I may bless them."
Joseph said to his father, "They are my sons, whom God has given me here [in Egypt]." So he said, "Please bring them to me, so that I may bless them."
And Joseph said to his father, "They are my sons, whom God has given me here." So he said, "Bring them to me, please, so that I may bless them."
And Ioseph sayd vnto his father, They are my sonnes, which God hath giuen mee here. Then he sayd, I pray thee, bring them to me, that I may blesse them:
And 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."
Yosef answered his father, "They are my sons, whom God has given me here." Ya‘akov replied, "I want you to bring them here to me, so that I can bless them."
And Joseph said to his father, They are my sons, whom God has given me here. And he said, Bring them, I pray thee, to me, that I may bless them.
Joseph said to his father, "These are my sons. These are the boys God gave me." Israel said, "Bring your sons to me. I will bless them."
Joseph said to his father, "They are my sons, whom God has given me here." And he said, "Bring them to me, please, that I may bless them."
And Joseph said to his father, They are my sons whom God has given me in this place. And he said, Bring them near me, and I will bless them.
Joseph answered, "These are my sons, whom God has given me here in Egypt." Jacob said, "Bring them to me so that I may bless them."
And Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons God has given me here.”
And Joseph said to his father, They are my sons, whom God has given to me here. And he said, Now bring them to me and I will bless them.
Ioseph answered: They are my sonnes, which God hath geuen me here. He sayde: Brynge the hither to me, yt I maye blesse the.
And Joseph said unto his father, They are my sons, whom God hath given me here. And he said, Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will bless them.
And Joseph said to his father, They are my sons, whom God has given me in this land. And he said, Let them come near me, and I will give them a blessing.
Ioseph sayde vnto his father: They are my sonnes whiche God hath geuen me here. And he sayde: Oh bring them to me, and let me blesse them.
And Joseph said unto his father: 'They are my sons, whom God hath given me here.' And he said: 'Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will bless them.'
And Ioseph said vnto his father, They are my sonnes, whom God hath giuen me in this place: and he said, Bring them, I pray thee, vnto me, and I will blesse them.
And Joseph said to his father, They are my sons, whom God gave me here; and Jacob said, Bring me them, that I may bless them.
And Joseph said unto his father, They are my sons, whom God hath given me here. And he said, Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will bless them.
Joseph said to his father, "They are the sons God has given me in this place." So Jacob said, "Please bring them to me, that I may bless them."
He answeride, Thei ben my sones, whiche God yaf to me in this place. Jacob seide, Brynge hem to me that Y blesse hem.
and Joseph saith unto his father, `They [are] my sons, whom God hath given to me in this [place];' and he saith, `Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I bless them.'
And Joseph said to his father, They are my sons, whom God has given me here. And he said, Bring them, I pray you, to me, and I will bless them.
And Joseph said to his father, They [are] my sons, whom God hath given me in this [place]. And he said, Bring them, I pray thee, to me, and I will bless them.
Joseph said to his father, "They are my sons, whom God has given me here." He said, "Please bring them to me, and I will bless them."
Joseph said to his father, "They are my sons, whom God has given me in this place." And he said, "Please bring them to me, and I will bless them."
"Yes," Joseph told him, "these are the sons God has given me here in Egypt." And Jacob said, "Bring them closer to me, so I can bless them."
Joseph said to his father, "They are my sons, whom God has given me here." So Israel said, "Bring them to me, so I may pray that good will come to them."
Joseph said to his father, "They are my sons, whom God has given me here." And he said, "Bring them to me, please, that I may bless them."
And Joseph said unto his father, My sons, they are, whom God hath given me, in this place. And he said - Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, that I may bless them.
He answered: They are my sons, whom God hath given me in this place. And he said: Bring them to me, that I may bless them.
Joseph said to his father, "They are my sons, whom God has given me here." And he said, "Bring them to me, I pray you, that I may bless them."
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."
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
my sons: Genesis 30:2, Genesis 33:5, Ruth 4:11-14, 1 Samuel 1:20, 1 Samuel 1:27, 1 Samuel 2:20, 1 Samuel 2:21, 1 Chronicles 25:5, 1 Chronicles 26:4, 1 Chronicles 26:5, Psalms 127:3, Isaiah 8:18, Isaiah 56:3-5
bless them: Genesis 27:4, Genesis 27:28, Genesis 27:29, Genesis 27:34-40, Genesis 28:3, Genesis 28:4, Genesis 49:28, Deuteronomy 33:1, Hebrews 11:21
Reciprocal: Genesis 14:19 - he blessed Deuteronomy 33:13 - Joseph Matthew 19:13 - brought Luke 24:50 - he lifted Hebrews 2:13 - which
Cross-References
Jacob got angry with Rachel and said, "Am I God? Am I the one who refused you babies?"
Then Esau looked around and saw the women and children: "And who are these with you?" Jacob said, "The children that God saw fit to bless me with."
Jacob said to Joseph, "The Strong God appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me. He said, ‘I'm going to make you prosperous and numerous, turn you into a congregation of tribes; and I'll turn this land over to your children coming after you as a permanent inheritance.' I'm adopting your two sons who were born to you here in Egypt before I joined you; they have equal status with Reuben and Simeon. But any children born after them are yours; they will come after their brothers in matters of inheritance. I want it this way because, as I was returning from Paddan, your mother Rachel, to my deep sorrow, died as we were on our way through Canaan when we were only a short distance from Ephrath, now called Bethlehem."
Israel then said to Joseph, "I'm about to die. God be with you and give you safe passage back to the land of your fathers. As for me, I'm presenting you, as the first among your brothers, the ridge of land I took from Amorites with my sword and bow."
All these are the tribes of Israel, the twelve tribes. And this is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each one with his own special farewell blessing.
Moses, man of God, blessed the People of Israel with this blessing before his death. He said, God came down from Sinai, he dawned from Seir upon them; He radiated light from Mount Paran, coming with ten thousand holy angels And tongues of fire streaming from his right hand. Oh, how you love the people, all his holy ones are palmed in your left hand. They sit at your feet, honoring your teaching, The Revelation commanded by Moses, as the assembly of Jacob's inheritance. Thus God became king in Jeshurun as the leaders and tribes of Israel gathered.
Before the year was out, Hannah had conceived and given birth to a son. She named him Samuel, explaining, "I asked God for him."
Hannah Pours Out Her Heart to God There once was a man who lived in Ramathaim. He was descended from the old Zuph family in the Ephraim hills. His name was Elkanah. (He was connected with the Zuphs from Ephraim through his father Jeroham, his grandfather Elihu, and his great-grandfather Tohu.) He had two wives. The first was Hannah; the second was Peninnah. Peninnah had children; Hannah did not. Every year this man went from his hometown up to Shiloh to worship and offer a sacrifice to God -of-the-Angel-Armies. Eli and his two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, served as the priests of God there. When Elkanah sacrificed, he passed helpings from the sacrificial meal around to his wife Peninnah and all her children, but he always gave an especially generous helping to Hannah because he loved her so much, and because God had not given her children. But her rival wife taunted her cruelly, rubbing it in and never letting her forget that God had not given her children. This went on year after year. Every time she went to the sanctuary of God she could expect to be taunted. Hannah was reduced to tears and had no appetite. Her husband Elkanah said, "Oh, Hannah, why are you crying? Why aren't you eating? And why are you so upset? Am I not of more worth to you than ten sons?" So Hannah ate. Then she pulled herself together, slipped away quietly, and entered the sanctuary. The priest Eli was on duty at the entrance to God 's Temple in the customary seat. Crushed in soul, Hannah prayed to God and cried and cried—inconsolably. Then she made a vow: Oh, God -of-the-Angel-Armies, If you'll take a good, hard look at my pain, If you'll quit neglecting me and go into action for me By giving me a son, I'll give him completely, unreservedly to you. I'll set him apart for a life of holy discipline. It so happened that as she continued in prayer before God , Eli was watching her closely. Hannah was praying in her heart, silently. Her lips moved, but no sound was heard. Eli jumped to the conclusion that she was drunk. He approached her and said, "You're drunk! How long do you plan to keep this up? Sober up, woman!" Hannah said, "Oh no, sir—please! I'm a woman hard used. I haven't been drinking. Not a drop of wine or beer. The only thing I've been pouring out is my heart, pouring it out to God . Don't for a minute think I'm a bad woman. It's because I'm so desperately unhappy and in such pain that I've stayed here so long." Eli answered her, "Go in peace. And may the God of Israel give you what you have asked of him." "Think well of me—and pray for me!" she said, and went her way. Then she ate heartily, her face radiant. Up before dawn, they worshiped God and returned home to Ramah. Elkanah slept with Hannah his wife, and God began making the necessary arrangements in response to what she had asked. Before the year was out, Hannah had conceived and given birth to a son. She named him Samuel, explaining, "I asked God for him." When Elkanah next took his family on their annual trip to Shiloh to worship God , offering sacrifices and keeping his vow, Hannah didn't go. She told her husband, "After the child is weaned, I'll bring him myself and present him before God —and that's where he'll stay, for good." Elkanah said to his wife, "Do what you think is best. Stay home until you have weaned him. Yes! Let God complete what he has begun!" So she did. She stayed home and nursed her son until she had weaned him. Then she took him up to Shiloh, bringing also the makings of a generous sacrificial meal—a prize bull, flour, and wine. The child was so young to be sent off! They first butchered the bull, then brought the child to Eli. Hannah said, "Excuse me, sir. Would you believe that I'm the very woman who was standing before you at this very spot, praying to God ? I prayed for this child, and God gave me what I asked for. And now I have dedicated him to God . He's dedicated to God for life." Then and there, they worshiped God .
Don't you see that children are God 's best gift? the fruit of the womb his generous legacy? Like a warrior's fistful of arrows are the children of a vigorous youth. Oh, how blessed are you parents, with your quivers full of children! Your enemies don't stand a chance against you; you'll sweep them right off your doorstep.
By an act of faith, Jacob on his deathbed blessed each of Joseph's sons in turn, blessing them with God's blessing, not his own—as he bowed worshipfully upon his staff.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
And Joseph said unto his father, they [are] my sons, whom God hath given me in this [place],.... In the land of Egypt; he accounts his sons as the gifts of God, as children are, Psalms 127:3; and it was not only a sentiment of the Jews, that children are the gift of God; hence the names of Mattaniah, Nathaniel, c. but of Heathens, as the Greeks and Romans, among whom are frequent the names of men which show it, as Theodorus, Deodatus, Apollodorus, Artemidorus, &c.
and he said, bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will bless them not in a common way, barely wishing them prosperity and happiness, but as a patriarch and prophet, under the influence and inspiration of the Spirit of God, declaring what would befall them, and what blessings they should be partakers of, in time to come.
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.
