the Third Week after Easter
Click here to learn more!
Read the Bible
New King James Version
Genesis 48:21
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
- Nave'sDictionaries:
- AmericanEncyclopedias:
- CondensedDevotionals:
- Faith'sParallel Translations
Yisra'el said to Yosef, "Behold, I am dying, but God will be with you, and bring you again to the land of your fathers.
And Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I die: but God shall be with you, and bring you again unto the land of your fathers.
And Israel said to Joseph, "Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you back to the land of your ancestors.
Then Israel said to Joseph, "Look at me; I am about to die. But God will be with you and will take you back to the land of your fathers.
Then Israel said to Joseph, "I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you back to the land of your fathers.
Then Israel said to Joseph, "Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you, and bring you back to [Canaan] the land of your fathers.
Then Israel said to Joseph, "Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you, and bring you back to the land of your fathers.
Then Israel said vnto Ioseph, Behold, I die, and God shall be with you, and bring you againe vnto the land of your fathers.
Then Israel said to Joseph, "Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you back to the land of your fathers.
After that, Jacob said, "Joseph, you can see that I won't live much longer. But God will be with you and will lead you back to the land he promised our family long ago.
Isra'el then said to Yosef, "You see that I am dying, but God will be with you and will bring you back to the land of your ancestors.
And Israel said to Joseph, Behold, I die; and God will be with you, and bring you again to the land of your fathers.
Then Israel said to Joseph, "Look, my time to die is almost here, but God will still be with you. He will lead you back to the land of your ancestors.
Then Israel said to Joseph, "Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you again to the land of your fathers.
Then Israel said to Joseph, Behold, I am dying, but God shall be with you, and bring you again to the land of your fathers.
Then Jacob said to Joseph, "As you see, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will take you back to the land of your ancestors.
Israel said to Joseph, “Look, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you back to the land of your fathers.
And Israel said to Joseph, See, I am dying; and God will be with you, and will return you to the land of your fathers.
And Israel saide vnto Ioseph: Beholde, I dye, & God shall be wt you, & brynge you agayne in to ye lande of youre fathers.
And Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I die: but God will be with you, and bring you again unto the land of your fathers.
Then Israel said to Joseph, Now my death is near; but God will be with you, guiding you back to the land of your fathers.
And Israel said vnto Ioseph: behold I dye, & God shalbe with you, & bryng you againe vnto ye land of your fathers.
And Israel said unto Joseph: 'Behold, I die; but God will be with you, and bring you back unto the land of your fathers.
And Israel saide vnto Ioseph, Behold, I die: but God shall be with you, and bring you againe vnto the land of your fathers.
And Israel said to Joseph, Behold, I die; and God shall be with you, and restore you to the land of your fathers.
And Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I die: but God shall be with you, and bring you again unto the land of your fathers.
Then Israel said to Joseph, "Look, I am about to die, but God will be with you and bring you back to the land of your fathers.
and seide to Joseph, his sone, Lo! Y die, and God schal be with you, and schal lede you ayen to the lond of youre fadris;
And Israel saith unto Joseph, `Lo, I am dying, and God hath been with you, and hath brought you back unto the land of your fathers;
And Israel said to Joseph, Look, I die: but God will be with you, and bring you again to the land of your fathers.
And Israel said to Joseph, Behold, I die; but God shall be with you, and bring you again to the land of your fathers.
Israel said to Joseph, "Behold, I am dying, but God will be with you, and bring you again to the land of your fathers.
Then Jacob said to Joseph, "Look, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will take you back to Canaan, the land of your ancestors.
Then Israel said to Joseph, "See, I am about to die. But God will be with you. He will return you to the land of your fathers.
Then Israel said to Joseph, "I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you again to the land of your ancestors.
And Israel said unto Joseph: Lo! I, am about to die, - but it shall come to pass that, God will be with you, and will take you back into the land of your fathers.
And he said to Joseph, his son: Behold I die, and God will be with you, and will bring you back into the land of your fathers.
Then Israel said to Joseph, "Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you, and will bring you again to the land of your fathers.
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."
Then Israel said to Joseph, "Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you, and bring you back to the land of your fathers.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
Behold: Genesis 50:24, 1 Kings 2:2-4, Psalms 146:3, Psalms 146:4, Zechariah 1:5, Zechariah 1:6, Luke 2:29, Acts 13:36, 2 Timothy 4:6, Hebrews 7:3, Hebrews 7:8, Hebrews 7:23-25, 2 Peter 1:14
God: Genesis 15:14, Genesis 28:15, Genesis 46:4, Deuteronomy 1:1-46, Deuteronomy 31:8, Joshua 1:5, Joshua 1:9, Joshua 3:7, Joshua 23:14, Joshua 24:1-33, Psalms 18:46
land: Genesis 12:5, Genesis 26:3, Genesis 37:1
Reciprocal: Genesis 27:2 - I know not Genesis 50:5 - I die Genesis 50:6 - as he made Exodus 13:19 - God Numbers 14:9 - the Lord Deuteronomy 31:3 - thy God 2 Samuel 19:37 - I may die Hebrews 9:17 - General Hebrews 11:13 - all died
Cross-References
Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother's son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan.
And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions.
Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father.
Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you."
Now Jacob dwelt in the land where his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan.
I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again; and Joseph will put his hand on your eyes."
Hebrews 11:21">[xr] Now it came to pass after these things that Joseph was told, "Indeed your father is sick"; and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
And Jacob was told, "Look, your son Joseph is coming to you"; and Israel strengthened himself and sat up on the bed.
Then Jacob said to Joseph: "God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me,
and said to me, "Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make of you a multitude of people, and give this land to your descendants after you as an everlasting possession.'
Gill's Notes on the Bible
And Israel said unto Joseph, behold, I die,.... Expected to die very shortly; and he not only speaks of it as a certain thing, and what would quickly be, but with pleasure and comfort, having no fear and dread of it on him, but as what was agreeable to him, and he had made himself familiar with:
but God shall be with you; with Joseph and his posterity, and with all his brethren, and theirs, to comfort and support them, to guide and counsel them, to protect and defend them, to carry them through all they had to endure in Egypt, and at length bring them out of it; he signifies he was departing from them, but God would not depart from them, whose presence would be infinitely more to them than his; and which, as it made him the more easy to leave them, so it might make them more easy to part with him:
and bring you again unto the land of your fathers; the land of Canaan, where their fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, had dwelt, and which was given to them and theirs for an inheritance, and where Joseph and his brethren had lived, and would be brought thither again, as the bones of Joseph were, and as all of them in their posterity were in Joshua's time.
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 fatherâs house, even after he had been sold into slavery by his brethren. He has therefore, undeniable claims to this part of the first-bornâs rights.
Genesis 48:1-7
After these things. - After the arrangements concerning the funeral, recorded in the chapter. âMenasseh and Ephraim.â They seem to have accompanied their father from respectful affection to their aged relative. âIsrael strengthened himselfâ - summoned his remaining powers for the interview, which was now to him an effort. âGod Almighty appeared unto me at Luz.â 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. âAnd now thy sons.â 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. âAnd thy issue.â 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. âRachel died upon meâ - as a heavy affliction falling upon me. The presence of Joseph naturally leads the fatherâs 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. âWho are these?â The sight and the observant faculties of the patriarch were now failing. âBring them now unto me, and I will bless them.â 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. âThe God before whom walked my fathers,â 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. âThe God, who fed me from my being unto this day,â 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. âThe Angel that redeemed me from all evil,â 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. âBless the lads.â The word bless is in the singular number. For Jacobâs threefold periphrasis is intended to describe the one God who wills, works, and wards. âAnd let my name be put upon them.â 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. âLet them grow into a multitude.â 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. âHis seed shall be the fullness of the nations.â 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, ש××× shekem, Shekem, a shoulder or tract of land. This region included âthe parcel of the field where he had spread his tentâ 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 Josephâs 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 48:21. Behold, I die — With what composure is this most awful word expressed! Surely of Jacob it might be now said, "He turns his sight undaunted on the tomb;" for though it is not said that he was full of days, as were Abraham and Isaac, yet he is perfectly willing to bid adieu to earthly things, and lay his body in the grave. Could any person act as the patriarchs did in their last moments, who had no hopes of eternal life, no belief in the immortality of the soul? Impossible! With such a conviction of the being of God, with such proofs of his tenderness and regard, with such experience of his providential and miraculous interference in their behalf, could they suppose that they were only creatures of a day, and that God had wasted so much care, attention, providence, grace, and goodness, on creatures who were to be ultimately like the beasts that perish? The supposition that they could have no correct notion of the immortality of the soul is as dishonourable to God as to themselves. But what shall we think of Christians who have formed this hypothesis into a system to prove what? Why, that the patriarchs lived and died in the dark! That either the soul has no immortality, or that God has not thought proper to reveal it. Away with such an opinion! It cannot be said to merit serious refutation.
