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Genesis 48

Jacob passes the ancestral promise to Joseph’s sons, placing Ephraim first and grounding their future in God’s enduring care.

Joseph brings Manasseh and Ephraim to his sick father, Jacob, who gathers his strength and sits up in bed. Jacob recalls God’s promise at Luz and claims Joseph’s two sons as his own, giving them a place in the family inheritance. He then crosses his hands to give the younger Ephraim the greater blessing, despite Joseph’s objection. As death approaches, Jacob speaks of God’s care throughout his life and promises that God will bring the family back to their land.

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1After these things, someone said to Joseph, “Behold, your father is sick.” He took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
2Someone told Jacob, and said, “Behold, your son Joseph comes to you,” and Israel strengthened himself, and sat on the bed.
3Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me,
4and said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful, and multiply you, and I will make of you a company of peoples, and will give this land to your offspring after you for an everlasting possession.’
5Now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you into Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh, even as Reuben and Simeon, will be mine.
7As for me, when I came from Paddan, Rachel died beside me in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was still some distance to come to Ephrath, and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (also called Bethlehem).”
9Joseph 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.”
10Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he couldn’t see well. Joseph brought them near to him; and he kissed them, and embraced them.
11Israel said to Joseph, “I didn’t think I would see your face, and behold, God has let me see your offspring also.”
12Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth.
14Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it on Ephraim’s head, who was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, guiding his hands knowingly, for Manasseh was the firstborn.
15He blessed Joseph, and said, “The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has fed me all my life long to this day,
16the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads, and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac. Let them grow into a multitude upon the earth.”
17When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him. He held up his father’s hand, to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head.
18Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head.”
19His father refused, and said, “I know, my son, I know. He also will become a people, and he also will be great. However, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his offspring will become a multitude of nations.”
20He blessed them that day, saying, “Israel will bless in your name, saying, ‘God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh’” He set Ephraim before Manasseh.
21Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am dying, but God will be with you, and bring you again to the land of your fathers.
22Moreover I have given to you one portion above your brothers, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.”
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Key verses
Genesis 48:16Jacob asks that the deliverance he has known extend to these boys, who now bear the ancestral name and promise.
Genesis 48:15At the end of his life, Jacob grounds his blessing in the God who sustained him and guided his fathers.
Genesis 48:3Jacob’s account of God’s appearance at Luz establishes the divine promise behind his adoption and blessing of Joseph’s sons.
Where this chapter reaches

Hebrews recalls Jacob blessing Joseph’s sons as an act of faith near death, sharing this scene’s confidence in God’s promised future. 1 Chronicles identifies Joseph’s sons with the birthright, while Joshua records the tribal inheritances of Ephraim and Manasseh, connecting Jacob’s adoption to their place in the land.

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After reading the whole chapter

What stands out in Jacob’s account of God’s care alongside his memory of Rachel’s death?

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How does Jacob’s blessing of Ephraim challenge your expectations about who receives honor?

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Questions people ask about Genesis 48

Why did Jacob cross his hands when blessing Ephraim and Manasseh?

Jacob placed his right hand on Ephraim, the younger son, giving him precedence over Manasseh. Joseph objected because Manasseh was the firstborn. Jacob refused to change his hands and said Ephraim’s descendants would become greater. The text presents this as a deliberate blessing, despite Jacob’s failing eyesight.

Why did Jacob adopt Joseph’s sons in Genesis 48?

Jacob claimed Ephraim and Manasseh as his own sons, placing them alongside Reuben and Simeon for inheritance. He connected this act with God’s promise of descendants and land at Luz. Through his two sons, Joseph’s family would receive two places within the ancestral inheritance.

Who is the angel in Genesis 48:16?

Jacob describes the angel as the one who redeemed him from all evil and includes that deliverer in his blessing of the boys. The wording links the angel with God’s lifelong care. Some Christian interpreters identify this figure with the preincarnate Christ, though the passage does not state that identification.

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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).