Joseph named his older son Manasseh, for he said, “God has made me forget all my troubles and everyone in my father’s family.”
Parallel translations
- WEB Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh, “For”, he said, “God has made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house.”
- KJV And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: For God, said he, hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house.
- BSB Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, saying, “God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s household.”
- NKJV Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: “For God has made me forget all my toil and all my father’s house.”
- NASB Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh; “For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my trouble and all of my father’s household.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Joseph names his firstborn Manasseh, saying God made him forget his hardship and his father's house.
Overview
The name Manasseh ('making to forget') testifies that God healed Joseph's painful past. Joseph gives God the credit for relief from his suffering. His faith interprets his life through God's gracious hand even in exile.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Ps 30:5For his anger is but for a moment. His favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may stay for the night, but joy comes in the morning.
- Prov 31:7Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more.
- Deut 33:17The firstborn of his herd, majesty is his. His horns are the horns of the wild ox. With them he will push all the peoples, to the ends of the earth. They are the ten thousands of Ephraim. They are the thousands of Manasseh.”
- Gen 41:30There will arise after them seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will consume the land,
- Ps 30:11You have turned my mourning into dancing for me. You have removed my sackcloth, and clothed me with gladness,
- Gen 48:5Now 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.
- Isa 57:16For I will not contend forever, neither will I be always angry; for the spirit would faint before me, and the souls whom I have made.
- Gen 48:18–20Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father; for this is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.”
- Isa 65:16so that he who blesses himself in the earth will bless himself in the God of truth; and he who swears in the earth will swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hidden from my eyes.
- Gen 48:13–14Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them near to him.
- Ps 45:10Listen, daughter, consider, and turn your ear. Forget your own people, and also your father’s house.
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Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 41:51 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.