Then Joseph took them from his knees, and bowed with his face to the ground.
Parallel translations
- WEB Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth.
- KJV And Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth.
- BSB Then Joseph removed his sons from his father’s knees and bowed facedown.
- NKJV So Joseph brought them from beside his knees, and he bowed down with his face to the earth.
- NLT Joseph moved the boys, who were at their grandfather’s knees, and he bowed with his face to the ground.
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 removes his sons from Jacob's knees and bows low to the ground. He shows humble reverence before his father.
Overview
Joseph withdraws the boys from between Jacob's knees, a gesture associated with acknowledgment, and prostrates himself in respect. Despite his high office in Egypt, Joseph honors his aged father humbly. His deference models the honor due to parents and reverence for the sacred act of patriarchal blessing.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Gen 42:6Joseph was the governor over the land. It was he who sold to all the people of the land. Joseph’s brothers came, and bowed themselves down to him with their faces to the earth.
- Exod 34:8Moses hurried and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped.
- Lev 19:32“‘You shall rise up before the gray head, and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God. I am Yahweh.
- Lev 19:3“‘Each one of you shall respect his mother and his father. You shall keep my Sabbaths. I am Yahweh your God.
- 2 Kgs 4:37Then she went in, fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground; then she picked up her son, and went out.
- 1 Kgs 2:19Bathsheba therefore went to king Solomon, to speak to him for Adonijah. The king rose up to meet her, and bowed himself to her, and sat down on his throne, and caused a throne to be set for the king’s mother; and she sat on his right hand.
- Prov 31:28Her children rise up and call her blessed. Her husband also praises her:
- Eph 6:1Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
- Gen 33:3He himself passed over in front of them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.
- Gen 23:7Abraham rose up, and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children of Heth.
- Gen 19:1The two angels came to Sodom at evening. Lot sat in the gate of Sodom. Lot saw them, and rose up to meet them. He bowed himself with his face to the earth,
- Exod 20:12“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which Yahweh your God gives you.
- Gen 18:2He lifted up his eyes and looked, and saw that three men stood opposite him. When he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself to the earth,
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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 48:12 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
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