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Then he blessed Joseph and said: “May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day,
Genesis 48:15 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB He 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,
  • KJV And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day,
  • NKJV And he blessed Joseph, and said: “God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, The God who has fed me all my life long to this day,
  • NASB And he blessed Joseph, and said, “The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, The God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day,
  • NLT Then he blessed Joseph and said, “May the God before whom my grandfather Abraham and my father, Isaac, walked— the God who has been my shepherd all my life, to this very day,

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

Jacob blesses Joseph, invoking the God before whom Abraham and Isaac walked and who has shepherded him all his life. He confesses God's lifelong faithful care.

Overview

Jacob praises the covenant God who guided his fathers and faithfully fed him like a shepherd throughout his days. This is one of Scripture's earliest images of God as shepherd, a theme that flowers in Psalm 23 and is fulfilled in Jesus, the Good Shepherd. The blessing rests entirely on the character and faithfulness of God.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 32

  • Gen 17:1When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty. Walk before Me and be blameless.
  • Col 2:6Therefore, just as you have received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to walk in Him,
  • Heb 11:21By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.
  • Isa 30:21And whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear this command behind you: “This is the way. Walk in it.”
  • Isa 33:16he will dwell on the heights; the mountain fortress will be his refuge; his food will be provided and his water assured.
  • Eccl 6:7All a man’s labor is for his mouth, yet his appetite is never satisfied.
  • Eccl 5:18Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in all the labor one does under the sun during the few days of life that God has given him—for this is his lot.
  • Eccl 5:12The sleep of the worker is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of the rich man permits him no sleep.
  • Eccl 2:24–25Nothing is better for a man than to eat and drink and enjoy his work. I have also seen that this is from the hand of God.
  • Luke 1:6Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and decrees of the Lord.
  • 2 Cor 1:12And this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in relation to you, in the holiness and sincerity that are from God—not in worldly wisdom, but in the grace of God.
  • 1 Tim 6:6–10Of course, godliness with contentment is great gain.
  • 1 Cor 10:31So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.
  • Gen 24:20And she quickly emptied her jar into the trough and ran back to the well to draw water, until she had drawn water for all his camels.
  • Gen 48:16the angel who has redeemed me from all harm—may He bless these boys. And may they be called by my name and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they grow into a multitude upon the earth.”
  • Matt 6:25–34Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?
  • Deut 33:1This is the blessing that Moses the man of God pronounced upon the Israelites before his death.
  • 1 Kgs 3:6Solomon replied, “You have shown much loving devotion to Your servant, my father David, because he walked before You in faithfulness, righteousness, and uprightness of heart. And You have maintained this loving devotion by giving him a son to sit on his throne this very day.
  • Ps 23:1A Psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
  • Jer 8:2They will be exposed to the sun and moon, and to all the host of heaven which they have loved, served, followed, consulted, and worshiped. Their bones will not be gathered up or buried, but will become like dung lying on the ground.
  • Gen 6:9This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation; Noah walked with God.
  • Gen 28:20Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and watch over me on this journey, and if He will provide me with food to eat and clothes to wear,
  • Gen 28:22And this stone I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give You a tenth.”
  • Gen 49:28These are the tribes of Israel, twelve in all, and this was what their father said to them. He blessed them, and he blessed each one with a suitable blessing.
  • Gen 5:22–24And after he had become the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters.
  • Gen 28:3May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, so that you may become a company of peoples.
  • Gen 27:4Then prepare a tasty dish that I love and bring it to me to eat, so that I may bless you before I die.”
  • Gen 49:24Yet he steadied his bow, and his strong arms were tempered by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, in the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,
  • Ps 103:4–5who redeems your life from the Pit and crowns you with loving devotion and compassion,
  • Ps 16:8I have set the LORD always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
  • 1 Th 2:12encouraging you, comforting you, and urging you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.
  • Ps 37:3Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (10)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Genesis videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Genesis 48:15YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on GenesisMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 48:15 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.