“Not so, my father!” Joseph said. “This one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.”
Parallel translations
- WEB Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father; for this is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.”
- KJV And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head.
- NKJV And Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.”
- NASB And Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn. Place your right hand on his head.”
- NLT “No, my father,” he said. “This one is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head.”
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 protests that Manasseh is the firstborn and should receive the right hand. He urges his father to follow the expected order.
Overview
Joseph insists that the firstborn deserves the chief blessing, voicing the conventional expectation. His protest sets up Jacob's firm and Spirit-led refusal in the verses that follow. The episode teaches that God's electing grace, not birth order or human merit, determines the bestowal of His blessing, a truth fulfilled in the gospel of grace.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Exod 10:11No, only the men may go and worship the LORD, since that is what you have been requesting.” And Moses and Aaron were driven from Pharaoh’s presence.
- Acts 11:8‘No, Lord,’ I said, ‘for nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’
- Acts 10:14“No, Lord!” Peter answered. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”
- Gen 27:15And Rebekah took the finest clothes in the house that belonged to her older son Esau, and she put them on her younger son Jacob.
- Gen 49:3Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, excelling in honor, excelling in power.
- Gen 19:18But Lot replied, “No, my lords, please!
- Gen 43:33They were seated before Joseph in order by age, from the firstborn to the youngest, and the men looked at one another in astonishment.
- Gen 29:26Laban replied, “It is not our custom here to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older.
- Matt 25:9‘No,’ said the wise ones, ‘or there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 48:18 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.