And it came to pass after these things, that one told Joseph, Behold, thy father is sick: and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
Parallel translations
- WEB After these things, someone said to Joseph, “Behold, your father is sick.” He took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
- BSB Some time later Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” So he set out with his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
- NKJV Now it came to pass after these things that Joseph was told, “Indeed your father is sick”; and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
- NASB Now it came about after these things that Joseph was told, “Behold, your father is sick.” So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim with him.
- NLT One day not long after this, word came to Joseph, “Your father is failing rapidly.” So Joseph went to visit his father, and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
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
Hearing his father is ill, Joseph brings his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim to Jacob. He comes to receive a final blessing for them.
Overview
Joseph responds promptly to news of Jacob's sickness, bringing his Egyptian-born sons to their grandfather. This visit sets up the patriarchal blessing that will adopt the two boys as full tribes of Israel. The scene shows the continuity of covenant blessing being passed deliberately from one generation to the next.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Gen 46:20And unto Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, which Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On bare unto him.
- Gen 41:50–52And unto Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, which Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On bare unto him.
- Ps 128:6Yea, thou shalt see thy children’s children, and peace upon Israel.
- Gen 50:23And Joseph saw Ephraim’s children of the third generation: the children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were brought up upon Joseph’s knees.
- John 11:3Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.
- Job 42:16After this lived Job an hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons’ sons, even four generations.
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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 48:1 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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