So that day Jacob blessed them and said: “By you shall Israel pronounce this blessing: ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’” So he put Ephraim before Manasseh.
Parallel translations
- WEB He blessed them that day, saying, “In you will Israel bless, saying, ‘God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh’” He set Ephraim before Manasseh.
- KJV And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh.
- NKJV So he blessed them that day, saying, “By you Israel will bless, saying, ‘May God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh!’ ” And thus he set Ephraim before Manasseh.
- NASB So he blessed them that day, saying, “By you Israel will pronounce blessing, saying, ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh!’ ” And so he put Ephraim before Manasseh.
- NLT So Jacob blessed the boys that day with this blessing: “The people of Israel will use your names when they give a blessing. They will say, ‘May God make you as prosperous as Ephraim and Manasseh.’” In this way, Jacob put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.
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 makes Ephraim and Manasseh a proverb of blessing in Israel, ranking Ephraim first.
Overview
Jacob's words become a standard formula by which Israelites would pronounce blessing on their children, naming these two adopted grandsons as the very picture of being blessed by God. By setting Ephraim before Manasseh, he confirms the reversal of the firstborn's place. The lasting blessing he speaks foreshadows the abundant, generational blessing God secures for His people in Christ, the true Seed (Galatians 3:14).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Ruth 4:11–12“We are witnesses,” said the elders and all the people at the gate. “May the LORD make the woman entering your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you be prosperous in Ephrathah and famous in Bethlehem.
- Gen 24:60And they blessed Rebekah and said to her, “Our sister, may you become the mother of thousands upon thousands. May your offspring possess the gates of their enemies.”
- Gen 28:3May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, so that you may become a company of peoples.
- Num 10:22–23Next, the divisions of the camp of Ephraim set out under their standard, with Elishama son of Ammihud in command.
- Num 7:54On the eighth day Gamaliel son of Pedahzur, the leader of the Manassites, drew near.
- Num 13:16These were the names of the men Moses sent to spy out the land; and Moses gave to Hoshea son of Nun the name Joshua.
- Num 13:11from the tribe of Manasseh (a tribe of Joseph), Gaddi son of Susi;
- Num 2:18–21On the west side, the divisions of Ephraim are to camp under their standard: The leader of the Ephraimites is Elishama son of Ammihud,
- Num 7:48On the seventh day Elishama son of Ammihud, the leader of the Ephraimites, drew near.
- Num 13:8from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea son of Nun;
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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 48:20 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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