And to you, as one who is above your brothers, I give the ridge of land that I took from the Amorites with my sword and bow.”
Parallel translations
- WEB Moreover I have given to you one portion above your brothers, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.”
- KJV Moreover I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.
- NKJV Moreover I have given to you one portion above your brothers, which I took from the hand of the Amorite with my sword and my bow.”
- NASB And I give you one portion more than your brothers, which I took from the hand of the Amorite with my sword and my bow.”
- NLT And beyond what I have given your brothers, I am giving you an extra portion of the land that I took from the Amorites with my sword and bow.”
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 grants Joseph an extra portion of land, treating him as the recipient of a double inheritance.
Overview
The 'one portion above your brothers' (a wordplay on Shechem) gives Joseph the firstborn's double share, realized later through his two sons becoming full tribes. The reference to taking it 'with my sword and bow' is debated, but most see it as Jacob speaking of a possession God secured, claimed by faith ahead of full conquest. The inheritance secured for a faithful son anticipates the everlasting inheritance believers receive in Christ (1 Peter 1:4).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- John 4:5So He came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.
- Josh 24:32And the bones of Joseph, which the Israelites had brought up out of Egypt, were buried at Shechem in the plot of land that Jacob had purchased from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for a hundred pieces of silver. So it became an inheritance for Joseph’s descendants.
- 1 Chr 5:2And though Judah prevailed over his brothers and a ruler came from him, the birthright belonged to Joseph.
- Deut 21:17Instead, he must acknowledge the firstborn, the son of his unloved wife, by giving him a double portion of all that he has. For that son is the firstfruits of his father’s strength; the right of the firstborn belongs to him.
- Gen 15:16In the fourth generation your descendants will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”
- Gen 33:19And the plot of ground where he pitched his tent, he purchased from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for a hundred pieces of silver.
- Josh 17:14–18Then the sons of Joseph said to Joshua, “Why have you given us only one portion as an inheritance? We have many people, because the LORD has blessed us abundantly.”
- Judg 11:23Now since the LORD, the God of Israel, has driven out the Amorites from before His people Israel, should you now possess it?
- Gen 34:28They took their flocks and herds and donkeys, and everything else in the city or in the field.
- Amos 2:9Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorite before them, though his height was like that of the cedars, and he was as strong as the oaks. Yet I destroyed his fruit above and his roots below.
- Ezek 47:13This is what the Lord GOD says: “These are the boundaries by which you are to divide the land as an inheritance among the twelve tribes of Israel; Joseph shall receive two portions.
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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 48:22 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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