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.”
Parallel translations
- 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.
- BSB 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.”
- 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 city of Samaria, called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son, Joseph.
- Josh 24:32They buried the bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out of Egypt, in Shechem, in the parcel of ground which Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of silver. They became the inheritance of the children of Joseph.
- 1 Chr 5:2For Judah prevailed above his brothers, and from him came the prince; but the birthright was Joseph’s) —
- Deut 21:17but he shall acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the hated, by giving him a double portion of all that he has; for he is the beginning of his strength. The right of the firstborn is his.
- Gen 15:16In the fourth generation they will come here again, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full.”
- Gen 33:19He bought the parcel of ground where he had spread his tent, at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for one hundred pieces of money.
- Josh 17:14–18The children of Joseph spoke to Joshua, saying, “Why have you given me just one lot and one part for an inheritance, since we are a numerous people, because Yahweh has blessed us so far?”
- Judg 11:23So now Yahweh, the God of Israel, has dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel, and should you possess them?
- Gen 34:28They took their flocks, their herds, their donkeys, that which was in the city, that which was in the field,
- Amos 2:9Yet I destroyed the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath.
- Ezek 47:13Thus says the Lord Yahweh: This shall be the border, by which you shall divide the land for inheritance according to the twelve tribes of Israel: Joseph shall have 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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