Joseph said to his father, “They are the sons God has given me in this place.” So Jacob said, “Please bring them to me, that I may bless them.”
Parallel translations
- WEB Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me here.” He said, “Please bring them to me, and I will bless them.”
- KJV And Joseph said unto his father, They are my sons, whom God hath given me in this place. And he said, Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will bless them.
- NKJV And Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me in this place.” And he said, “Please bring them to me, and I will bless them.”
- NASB And Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me here.” So he said, “Bring them to me, please, so that I may bless them.”
- NLT “Yes,” Joseph told him, “these are the sons God has given me here in Egypt.” And Jacob said, “Bring them closer to me, so I can bless them.”
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 identifies his sons as those God gave him, and Jacob asks to bless them. The blessing is framed as a gift from God.
Overview
Joseph confesses that his sons are God's gift, acknowledging the Lord as the giver of children. Jacob then asks to draw them near and bless them, exercising his patriarchal role. The recognition that children are God's gracious gift remains a steady biblical truth, and the blessing continues the covenant line.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- Gen 27:4Then prepare a tasty dish that I love and bring it to me to eat, so that I may bless you before I die.”
- Gen 33:5When Esau looked up and saw the women and children, he asked, “Who are these with you?” Jacob answered, “These are the children God has graciously given your servant.”
- Heb 11:21By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.
- 1 Sam 1:27I prayed for this boy, and since the LORD has granted me what I asked of Him,
- Ruth 4:11–14“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.
- 1 Chr 25:5All these sons of Heman the king’s seer were given him through the promises of God to exalt him, for God had given Heman fourteen sons and three daughters.
- 1 Chr 26:4–5And Obed-edom also had sons: Shemaiah the firstborn, Jehozabad the second, Joah the third, Sachar the fourth, Nethanel the fifth,
- Isa 8:18Here am I, and the children the LORD has given me as signs and symbols in Israel from the LORD of Hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.
- Isa 56:3–5Let no foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say, “The LORD will utterly exclude me from His people.” And let the eunuch not say, “I am but a dry tree.”
- Gen 30:2Jacob became angry with Rachel and said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld children from you?”
- Gen 28:3–4May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, so that you may become a company of peoples.
- Gen 49:28These are the tribes of Israel, twelve in all, and this was what their father said to them. He blessed them, and he blessed each one with a suitable blessing.
- Gen 27:34–40When Esau heard his father’s words, he let out a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me too, O my father!”
- Gen 27:28–29May God give to you the dew of heaven and the richness of the earth—an abundance of grain and new wine.
- Deut 33:1This is the blessing that Moses the man of God pronounced upon the Israelites before his death.
- Ps 127:3Children are indeed a heritage from the LORD, and the fruit of the womb is His reward.
- 1 Sam 1:20So in the course of time, Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked for him from the LORD.”
- 1 Sam 2:20–21And Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, saying, “May the LORD give you children by this woman in place of the one she dedicated to the LORD.” Then they would go home.
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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 48:9 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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