Joseph is a fruitful vine—a fruitful vine by a spring, whose branches scale the wall.
Parallel translations
- WEB “Joseph is a fruitful vine, a fruitful vine by a spring. His branches run over the wall.
- KJV Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall:
- NKJV “Joseph is a fruitful bough, A fruitful bough by a well; His branches run over the wall.
- NASB ¶“Joseph is a fruitful branch, A fruitful branch by a spring; Its branches hang over a wall.
- NLT “Joseph is the foal of a wild donkey, the foal of a wild donkey at a spring— one of the wild donkeys on the ridge.
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 is portrayed as a fruitful vine by a spring whose branches climb over the wall.
Overview
The flourishing, ever-spreading vine pictures Joseph's abundant fruitfulness and the growth of his descendants beyond all bounds. Nourished 'by a spring,' Joseph's blessing flows from God's sustaining grace. His fruitfulness amid hardship pictures the life that draws on God as its source, a theme fulfilled in Christ the true Vine (John 15).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Gen 41:52And the second son he named Ephraim, saying, “God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”
- Ps 128:3Your wife will be like a fruitful vine flourishing within your house, your sons like olive shoots sitting around your table.
- Ps 1:1–3Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or set foot on the path of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers.
- Josh 16:1–10The allotment for the descendants of Joseph extended from the Jordan at Jericho to the waters of Jericho on the east, through the wilderness that goes up from Jericho into the hill country of Bethel.
- Gen 46:27And with the two sons who had been born to Joseph in Egypt, the members of Jacob’s family who went to Egypt were seventy in all.
- Gen 30:22–24Then God remembered Rachel. He listened to her and opened her womb,
- Josh 17:14–17Then 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.”
- Ps 128:1A song of ascents. Blessed are all who fear the LORD, who walk in His ways!
- Gen 48:1Some time later Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” So he set out with his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
- Deut 33:13–17Concerning Joseph he said: “May his land be blessed by the LORD with the precious dew from heaven above and the deep waters that lie beneath,
- Ezek 19:11It had strong branches, fit for a ruler’s scepter. It towered high above the thick branches, conspicuous for its height and for its dense foliage.
- Num 32:1–42Now the Reubenites and Gadites, who had very large herds and flocks, surveyed the lands of Jazer and Gilead, and they saw that the region was suitable for livestock.
- Gen 48:5And now your two sons born to you in Egypt before I came to you here shall be reckoned as mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine.
- Gen 48:16the angel who has redeemed me from all harm—may He bless these boys. And may they be called by my name and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they grow into a multitude upon the earth.”
- Gen 48:19–20But his father refused. “I know, my son, I know!” he said. “He too shall become a people, and he too shall be great; nevertheless, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations.”
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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 49:22 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.