¶“Joseph is a fruitful branch, A fruitful branch by a spring; Its branches hang over a 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:
- BSB Joseph is a fruitful vine—a fruitful vine by a spring, whose branches scale the wall.
- NKJV “Joseph is a fruitful bough, A fruitful bough by a well; His branches run over the 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 41:52The name of the second, he called Ephraim: “For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”
- Ps 128:3Your wife will be as a fruitful vine, in the innermost parts of your house; your children like olive plants, around your table.
- Ps 1:1–3Blessed is the man who doesn’t walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand on the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers;
- Josh 16:1–10The lot came out for the children of Joseph from the Jordan at Jericho, at the waters of Jericho on the east, even the wilderness, going up from Jericho through the hill country to Bethel.
- Gen 46:27The sons of Joseph, who were born to him in Egypt, were two souls. All the souls of the house of Jacob, who came into Egypt, were seventy.
- Gen 30:22–24God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her, and opened her womb.
- Josh 17:14–17The 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?”
- Ps 128:1A Song of Ascents. Blessed is everyone who fears Yahweh, who walks in his ways.
- Gen 48:1After these things, someone said to Joseph, “Behold, your father is sick.” He took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
- Deut 33:13–17About Joseph he said, “His land is blessed by Yahweh, for the precious things of the heavens, for the dew, for the deep that couches beneath,
- Ezek 19:11It had strong rods for the scepters of those who bore rule, and their stature was exalted among the thick boughs, and they were seen in their height with the multitude of their branches.
- Num 32:1–42Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of livestock. When they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, that behold, the place was a place for livestock;
- Gen 48:5Now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you into Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh, even as Reuben and Simeon, will be mine.
- Gen 48:16the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads, and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac. Let them grow into a multitude upon the earth.”
- Gen 48:19–20His father refused, and said, “I know, my son, I know. He also will become a people, and he also will be great. However, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his offspring will 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.