Gilead is Mine, and Manasseh is Mine; Ephraim is My helmet, Judah is My scepter.
Parallel translations
- WEB Gilead is mine. Manasseh is mine. Ephraim also is my helmet. Judah is my scepter.
- KJV Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine; Ephraim also is the strength of mine head; Judah is my lawgiver;
- NKJV Gilead is Mine; Manasseh is Mine; Ephraim also is the helmet for My head; Judah is My lawgiver.
- NASB “Gilead is Mine, Manasseh is Mine; Ephraim also is the helmet of My head; Judah is My scepter.
- NLT Gilead is mine, and Manasseh, too. Ephraim, my helmet, will produce my warriors, and Judah, my scepter, will produce my kings.
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
God claims Gilead and Manasseh, with Ephraim as helmet and Judah as scepter.
Overview
Using vivid imagery, God asserts ownership over the tribal territories, with Ephraim representing military strength and Judah royal rule. The scepter belonging to Judah recalls the promise that the ruler would come from that tribe. This points forward to the Lion of Judah, Jesus Christ, in whom God's royal rule is finally established.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Gen 49:10The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes and the allegiance of the nations is his.
- Ps 122:5For there the thrones of judgment stand, the thrones of the house of David.
- 2 Sam 2:8Meanwhile, Abner son of Ner, the commander of Saul’s army, took Saul’s son Ish-bosheth, moved him to Mahanaim,
- Josh 13:8–11The other half of Manasseh, along with the Reubenites and Gadites, had received the inheritance Moses had given them beyond the Jordan to the east, just as Moses the servant of the LORD had assigned to them:
- 1 Sam 28:4The Philistines came together and camped at Shunem, while Saul gathered all Israel and camped at Gilboa.
- Deut 33:17His majesty is like a firstborn bull, and his horns are like those of a wild ox. With them he will gore the nations, even to the ends of the earth. Such are the myriads of Ephraim, and such are the thousands of Manasseh.”
- 2 Sam 5:5In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah.
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 108:8 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.