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Genesis

Chapter 48

Genesis · Moses

¹ And it came to pass after these things, that it was reported to Joseph, Behold, thy father is ill; and, having taken his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, he came to Jacob. ² And it was reported to Jacob, saying, Behold, thy son Joseph cometh to thee; and Israel having strengthened himself, sat upon the bed. ³ And Jacob said to Joseph, My God appeared to me in Luz, in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, ⁴ and said to me, Behold, I will increase thee, and multiply thee, and will make of thee multitudes of nations; and I will give this land to thee, and to thy seed after thee, for an everlasting possession. ⁵ Now then thy two sons, who were born to thee in the land of Egypt, before I came to thee into Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh, as Reuben and Simeon they shall be mine. ⁶ And the children which thou shalt beget hereafter, shall be in the name of their brethren; they shall be named after their inheritances. ⁷ And as for me, when I came out of Mesopotamia of Syria, Rachel, thy mother, died in the land of Canaan, as I drew nigh to the horse course of Chabratha of the land [of Canaan], so as to come to Ephrath; and I buried her in the road of the course; this is Bethlehem.

ΕΓΕΝΕΤΟ δὲ μετὰ τὰ ρήματα ταῦτα καὶ ἀπηγγέλη τῷ Ἰωσήφ, ὅτι ὁ πατήρ σου ἐνοχλεῖται. καὶ ἀναλαβὼν τοὺς δύο υἱοὺς αὐτοῦ, τὸν Μανασσῆ καὶ τὸν Ἐφραΐμ, ἦλθε πρὸς Ἰακώβ. ἀπηγγέλη δὲ τῷ Ἰακὼβ λέγοντες· ἰδοὺ ὁ υἱός σου Ἰωσὴφ ἔρχεται πρὸς σέ. καὶ ἐνισχύσας Ἰσραὴλ ἐκάθησεν ἐπὶ τὴν κλίνην. καὶ εἶπεν Ἰακὼβ τῷ Ἰωσήφ· ὁ Θεός μου ὤφθη μοι ἐν Λουζᾷ ἐν γῇ Χαναὰν καὶ εὐλόγησέ με καὶ εἶπέ μοι· ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ αὐξανῶ σε καὶ πληθυνῶ σε καὶ ποιήσω σε εἰς συναγωγὰς ἐθνῶν καὶ δώσω σοι τὴν γῆν ταύτην καὶ τῷ σπέρματί σου μετὰ σὲ εἰς κατάσχεσιν αἰώνιον. νῦν οὖν οἱ δύο υἱοί σου οἱ γενόμενοί σοι ἐν γῇ Αἰγύπτῳ πρὸ τοῦ με ἐλθεῖν πρὸς σὲ εἰς Αἴγυπτον, ἐμοί εἰσιν, Ἐφραΐμ καὶ Μανασσῆ, ὡς Ρουβὴν καὶ Συμεὼν ἔσονταί μοι· τὰ δέ ἔκγονα, ἃ ἐὰν γεννήσῃς μετὰ ταῦτα, ἔσονται ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι τῶν ἀδελφῶν αὐτῶν· κληθήσονται ἐπὶ τοῖς ἐκείνων κλήροις. ἐγὼ δὲ ἡνίκα ἠρχόμην ἐκ Μεσοποταμίας τῆς Συρίας, ἀπέθανε Ραχὴλ ἡ μήτηρ σου ἐν γῇ Χαναάν, ἐγγίζοντός μου κατὰ τὸν ἱππόδρομον Χαβραθὰ τῆς γῆς τοῦ ἐλθεῖν Ἐφραθά, καὶ κατώρυξα αὐτὴν ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ τοῦ ἱπποδρόμου (αὕτη ἐστὶ Βηθλεέμ).

Gen 48:1-7

⁸ And when Israel saw the sons of Joseph, he said, Who are these to thee? ⁹ And Joseph said to his father, They are my sons, whom God gave me here; and Jacob said, Bring me them, that I may bless them. ¹⁰ Now the eyes of Israel were dim through age, and he could not see; and he brought them near to him, and he kissed them, and embraced them. ¹¹ And Israel said to Joseph, Behold, I have not been deprived of [seeing] thy face, and lo! God has showed me thy seed also. ¹² And Joseph brought them out from [between] his knees, and they did reverence to him, with their face to the ground. ¹³ And Joseph took his two sons, both Ephraim in his right hand, but on the left of Israel, and Manasseh on his left hand, but on the right of Israel, and brought them near to him. ¹⁴ But Israel having stretched out his right hand, laid it on the head of Ephraim, and he was the younger; and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, [guiding] his hands crosswise.

ἰδὼν δὲ Ἰσραὴλ τοὺς υἱοὺς Ἰωσὴφ εἶπε· τίνες σοι οὗτοι; εἶπε δὲ Ἰωσὴφ τῷ πατρὶ αὐτοῦ· υἱοί μου εἰσιν, οὓς ἔδωκέ μοι ὁ Θεὸς ἐνταῦθα. καὶ εἶπεν Ἰακώβ· προσάγαγέ μοι αὐτούς, ἵνα εὐλογήσω αὐτούς. οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ δὲ Ἰσραὴλ ἐβαρυώπησαν ἀπὸ τοῦ γήρως, καὶ οὐκ ἠδύνατο βλέπειν· καὶ ἤγγισεν αὐτοὺς πρὸς αὐτόν, καὶ ἐφίλησεν αὐτοὺς καὶ περιέλαβεν αὐτούς. καὶ εἶπεν Ἰσραὴλ πρὸς Ἰωσήφ· ἰδοὺ τοῦ προσώπου σου οὐκ ἐστερήθην, καὶ ἰδοὺ ἔδειξέ μοι ὁ Θεὸς καὶ τὸ σπέρμα σου. καὶ ἐξήγαγε αὐτοὺς Ἰωσὴφ ἀπὸ τῶν γονάτων αὐτοῦ, καὶ προσεκύνησαν αὐτῷ ἐπὶ πρόσωπον ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. λαβὼν δὲ Ἰωσὴφ τοὺς δύο υἱοὺς αὐτοῦ, τόν τε Ἐφραΐμ ἐν τῇ δεξιᾷ, ἐξ ἀριστερῶν δὲ Ἰσραήλ, τὸν δὲ Μανασσῆ ἐξ ἀριστερῶν, ἐκ δεξιῶν δὲ Ἰσραήλ, ἤγγισεν αὐτοὺς αὐτῷ. ἐκτείνας δὲ Ἰσραὴλ τὴν χεῖρα τὴν δεξιὰν ἐπέβαλεν ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν Ἐφραΐμ, οὗτος δὲ ἦν ὁ νεώτερος, καὶ τὴν ἀριστερὰν ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν Μανασσῆ, ἐναλλὰξ τὰς χεῖρας.

Gen 48:8-14

¹⁵ And he blessed them and said, The God in whose sight my fathers were well pleasing, [even] Abraham and Isaac, the God who continues to feed me from my youth until this day; ¹⁶ the angel who delivers me from all evils, bless these boys, and my name shall be called upon them, and the name of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac; and let them be increased to a great multitude on the earth. ¹⁷ And Joseph having seen that his father put his right hand on the head of Ephraim—it seemed grievous to him; and Joseph took hold of the hand of his father, to remove it from the head of Ephraim to the head of Manasseh. ¹⁸ And Joseph said to his father, Not so, father; for this is the firstborn; lay thy right hand upon his head. ¹⁹ And he would not, but said, I know it, son, I know it; he also shall be a people, and he shall be exalted, but his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations. ²⁰ And he blessed them in that day, saying, In you shall Israel be blessed, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and Manasseh; and he set Ephraim before Manasseh. ²¹ And Israel said to Joseph, Behold, I die; and God shall be with you, and restore you to the land of your fathers. ²² And I give to thee Shechem, a select portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorites with my sword and bow.

καὶ εὐλόγησεν αὐτοὺς καὶ εἶπεν· ὁ Θεός, ᾧ εὐηρέστησαν οἱ πατέρες μου ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ, Ἁβραὰμ καὶ Ἰσαάκ, ὁ Θεὸς ὁ τρέφων με ἐκ νεότητος ἕως τῆς ἡμέρας ταύτης, ὁ ἄγγελος ὁ ρυόμενός με ἐκ πάντων τῶν κακῶν εὐλογήσαι τὰ παιδία ταῦτα, καὶ ἐπικληθήσεται ἐν αὐτοῖς τὸ ὄνομά μου καὶ τὸ ὄνομα τῶν πατέρων μου Ἁβραὰμ καὶ Ἰσαάκ, καὶ πληθυνθείησαν εἰς πλῆθος πολὺ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. ἰδὼν δὲ Ἰωσὴφ ὅτι ἐπέβαλεν ὁ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ τὴν χεῖρα τὴν δεξιὰν αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν Ἐφραΐμ, βαρὺ αὐτῷ κατεφάνη, καὶ ἀντελάβετο Ἰωσὴφ τῆς χειρὸς τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ ἀφελεῖν αὐτὴν ἀπὸ τῆς κεφαλῆς Ἐφραΐμ ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν Μανασσῆ. εἶπε δὲ Ἰωσὴφ τῷ πατρὶ αὐτοῦ· οὐχ οὕτως, πάτερ, οὗτος γὰρ ὁ πρωτότοκος· ἐπίθες τὴν δεξιάν σου ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν αὐτοῦ. καὶ οὐκ ἠθέλησεν, ἀλλὰ εἶπεν· οἶδα, τέκνον, οἶδα· καὶ οὗτος ἔσται εἰς λαόν, καὶ οὗτος ὑψωθήσεται· ἀλλὰ ὁ ἀδελφὸς αὐτοῦ ὁ νεώτερος μείζων αὐτοῦ ἔσται, καὶ τὸ σπέρμα αὐτοῦ ἔσται εἰς πλῆθος ἐθνῶν. καὶ εὐλόγησεν αὐτοὺς ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ λέγων· ἐν ὑμῖν εὐλογηθήσεται Ἰσραὴλ λέγοντες· ποιήσαι σε ὁ Θεὸς ὡς Ἐφραΐμ καὶ ὡς Μανασσῆ. καὶ ἔθηκε τὸν Ἐφραΐμ ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ Μανασσῆ. εἶπε δὲ Ἰσραὴλ τῷ Ἰωσήφ· ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἀποθνήσκω, καὶ ἔσται ὁ Θεὸς μεθ᾿ ὑμῶν καὶ ἀποστρέψει ὑμᾶς εἰς τὴν γῆν τῶν πατέρων ὑμῶν· ἐγὼ δὲ δίδωμί σοι Σίκιμα ἐξαίρετον ὑπὲρ τοὺς ἀδελφούς σου, ἣν ἔλαβον ἐκ χειρὸς Ἀμορραίων ἐν μαχαίρᾳ μου καὶ τόξῳ.

Gen 48:15-22

Greek: Septuagint, public domain via eBible.org (grclxx). The English remains the primary text; the Greek is offered for study.

The Fathers on this passage

How the fathers, councils, and saints of the corpus read Genesis: Chapter 48. Drawn by meaning from across the tradition; follow any link to read it in full context.