JACOB BLESSES JOSEPH’S SONS As the time drew near, for which Israel bore the troubles all his life, and for which he waited for so long, Joseph hastened to bring his sons to be blessed by his father; Then Israel strengthened himself, and blessed the younger with his right hand, and the older with his left. 1- The sickness of Jacob 1-2. 2- Jacob blesses Joseph 3-7. 3- Jacob blesses Ephraim and Manasseh 8-20. 4- Joseph gets one portion above his brothers 21-22. 1- THE SICKNESS OF JACOB “Joseph was told, ‘Indeed your father is sick;’ and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. And Jacob was told, ‘Look, your son Joseph is coming to you;’ and Israel strengthened himself and sat up on the bed” (Gen. 48:1-2). Feeling that his father was about to die, Joseph hastened with his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim to get the blessing of his father, and to enjoy his hope for the Savior. He wished for his older son to get the blessing by Jacob’s right hand. Israel, hearing that his beloved son Joseph came to him, strengthened himself and sat up on his bed to receive him, and to extend to him his final request and his blessing. 2- JACOB BLESSES JOSEPH In his blessing of Joseph, Jacob proclaimed the following: (1) At the beginning of his talk, Jacob proclaimed how God appeared to him, once in “Luz” (Bethel), in the land of Canaan, blessing him, as he was fleeing from the face of his brother Esau, and another time, as he was returning from “Padan,’ from where his uncle Laban was (Gen. 28). It was as though he intended to confirm to Joseph, that the blessing he gives him, is actually the blessing of God Himself, working in him, especially at the time of affliction of his soul. If Jacob, as we previously said, symbolizes the Church, then the blessings that the Church presents, is not her own, but from what she enjoys from God, Grantor of blessing, who pours his blessings on her at the time of her passions. That blessing is realized in “Luz,” in the land of Canaan; namely, is realized in the Word of God, through the setting forth of our thoughts to the heavenly Canaan. (2) Jacob requested from Joseph, to refer his two sons: Ephraim and Manasseh to Jacob. By that, Joseph would get a portion more than any of his brothers, becoming two tribes, when each of his brothers became only one tribe. He probably intended to set Joseph as a (firstborn), in place of Reuben, who lost his birthrights through defiling his father’s bed (Gen. 35:22). Jacob counted Ephraim and Manasseh as his own sons, while the offspring whom he begets after them shall be his, and shall not be tribes, but refers to those of Ephraim and Manasseh (Gen. 48:6); and shall not have a separate inheritance. (3) While blessing Joseph in his two sons, Jacob does not forget his beloved Rachel, Joseph’s mother; He tells him about her death and burial on the way to Ephrath - Bethlehem (Gen. 48:7). Up till his last breath, he does not forget his beloved wife, and he probably intended to draw the heart of his beloved son to Canaan; lest his Egyptian wife, his many descendants, or his riches, would make him forget the 4 promised land. 3- JACOB BLESSES EPHRAIM AND MANASSEH As Jacob acknowledged God’s blessings on him, as he blessed his children and grandchildren, Joseph, like his father, acknowledged that his sons were given to him by God (Gen. 48:8). Jacob asked Joseph to introduce his sons; and as he embraced and kissed them, they, together with their father bowed before Jacob. Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on Ephraim’s head who was the younger, whom Joseph brought to stand toward Israel’s left hand; and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, the firstborn, whom Joseph brought to stand toward Israel’s right hand. He began to give to them the blessing of God, God of his fathers Abraham and Isaac. In that blessing he prayed for: (1) God’s blessing was to come on Joseph through his two sons. The blessing was counted to Joseph, although Israel’s hands were stretched on Ephraim and Manasseh. As though every divine blessing will extend in the life of Ephraim (the increasing fruition), and Manasseh (forgetting the toils of the world). God’s blessing appears in life of continuous growth and increasing fruition, as well as in forsaking the love of the world, namely, in the positive as well as in the negative aspects. (2) To get the blessing of the angel who has redeemed him from all evil, in time of affliction, as God proclaims more, his care amid afflictions. He does not lift up afflictions from his children, but supports and delivers them. (3) To let his name and those of his fathers Abraham and Isaac, be named upon them. That was realized, as each of them became a tribe, referred to Jacob, son of Isaac, son of Abraham. (4) To let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth (Gen. 48:16). While Joseph greatly rejoiced, because of his father’s blessing, that he got in the persons of his sons, yet, he was displeased, and took hold of his father’s right hand, to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head, and his left hand, to remove it from Manasseh’s head to that of Ephraim. He assumed that, by that, he was putting in order what his father overlooked. But Jacob refused and confirmed to Joseph that God revealed to him the mystery of the greatness of the younger son, saying: “I know, my son, I know. He also shall be a people, and he also shall be great; but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations”(Gen. 48:19). What does that mean? a- Jacob knew that the younger Ephraim is going to become greater than Manasseh. His descendants shall become a multitude of nations. That was realized in the first census done in the time of Moses. Of the tribe of Ephraim, the number of names, from 20 years old and above, all who were able to go to war, were 40500, while those, of the tribe of Manasseh, were 22200 (Numbers 1:32, 25). Also, the tribe of Manasseh lived divided, one half east of the Jordan, and the other half west of it; resulting in its weakness. Added to this, the mixing of the half dwelling east of the Jordan, with the pagan peoples, exposed them to idol worship, more than others (2 Chronicles 15:9; 30:1). As to Ephraim, it was strong, that the northern kingdom (Israel), was named after Ephraim. Out of that tribe, came Joshua (Hoshea), son of Nun (Numbers 13:8); and they had an active role in the time of the Judges, in the days of the prophetess Deborah, Gideon, and Jephthah; and the prophet Samuel came from them (Judges 5; 8; 12; 1 Samuel 1) Shiloh, one of their cities, has been a holy place 5 for the tabernacle for a long time, etc. b- The way Jacob stretched out his hands, was like placing a cross over their heads, as though the mystery of the true blessing is the sacrifice of the cross. c- Preferring the younger than the older, as we noticed in many occasions, refers to the coming of the Second Adam who occupies the birthright, that the first Adam lost. God does not care for the body birthright, but seeks the work of the Spirit. So He looked with favor on the sacrifice of Abel, the younger brother, and rejected that of Cain, the older brother (Gen. 4). Likewise, Jacob enjoyed the birthright, and his father’s blessing Isaac in the Lord, of which the older one Esau was deprived; as did Isaac, who enjoyed the blessing and inheritance, instead of Ishmael, the older son. In our study of the Gospel of St. Matthew the Evangelist, we saw how the Lord Christ came from descendants, most of whom do not enjoy physical birthrights1. St. Augustine2 says that Jacob did that, giving a hidden blessing to the younger, by which the first became the last, and the last became the first, as a prophecy about what would happen on the coming of the Lord Christ. Abel was preferred over his older brother Cain: Isaac over Ishmael, Jacob over Esau; David over his older brothers; and the Christians over the Jews who preceded them. He also says: [As the two sons of Isaac - Esau and Jacob were used as symbols of the Jew and Christian peoples… The same thing happened concerning Joseph’s two sons; the older one became a symbol of the Jews, and the younger of the Christians3.] Manasseh had been blessed, being a representative of the Church of the Old Testament; He became of significance in the eyes of God, having lived by faith, receiving the Law, the prophecies and the divine promises, at a time when the world was cast in the bosom of idolatry and its defilements. Then came the true Ephraim, namely the church of the New Testament that became greater, and embraced a multitude of peoples and nations. Jacob ended his blessing to them by saying: “By you Israel will bless, saying, ‘May God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh” (Gen. 48:20). As though God blesses humanity through the two Churches of the New and the Old Testaments, that are actually, one Church, assembled together in Jesus Christ, crucified under the arms of Jacob, as the sign of the cross. 4- JOSEPH TAKES ONE PORTION ABOVE HIS BROTHERS Finally, Israel proclaims to his son Joseph, that he dies, but his heart is attached to God’s promise to him and to his fathers before him, that their descendants will inherit the land of promise (Gen. 48:21). Israel then granted his son Joseph one portion above his brothers (Gen. 48:22), making him the firstborn, and counting his sons as two tribes; and gave him also a plot of land that he took from the hand of the Amorites with his sword and bow (Gen. 48:22; and John 4:5, 6); and Joseph also got the privilege of having his bones buried in the plot of ground, bought by his father (Joshua 24:32). . 1 الإنجيل بحسب متى، ١٩٨٣ 2 On Ps. 78. 3 City of God 16:42.
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