SERIES B --- A CHOSEN PEOPLE --- LESSON 23

ADOPTED

EPHRAIM AND MANASSEH

From Genesis 48

Word came to Joseph that his father was sick. Joseph realized that Jacob might be dying, so he took his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, with him to visit his father. [Your son Joseph is here to see you,] someone told Jacob. Jacob gathered what little strength he had and sat up in bed to welcome his son. Jacob said to Joseph, [At Bethel, in the land of Canaan, YHVH Almighty appeared to me and blessed me, saying, ‘I will give you many children and you will become a great nation. I will give this land to you and your descendants to be yours forever.’ Today your two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, who were born before I reached Egypt, become my own children, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine. They will inherit from me as my own children. Any other children you have from this time on will get their inheritance through you. I am doing this in remembrance of your mother Rachel. To my sorrow she died a short distance from Bethlehem when I came from Padan-aram and I buried her beside the road that leads into Bethlehem.] Then Jacob turned his attention to Joseph’s two sons who had come with him. [Who are these boys?] he asked. [My sons, whom YHVH has given to me,] Joseph answered. [Bring them to me so that I may give them my blessing,] Jacob said. Jacob was so old that he could hardly see. As Joseph brought his sons near, Jacob kissed them and hugged them before giving them his blessing. [I thought that I would never see you alive again,] Jacob said to Joseph, [but YHVH has let me see your children, too.] Joseph took his two sons from between his knees and led them with his hand to their grandfather. He placed Manasseh, the older son, toward Jacob’s right hand and Ephraim, the younger son, toward Jacob’s left hand. But Jacob crossed his hands, putting his right hand on Ephraim and his left on Manasseh. Jacob first gave this blessing to his son Joseph. [May YHVH Elohiym of my father’s Abraham and Isaac, Who has led me through life to this day and the Angel of Adonai who has saved me from all evil, bless these boys and carry on, through them, my name and the name of my father’s Abraham and Isaac. May they become a great nation upon the earth.] Joseph was disturbed when he saw that Jacob had crossed his hands. He took Jacob’s hand in his to move it. [You have your hands placed wrongly,] Joseph told his father. [Manasseh is older, so you should have your right hand on him.] [I know that he is older, my son,] Jacob answered. [He shall be great but his younger brother will be greater.] Jacob gave this blessing to his grandsons. [By your names the people of Israel will bless each other, for they will say, ‘YHVH make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’ Thus, Jacob again put Ephraim before Manasseh. Jacob spoke again to Joseph. I will die soon, but YHVH will go with you and bring you again to the land of your fathers. There I have reserved part of the hill country, the land of Shechem, for you instead of for your brothers. It is the land I took from the Amorites with my sword and my bow.]

COMMENTARY

JOSEPH’S FAMILY

When Israel had settled in Egypt, Joseph brought his two young sons to his father. Ephraim and Manasseh were welcomed into the family. The old man rested his hands on their heads, and announced, [May the Angel of the Adonai… bless these boys and carry on through them my name and the name of my father’s Abraham and Isaac.] In our Old Testament we will not read about the tribe of Joseph. We will read about the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. Egyptians did not marry Hebrews, and Hebrews did not marry Egyptians. Joseph’s marriage to Asenath was extremely unusual. It clearly reveals how highly he was esteemed by Pharaoh. In fact, Pharaoh gave Asenath to Joseph, and neither had a choice about the marriage. Although Asenath had grown up at the very centre of the worship of the Egyptian sun god, Joseph never lost faith in his one YHVH who remained invisible. Joseph had two sons by Asenath: Ephraim and Manasseh. Though raised by an Egyptian mother and surrounded by the Egyptian culture, they both continued in their father’s faith. Later on, they became the ancestors of two of the tribes of Israel.

JOSEPH
After twenty barren years, Rachel named her first child Joseph, which meant [He {YHVH} Will Add.] Since he was the first son of Jacob’s favourite wife, and also the child of his very old age, Joseph was the favoured child. Jacob protected him as much as he could, give him a special cloak, and made him his principal heir. Tricked into slavery in Egypt by his jealous brothers, he prospered as a steward for one of Pharaoh’s officers. He finally became advisor to Pharaoh, who named him Zaphnath-paaneah which meant [YHVH Speaks, and He {Joseph} Lives.]

ASENATH
The name of Joseph’s Egyptian wife was Asenath, which meant [Belonging to Neith.] Neith had come to be the goddess of war or the chase in the time of Joseph, but centuries before in Egypt she was believed to be the daughter of Ra, the sun god. Asenath’s father, Potiphera, was a powerful priest of the sun god, and Asenath may have served in the temple as a priestess, possibly as a musician. Very little is known about Asenath. Jewish legends of later years say that she left her Egyptian religion and worshiped the YHVH Elohiym of Joseph.

EPHRAIM
Joseph named his younger son Ephraim, which meant [To Be Fruitful;] for Joseph said that YHVH had made him fruitful in the land of his affliction; the land of Egypt, where he lived because of his brothers’ trickery. Ephraim’s grandfather Jacob was also the younger of two sons. Before Jacob died, he gave Ephraim a greater blessing than his older brother, Manasseh, though he adopted both. Many years later, the tribe of Ephraim’s descendants gave Israel such leaders as Joshua and King Jeroboam I.

MANASSEH
Joseph’s older son was Manasseh, which meant [He Who Causes to Forget.] His birth helped Joseph forget the pain of being in Egypt away from his home. Although he received a lesser blessing than Ephraim, his tribe, like that of Ephraim, later became [a great people.] The tribe of Manasseh brought forth some of the greatest Israelite warriors and judges, among them Gideon and Jephthah.