Kejadian 41:50-52

41:50 Two sons were born to Joseph before the famine came. ¹  Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, was their mother. ²  41:51 Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, ³  saying, ⁴  “Certainly ⁵  God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s house.” 41:52 He named the second child Ephraim, ⁶  saying, ⁷  “Certainly ⁸  God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering.”

Kejadian 48:4-5

48:4 He said to me, ‘I am going to make you fruitful ⁹  and will multiply you. ¹⁰  I will make you into a group of nations, and I will give this land to your descendants ¹¹  as an everlasting possession.’ ¹² 

48:5 “Now, as for your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, they will be mine. ¹³  Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine just as Reuben and Simeon are.

Kejadian 48:13-14

48:13 Joseph positioned them; ¹⁴  he put Ephraim on his right hand across from Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh on his left hand across from Israel’s right hand. Then Joseph brought them closer to his father. ¹⁵  48:14 Israel stretched out his right hand and placed it on Ephraim’s head, although he was the younger. ¹⁶  Crossing his hands, he put his left hand on Manasseh’s head, for Manasseh was the firstborn.

Kejadian 48:20

48:20 So he blessed them that day, saying,

“By you ¹⁷  will Israel bless, ¹⁸  saying,

‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’”

So he put Ephraim before Manasseh. ¹⁹ 

[41:50]  ¹ tn Heb “before the year of the famine came.”

[41:50]  ² tn Heb “gave birth for him.”

[41:51]  ³ sn The name Manasseh (מְנַשֶּׁה, mÿnasheh) describes God’s activity on behalf of Joseph, explaining in general the significance of his change of fortune. The name is a Piel participle, suggesting the meaning “he who brings about forgetfulness.” The Hebrew verb נַשַּׁנִי (nashani) may have been used instead of the normal נִשַּׁנִי (nishani) to provide a closer sound play with the name. The giving of this Hebrew name to his son shows that Joseph retained his heritage and faith; and it shows that a brighter future was in store for him.

[41:51]  ⁴ tn The word “saying” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[41:51]  ⁵ tn Or “for.”

[41:52]  ⁶ sn The name Ephraim (אֶפְרַיִם, ’efrayim), a form of the Hebrew verb פָּרָה (parah), means “to bear fruit.” The theme of fruitfulness is connected with this line of the family from Rachel (30:2) on down (see Gen 49:22, Deut 33:13-17, and Hos 13:15). But there is some difficulty with the name “Ephraim” itself. It appears to be a dual, for which F. Delitzsch simply said it meant “double fruitfulness” (New Commentary on Genesis, 2:305). G. J. Spurrell suggested it was a diphthongal pronunciation of a name ending in -an or -am, often thought to be dual suffixes (Notes on the text of the book of Genesis, 334). Many, however, simply connect the name to the territory of Ephraim and interpret it to be “fertile land” (C. Fontinoy, “Les noms de lieux en -ayim dans la Bible,” UF 3 [1971]: 33-40). The dual would then be an old locative ending. There is no doubt that the name became attached to the land in which the tribe settled, and it is possible that is where the dual ending came from, but in this story it refers to Joseph’s God-given fruitfulness.

[41:52]  ⁷ tn The word “saying” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[41:52]  ⁸ tn Or “for.”

[48:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “Look, I am making you fruitful.” The participle following הִנֵּה (hinneh) has the nuance of a certain and often imminent future.

[48:4]  ¹⁰ tn The perfect verbal form with vav consecutive carries on the certain future idea.

[48:4]  ¹¹ tn The Hebrew text adds “after you,” which has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[48:4]  ¹² tn The Hebrew word אֲחֻזָּה (’akhuzzah), translated “possession,” describes a permanent holding in the land. It is the noun form of the same verb (אָחַז, ’akhaz) that was used for the land given to them in Goshen (Gen 47:27).

[48:5]  ¹³ sn They will be mine. Jacob is here adopting his two grandsons Manasseh and Ephraim as his sons, and so they will have equal share with the other brothers. They will be in the place of Joseph and Levi (who will become a priestly tribe) in the settlement of the land. See I. Mendelsohn, “A Ugaritic Parallel to the Adoption of Ephraim and Manasseh,” IEJ (1959): 180-83.

[48:13]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and Joseph took the two of them.”

[48:13]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and he brought near to him.” The referents of the pronouns “he” and “him” (Joseph and his father respectively) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[48:14]  ¹⁶ tn The disjunctive clause is circumstantial-concessive here.

[48:20]  ¹⁷ tn The pronoun is singular in the Hebrew text, apparently elevating Ephraim as the more prominent of the two. Note, however, that both are named in the blessing formula that follows.

[48:20]  ¹⁸ tn Or “pronounce a blessing.”

[48:20]  ¹⁹ sn On the elevation of Ephraim over Manasseh see E. C. Kingsbury, “He Set Ephraim Before Manasseh,” HUCA 38 (1967): 129-36; H. Mowvley, “The Concept and Content of ‘Blessing’ in the Old Testament,” BT 16 (1965): 74-80; and I. Mendelsohn, “On the Preferential Status of the Eldest Son,” BASOR 156 (1959): 38-40.