Kejadian 48:8-9

48:8 When Israel saw Joseph’s sons, he asked, “Who are these?” 48:9 Joseph said to his father, “They are the ¹  sons God has given me in this place.” His father ²  said, “Bring them to me so I may bless them.” ³ 

Kejadian 48:11

48:11 Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected ⁴  to see you ⁵  again, but now God has allowed me to see your children ⁶  too.”

Kejadian 48:14

48:14 Israel stretched out his right hand and placed it on Ephraim’s head, although he was the younger. ⁷  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 ⁸  will Israel bless, ⁹  saying,

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

So he put Ephraim before Manasseh. ¹⁰ 

[48:9]  ¹ tn Heb “my.”

[48:9]  ² tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Joseph’s father) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[48:9]  ³ tn The cohortative with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose after the imperative.

[48:11]  ⁴ tn On the meaning of the Hebrew verb פָּלַל (palal) here, see E. A. Speiser, “The Stem pll in Hebrew,” JBL 82 (1963): 301-6. Speiser argues that this verb means “to estimate” as in Exod 21:22.

[48:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “your face.”

[48:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “offspring.”

[48:14]  ⁷ tn The disjunctive clause is circumstantial-concessive here.

[48:20]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Or “pronounce a blessing.”

[48:20]  ¹⁰ 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.