Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Genesis 48:12
And Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth.
12. Joseph brought his knees ] To set a child upon the knees was to symbolize reception or adoption into the family: see note on Gen 30:3. From this passage it would appear that Joseph had set Ephraim and Manasseh upon, or against, the knees of their grandfather, so that they might receive the formal symbol (not here described) of adoption. This being done, he then removes them from between the knees of Jacob.
he bowed himself ] For “bowed himself,” see note on Gen 47:31. Who bowed himself? (1) Either Joseph, who thus threw himself on the ground to receive the blessing described in Gen 48:15. (2) Or Jacob, who thus rendered thanks to God for enabling him to adopt into his family the children of Joseph. According to (2), Jacob would be represented as able to prostrate himself with his face to the earth (see note on Gen 47:31). According to (1), Gen 48:13-14 are interposed between Joseph’s prostration in Gen 48:12 and the imposition of Jacob’s blessing in Gen 48:15. But, if we may regard this story as independent of Gen 47:29-31 (J), it seems simplest to refer the act to Jacob.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 12. Joseph – bowed himself with his face to the earth.] This act of Joseph has been extravagantly extolled by Dr. Delaney and others. “When I consider him on his knees to God,” says Dr. Delaney, “I regard him as a poor mortal in the discharge of his duty to his CREATOR. When I behold him bowing before Pharaoh, I consider him in the dutiful posture of a subject to his prince. But when I see him bending to the earth before a poor, old, blind, decrepit father, I behold him with admiration and delight. How doth that humiliation exalt him!” This is insufferable! For it in effect says that it is a wondrous condescension in a young man, who, in the course of God’s providence, with scarcely any efforts of his own, was raised to affluence and worldly grandeur, to show respect to his father! And that respect was the more gratuitous and condescending, because that father was poor, old, blind, and decrepit! The maxim of this most exceptionable flight of admiration is, that “children who have risen to affluence are not obliged to reverence their parents when reduced in their circumstances, and brought down by the weight of years and infirmities to the sides of the grave; and should they acknowledge and reverence them, it would be a mark of singular goodness, and be highly meritorious.” Should positions of this kind pass without reprehension? I trow not. By the law of God and nature Joseph was as much bound to pay his dying father this filial respect, as he was to reverence his king, or to worship his God. As to myself, I must freely confess that I see nothing peculiarly amiable in this part of Joseph’s conduct; he simply acquitted himself of a duty which God, nature, decency, and common sense, imperiously demanded of him, and all such in his circumstances, to discharge. To the present day children in the east, next to God, pay the deepest reverence to their parents.
Besides, before whom was Joseph bowing? Not merely his father, but a most eminent PATRIARCH; one highly distinguished by the Lord, and one of the three of whom the Supreme Being speaks in the most favourable and affectionate manner; the three who received and transmitted the true faith, and kept unbroken the Divine covenant; I AM the GOD of ABRAHAM, the GOD of ISAAC, and the GOD of JACOB. He has never said, I am the GOD of JOSEPH. And if we compare the father and the son as men, we shall find that the latter was exceeded by the former in almost endless degrees. Joseph owed his advancement and his eminence to what some would call good fortune, and what we know to have been the especial providence of God working in his behalf, wholly independent of his own industry, c., every event of that providence issuing in his favour. Jacob owed his own support and preservation, and the support and preservation of his numerous family, under God, to the continual exercise of the vast powers of a strong and vigorous mind, to which the providence of God seemed ever in opposition because God chose to try to the uttermost the great gifts which he had bestowed. If therefore the most humble and abject inferior should reverence dignity and eminence raised to no common height, so should Joseph bow down his face to the earth before JACOB.
Besides, Joseph, in thus reverencing his father, only followed the customs of the Egyptians among whom he lived, who, according to Herodotus, (Euterpe, c. 80,) were particularly remarkable for the reverence they paid to old age. “For if a young person meet his senior, he instantly turns aside to make way for him; if an aged person enter an apartment, the youth always rise from their seats;” and Mr. Savary observes that the reverence mentioned by Herodotus is yet paid to old age on every occasion in Egypt. In Mohammedan countries the children sit as if dumb in the presence of their parents, never attempting to speak unless spoken to. Among the ancient Romans it was considered a crime worthy of death not to rise up in the presence of an aged person, and acting a contrary part was deemed an awful mark of the deep degeneracy of the times. Thus the satirist: –
Credebant hoc grande nefas, et morte piandum,
Si Juvenis VETULO non assurrexerat; et si
Barbato cuicumque puer. Juv. Sat. xiii., v. 54.
And had not men the hoary heads revered,
Or boys paid reverence when a man appear’d.
Both must have died. DRYDEN.
Indeed, though Dr. Delaney is much struck with what he thinks to be great and meritorious condescension and humility on the part of Joseph; yet we find the thing itself, the deepest reverence to parents and old age, practised by all the civilized nations in the world, not as a matter of meritorious courtesy, but as a point of rational and absolute duty.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
From between his knees; not his own knees, from which they had been taken before, but Jacobs knees, between which they stood whilst Jacob kissed and embraced them; from which Joseph removed them, partly that they might not be burdensome to their aged and weak grandfather, and principally that he might place them in fit order and reverent posture to receive the blessing for which he longed.
He bowed himself, testifying thereby his reverence to his father, his thankfulness for the favour which he had now showed to him and his, and his humble and earnest request for his blessing upon them.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And Joseph brought them out from between his knees,…. Either from between his own, where they were kneeling, as he was sitting, in order that they might be nearer his father, to receive his blessing by the putting on of his hands; or rather from between his father’s knees, he, as Aben Ezra observes, sitting on the bed, having kissed and embraced them, they were still between his knees; and that they might not be burdensome to his aged father, leaning on his breast, and especially, in order to put them in a proper position for his benediction, he took them from thence, and placed them over against him to his right and left hand:
and he bowed himself with his face to the earth; in a civil way to his father, and in reverence of him; in a religious way to God, expressing his thankfulness for all favours to him and his, and as supplicating a blessing for his sons through his father, under a divine influence and direction.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Joseph then, in order to prepare his sons for the reception of the blessing, brought them from between the knees of Israel, who was sitting with the youths between his knees and embracing them, and having prostrated himself with his face to the earth, he came up to his father again, with Ephraim the younger on his right hand, and Manasseh the elder on the left, so that Ephraim stood at Jacob’s right hand, and Manasseh at his left.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
12. And Joseph brought them out. Moses explains more fully what he had touched upon in a single word. Joseph brings forth his sons from his own lap to his father’s knees, not only for the sake of honor, but that he may present them to receive a blessing from the prophet of God; for he was certainly persuaded, that holy Jacob did not desire to embrace his grandsons after the common manner of men; but inasmuch as he was the interpreter of God, he wished to impart to them the blessing deposited with himself. And although, in dividing the land of Canaan, he assigned them equal portions with his sons, yet the imposition of his hands had respect to something higher; namely, that they should be two of the patriarchs of the Church, and should hold an honorable preeminence in the spiritual kingdom of God.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(12) He bowed himself.The Samaritan, Syriac, and LXX. Versions regard the Hebrew verb as a contracted plural, and many modern commentators adopt this view. It would thus be Manasseh and Ephraim who stood before Jacob with faces bent towards the ground. The pronoun, however, is in favour of the verb being singular, and the sense it gives is equally satisfactory.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
‘And Joseph brought them out from between his knees and he bowed himself with his face to the earth.’
Joseph is filled with gratitude for what his father has done for his sons. He raises them from where they are and shows his gratitude by bowing low to his father. The great Vizier does obeisance to the old man, his father. And now is the time for them to receive his dying blessing as his sons.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Gen 48:12. Brought them out from between his knees We must suppose Jacob to be sitting upon his bed, with his legs upon the ground, see ch. Gen 49:33. and the children standing between his knees, while he embraced them; whence Joseph took them to dispose them properly for the reception of his father’s blessing; for which purpose he seems himself to have kneeled down by his father, and to have ordered his sons to do the same, placing them in such a manner, that Jacob’s right hand might be laid upon the eldest; for the right hand, as strongest, has commonly been esteemed and used as most honourable.
Bowed himself Joseph’s duty and honour towards his father are among the brightest ornaments of his character. A writer has well remarked upon it, that, “highly exalted as he was in the court of the greatest monarch upon earth, he thought it no lessening to bend before his aged father, and pay him all the marks of submission and duty; nay, and this at a time when the text assures us Jacob’s eyes were dim, and could not see; and consequently, when he could not be upbraided by his father for want of due respect, and, probably, would not have been blamed by any other mortal; for who would have been so vain as to censure the conduct of one who was at that time in the highest reputation for wisdom and prudence of all mortals then alive? Or, if their vanity could have carried them to censure his conduct, their fear of Pharaoh’s first minister would certainly have obliged them to keep their thoughts to themselves; yet, under all these circumstances of his father’s blindness, his own exalted station, unrivalled wisdom, and uncontrolled power, Joseph’s affection and dutiful heart would not suffer him to dispense with the least form of respect and veneration to his aged parent: for we read, that when he brought his sons to present them to his father, he bowed himself with his face to the earth. And, surely, there is not any one circumstance of his grandeur which reflects half so much lustre on his character as this single instance of filial humiliation. When I consider him upon his knees to God, I regard him as a poor mortal in the discharge of duty to his Creator, of adorable majesty, and infinite height above himself! When I behold him bowing down to Pharaoh, I consider him in the dutiful posture of a subject to his prince, to whom he was indebted for the highest exaltation and honour. But when I see him bending to the earth, before a poor, old, blind, decrepit father, I behold him with admiration and delight. How doth that humiliation exalt him!” &c. See Delaney’s Sermons, p. 147.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
I admire the filial reverence of Joseph to his dying father! Oh! what an example worthy of imitation. Lev 19:32 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Gen 48:12 And Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth.
Ver. 12. From between his knees. ] That is, From between his father’s knees, that he might place them right to receive the blessing, presenting them again according to their age. This he did for the best; but “God only wise” had otherwise ordered it. We many times think we do well, when it proves much otherwise. “Lean not therefore to thine own understanding,” saith the wise man; Pro 3:5 but make out to him that “dwells with prudence.” Pro 8:12
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
he bowed himself, i.e. Jacob worshipped; and, as we know from the Divine addition in Heb 11:21, he leaned on his staff = sitting on the (Egyptian) bed (Gen 48:2).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
he bowed himself: Joseph thus shewed that his external greatness did not render him forgetful of the respect due to his father. The Egyptians were remarkable for the reverence paid to old age: “for if a young person meet his senior, he instantly turns aside to make way for him; if an aged person enter an apartment, the youth always rise from their seats;” and Mr. Savary observes, that the same reverence is still paid to old age in Egypt. Gen 18:2, Gen 19:1, Gen 23:7, Gen 33:3, Gen 42:6, Exo 20:12, Exo 34:8, Lev 19:3, Lev 19:32, 1Ki 2:19, 2Ki 4:37, Pro 31:28, Eph 6:1
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Gen 48:12. From between his knees Not his own, but Jacobs, between which they stood, while Jacob kissed and embraced them, and from which Joseph removed them, that they might not be burdensome to their aged and weak grandfather, and especially that he might place them in a fit order and a reverent posture to receive the blessing which he earnestly desired. He bowed himself To testify his reverence for his father, his gratitude for the favour now shown to him and his children, and his humble request for his blessing upon them.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jacob’s blessing of Ephraim and Manasseh 48:12-20
Ephraim and Manasseh had been standing close to Jacob, between his knees, so he could see and touch them (Gen 48:12). Ancient Near Eastern adoption ritual included placing the adopted child on the knees of the adopting parent to symbolize giving him birth in place of the birth mother. [Note: See I. Mendelsohn, "A Ugaritic Parallel to the Adoption of Ephraim and Manasseh," Israel Exploration Journal (1959):180-83.] Now Joseph took them back to where he had been standing, in front of his father. He then bowed before Jacob.
"Joseph may be the second most powerful man in Egypt, but he never loses his respect for his father, and he never ceases to be gracious toward him." [Note: Hamilton, The Book . . . Chapters 18-50, p. 635.]
Arranging Manasseh and Ephraim in the normal order for Jacob’s blessing, by their age, Joseph then brought them forward again (Gen 48:13).
This is the first of many scriptural instances of the laying on of hands (Gen 48:14). By this symbolic act, a person transferred a spiritual power or gift to another. This rite was part of the ceremony of dedicating a person or group to an office (Num 27:18; Num 27:23; Deu 34:9; Mat 19:13; Act 6:6; Act 8:17; etc.), offering sacrifices, and the healings Jesus Christ and the apostles performed. In this case Jacob symbolically transferred a blessing from himself to Joseph’s sons. Once uttered, blessings were irreversible (cf. Num 23:20; Rom 11:29).
Jacob’s blessing of Ephraim and Manasseh also carried prophetic significance and force (Gen 48:19-20). Under the inspiration of God, Jacob deliberately gave Ephraim the privileged first-born blessing and predicted his preeminence. This was the fourth consecutive generation of Abraham’s descendants in which the normal pattern of the firstborn assuming prominence over the second born was reversed: Isaac over Ishmael, Jacob over Esau, Joseph over Reuben, and Ephraim over Manasseh. We can see this blessing in the process of fulfillment during the Judges Period when the tribe of Ephraim had grown very large and influential. The combined tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh increased from 72,700 in the second year after the Exodus (Num 1:32-35) to 85,200 40 years later (Num 26:28-37). By contrast the tribes of Reuben and Simeon decreased from 105,800 to 65,930 during the same period. The Ephraimites took the lead among the ten northern tribes and flourished to the extent that the Jews used the name Ephraim equally with the name Israel. The Ephraimites occasionally demonstrated an attitude of superiority among the tribes that we can trace back to this blessing (e.g., Jdg 12:1; et al.). The Hebrew phrase translated "a multitude (group) of nations" (Gen 48:19) appears only here in the Old Testament and probably means a company of peoples, namely, numerous. The reference to Israel in Gen 48:20 applies to the nation in the future from Jacob’s viewpoint.