Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Genesis 48:20

And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh.

20. In ] Better, as marg., By. The meaning is that the blessing upon Ephraim and Manasseh shall be quoted as a formula for the invocation of Divine favour. Compare the blessing in Rth 4:11-12.

bless ] The versions, LXX, Vulg., and Syriac, give the passive “shall be blessed.”

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Verse 20. In thee shall Israel bless] That is, in future generations the Israelites shall take their form of wishing prosperity to any nation or family from the circumstance of the good which it shall be known that God has done to Ephraim and Manasseh: May God make thee as fruitful as Ephraim, and multiply thee as Manasseh! So, to their daughters when married, the Jewish women are accustomed to say, God make thee as Sarah and Rebekah! The forms are still in use.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

In thee, i.e. in thy seed, as appears both from the relative

them here, and from Gen 48:15, where his blessing of them is called the blessing of Joseph; and from the following words, where this is interpreted of

Ephraim and

Manasseh. And

in thee, or in thy seed, i.e. using their names in the form or words of blessing, as eminent examples of blessedness.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

And he blessed them that day,…. That Joseph visited him, and this be did “by faith”; believing that what he had said concerning them would be accomplished, as the apostle observes, Heb 11:21;

saying, in thee shall Israel bless; in Joseph, as the Targum of Jonathan, that is, in his seed, in his sons Ephraim and Manasseh, when the Israelites blessed any, they should make use of their names:

saying, God make thee as Ephraim and Manasseh: as great and honourable, as rich and wealthy, as fruitful and prosperous as they; and the Targum says, this custom continues with the Jews to this day, to put their hands on persons to bless them; if a son, they say,

“God make thee as Ephraim and Manasseh;”

if a daughter,

“God make thee as Sarah and Rebekah:”

and he set Ephraim before Manasseh; not only in this form of benediction, but in all that he had said and done before; he preferred him to Manasseh by putting his right hand upon him, and giving him the superior blessing: and it is no unusual thing for the younger to be set before the elder, both by God and man, but especially by the Lord, who seeth not as man seeth, and proceeds not according to carnal descent, or those rules men go by: there had been many instances before this, as Abel was preferred to Cain, Shem to Japheth, Abraham to Nahor, Isaac to Ishmael, and Jacob to Esau; as there were after it, as Moses to Aaron, and David to his brethren.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

(20) In thee shall Israel bless.In conformity with these words, the Israelites to this day use Jacobs formula in blessing their children.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

20. He set Ephraim before Manasseh “Manasseh outnumbered Ephraim at the Exodus, (Num 26:34; Num 26:37,) yet the Ephraimite Joshua led Israel into Canaan, and after the conquest Ephraim was the leading tribe of the northern nation, as Judah was of the southern . ” Newhall .

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments