Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Genesis 48:11
And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face: and, lo, God hath showed me also thy seed.
11. thy seed also ] This expression, like the question in Gen 48:8, seems to imply that Jacob had not before set eyes upon the sons of Joseph.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 11. I had not thought to see thy face] There is much delicacy and much tenderness in these expressions. He feels himself now amply recompensed for his long grief and trouble on account of the supposed death of Joseph, in seeing not only himself but his two sons, whom God, by an especial act of favour, is about to add to the number of his own. Thus we find that as Reuben and Simeon were heads of two distinct tribes in Israel, so were Ephraim and Manasseh; because Jacob, in a sort of sacramental way, had adopted them with equal privileges to those of his own sons.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face,…. Some years ago he never expected to have seen him any more; he had given him up for lost, as a dead man, when his sons brought him his coat dipped in blood; and by reason of the long course of years which passed before ever he heard anything of him:
and, lo, God hath showed me also thy seed; it was an additional favour to see his offspring; it can hardly be thought, that in a course of seventeen years he had been in Egypt, he had not seen them before, only he takes this opportunity, which was the last he should have of expressing his pleasure on this occasion.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
‘And Israel said to Joseph, “I had not thought to see your face, and lo, God has let me see your seed as well.”
The act of adoption fills him with gratitude to God and he cannot help expressing his feelings. Not only has he seen Joseph’s face again, something he had never expected, but he has had the joy of seeing his two sons grow up as well. He has been truly blessed.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Observe how Jacob refers all mercies into GOD’S gift. Reader are you a partaker of divine grace? Are you a parent also? And have you a well-grounded hope that any of your offspring are partakers of divine grace? And is there nothing in this expression of the Patriarch’s, suited to your case? Can you not say, I had not thought that I should have been brought into the bonds of the covenant being so utterly unworthy: and yet GOD hath showed me my seed also in the mercy? Rom 11:33 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Gen 48:11 And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face: and, lo, God hath shewed me also thy seed.
Ver. 11. I had not thought to see thy face. ] God delights to outbid the hopes of his people, and to be better to them than their deserts, than their desires, yea, than their faith. Isa 54:2-3 ; Isa 54:12 ; Isa 54:14 As it is storied of a certain emperor, that he delighted in no undertakings so much as in those that his counsellors and captains held impossible: and he seldom miscarried. So God, Exo 15:11 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
I had not: Gen 37:33, Gen 37:35, Gen 42:36, Gen 45:26
God: Eph 3:20
Reciprocal: Psa 107:41 – maketh Phi 2:28 – ye see 1Th 2:17 – endeavoured
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Gen 48:11. I had not thought to see thy face Having many years given him up for lost; and, lo, God hath showed me also thy seed! See here, how these two good men own God in their comforts. Joseph saith, They are my sons whom God has given me And to magnify the favour he adds, in this place of my banishment, slavery, and imprisonment. Jacob saith here, God hath showed me thy seed Our comforts are then doubly sweet to us, when we see them coming from Gods hand.