Chapter 48
Joseph hears his father Jacob is near death, and takes Ephraim and Manasseh to see him. Jacob sits up in bed. He says this of God's promise to him:
4 and said to me, 'Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will make of you a company of peoples and will give this land to your offspring after you for an everlasting possession.' [Gen 48:4 ESV]
This was Jacob's understanding of God's ongoing promise that the land would belong to his descendants forever.
Then he tells Joseph that Ephraim and Manasseh will be his sons as Reuben and Simeon are his sons, and that Joseph's other children will remain with him. I know that throughout the following history, there is no tribe of Joseph ever, but there are the half tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. I believe this is because Jacob wanted Joseph to have a double portion of the inheritance. Instead of a single 12th of the inheritance, this way, Joseph's descendants will receive two portions. Normally, it was only the firstborn that got two parts. Reuben and Simeon were the first two sons of Leah. Reuben was Jacob's firstborn. I don't get why both are mentioned in this way. There is nothing in MSB about it either. No comments at all on the two relevant verses.
(By making Ephraim and Manasseh his sons instead of his grandsons, the two were entitled to inherit from Jacob, and it would be as if Jacob had 13 sons, not 12. Joseph obviously needed nothing from his father, so Joseph's sons received Joseph's portions.)
Joseph presents his still very young sons to Jacob for a blessing. These are the words:
5 And he blessed Joseph and said, "The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day, 16 the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the boys; and in them let my name be carried on, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth." [Gen 48:15-16 ESV]
It would seem from this that Jacob intended Ephraim and Manasseh to be the primary tribes, and to be the tribes most associated with his name. Yet I would say that as it turns out, Judah is the tribe that God chose. From Judah came Christ, not from E or M? MSB says that Ephraim does later become a substitute name for Israel. I will watch for this.
Jacob crosses his hands and puts his right hand on the younger son's head. Joseph doesn't like this. I don't know why he wouldn't! Joseph tries to correct his father, but his father says that he has done what he intended (this time!!!) and that the younger son Ephraim will be the greater and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations. Jacob reinforces this here:
20 So he blessed them that day, saying, "By you Israel will pronounce blessings, saying, 'God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh.'" Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh. [Gen 48:20 ESV].
2026 - This happens so many times in the Bible. The least so often usurps the first. It borders on a principle. The point - the easy point to make - is that God does this to show his sovereignty above all the inheritance rules of men. Those rules were perhaps the most profound and inviolable of all - as property and rank were passed down through that mechanism.
2026 - Per ChatGPT: Cases tied directly to firstborn reversal
These are especially relevant if your interest is the reversal of normal firstborn rights:
Isaac over Ishmael — Genesis 17:18–21; 21:9–12
Jacob over Esau — Genesis 25:23–26; 27:1–40
Joseph and Judah over Reuben — Genesis 49:3–10; 1 Chronicles 5:1–2
Ephraim over Manasseh — Genesis 48:13–20
David over his brothers — 1 Samuel 16:6–13
Solomon over older brothers — 1 Kings 1:5–10, 28–30
A useful summary observation
This pattern appears often enough to be thematic in the Old Testament: God frequently overturns normal primogeniture. The firstborn may retain biological priority, but God repeatedly assigns covenant blessing, rulership, or inheritance prominence according to His own choice rather than birth order.
Jacob gives Joseph a "mountain slope he took from the Amorites with the sword". Gives it to Joseph instead of to Joseph's brothers. MSB says the conquest of this slope is not mentioned anywhere else in the Bible. We don't know what it's about. He also tells Joseph that God will bring Joseph again to the land of his fathers.