48:1-7 The death-beds of believers, with the prayers and counsels of dying persons, are suited to make serious impressions upon the young, the gay, and the prosperous: we shall do well to take children on such occasions, when it can be done properly. If the Lord please, it is very desirable to bear our dying testimony to his truth, to his faithfulness, and the pleasantness of his ways. And one would wish so to live, as to give energy and weight to our dying exhortations. All true believers are blessed at their death, but all do not depart equally full of spiritual consolations. Jacob adopted Joseph's two sons. Let them not succeed their father, in his power and grandeur in Egypt; but let them succeed in the inheritance of the promise made to Abraham. Thus the aged dying patriarch teaches these young persons to take their lot with the people of God. He appoints each of them to be the head of a tribe. Those are worthy of double honour, who, through God's grace, break through the temptations of worldly wealth and preferment, to embrace religion in disgrace and poverty. Jacob will have Ephraim and Manasseh to know, that it is better to be low, and in the church, than high, and out of it.

Verses 3, 4. - And Jacob said unto Joseph, - recalling the experiences of early days - God Almighty - El Shaddai (vide Genesis 17:1) - appeared unto me at Luz - i.e. Bethel (vide Genesis 28:17, 19; Genesis 35:6, 15) - in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, and said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people; and will give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession. It is obvious that Jacob principally has in his mind the theophany at Bethel on his return from Padan-aram.

And Jacob said unto Joseph,.... Being come into his bedchamber, and sitting by him, or standing before him:

God Almighty appeared unto at Luz in the land of Canaan; the same with Bethel, where God appeared, both at his going to Padanaram, and at his return from thence, Genesis 28:11; which of those times is here referred to is not certain; very likely he refers to them both, since the same promises were made to him at both times, as after mentioned:

and blessed me; promised he would bless him, both with temporal and spiritual blessings, as he did as follows.

3, 4. God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz—The object of Jacob, in thus reverting to the memorable vision at Beth-el [Ge 28:10-15]—one of the great landmarks in his history—was to point out the splendid promises in reserve for his posterity—to engage Joseph's interest and preserve his continued connection with the people of God, rather than with the Egyptians.

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