The patriarch then stretched out his right hand and laid it upon Ephraim's head, and placed his left upon the head of Manasseh (crossing his arms therefore), to bless Joseph in his sons. "Guiding his hands wittingly;" i.e., he placed his hands in this manner intentionally. Laying on the hand, which is mentioned here for the first time in the Scriptures, was a symbolical sign, by which the person acting transferred to another a spiritual good, a supersensual power or gift; it occurs elsewhere in connection with dedication to an office (Numbers 27:18, Numbers 27:23; Deuteronomy 34:9; Matthew 19:13; Acts 6:6; Acts 8:17, etc.), with the sacrifices, and with the cures performed by Christ and the apostles. By the imposition of hands, Jacob transferred to Joseph in his sons the blessing which he implored for them from his own and his father's God: "The God (Ha-Elohim) before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God (Ha-Elohim) who hath fed me (led and provided for me with a shepherd's faithfulness, Psalm 23:1; Psalm 28:9) from my existence up to this day, the Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads." This triple reference to God, in which the Angel who is placed on an equality with Ha-Elohim cannot possibly be a created angel, but must be the "Angel of God," i.e., God manifested in the form of the Angel of Jehovah, or the "Angel of His face" (Isaiah 43:9), contains a foreshadowing of the Trinity, though only God and the Angel are distinguished, not three persons of the divine nature. The God before whom Abraham and Isaac walked, had proved Himself to Jacob to be "the God which fed" and "the Angel which redeemed," i.e., according to the more fully developed revelation of the New Testament, ὁ Θεός and ὁ λόγος, Shepherd and Redeemer. By the singular יברך (bless, benedicat) the triple mention of God is resolved into the unity of the divine nature. Non dicit (Jakob) benedicant, pluraliter, nec repetit sed conjungit in uno opere benedicendi tres personas, Deum Patrem, Deum pastorem et Angelum. Sunt igitur hi tres unus Deus et unus benedictor. Idem opus facit Angelus quod pastor et Deus Patrum (Luther). "Let my name be named on them, and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac," i.e., not, "they shall bear my name and my fathers'," "dicantur filii mei et patrum meorum, licet ex te nati sint" (Rosenm.), which would only be another way of acknowledging his adoption of them, "nota adoptionis" (Calvin); for as the simple mention of adoption is unsuitable to such a blessing, so the words appended, "and according to the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac," are still less suitable as a periphrasis for adoption. The thought is rather: the true nature of the patriarchs shall be discerned and acknowledged in Ephraim and Manasseh; in them shall those blessings of grace and salvation be renewed, which Jacob and his fathers Isaac and Abraham received from God. The name expressed the nature, and "being called" is equivalent to "being, and being recognised by what one is." The salvation promised to the patriarchs related primarily to the multiplication into a great nation, and the possession of Canaan. Hence Jacob proceeds: "and let them increase into a multitude in the midst of the land." דּגה: ἁπ λεγ, "to increase," from which the name דּג, a fish, is derived, on account of the remarkable rapidity with which they multiply.

Genesis 48:21 Parallel Commentaries

Behold.

Genesis 50:24 And Joseph said to his brothers, I die: and God will surely visit you...

1 Kings 2:2-4 I go the way of all the earth: be you strong therefore, and show yourself a man...

Psalm 146:3,4 Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help...

Zechariah 1:5,6 Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever...

Luke 2:29 Lord, now let you your servant depart in peace, according to your word:

Acts 13:36 For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid to his fathers, and saw corruption:

2 Timothy 4:6 For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.

Hebrews 7:3,8,23-25 Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like to the Son of God...

2 Peter 1:14 Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ has showed me.

God.

Genesis 15:14 And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.

Genesis 28:15 And, behold, I am with you, and will keep you in all places where you go, and will bring you again into this land...

Genesis 46:4 I will go down with you into Egypt; and I will also surely bring you up again: and Joseph shall put his hand on your eyes.

Deuteronomy 1:1-46 These be the words which Moses spoke to all Israel on this side Jordan in the wilderness, in the plain over against the Red sea...

Deuteronomy 31:8 And the LORD, he it is that does go before you; he will be with you, he will not fail you, neither forsake you: fear not...

Joshua 1:5,9 There shall not any man be able to stand before you all the days of your life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with you...

Joshua 3:7 And the LORD said to Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that...

Joshua 23:14 And, behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth: and you know in all your hearts and in all your souls...

Joshua 24:1-33 And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, and for their heads, and for their judges...

Psalm 18:46 The LORD lives; and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted.

land.

Genesis 12:5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered...

Genesis 26:3 Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you, and will bless you; for to you, and to your seed, I will give all these countries...

Genesis 37:1 And Jacob dwelled in the land wherein his father was a stranger, in the land of Canaan.