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Genesis 47:28-49:33
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Genesis 47:28-49:33
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
28 [a]Jacob lived in the land of Egypt for seventeen years; the span of his life came to a hundred and forty-seven years. 29 When the time approached for Israel to die, he called his son Joseph and said to him: “If it pleases you, put your hand under my thigh as a sign of your enduring fidelity to me; do not bury me in Egypt. 30 When I lie down with my ancestors, take me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place.”(A) “I will do as you say,” he replied. 31 But his father demanded, “Swear it to me!” So Joseph swore to him. Then Israel bowed at the head of the bed.[b]
Chapter 48
1 [c]Some time afterward, Joseph was informed, “Your father is failing.” So he took along with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. 2 When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel rallied his strength and sat up in bed.
3 (B)Jacob then said to Joseph: “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz[d] in the land of Canaan, and blessing me, 4 he said, ‘I will make you fertile and multiply you and make you into an assembly of peoples, and I will give this land to your descendants after you as a permanent possession.’ 5 So now your two sons who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I joined you here, shall be mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine as much as Reuben and Simeon are mine. 6 Progeny born to you after them shall remain yours; but their heritage shall be recorded in the names of their brothers. 7 (C)I do this because, when I was returning from Paddan, your mother Rachel died, to my sorrow, during the journey in Canaan, while we were still a short distance from Ephrath; and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath [now Bethlehem].”[e]
8 When Israel saw Joseph’s sons, he asked, “Who are these?” 9 “They are my sons,” Joseph answered his father, “whom God has given me here.” “Bring them to me,” said his father, “that I may bless them.” 10 Now Israel’s eyes were dim from age; he could not see well. When Joseph brought his sons close to him, he kissed and embraced them. 11 Then Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face again, and now God has allowed me to see your descendants as well!”
12 Joseph removed them from his father’s knees and bowed down before him with his face to the ground. 13 Then Joseph took the two, Ephraim with his right hand, to Israel’s left, and Manasseh with his left hand, to Israel’s right, and brought them up to him. 14 But Israel, crossing his hands, put out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, although he was the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, although he was the firstborn. 15 Then he blessed them with these words:
“May the God in whose presence
my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked,
The God who has been my shepherd
from my birth to this day,(D)
16 The angel who has delivered me from all harm,
bless these boys
That in them my name be recalled,
and the names of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac,
And they may become teeming multitudes
upon the earth!”
17 When Joseph saw that his father had laid his right hand on Ephraim’s head, this seemed wrong to him; so he took hold of his father’s hand, to remove it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s, 18 saying, “That is not right, father; the other one is the firstborn; lay your right hand on his head!” 19 But his father refused. “I know it, son,” he said, “I know. That one too shall become a people, and he too shall be great. Nevertheless, his younger brother shall surpass him, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations.” 20 So he blessed them that day and said, “By you shall the people of Israel pronounce blessings, saying, ‘God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’” Thus he placed Ephraim before Manasseh.(E)
21 Then Israel said to Joseph: “I am about to die. But God will be with you and will restore you to the land of your ancestors. 22 (F)As for me, I give to you, as to the one above his brothers, Shechem, which I captured from the Amorites with my sword and bow.”[f]
Chapter 49
Jacob’s Testament.[g] 1 Jacob called his sons and said: “Gather around, that I may tell you what is to happen to you in days to come.
2 “Assemble and listen, sons of Jacob,
listen to Israel, your father.
3 “You, Reuben, my firstborn,
my strength and the first fruit of my vigor,
excelling in rank and excelling in power!
4 Turbulent as water, you shall no longer excel,
for you climbed into your father’s bed
and defiled my couch to my sorrow.(G)
5 [h]“Simeon and Levi, brothers indeed,
weapons of violence are their knives.[i]
6 Let not my person enter their council,
or my honor be joined with their company;
For in their fury they killed men,
at their whim they maimed oxen.(H)
7 Cursed be their fury so fierce,
and their rage so cruel!
I will scatter them in Jacob,
disperse them throughout Israel.
8 “You, Judah, shall your brothers praise
—your hand on the neck of your enemies;
the sons of your father shall bow down to you.
9 Judah is a lion’s cub,
you have grown up on prey, my son.
He crouches, lies down like a lion,
like a lioness—who would dare rouse him?(I)
10 The scepter shall never depart from Judah,
or the mace from between his feet,
Until tribute comes to him,[j]
and he receives the people’s obedience.
11 He tethers his donkey to the vine,
his donkey’s foal to the choicest stem.
In wine he washes his garments,
his robe in the blood of grapes.[k]
12 His eyes are darker than wine,
and his teeth are whiter than milk.
13 “Zebulun shall dwell by the seashore;
he will be a haven for ships,
and his flank shall rest on Sidon.
14 “Issachar is a rawboned donkey,
crouching between the saddlebags.
15 When he saw how good a settled life was,
and how pleasant the land,
He bent his shoulder to the burden
and became a toiling serf.
16 “Dan shall achieve justice[l] for his people
as one of the tribes of Israel.
17 Let Dan be a serpent by the roadside,
a horned viper by the path,
That bites the horse’s heel,
so that the rider tumbles backward.
18 “I long for your deliverance, O Lord![m]
19 “Gad shall be raided by raiders,
but he shall raid at their heels.[n]
20 “Asher’s produce is rich,
and he shall furnish delicacies for kings.
21 “Naphtali is a hind let loose,
which brings forth lovely fawns.
22 “Joseph is a wild colt,
a wild colt by a spring,
wild colts on a hillside.
23 Harrying him and shooting,
the archers opposed him;
24 But his bow remained taut,
and his arms were nimble,
By the power of the Mighty One of Jacob,
because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,
25 The God of your father, who helps you,[o]
God Almighty, who blesses you,
With the blessings of the heavens above,
the blessings of the abyss that crouches below,
The blessings of breasts and womb,
26 the blessings of fresh grain and blossoms,
the blessings of the everlasting mountains,
the delights of the eternal hills.
May they rest on the head of Joseph,
on the brow of the prince among his brothers.
27 “Benjamin is a ravenous wolf;
mornings he devours the prey,
and evenings he distributes the spoils.”
Farewell and Death. 28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said about them, as he blessed them. To each he gave a suitable blessing. 29 Then he gave them this charge: “Since I am about to be gathered to my people, bury me with my ancestors in the cave that lies in the field of Ephron the Hittite, 30 the cave in the field of Machpelah, facing on Mamre, in the land of Canaan, the field that Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite for a burial ground.(J) 31 There Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried, and so are Isaac and his wife Rebekah, and there, too, I buried Leah— 32 the field and the cave in it that had been purchased from the Hittites.”
33 When Jacob had finished giving these instructions to his sons, he drew his feet into the bed, breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.
Footnotes
- 47:28–50:26 Supplements to the Joseph story. Most of the material in this section centers on Jacob—his blessing of Joseph’s sons, his farewell testament, and his death and burial in Canaan. Only the last verses (50:15–26) redirect attention to Jacob’s sons, the twelve brothers; they are assured that the reconciliation will not collapse after the death of the patriarch.
- 47:31 Israel bowed at the head of the bed: meaning perhaps that he gave a nod of assent and appreciation as he lay on his bed. The oath and gesture are the same as Abraham’s in 24:2. Israel’s bowing here suggests the fulfillment of Joseph’s dreams in 37:9–10, when parents and brothers bowed down to Joseph (cf. 42:6; 43:26). By using different vowels for the Hebrew word for “bed,” the Greek version translated it as “staff,” and understood the phrase to mean that he bowed in worship, leaning on the top of his staff; it is thus quoted in Hb 11:21.
- 48:1–22 Jacob continues his preparations for death. In a scene that evokes the nearly blind Isaac blessing Jacob and Esau (chap. 27), Jacob blesses Joseph’s two sons. He adopts them, elevating them to a status equal to that of Jacob’s first sons Reuben and Simeon (cf. 1 Chr 5:1). The adoption is one more instance of Jacob’s favoring Rachel and those born of her. The mention of Jacob’s failing eyesight and his selection of the younger son over the older evokes the great deathbed scene in chap. 27. He reaffirms to Joseph the ancient divine promise of progeny and land.
- 48:3 Luz: an older name of Bethel (28:19).
- 48:7 Since her early death prevented Rachel from bearing more than two sons, Jacob feels justified in treating her two grandsons as if they were her own offspring.
- 48:22 Both the meaning of the Hebrew and the historical reference in this verse are obscure. By taking the Hebrew word for Shechem as a common noun meaning shoulder or mountain slope, some translators render the verse, “I give you one portion more than your brothers, which I captured…” The reference may be to the capture of Shechem by the sons of Jacob (34:24–29). Shechem lay near the border separating the tribal territory of Manasseh from that of Ephraim (Jos 16:4–9; 17:1–2, 7).
- 49:1–27 The testament, or farewell discourse, of Jacob, which has its closest parallel in Moses’ farewell in Dt 33:6–25. From his privileged position as a patriarch, he sees the future of his children (the eponymous ancestors of the tribes) and is able to describe how they will fare and so gives his blessing. The dense and archaic poetry is obscure in several places. The sayings often involve wordplays (explained in the notes). The poem begins with the six sons of Leah (vv. 2–15), then deals with the sons of the two secondary wives, and ends with Rachel’s two sons, Joseph and Benjamin. Reuben, the oldest son, loses his position of leadership as a result of his intercourse with Bilhah (35:22), and the words about Simeon and Levi allude to their taking revenge for the rape of Dinah (chap. 34). The preeminence of Judah reflects his rise in the course of the narrative (mirroring the rise of Joseph). See note on 44:1–34.
- 49:5–7 This passage probably refers to their attack on the city of Shechem (Gn 34). Because there is no indication that the warlike tribe of Levi will be commissioned as a priestly tribe (Ex 32:26–29; Dt 33:11), this passage reflects an early, independent tradition.
- 49:5 Knives: if this is the meaning of the obscure Hebrew word here, the reference may be to the knives used in circumcising the men of Shechem (34:24; cf. Jos 5:2).
- 49:10 Until tribute comes to him: this translation is based on a slight change in the Hebrew text, which, as it stands, would seem to mean, “until he comes to Shiloh.” A somewhat different reading of the Hebrew text would be, “until he comes to whom it belongs.” This last has been traditionally understood in a messianic sense. In any case, the passage aims at the supremacy of the tribe of Judah and of the Davidic dynasty.
- 49:11 In wine…the blood of grapes: Judah’s clothes are poetically pictured as soaked with grape juice from trampling in the wine press, the rich vintage of his land; cf. Is 63:2.
- 49:16 In Hebrew the verb for “achieve justice” is from the same root as the name Dan.
- 49:18 This short plea for divine mercy has been inserted into the middle of Jacob’s testament.
- 49:19 In Hebrew there is assonance between the name Gad and the words for “raided,” “raiders,” and “raid.”
- 49:25–26 A very similar description of the agricultural riches of the tribal land of Joseph is given in Dt 33:13–16.
Genesis 47:28-49:33
New International Version
Genesis 47:28-49:33
New International Version
28 Jacob lived in Egypt(A) seventeen years, and the years of his life were a hundred and forty-seven.(B) 29 When the time drew near for Israel(C) to die,(D) he called for his son Joseph and said to him, “If I have found favor in your eyes,(E) put your hand under my thigh(F) and promise that you will show me kindness(G) and faithfulness.(H) Do not bury me in Egypt, 30 but when I rest with my fathers,(I) carry me out of Egypt and bury me where they are buried.”(J)
“I will do as you say,” he said.
31 “Swear to me,”(K) he said. Then Joseph swore to him,(L) and Israel(M) worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.[a](N)
Manasseh and Ephraim
48 Some time later Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim(O) along with him. 2 When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel(P) rallied his strength and sat up on the bed.
3 Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty[b](Q) appeared to me at Luz(R) in the land of Canaan, and there he blessed me(S) 4 and said to me, ‘I am going to make you fruitful and increase your numbers.(T) I will make you a community of peoples, and I will give this land(U) as an everlasting possession to your descendants after you.’(V)
5 “Now then, your two sons born to you in Egypt(W) before I came to you here will be reckoned as mine; Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine,(X) just as Reuben(Y) and Simeon(Z) are mine. 6 Any children born to you after them will be yours; in the territory they inherit they will be reckoned under the names of their brothers. 7 As I was returning from Paddan,[c](AA) to my sorrow(AB) Rachel died in the land of Canaan while we were still on the way, a little distance from Ephrath. So I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem).(AC)
8 When Israel(AD) saw the sons of Joseph,(AE) he asked, “Who are these?”
9 “They are the sons God has given me here,”(AF) Joseph said to his father.
Then Israel said, “Bring them to me so I may bless(AG) them.”
10 Now Israel’s eyes were failing because of old age, and he could hardly see.(AH) So Joseph brought his sons close to him, and his father kissed them(AI) and embraced them.(AJ)
11 Israel(AK) said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face again,(AL) and now God has allowed me to see your children too.”(AM)
12 Then Joseph removed them from Israel’s knees(AN) and bowed down with his face to the ground.(AO) 13 And Joseph took both of them, Ephraim on his right toward Israel’s left hand and Manasseh on his left toward Israel’s right hand,(AP) and brought them close to him. 14 But Israel(AQ) reached out his right hand and put it on Ephraim’s head,(AR) though he was the younger,(AS) and crossing his arms, he put his left hand on Manasseh’s head, even though Manasseh was the firstborn.(AT)
15 Then he blessed(AU) Joseph and said,
“May the God before whom my fathers
Abraham and Isaac walked faithfully,(AV)
the God who has been my shepherd(AW)
all my life to this day,
16 the Angel(AX) who has delivered me from all harm(AY)
—may he bless(AZ) these boys.(BA)
May they be called by my name
and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac,(BB)
and may they increase greatly
on the earth.”(BC)
17 When Joseph saw his father placing his right hand(BD) on Ephraim’s head(BE) he was displeased; so he took hold of his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. 18 Joseph said to him, “No, my father, this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.”(BF)
19 But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He too will become a people, and he too will become great.(BG) Nevertheless, his younger brother will be greater than he,(BH) and his descendants will become a group of nations.(BI)” 20 He blessed(BJ) them that day(BK) and said,
“In your[d] name will Israel(BL) pronounce this blessing:(BM)
‘May God make you like Ephraim(BN) and Manasseh.(BO)’”
So he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.
21 Then Israel said to Joseph, “I am about to die, but God will be with you[e](BP) and take you[f] back to the land of your[g] fathers.(BQ) 22 And to you I give one more ridge of land[h](BR) than to your brothers,(BS) the ridge I took from the Amorites with my sword(BT) and my bow.”
Jacob Blesses His Sons(BU)
49 Then Jacob called for his sons and said: “Gather around so I can tell you what will happen to you in days to come.(BV)
3 “Reuben, you are my firstborn,(BY)
my might, the first sign of my strength,(BZ)
excelling in honor,(CA) excelling in power.
4 Turbulent as the waters,(CB) you will no longer excel,
for you went up onto your father’s bed,
onto my couch and defiled it.(CC)
5 “Simeon(CD) and Levi(CE) are brothers—
their swords[i] are weapons of violence.(CF)
6 Let me not enter their council,
let me not join their assembly,(CG)
for they have killed men in their anger(CH)
and hamstrung(CI) oxen as they pleased.
7 Cursed be their anger, so fierce,
and their fury,(CJ) so cruel!(CK)
I will scatter them in Jacob
and disperse them in Israel.(CL)
8 “Judah,[j](CM) your brothers will praise you;
your hand will be on the neck(CN) of your enemies;
your father’s sons will bow down to you.(CO)
9 You are a lion’s(CP) cub,(CQ) Judah;(CR)
you return from the prey,(CS) my son.
Like a lion he crouches and lies down,
like a lioness—who dares to rouse him?
10 The scepter will not depart from Judah,(CT)
nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,[k]
until he to whom it belongs[l] shall come(CU)
and the obedience of the nations shall be his.(CV)
11 He will tether his donkey(CW) to a vine,
his colt to the choicest branch;(CX)
he will wash his garments in wine,
his robes in the blood of grapes.(CY)
12 His eyes will be darker than wine,
his teeth whiter than milk.[m](CZ)
13 “Zebulun(DA) will live by the seashore
and become a haven for ships;
his border will extend toward Sidon.(DB)
14 “Issachar(DC) is a rawboned[n] donkey
lying down among the sheep pens.[o](DD)
15 When he sees how good is his resting place
and how pleasant is his land,(DE)
he will bend his shoulder to the burden(DF)
and submit to forced labor.(DG)
16 “Dan[p](DH) will provide justice for his people
as one of the tribes of Israel.(DI)
17 Dan(DJ) will be a snake by the roadside,
a viper along the path,(DK)
that bites the horse’s heels(DL)
so that its rider tumbles backward.
22 “Joseph(DV) is a fruitful vine,(DW)
a fruitful vine near a spring,
whose branches(DX) climb over a wall.[s]
23 With bitterness archers attacked him;(DY)
they shot at him with hostility.(DZ)
24 But his bow remained steady,(EA)
his strong arms(EB) stayed[t] limber,
because of the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob,(EC)
because of the Shepherd,(ED) the Rock of Israel,(EE)
25 because of your father’s God,(EF) who helps(EG) you,
because of the Almighty,[u](EH) who blesses you
with blessings of the skies above,
blessings of the deep springs below,(EI)
blessings of the breast(EJ) and womb.(EK)
26 Your father’s blessings are greater
than the blessings of the ancient mountains,
than[v] the bounty of the age-old hills.(EL)
Let all these rest on the head of Joseph,(EM)
on the brow of the prince among[w] his brothers.(EN)
27 “Benjamin(EO) is a ravenous wolf;(EP)
in the morning he devours the prey,(EQ)
in the evening he divides the plunder.”(ER)
28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel,(ES) and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them, giving each the blessing(ET) appropriate to him.
The Death of Jacob
29 Then he gave them these instructions:(EU) “I am about to be gathered to my people.(EV) Bury me with my fathers(EW) in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite,(EX) 30 the cave in the field of Machpelah,(EY) near Mamre(EZ) in Canaan, which Abraham bought along with the field(FA) as a burial place(FB) from Ephron the Hittite. 31 There Abraham(FC) and his wife Sarah(FD) were buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah(FE) were buried, and there I buried Leah.(FF) 32 The field and the cave in it were bought from the Hittites.[x](FG)”
33 When Jacob had finished giving instructions to his sons, he drew his feet up into the bed, breathed his last and was gathered to his people.(FH)
Footnotes
- Genesis 47:31 Or Israel bowed down at the head of his bed
- Genesis 48:3 Hebrew El-Shaddai
- Genesis 48:7 That is, Northwest Mesopotamia
- Genesis 48:20 The Hebrew is singular.
- Genesis 48:21 The Hebrew is plural.
- Genesis 48:21 The Hebrew is plural.
- Genesis 48:21 The Hebrew is plural.
- Genesis 48:22 The Hebrew for ridge of land is identical with the place name Shechem.
- Genesis 49:5 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
- Genesis 49:8 Judah sounds like and may be derived from the Hebrew for praise.
- Genesis 49:10 Or from his descendants
- Genesis 49:10 Or to whom tribute belongs; the meaning of the Hebrew for this phrase is uncertain.
- Genesis 49:12 Or will be dull from wine, / his teeth white from milk
- Genesis 49:14 Or strong
- Genesis 49:14 Or the campfires; or the saddlebags
- Genesis 49:16 Dan here means he provides justice.
- Genesis 49:19 Gad sounds like the Hebrew for attack and also for band of raiders.
- Genesis 49:21 Or free; / he utters beautiful words
- Genesis 49:22 Or Joseph is a wild colt, / a wild colt near a spring, / a wild donkey on a terraced hill
- Genesis 49:24 Or archers will attack … will shoot … will remain … will stay
- Genesis 49:25 Hebrew Shaddai
- Genesis 49:26 Or of my progenitors, / as great as
- Genesis 49:26 Or of the one separated from
- Genesis 49:32 Or the descendants of Heth
New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
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