Genesis 48--Jacob Blesses Joseph's Sons

Genesis 48-English Standard Version

Jacob Blesses Ephraim and Manasseh​
48 After this, Joseph was told, “Behold, your father is ill.” So he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. 2 And it was told to Jacob, “Your son Joseph has come to you.” Then Israel summoned his strength and sat up in bed. 3 And Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, 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.’ 5 And now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are. 6 And the children that you fathered after them shall be yours. They shall be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance. 7 As for me, when I came from Paddan, to my sorrow Rachel died in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was still some distance to go to Ephrath, and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem).”

8 When Israel saw Joseph's sons, he said, “Who are these?” 9 Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me here.” And he said, “Bring them to me, please, that I may bless them.” 10 Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. So Joseph brought them near him, and he kissed them and embraced them. 11 And Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face; and behold, God has let me see your offspring also.” 12 Then Joseph removed them from his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth. 13 And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel's right hand, and brought them near him. 14 And Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, crossing his hands (for Manasseh was the firstborn). 15 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.”

17 When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him, and he took his father's hand to move it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head. 18 And Joseph said to his father, “Not this way, my father; since this one is the firstborn, put your right hand on his head.” 19 But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great. Nevertheless, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations.” 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. 21 Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you again to the land of your fathers. 22 Moreover, I have given to you rather than to your brothers one mountain slope that I took from the hand of the Amorites with my sword and with my bow.”

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This seems to be a strange passage, but what is going on here is that Joseph is getting a "double blessing" from his father before his death by Jacob treating Joseph's sons as his own and including them in his inheritance so that "the tribe of Joseph" would now be replaced by "the tribe of Ephraim" and "the tribe of Manasseh" (making Israel a nation of 13 tribes, not 12).  Any children that Joseph fathers after them will belong to him and not be counted in the tribes of Israel.

Jacob then tells Joseph where the tomb of Rachel, his mother, is and the circumstances under which she died and why it was that she was buried at Bethlehem and not buried with Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Rebekah.

Much like at the time of Isaac blessing his sons, the eyes of Jacob were weak so that it was hard for him to see, and Joseph tries to force Jacob to put the extra blessing on his firstborn as that is the custom, but Jacob knowing full-well that God wanted him to bless the younger (and hasn't that seemed to be a pattern so far in Genesis--God's blessings fall to the one He chooses without regard to the traditions of man?), he crosses his arms and puts his right hand on the younger son and his left hand on the older son.

Both sons of Joseph had the Abrahamic covenant passed onto them (as did all of the other sons of Israel) and they were blessed with the protection and watch care of God and His angels.  Jacob makes it clear to Joseph that Ephraim will be greater than Manasseh, and we'll see this as we continue to study the Old Testament.

Jacob then reminded Joseph and his sons that one day they would return to the covenant land of Canaan and Jacob gave a special piece of land to these sons of Joseph that would not belong to the other sons of Israel--a particular mountain slope that Jacob had taken from the Amorites.  This promise and blessing will stick with Jospeh as he will leave instructions that his mummified body will be carried out of Egypt with the Israelites during their Exodus.  He knew that his final resting place was among the land of his fathers in the Promised Land of Canaan.