Genesis 48:1-22

48:1-11 | Knowing Jacob was near death, Joseph brought his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, to their grandfather so he could bless them. Jacob told them his sotry: God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me. As Jacob looked back at the end of his life, he vividly remembered God’s involvement in provision.

48:13-14 | The blessing of the older son was to be given with the right hand, and the younger son’s blessing with the left hand. Joseph positioned Manasseh (the older) and Ephraim (the younger) so Jacob could simply reach out his hands and bless them respectively. But Jacob crossed his hands, so once again the younger was blessed above the older (25:23; 27:28-40).

48:15-22 | Throughout the history of Israel, Ephriam was indeed blessed among the tribes. In fact, this tribe was so bleesed that when the northern kingdom separated from the southern kingdom, the name of Ephriam, its principal tribe, was sometimes a synonym for Israel. As a son of Joseph, Manasseh was also greatly blessed, and Ephraim and Manasseh together were the two most populous among the 12 tribes of Israel.

48:16 | The word Angel is capitalized to signal the short form of the full phrase, the Angel of the Lord. It likely refers to Jesus and the night that Jacob wrestled with the man (32:22,32).