{ "schemaVersion": 1, "kind": "event", "id": "jacob-blesses-his-sons", "era": "patriarchs", "order": 46, "title": "Jacob blesses his sons", "group": "joseph", "date": { "kind": "relative", "label": "Jacob dies aged 147" }, "pin": [ 31.834217, 30.79937 ], "pinConfidence": "Approximate region", "pinPlace": "openbible-a60f092", "summary": "Jacob adopts Joseph’s sons Ephraim and Manasseh, crossing his hands to give the younger the greater blessing. He then gathers his twelve sons and speaks over each, foretelling that the scepter will not depart from Judah, and dies after charging them to bury him in the cave of Machpelah.", "question": "What surprises you in the blessings Jacob gives his sons?", "passages": [ { "reference": "Genesis 48:1–49:33", "range": [ 1048001, 1049033 ], "translation": "bsb", "url": "https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2048%3A1%E2%80%9349%3A33&version=BSB", "availability": "bundled", "verses": [ { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 48, "verse": 1, "text": "Some time later Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” So he set out with his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim." }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 48, "verse": 2, "text": "When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel rallied his strength and sat up in bed." }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 48, "verse": 3, "text": "Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and there He blessed me" }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 48, "verse": 4, "text": "and told me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and multiply you; I will make you a multitude of peoples, and will give this land to your descendants after you as an everlasting possession.’" }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 48, "verse": 5, "text": "And now your two sons born to you in Egypt before I came to you here shall be reckoned as mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine." }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 48, "verse": 6, "text": "Any children born to you after them shall be yours, and they shall be called by the names of their brothers in the territory they inherit." }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 48, "verse": 7, "text": "Now as for me, when I was returning from Paddan, to my sorrow Rachel died along the way in the land of Canaan, some distance from Ephrath. So I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem)." }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 48, "verse": 8, "text": "When Israel saw the sons of Joseph, he asked, “Who are these?”" }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 48, "verse": 9, "text": "Joseph said to his father, “They are the sons God has given me in this place.” So Jacob said, “Please bring them to me, that I may bless them.”" }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 48, "verse": 10, "text": "Now Israel’s eyesight was poor because of old age; he could hardly see. Joseph brought his sons to him, and his father kissed them and embraced them." }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 48, "verse": 11, "text": "“I never expected to see your face again,” Israel said to Joseph, “but now God has let me see your children as well.”" }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 48, "verse": 12, "text": "Then Joseph removed his sons from his father’s knees and bowed facedown." }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 48, "verse": 13, "text": "And Joseph took both of them—with Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel’s right hand—and brought them close to him." }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 48, "verse": 14, "text": "But Israel stretched out his right hand and put it on the head of Ephraim, the younger; and crossing his hands, he put his left on Manasseh’s head, although Manasseh was the firstborn." }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 48, "verse": 15, "text": "Then he blessed Joseph and said: “May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day," }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 48, "verse": 16, "text": "the angel who has redeemed me from all harm—may He bless these boys. And may they be called by my name and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they grow into a multitude upon the earth.”" }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 48, "verse": 17, "text": "When Joseph saw that his father had placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head, he was displeased and took his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s." }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 48, "verse": 18, "text": "“Not so, my father!” Joseph said. “This one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.”" }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 48, "verse": 19, "text": "But his father refused. “I know, my son, I know!” he said. “He too shall become a people, and he too shall be great; nevertheless, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations.”" }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 48, "verse": 20, "text": "So that day Jacob blessed them and said: “By you shall Israel pronounce this blessing: ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’” So he put Ephraim before Manasseh." }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 48, "verse": 21, "text": "Then Israel said to Joseph, “Look, I am about to die, but God will be with you and bring you back to the land of your fathers." }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 48, "verse": 22, "text": "And to you, as one who is above your brothers, I give the ridge of land that I took from the Amorites with my sword and bow.”" }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 49, "verse": 1, "text": "Then Jacob called for his sons and said, “Gather around so that I can tell you what will happen to you in the days to come:" }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 49, "verse": 2, "text": "Come together and listen, O sons of Jacob; listen to your father Israel." }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 49, "verse": 3, "text": "Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, excelling in honor, excelling in power." }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 49, "verse": 4, "text": "Uncontrolled as the waters, you will no longer excel, because you went up to your father’s bed, onto my couch, and defiled it." }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 49, "verse": 5, "text": "Simeon and Levi are brothers; their swords are weapons of violence." }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 49, "verse": 6, "text": "May I never enter their council; may I never join their assembly. For they kill men in their anger, and hamstring oxen on a whim." }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 49, "verse": 7, "text": "Cursed be their anger, for it is strong, and their wrath, for it is cruel! I will disperse them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel." }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 49, "verse": 8, "text": "Judah, your brothers shall praise you. Your hand shall be on the necks of your enemies; your father’s sons shall bow down to you." }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 49, "verse": 9, "text": "Judah is a young lion—my son, you return from the prey. Like a lion he crouches and lies down; like a lioness, who dares to rouse him?" }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 49, "verse": 10, "text": "The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes and the allegiance of the nations is his." }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 49, "verse": 11, "text": "He ties his donkey to the vine, his colt to the choicest branch. He washes his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes." }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 49, "verse": 12, "text": "His eyes are darker than wine, and his teeth are whiter than milk." }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 49, "verse": 13, "text": "Zebulun shall dwell by the seashore and become a harbor for ships; his border shall extend to Sidon." }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 49, "verse": 14, "text": "Issachar is a strong donkey, lying down between the sheepfolds." }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 49, "verse": 15, "text": "He saw that his resting place was good and that his land was pleasant, so he bent his shoulder to the burden and submitted to labor as a servant." }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 49, "verse": 16, "text": "Dan shall provide justice for his people as one of the tribes of Israel." }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 49, "verse": 17, "text": "He will be a snake by the road, a viper in the path that bites the horse’s heels so that its rider tumbles backward." }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 49, "verse": 18, "text": "I await Your salvation, O LORD." }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 49, "verse": 19, "text": "Gad will be attacked by raiders, but he will attack their heels." }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 49, "verse": 20, "text": "Asher’s food will be rich; he shall provide royal delicacies." }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 49, "verse": 21, "text": "Naphtali is a doe set free that bears beautiful fawns." }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 49, "verse": 22, "text": "Joseph is a fruitful vine—a fruitful vine by a spring, whose branches scale the wall." }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 49, "verse": 23, "text": "The archers attacked him with bitterness; they aimed at him in hostility." }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 49, "verse": 24, "text": "Yet he steadied his bow, and his strong arms were tempered by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, in the name of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel," }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 49, "verse": 25, "text": "by the God of your father who helps you, and by the Almighty who blesses you, with blessings of the heavens above, with blessings of the depths below, with blessings of the breasts and womb." }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 49, "verse": 26, "text": "The blessings of your father have surpassed the blessings of the ancient mountains and the bounty of the everlasting hills. May they rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince of his brothers." }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 49, "verse": 27, "text": "Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; in the morning he devours the prey, in the evening he divides the plunder.”" }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 49, "verse": 28, "text": "These are the tribes of Israel, twelve in all, and this was what their father said to them. He blessed them, and he blessed each one with a suitable blessing." }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 49, "verse": 29, "text": "Then Jacob instructed them, “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite." }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 49, "verse": 30, "text": "The cave is in the field of Machpelah near Mamre, in the land of Canaan. This is the field Abraham purchased from Ephron the Hittite as a burial site." }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 49, "verse": 31, "text": "There Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried, there Isaac and his wife Rebekah are buried, and there I buried Leah." }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 49, "verse": 32, "text": "The field and the cave that is in it were purchased from the Hittites.”" }, { "book": "Genesis", "chapter": 49, "verse": 33, "text": "When Jacob had finished instructing his sons, he pulled his feet into the bed and breathed his last, and he was gathered to his people." } ] } ], "related": [ { "range": [ 58011021, 58011021 ], "kind": "teaching", "note": "By faith Jacob blessed Joseph’s sons.", "reference": "Hebrews 11:21", "translation": "bsb", "url": "https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews%2011%3A21&version=BSB" } ], "places": [ { "id": "openbible-a60f092", "name": "Goshen", "coordinate": [ 31.834217, 30.79937 ], "kind": "Region", "confidence": "Approximate region", "confidenceSource": "editorial", "sources": [ { "label": "OpenBible · Goshen", "url": "https://www.openbible.info/geo/ancient/a60f092/goshen-1" } ], "extent": [ [ 31.4, 30.4 ], [ 32.3, 31.1 ] ] } ], "mapPeriod": "middle-bronze", "further": [ { "label": "OpenBible · Goshen", "url": "https://www.openbible.info/geo/ancient/a60f092/goshen-1" } ], "provenance": { "sources": [ { "name": "editorial", "ref": "content/authored/patriarchs.json" } ], "review": "draft" }, "eraName": "Patriarchs", "interactiveUrl": "https://wilderness-scripture-atlas.pages.dev/?event=jacob-blesses-his-sons", "attribution": [ "Place coordinates from OpenBible.info Bible Geocoding Data, CC BY 4.0.", "Teaching stops, summaries and regional extents are original editorial content of this atlas.", "Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain. https://berean.bible/licensing.htm" ], "translation": "bsb", "url": "https://wilderness-scripture-atlas.pages.dev/reference/events/jacob-blesses-his-sons/", "markdownUrl": "https://wilderness-scripture-atlas.pages.dev/reference/events/jacob-blesses-his-sons/index.md", "jsonUrl": "https://wilderness-scripture-atlas.pages.dev/reference/events/jacob-blesses-his-sons/index.json", "cautions": "Narrative order is a reading arrangement, not a proven chronology. Dates retain their stated uncertainty. An identified locality does not establish the exact venue or prove an event. Region extents and routes are illustrative, not surveyed boundaries or ancient roads. Draft material has not completed editorial review.", "revision": "16c72be8250e7842" }