¹tn Heb “and one said.” With no expressed subject in the Hebrew text, the verb can be translated with the passive voice.
²tn Heb “and one told and said.” The verbs have no expressed subject and can be translated with the passive voice.
³tn Heb “Look, your son Joseph.”
⁴tn Heb “El Shaddai.” See the extended note on the phrase “Sovereign God” in Gen 17:1.
⁵tn Heb “Look, I am making you fruitful.” The participle following hN}h! (h!N}h) has the nuance of a certain and often imminent future.
⁶tn The perfect verbal form with vav consecutive carries on the certain future idea.
⁷tn The Hebrew text adds “after you,” which has not been included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
⁸tn The Hebrew word hZ`j%a& (a&j%Z`h), translated “possession,” describes a permanent holding in the land. It is the noun form of the same verb (zj^a* [a*j^z]) that was used for the land given to them in Goshen (Gen 47:27).
⁹sn They will be mine. Jacob is here adopting his two grandsons Manasseh and Ephraim as his sons, and so they will have equal share with the other brothers. They will be in the place of Joseph and Levi (who will become a priestly tribe) in the settlement of the land. See I. Mendelsohn, “A Ugaritic Parallel to the Adoption of Ephraim and Manasseh,” IEJ (1959): 180-83.
¹⁰tn Or “you fathered.”
¹¹tn Heb “called” or “named.”
¹²sn Listed under the names of their brothers in their inheritance. This means that any subsequent children of Joseph will be incorporated into the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh.
¹³tn Heb “upon me, against me,” which might mean something like “to my sorrow.”
¹⁴map For location see Map5-B1; Map7-E2; Map8-E2; Map10-B4.
¹⁵tn Heb “my.”
¹⁶tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Joseph’s father) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
¹⁷tn The cohortative with prefixed vav indicates purpose after the imperative.
¹⁸tn Heb “heavy.”
sn The disjunctive clause provides supplemental information that is important to the story. The weakness of Israel’s sight is one of several connections between this chapter and Gen 27. Here there are two sons, and it appears that the younger is being blessed over the older by a blind old man. While it was by Jacob’s deception in chap. 27, here it is with Jacob’s full knowledge.
¹⁹tn Heb “he”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
²⁰tn Heb “them”; the referent (Joseph’s sons) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
²¹tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Joseph’s father) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
²²tn On the meaning of the Hebrew verb ll^P* (P*l^l) here, see E. A. Speiser, “The Stem pll in Hebrew,” JBL 82 (1963): 301-6. Speiser argues that this verb means “to estimate” as in Exod 21:22.
²³tn Heb “your face.”
²⁴tn Heb “offspring.”
²⁵tn Heb “and Joseph brought them out from with his knees.” The two boys had probably been standing by Israel’s knees when being adopted and blessed. The referent of the pronoun “his” (Israel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
²⁶tn Heb “and Joseph took the two of them.”
²⁷tn Heb “and he brought near to him.” The referents of the pronouns “he” and “him” (Joseph and his father respectively) have been specified in the translation for clarity.
²⁸tn The disjunctive clause is circumstantial-concessive here.
²⁹tn Heb “shepherded me.” The verb has been translated as an English noun for stylistic reasons.
³⁰sn The Samaritan Pentateuch reads “king” here, but the traditional reading (“angel”) may be maintained. Jacob closely associates God with an angelic protective presence. This does not mean that Jacob viewed his God as a mere angel, but it does suggest that he was aware of an angelic presence sent by God to protect him. Here he so closely associates the two that they become virtually indistinguishable. In this culture messengers typically carried the authority of the one who sent them and could even be addressed as such. Perhaps Jacob thought that the divine blessing would be mediated through this angelic messenger.
³¹tn The verb la^G` (G*a^l) has the basic idea of “protect” as a near relative might do. It is used for buying someone out of bondage, marrying a deceased brother’s widow, paying off debts, avenging the family, and the like. The meanings of “deliver, protect, avenge” are most fitting when God is the subject (see A. R. Johnson, “The Primary Meaning of the Root Ga’al,” VTSup 1 [1953]: 67-77).
³²tn Or “be recalled through them.”
³³tn Heb “it was bad in his eyes.”
³⁴tn Heb “fullness.”
³⁵tn The pronoun is singular in the Hebrew text, apparently elevating Ephraim as the more prominent of the two. Note, however, that both are named in the blessing formula that follows.
³⁶tn Or “pronounce a blessing.”
³⁷sn On the elevation of Ephraim over Manasseh see E. C. Kingsbury, “He Set Ephraim Before Manasseh,” HUCA 38 (1967): 129-36; H. Mowvley, “The Concept and Content of ‘Blessing’ in the Old Testament,” BT 16 (1965): 74-80; and I. Mendelsohn, “On the Preferential Status of the Eldest Son,” BASOR 156 (1959): 38-40.
³⁸tn The pronouns translated “you,” “you,” and “your” in this verse are plural in the Hebrew text.
³⁹tn The pronouns translated “your” and “you” in this verse are singular in the Hebrew text.
⁴⁰tn The Hebrew word <k#v= (v=k#<) could be translated either as “mountain slope” or “shoulder; portion,” or even taken as the proper name “Shechem.” Jacob was giving Joseph either (1) one portion above his brothers, or (2) the mountain ridge he took from the Amorites, or (3) Shechem. The ambiguity actually allows for all three to be the referent. He could be referring to the land in Shechem he bought in Gen 33:18-19, but he mentions here that it was acquired by warfare, suggesting that the events of 34:25-29 are in view (even though at the time he denounced it, 34:30). Joseph was later buried in Shechem (Josh 24:32).