Γένεσις 48
1 ἐγένετο δὲ μετὰ τὰ ῥήματα ταῦτα καὶ ἀπηγγέλη τῷ Ιωσηφ ὅτι ὁ πατήρ σου ἐνοχλεῖται καὶ ἀναλαβὼν τοὺς δύο υἱοὺς αὐτοῦ τὸν Μανασση καὶ τὸν Εφραιμ ἦλθεν πρὸς Ιακωβ
Some time later, someone told Joseph, “[Hey, ] your father is ill.” When Joseph heard that, he took his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, to see his father.
2 ἀπηγγέλη δὲ τῷ Ιακωβ λέγοντες ἰδοὺ ὁ υἱός σου Ιωσηφ ἔρχεται πρὸς σέ καὶ ἐνισχύσας Ισραηλ ἐκάθισεν ἐπὶ τὴν κλίνην
When someone told Jacob, “Look, your son Joseph has come to see you!” Jacob sat up on the bed, even though it was difficult for him to do that.
3 καὶ εἶπεν Ιακωβ τῷ Ιωσηφ ὁ θεός μου ὤφθη μοι ἐν Λουζα ἐν γῇ Χανααν καὶ εὐλόγησέν με
He said to Joseph, “When I was at Luz in Canaan, God Almighty appeared to me. He blessed me
4 καὶ εἶπέν μοι ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ αὐξανῶ σε καὶ πληθυνῶ σε καὶ ποιήσω σε εἰς συναγωγὰς ἐθνῶν καὶ δώσω σοι τὴν γῆν ταύτην καὶ τῷ σπέρματί σου μετὰ σὲ εἰς κατάσχεσιν αἰώνιον
and said to me, ‘I am going to enable you to become the father of many children. You will have many descendants, and they will become [the ancestors of] many people-groups. And I will give this land to your descendants to possess forever.’
5 νῦν οὖν οἱ δύο υἱοί σου οἱ γενόμενοί σοι ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ πρὸ τοῦ με ἐλθεῖν πρὸς σὲ εἰς Αἴγυπτον ἐμοί εἰσιν Εφραιμ καὶ Μανασση ὡς Ρουβην καὶ Συμεων ἔσονταί μοι
“And now I will consider that your two sons, who were born to you here in Egypt before I came here, will (belong to me/be as though they are my sons). Ephraim and Manasseh will be [as though they were] my sons, and they will inherit my possessions, just like my sons Reuben and Simeon [and the others] will.
6 τὰ δὲ ἔκγονα ἃ ἐὰν γεννήσῃς μετὰ ταῦτα σοὶ ἔσονται ἐπὶ τῷ ὀνόματι τῶν ἀδελφῶν αὐτῶν κληθήσονται ἐν τοῖς ἐκείνων κλήροις
If you later become the father of any more children, they will not be considered to be my children, but as my grandchildren, and [in Canaan] they will receive as part of what they inherit some of the same land that is in the territory that their brothers [Ephraim and Manasseh] will inherit.
7 ἐγὼ δὲ ἡνίκα ἠρχόμην ἐκ Μεσοποταμίας τῆς Συρίας ἀπέθανεν Ραχηλ ἡ μήτηρ σου ἐν γῇ Χανααν ἐγγίζοντός μου κατὰ τὸν ἱππόδρομον χαβραθα τῆς γῆς τοῦ ἐλθεῖν Εφραθα καὶ κατώρυξα αὐτὴν ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ τοῦ ἱπποδρόμου αὕτη ἐστὶν Βαιθλεεμ
Many years ago, as I was returning from Paddan-Aram/Mesopotamia, your mother Rachel died in the Canaan region, while we were still traveling, not far from Ephrath [town]. So I buried her body there alongside the road to Ephrath [which is now called Bethlehem].”
8 ἰδὼν δὲ Ισραηλ τοὺς υἱοὺς Ιωσηφ εἶπεν τίνες σοι οὗτοι
When Jacob saw Joseph’s sons, he asked, “Who are these boys?”
9 εἶπεν δὲ Ιωσηφ τῷ πατρὶ αὐτοῦ υἱοί μού εἰσιν οὓς ἔδωκέν μοι ὁ θεὸς ἐνταῦθα καὶ εἶπεν Ιακωβ προσάγαγέ μοι αὐτούς ἵνα εὐλογήσω αὐτούς
Joseph replied, “They are the sons that God has given to me here in Egypt.” Jacob said, “Bring them close to me so that I can bless them.”
10 οἱ δὲ ὀφθαλμοὶ Ισραηλ ἐβαρυώπησαν ἀπὸ τοῦ γήρους καὶ οὐκ ἠδύνατο βλέπειν καὶ ἤγγισεν αὐτοὺς πρὸς αὐτόν καὶ ἐφίλησεν αὐτοὺς καὶ περιέλαβεν αὐτούς
Jacob was almost blind because he was very old. He could not recognize the boys. So Joseph brought his sons close to his father, and Jacob kissed them and hugged them.
11 καὶ εἶπεν Ισραηλ πρὸς Ιωσηφ ἰδοὺ τοῦ προσώπου σου οὐκ ἐστερήθην καὶ ἰδοὺ ἔδειξέν μοι ὁ θεὸς καὶ τὸ σπέρμα σου
Jacob said to Joseph, “I did not expect to see you again, but look at this! God has allowed me to see not only you, but he has allowed me to see your children, too!”
12 καὶ ἐξήγαγεν Ιωσηφ αὐτοὺς ἀπὸ τῶν γονάτων αὐτοῦ καὶ προσεκύνησαν αὐτῷ ἐπὶ πρόσωπον ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς
Joseph took the boys from alongside Jacob’s knees. Then he bowed down with his face to the ground.
13 λαβὼν δὲ Ιωσηφ τοὺς δύο υἱοὺς αὐτοῦ τόν τε Εφραιμ ἐν τῇ δεξιᾷ ἐξ ἀριστερῶν δὲ Ισραηλ τὸν δὲ Μανασση ἐν τῇ ἀριστερᾷ ἐκ δεξιῶν δὲ Ισραηλ ἤγγισεν αὐτοὺς αὐτῷ
Then Joseph took both of the boys, putting Ephraim on his right side toward Jacob’s left hand, and putting Manasseh on his left side toward Jacob’s right hand, and brought them close to Jacob.
14 ἐκτείνας δὲ Ισραηλ τὴν χεῖρα τὴν δεξιὰν ἐπέβαλεν ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν Εφραιμ οὗτος δὲ ἦν ὁ νεώτερος καὶ τὴν ἀριστερὰν ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν Μανασση ἐναλλὰξ τὰς χεῖρας
But Jacob [did not do what Joseph wanted him to do. Instead], he reached out his right hand and put it on Ephraim’s head, even though he was the younger son. He crossed his arms and put his left hand on Manasseh’s head, even though Manasseh was the older son.
15 καὶ ηὐλόγησεν αὐτοὺς καὶ εἶπεν ὁ θεός ᾧ εὐηρέστησαν οἱ πατέρες μου ἐναντίον αὐτοῦ Αβρααμ καὶ Ισαακ ὁ θεὸς ὁ τρέφων με ἐκ νεότητος ἕως τῆς ἡμέρας ταύτης
Then he (blessed/asked God to bless) Joseph and his sons, saying, “My grandfather Abraham and my father Isaac conducted their lives as God desired, and to this very day God has led me and taken care of me as a shepherd leads and cares for his sheep [MET].
16 ὁ ἄγγελος ὁ ῥυόμενός με ἐκ πάντων τῶν κακῶν εὐλογήσαι τὰ παιδία ταῦτα καὶ ἐπικληθήσεται ἐν αὐτοῖς τὸ ὄνομά μου καὶ τὸ ὄνομα τῶν πατέρων μου Αβρααμ καὶ Ισαακ καὶ πληθυνθείησαν εἰς πλῆθος πολὺ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς
The angel whom he sent has kept me from being harmed in any way. I pray that God will bless these boys. I pray that people will never forget about me and about Abraham and Isaac because of what God does for these boys. I pray that they will have many descendants who will live all over the earth.”
17 ἰδὼν δὲ Ιωσηφ ὅτι ἐπέβαλεν ὁ πατὴρ τὴν δεξιὰν αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν Εφραιμ βαρὺ αὐτῷ κατεφάνη καὶ ἀντελάβετο Ιωσηφ τῆς χειρὸς τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ ἀφελεῖν αὐτὴν ἀπὸ τῆς κεφαλῆς Εφραιμ ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν Μανασση
When Joseph saw that his father had placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head and not on Manasseh’s head, he was distressed/displeased. So he took his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head.
18 εἶπεν δὲ Ιωσηφ τῷ πατρὶ αὐτοῦ οὐχ οὕτως πάτερ οὗτος γὰρ ὁ πρωτότοκος ἐπίθες τὴν δεξιάν σου ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν αὐτοῦ
Joseph said to him, “My father, that is not right! The one on whom you put your left hand is my older son. Put your right hand on his head.”
19 καὶ οὐκ ἠθέλησεν ἀλλὰ εἶπεν οἶδα τέκνον οἶδα καὶ οὗτος ἔσται εἰς λαόν καὶ οὗτος ὑψωθήσεται ἀλλὰ ὁ ἀδελφὸς αὐτοῦ ὁ νεώτερος μείζων αὐτοῦ ἔσται καὶ τὸ σπέρμα αὐτοῦ ἔσται εἰς πλῆθος ἐθνῶν
But his father refused, saying, “I know that, my son, I know what I am doing. Manasseh’s descendants will also become a people-group, and they will become important. But his younger brother’s descendants will become greater than his will. His descendants will become several nations.”
20 καὶ εὐλόγησεν αὐτοὺς ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ λέγων ἐν ὑμῖν εὐλογηθήσεται Ισραηλ λέγοντες ποιήσαι σε ὁ θεὸς ὡς Εφραιμ καὶ ὡς Μανασση καὶ ἔθηκεν τὸν Εφραιμ ἔμπροσθεν τοῦ Μανασση
So he blessed them both on that day, saying, “The people in Israel will use your names when they bless people. They will say, ‘We pray that God will help you as he helped Ephraim and Manasseh.’” In that way, Jacob said that Ephraim would become more important than Manasseh.
21 εἶπεν δὲ Ισραηλ τῷ Ιωσηφ ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἀποθνῄσκω καὶ ἔσται ὁ θεὸς μεθ’ ὑμῶν καὶ ἀποστρέψει ὑμᾶς εἰς τὴν γῆν τῶν πατέρων ὑμῶν
Then Jacob said to Joseph, “I am about to die. But I know that God will help/protect you. And some day he will take your descendants back to the land of their ancestors.
22 ἐγὼ δὲ δίδωμί σοι Σικιμα ἐξαίρετον ὑπὲρ τοὺς ἀδελφούς σου ἣν ἔλαβον ἐκ χειρὸς Αμορραίων ἐν μαχαίρᾳ μου καὶ τόξῳ
And it is to you, not to your brothers, that I will give the fertile hill in the Shechem area. I captured that land from the Amor people-group, fighting them with my sword and my bow and arrows.”
