48:5 “Now, as for your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, they will be mine. 1 Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine just as Reuben and Simeon are.
49:26 The blessings of your father are greater
than 2 the blessings of the eternal mountains 3
or the desirable things of the age-old hills.
They will be on the head of Joseph
and on the brow of the prince of his brothers. 4
49:1 Jacob called for his sons and said, “Gather together so I can tell you 5 what will happen to you in the future. 6
5:1 This is the record 7 of the family line 8 of Adam.
When God created humankind, 9 he made them 10 in the likeness of God.
31:1 At that time I will be the God of all the clans of Israel 14
and they will be my people.
I, the Lord, affirm it!” 15
1 sn 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.
2 tn Heb “have prevailed over.”
3 tn One could interpret the phrase הוֹרַי (horay) to mean “my progenitors” (literally, “the ones who conceived me”), but the masculine form argues against this. It is better to emend the text to הַרֲרֵי (harare, “mountains of”) because it forms a better parallel with the next clause. In this case the final yod (י) on the form is a construct plural marker, not a pronominal suffix.
4 tn For further discussion of this passage, see I. Sonne, “Genesis 49:24-26,” JBL 65 (1946): 303-6.
5 tn After the imperative, the cohortative with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose/result.
6 tn The expression “in the future” (אַחֲרִית הַיָּמִים, ’akharit hayyamim, “in the end of days”) is found most frequently in prophetic passages; it may refer to the end of the age, the eschaton, or to the distant future. The contents of some of the sayings in this chapter stretch from the immediate circumstances to the time of the settlement in the land to the coming of Messiah. There is a great deal of literature on this chapter, including among others C. Armerding, “The Last Words of Jacob: Genesis 49,” BSac 112 (1955): 320-28; H. Pehlke, “An Exegetical and Theological Study of Genesis 49:1-28” (Th.D. dissertation, Dallas Theological Seminary, 1985); and B. Vawter, “The Canaanite Background of Genesis 49,” CBQ 17 (1955): 1-18.
7 tn Heb “book” or “roll.” Cf. NIV “written account”; NRSV “list.”
8 tn Heb “generations.” See the note on the phrase “this is the account of” in 2:4.
9 tn The Hebrew text has אָדָם (’adam).
10 tn Heb “him.” The Hebrew text uses the third masculine singular pronominal suffix on the accusative sign. The pronoun agrees grammatically with its antecedent אָדָם (’adam). However, the next verse makes it clear that אָדָם is collective here and refers to “humankind,” so it is preferable to translate the pronoun with the English plural.
11 tn Heb “In those days.”
12 tn Heb “the house of Judah will walk together with the house of Israel.”
13 tn Heb “the land that I gave your [fore]fathers as an inheritance.”
14 sn This verse repeats v. 22 but with specific reference to all the clans of Israel, i.e., to all Israel and Judah. It functions here as a transition to the next section which will deal with the restoration of Israel (31:3-20) and Judah (31:21-25) and their reunification in the land (31:27-29) under a new covenant relation with God (31:31-37). See also the study note on 30:3 for further reference to this reunification in Jeremiah and the other prophets.
15 tn Heb “Oracle of the