46:20 Manasseh and Ephraim were born to Joseph in the land of Egypt. Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, 1 bore them to him.
48:1 After these things Joseph was told, 2 “Your father is weakening.” So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim with him.
“By you 5 will Israel bless, 6 saying,
‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’”
So he put Ephraim before Manasseh. 7
1 sn On is another name for the city of Heliopolis.
2 tn Heb “and one said.” With no expressed subject in the Hebrew text, the verb can be translated with the passive voice.
3 tn Heb “and Joseph took the two of them.”
4 tn 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.
4 tn 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.
5 tn Or “pronounce a blessing.”
6 sn 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.