the Second Week after Easter
Click here to join the effort!
Read the Bible
Amplified Bible
Genesis 48:11
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
- Nave'sDictionaries:
- AmericanEncyclopedias:
- CondensedParallel Translations
Yisra'el said to Yosef, "I didn't think I would see your face, and, behold, God has let me see your seed also."
And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face: and, lo, God hath shewed me also thy seed.
And Israel said to Joseph, "I did not expect to see your face and behold, God has also shown me your offspring."
He said to Joseph, "I thought I would never see you alive again, and now God has let me see you and also your children."
Israel said to Joseph, "I never expected to see you again, but now God has allowed me to see your children too."
And Israel said to Joseph, "I never expected to see your face, and behold, God has let me see your children as well!"
And Israel sayde vnto Ioseph, I had not thought to haue seene thy face: yet lo, God hath shewed me also thy seede.
Then Israel said to Joseph, "I never expected to see your face, and behold, God has let me see your seed as well."
Jacob turned to Joseph and told him, "For many years I thought you were dead and that I would never see you again. But now God has even let me live to see your children."
Isra'el said to Yosef, "I never expected to see even you again, but God has allowed me to see your children too!"
And Israel said to Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face; and behold, God has let me see also thy seed.
Then Israel said to Joseph, "I never thought I would see your face again. But look! God has let me see you and your children."
And Israel said to Joseph, "I never expected to see your face; and behold, God has let me see your offspring also."
And Israel said to Joseph, I had not thought to see your face; and, 1o, God has shown me your children also.
Jacob said to Joseph, "I never expected to see you again, and now God has even let me see your children."
Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face again, but now God has even let me see your offspring.”
And Israel said to Joseph, I did not think to see your face, and, behold, God also causes me to see your seed.
& saide vnto Ioseph: Beholde, I haue sene yi face, which I thought not: & lo, God hath caused me to se yi sede also.
And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face: and, lo, God hath let me see thy seed also.
And Israel said to Joseph, I had no hope of seeing your face again, but God in his mercy has let me see you and your children.
And Israel sayde vnto Ioseph, I had not thought to haue seene thy face: and yet loe, God hath shewed me also thy seede.
And Israel said unto Joseph: 'I had not thought to see thy face; and, lo, God hath let me see thy seed also.'
And Israel said vnto Ioseph, I had not thought to see thy face: and loe, God hath shewed me also thy seed.
And Israel said to Joseph, Behold, I have not been deprived of seeing thy face, and lo! God has showed me thy seed also.
And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face: and, lo, God hath let me see thy seed also.
"I never expected to see your face again," Israel said to Joseph, "but now God has let me see your children as well."
Y am not defraudid of thi siyt; ferthermore God schewide to me thi seed.
and Israel saith unto Joseph, `To see thy face I had not thought, and lo, God hath shewed me also thy seed.'
And Israel said to Joseph, I had not thought to see your face: and, look, God has let me see your seed also.
And Israel said to Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face: and lo, God hath shown me also thy seed.
Israel said to Joseph, "I didn't think I would see your face, and, behold, God has let me see your seed also."
And Israel said to Joseph, "I had not thought to see your face; but in fact, God has also shown me your offspring!"
Then Jacob said to Joseph, "I never thought I would see your face again, but now God has let me see your children, too!"
Israel said to Joseph, "I never thought I would see your face. But see, God has let me see your children also."
Israel said to Joseph, "I did not expect to see your face; and here God has let me see your children also."
And Israel said unto Joseph, To see thine own face, had I not thought, - and lo! God hath caused me to see even thy seed!
And said to his son: I am not deprived of seeing thee; moreover God hath shewn me thy seed.
And Israel said to Joseph, "I had not thought to see your face; and lo, God has let me see your children also."
Israel said to Joseph, "I never expected to see your face, and behold, God has let me see your children as well."
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
I had not: Genesis 37:33, Genesis 37:35, Genesis 42:36, Genesis 45:26
God: Ephesians 3:20
Reciprocal: Psalms 107:41 - maketh Philippians 2:28 - ye see 1 Thessalonians 2:17 - endeavoured
Cross-References
He recognized it and said, "It is my son's tunic. A wild animal has devoured him; Joseph is without doubt torn in pieces!"
Then all his sons and daughters attempted to console him, but he refused to be comforted and said, "I will go down to Sheol (the place of the dead) in mourning for my son." And his father wept for him.
Jacob their father said to them, "You have bereaved me [by causing the loss] of my children. Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and you would take Benjamin [from me]. All these things are [working] against me."
and they said to him, "Joseph is still alive, and indeed he is ruler over all the land of Egypt." But Jacob was stunned and his heart almost stopped beating, because he did not believe them.
Now to Him who is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly more than all that we dare ask or think [infinitely beyond our greatest prayers, hopes, or dreams], according to His power that is at work within us,
Gill's Notes on the Bible
And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face,.... Some years ago he never expected to have seen him any more; he had given him up for lost, as a dead man, when his sons brought him his coat dipped in blood; and by reason of the long course of years which passed before ever he heard anything of him:
and, lo, God hath showed me also thy seed; it was an additional favour to see his offspring; it can hardly be thought, that in a course of seventeen years he had been in Egypt, he had not seen them before, only he takes this opportunity, which was the last he should have of expressing his pleasure on this occasion.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
- Joseph Visits His Sick Father
The right of primogeniture has been forfeited by Reuben. The double portion in the inheritance is now transferred to Joseph. He is the first-born of her who was intended by Jacob to be his first and only wife. He has also been the means of saving all his fatherâs house, even after he had been sold into slavery by his brethren. He has therefore, undeniable claims to this part of the first-bornâs rights.
Genesis 48:1-7
After these things. - After the arrangements concerning the funeral, recorded in the chapter. âMenasseh and Ephraim.â They seem to have accompanied their father from respectful affection to their aged relative. âIsrael strengthened himselfâ - summoned his remaining powers for the interview, which was now to him an effort. âGod Almighty appeared unto me at Luz.â From the terms of the blessing received it is evident that Jacob here refers to the last appearance of God to him at Bethel Genesis 35:11. âAnd now thy sons.â After referring to the promise of a numerous offspring, and of a territory which they are to inherit, he assigns to each of the two sons of Joseph, who were born in Egypt, a place among his own sons, and a separate share in the promised land. In this way two shares fall to Joseph. âAnd thy issue.â We are not informed whether Joseph had any other sons. But all such are to be reckoned in the two tribes of which Ephraim and Menasseh are the heads. These young men are now at least twenty and nineteen years of age, as they were born before the famine commenced. Any subsequent issue that Joseph might have, would be counted among the generations of their children. âRachel died upon meâ - as a heavy affliction falling upon me. The presence of Joseph naturally leads the fatherâs thoughts to Rachel, the beloved mother of his beloved son, whose memory he honors in giving a double portion to her oldest son.
Genesis 48:8-16
He now observes and proceeds to bless the two sons of Joseph. âWho are these?â The sight and the observant faculties of the patriarch were now failing. âBring them now unto me, and I will bless them.â Jacob is seated on the couch, and the young men approach him. He kisses and folds his arms around them. The comforts of his old age come up before his mind. He had not expected to see Joseph again in the flesh, and now God had showed him his seed. After these expressions of parental fondness, Joseph drew them back from between his knees, that he might present them in the way that was distinctive of their age. He then bowed with his face to the earth, in reverential acknowledgment of the act of worship about to be performed. Joseph expected the blessing to be regulated by the age of his sons, and is therefore, careful to present them so that the right hand of his dim-sighted parent may, without any effort, rest on the head of his first-born. But the venerable patriarch, guided by the Spirit of him who doth according to his own will, designedly lays his right hand on the head of the younger, and thereby attributes to him the greater blessing.
The imposition of the hand is a primitive custom which here for the first time comes into notice. It is the natural mode of marking out the object of the benediction, signifying its conveyance to the individual, and implying that it is laid upon him as the destiny of his life. It may be done by either hand; but when each is laid on a different object, as in the present case, it may denote that the higher blessing is conveyed by the right hand. The laying on of both hands on one person may express the fulness of the blessing conveyed, or the fullness of the desire with which it is conveyed.
Genesis 48:15-16
And he blessed Joseph. - In blessing his seed he blesses himself. In exalting his two sons into the rank and right of his brothers, he bestows upon them the double portion of the first-born. In the terms of the blessing Jacob first signalizes the threefold function which the Lord discharges in effecting the salvation of a sinner. âThe God before whom walked my fathers,â is the Author of salvation, the Judge who dispenses justice and mercy, the Father, before whom the adopted and regenerate child walks. From him salvation comes, to him the saved returns, to walk before him and be perfect. âThe God, who fed me from my being unto this day,â is the Creator and Upholder of life, the Quickener and Sanctifier, the potential Agent, who works both to will and to do in the soul. âThe Angel that redeemed me from all evil,â is the all-sufficient Friend, who wards off evil by himself satisfying the demands of justice and resisting the devices of malice. There is a beautiful propriety of feeling in Jacob ascribing to his fathers the walking before God, while he thankfully acknowledges the grace of the Quickener and Justifier to himself. The Angel is explicitly applied to the Supreme Being in this ministerial function. The God is the emphatic description of the true, living God, as contradistinguished from all false gods. âBless the lads.â The word bless is in the singular number. For Jacobâs threefold periphrasis is intended to describe the one God who wills, works, and wards. âAnd let my name be put upon them.â Let them be counted among my immediate sons, and let them be related to Abraham and Isaac, as my other sons are. This is the only thing that is special in the blessing. âLet them grow into a multitude.â The word grow in the original refers to the spawning or extraordinary increase of the finny tribe. The after history of Ephraim and Menasseh will be found to correspond with this special prediction.
Genesis 48:17-22
Joseph presumes that his father has gone astray through dulness of perception, and endeavors to rectify his mistake. He finds, however, that on the other hand a supernatural vision is now conferred on his parent, who is fully conscious of what he is about, and therefore, abides by his own act. Ephraim is to be greater than Menasseh. Joshua, the successor of Moses, was of the tribe of Ephraim, as Kaleb his companion was of Judah. Ephraim came to designate the northern kingdom of the ten tribes, as Judah denoted the southern kingdom containing the remaining tribes; and each name was occasionally used to denote all Israel, with a special reference to the prominent part. âHis seed shall be the fullness of the nations.â This denotes not only the number but the completeness of his race, and accords with the future pre-eminence of his tribe. In thee, in Joseph, who is still identified with his offspring.
At the point of death Jacob expresses his assurance of the return of his posterity to the land of promise, and bestows on Joseph one share or piece of ground above his brethren, which, says he, I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow. This share is, in the original, ש××× shekem, Shekem, a shoulder or tract of land. This region included âthe parcel of the field where he had spread his tentâ Genesis 33:19. It refers to the whole territory of Shekem, which was conquered by his sword and his bow, inasmuch as the city itself was sacked, and its inhabitants put to the sword by his sons at the head of his armed retainers, though without his approval Genesis 34:0. Though he withdrew immediately after to Bethel Genesis 35:0, yet he neither fled nor relinquished possession of this conquest, as we find his sons feeding his flocks there when he himself was residing at Hebron Genesis 37:13. The incidental conquest of such a tract was no more at variance with the subsequent acquisition of the whole country than the purchase of a field by Abraham or a parcel of ground by Jacob himself. In accordance with this gift Josephâs bones were deposited in Shekem, after the conquest of the whole land by returning Israel. The territory of Shekem was probably not equal in extent to that of Ephraim, but was included within its bounds.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Genesis 48:11. I had not thought to see thy face — There is much delicacy and much tenderness in these expressions. He feels himself now amply recompensed for his long grief and trouble on account of the supposed death of Joseph, in seeing not only himself but his two sons, whom God, by an especial act of favour, is about to add to the number of his own. Thus we find that as Reuben and Simeon were heads of two distinct tribes in Israel, so were Ephraim and Manasseh; because Jacob, in a sort of sacramental way, had adopted them with equal privileges to those of his own sons.
