The History of the Old Testament Methodized, Chapter 3 · Section 46
SECT. XLVI.
SOmetime after this Joſeph heard that his Father was ſick, and he went to viſit him, taking his two Sons Manaſſeh and Ephraim along with him, to receive the Bleſſing of their venerable Grandfather. When Iſrael heard He was come, he raiſed up himſelf, and ſat upon the Bed, as if a new degree of ſtrength had been added to him. Then He ſpake to his Son Joſeph after this manner, God Almighty appeared to me ſome years ſince at Luz, (r)Or Bethel, and twice, ſee Ch. 28. 13, 19. Ch. 35.6.in the Land of Canaan, and bleſſed me, ſaying, Behold I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and will make of thee a multitude (s)Viz. 13 populous Tribes.of People, and will give this Land to thy Seed after thee for an everlaſting Poſſeſſion. (t)See Sect. 3. and Gen. 13.15. and Ch. 17.8. Hac locutione ſignificat Iſraelitas ſore perpetuos terrae haeredes uſ que ad Chriſti adventum quo renovatus fuit mundus.The Lord was pleaſed there to renew and confirm to me the Bleſſing promiſed to my Father and Grandfather, which is to go on ſtill, and to deſcend on our Poſterity. And therefore thy two Sons Ephraim (u)Jacob here prefers Ephraim.and Manaſſeh, though by Birth they are only my Grandchildren, yet by Adoption ſhall be my Sons, and accordingly in the diviſion of the Promiſed Land, they ſhall have the Priviledge of my Sons. Each of them ſhall have a Twelfth ſhare, and they ſhall be Heads of Tribes no leſs than Reuben and Simeon, and in them Two thou ſhalt have a double portion, (x)This giving to the Firſt-born a double Portion (as many other things before-mentioned. See Ch. 38.) being in practice among the Patriarchs before Moſes's time, was afterwards put into a Law, Deut. 21.17.and ſo the Right and Priviledge of the Firſt-born, 1 Chron. 5.1. And if thou ſhalt beget any Sons after them, they ſhall be thine; that is, they ſhall be counted thy Off-ſpring, and accordingly ſhall be ingrafted into the Stock and Tribe of Ephraim or Manaſſeh, as if they were their Sons, and not their Brethren, and ſhall not make peculiar Tribes by themſelves as theſe Two ſhall do. Neither will any of thy Brothers have cauſe to complain that I give thee this Priviledge of the Firſt-born. For had I been fairly dealt with, thy dear Mother Rachel had been my only Wife, and ſo thou (being her eldeſt Son) hadſt had that Right unqueſtionably. And now I have mentioned thy dear Mother, I cannot but remember with grief how ſoon ſhe was taken from me, ſhe dying in Child-bed of thy Brother Benjamin (Ch. 35.16, 19.) in the Land of Canaan near Bethlem-Ephrata, as we came from Padan-Aram. And ſhe dying in that manner, Her body could not well be kept, ſo that I was forced to bury her there, and could not carry her to the Sepulchre of our Anceſtors, where I my ſelf deſire to be buried. Then Iſrael, whoſe Eyes were dim, perceiving two young Youths to ſtand before him, but not knowing them, he asked, Who theſe were? Joſeph anſwered, They are my Sons whom God hath given me in this Place. Jacob ſaid, Bring them to me, and I will bleſs them; that is, I will in the Name, and by the Authority of God declare how He will bleſs them; and this Bleſſing I will confirm to them, by laying my Hands upon them. They being brought to him, and kneeling down between his knees, He kiſſed them and embraced them, ſaying to Joſeph, I had not thought to ſee thy Face, and loe God hath ſhewed me thy Seed alſo. Then Joſeph took his two Sons from between his Fathers knees, that he might place them in that order wherein he deſired the Bleſſing ſhould be given them. And taking Ephraim in his right hand oppoſite to his Fathers left hand, and Manaſſeh in his left hand oppoſite to his Fathers right hand, and bowing himſelf before him in token of Reverence and Thankfulneſs for adopting his Sons, he preſented them unto him. Jacob thereupon ſtretched out his right hand (y)Here is the firſt expreſs mention of the Impoſition of … Hands, which was afterwards often uſed, 1. In Benedictions, Mat. 19.13. 2. In extraordinary Collations of Gifts and Graces, Acts 8.17. 3. In miraculous Cures, Mark 6.5. 4. In Ordination of Magiſtrates and Church-Officers, Numb. 8.10. Deut. 34.9. Acts 6.6. and 13.3. 1 Tim. 4.14:and laid it upon Ephraim's head who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manaſſeh's head who was the elder, and he did it wittingly (not croſſing his Arms by chance) but purpoſely, as a ſign and intimation of that which afterwards ſhould come to paſs; to wit, that Ephraim, though the younger, ſhould have the preheminence. Joſeph ſeeing this, though he knew that his Father, in this action, was guided by a Prophetick Spirit, yet ſuppoſing he might be miſtaken in this Circumſtance of laying his hands, by reaſon of the dimneſs of his ſight, he ſought to rectifie his ſuppoſed Errour, by removing his right hand from Ephraim's head to Manaſſeh's, (being carried therein as 'tis probable by that natural affection that Fathers uſe to bear to their eldeſt Sons) and accordingly told him, That Manaſſeh was the Firſt-born, and therefore he deſired him to lay his right (z)The right hand is naturally more ſtrong, and ſo more honourable than the left. Jacob accordingly giveth the ſtrongeſt and moſt honourable bleſſing to Ephraim, by this ſign of the right hand put upon him.hand on him. But Jacob refuſed to do it, telling him, He knew very very well what he did. For though Manaſſeh ſhould be great, yet his younger Brother ſhould be greater than he, (a)In Number, Iſſue, and Power, Numb. ch. 1. Eight thouſand and three hundred men more of Ephraim than Manaſſeh. See Deut. 33.17. Of Ephraim came Joſhua, and the Kings of the ten Tribes. The Tribe of Ephraim is called The Tribe of Joſeph, Numb. 1.32, 34. Apoc. 7.8. The name of Ephraim is taken for the whole Kingdom of Iſrael, Iſa. 7.2. They both had a double lot, Joſh. 17.17.and his Seed ſhould become a multitude of Nations. Then Jacob ſolemnly bleſſed Joſeph and his Children, ſaying, The God before whom my Fathers Abraham and Iſaac did walk in Uprightneſs and Integrity, The God which fed me all my life long to this day, The Angel of the Covenant, the Son God, who hath hitherto preſerv'd and delivered me from all Evil, Bleſs the Lads, (b)This action of bleſſing Joſeph's Children Jacob is ſaid to have performed by Faith, Heb. 11.21.and let my Name (c)H. e. Adopto eos in filios meos ut mei dicantur non tui licet a te geniti.be named on them, and the Names of my Fathers Abraham and Iſaac; that is, let them be accounted and called Abraham's, Iſaac's, and Jacob's Children; let them be eſteemed among the Twelve Tribes of Iſrael as my own immediate Iſſue, and let them grow into a Multitude(d)There were eighty five thouſand two hundred men of War of theſe Two Tribes in Moſes's time, Numb. 26.28.34.37. Thus Moſes bleſſeth them, Deut. 33.17. in the midſt of the Earth. Jacob having thus bleſſed theſe young Youths, he addreſſed his Speech to Joſeph, ſaying, In thee ſhall Iſrael bleſs; that is, when the Children of Iſrael ſhall bleſs their Children, they ſhall look upon thee and thy Children as their Pattern, and ſhall ſay to them, God make thee as Ephraim and as (e)Hinc poſtea mos in Iſraele ut adducerentur putri ad viros conſpicuos pietate ut iis benedicerent & bene precarentur. Hinc pueri illi ad Chriſtum adducti. Qui vero iis manus imponit & benedicit, dicit ſi filius eſt, ponat te Deus ſicut Ephraim & ſicut Manaſſen. Si filia ponat te Deus ſicut Saram & Rebeccam. Vide Ruth 4.11. Fagius.Manaſſeh. Then Iſrael ſaid to Joſeph, Behold I die, and am ready to go hence, but God will be with you, and will aſſuredly bring your Poſterity into the Land promis'd to their Fathers, and wherein they ſometime dwelt. And as a Sign and Token that I do firmly believe this, I do give and bequeath to thee (and therein do prefer thee above thy Brethren) that piece of Land nigh unto Shechem, which I bought of the Children of Hamor, Shechem's Father, (ſee Sect. 30. and Gen. 33.19.) which though it be little in it ſelf, yet was all I had by purchaſe in the Land of Canaan; and therefore to thee I bequeath it as my Heir. (f)And accordingly this portion of Land became afterwards the Inheritance of the Ephraimites, Joſh. 16.1. & 20.7. And thither afterwards were Joſeph s bones carried and buried, Joſh. 24.1.25.32.This piece of Land was indeed ſeized upon, among the reſt, by the Neighbouring Amorites *Hevaei cum Amoraeis ita permixti erant ut unam & eandem gentem fecerint.after the ſlaughter of the Shechemites, and they would not by fair means reſtore it to me, ſo that I was forced to recover it by the aſſiſtance of my Sons and Servants out of their hands by force of Arms.(g)This paſſage is not elſewhere mentioned in the Scripture. Hoc clare dicitur licet alibi res geſta non narretur. Menoch. Therefore I do ſtill account it as my own, (h)Terram illam licet nunc abeſſet pro ſuâ habet ac ut ſuam dat Joſepho. Adeo certus eſt de terrae poſſeſſione & diviſione ut jam nunc aſſignet. Mercer.and do know aſſuredly, that hereafter it ſhall become the Inheritance of the Off-ſpring of the Ephraimites, Joſh. 16.10.
Ch. 48. whole Chapter.