Bible Strands
Genesis 48:9
Joseph said to his father, “They are the sons God has given me in this place.” So Jacob said, “Please bring them to me, that I may bless them.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Joseph speaks to his father Jacob in response to Jacob’s question about the two boys standing beside him. The exchange occurs immediately before Jacob’s failing eyesight and Joseph’s presentation of the children for a paternal blessing.
The words — The Hebrew verb נָתַן (na.tan) translates literally as “he has given,” grounding Joseph’s statement in divine provision rather than human strategy. Joseph uses this term to identify the children as a direct gift from God in the land of Egypt.
The thread — The pattern of a patriarch conferring a blessing before death appears in Genesis 27:4 and is later cited in Hebrews 11:21. The motif of an elder inquiring about accompanying children also surfaces in Genesis 33:5, where Esau asks Jacob about his own offspring, not Jacob asking about Esau’s.
Why it lands — The passage requires a reader to accept that covenant favor originates from God’s initiative, not human arrangement. It demands acknowledgment that receiving a blessing depends on recognizing divine provision before any human action follows.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And Joseph said unto his father, They are my sons, whom God hath given me in this place. And he said, Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will bless them.
Cross-references
- Genesis 27:4 Then prepare a tasty dish that I love and bring it to me to eat, so that I may bless you before I die.”
- Genesis 33:5 When Esau looked up and saw the women and children, he asked, “Who are these with you?” Jacob answered, “These are the children God has graciously given your servant.”
- Hebrews 11:21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.
- Genesis 27:28 May God give to you the dew of heaven and the richness of the earth—an abundance of grain and new wine.
- Genesis 27:34 When Esau heard his father’s words, he let out a loud and bitter cry and said to his father, “Bless me too, O my father!”
- Genesis 28:3 May God Almighty bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, so that you may become a company of peoples.
- Genesis 30:2 Jacob became angry with Rachel and said, “Am I in the place of God, who has withheld children from you?”
- Genesis 49:28 These are the tribes of Israel, twelve in all, and this was what their father said to them. He blessed them, and he blessed each one with a suitable blessing.
- Deuteronomy 33:1 This is the blessing that Moses the man of God pronounced upon the Israelites before his death.
- Ruth 4:11 “We are witnesses,” said the elders and all the people at the gate. “May the LORD make the woman entering your home like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you be prosperous in Ephrathah and famous in Bethlehem.