Genesis 48:18

And Joseph said to Jacob, “Father, don’t put your right hand on my younger son’s head. Look, here is my older son. Put your right hand on his head.”

Plain English Version

In The King James Version

And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head.

In Context

17While Jacob said all those things, he had his right hand on Ephraim’s head, and he had his left hand on Manasseh’s head. But Joseph wanted Jacob to put his right hand on Manasseh, because he was the older son. So Joseph got upset, and he tried to move Jacob’s right hand from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head.

19But Jacob didn’t move his hand. He said, “No, my son. I know for sure that I’m doing the right thing. Listen, your older son will have a big family, and they will become an important tribe. But your younger son will be more important than your older son. He will have a really big family, and later on, his tribe will be really big and really important.”

Read all of Genesis 48

Cross References

Genesis 19:18But Lot said to them, “Please sirs, no.

Genesis 49:3Then Jacob said, “Reuben, you are my oldest son. You were born first. You were born at that time when I was a strong young man. You were the most important and the most powerful of all my sons.

Matthew 25:9The other women said, ‘Sorry, we can’t do that. There is not enough oil for all of us. You have to go and buy some oil for yourselves.’

Acts 11:8But I said, ‘No, boss. I will not. Our law says we can’t eat that sort of animal. They are no good, so I never eat any of them.’

Matthew Henry on Genesis 48:9-22

Jacob Blesses the Sons of Joseph; Jacob's Dying Prophecy. ( b. c. 1689.) 8 And Israel beheld Joseph's sons, and said, Who are these? 9 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. 10 Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he could not see. And he brought them near unto him; and he kissed them, and embraced them. 11 And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face: and, lo, God… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Genesis 48:18