Genesis 48:4

He said to me, ‘I will give you lots of kids and grand-kids, so that your family will grow into lots of different tribes. And I will give them all of this country, called Canaan. They will have this country for ever.’”

Plain English Version

In The King James Version

And said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people; and will give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession.

In Context

3Then Jacob said to Joseph, “You know, a long time ago, I saw God. He is the one that has power over everything. He came to me at the place called Luz, in Canaan country. And he promised me that he will be good to me.

5Then Jacob kept talking to Joseph. He said, “At that time, there will be one tribe for each of my sons, and each tribe will get part of the land. And your 2 sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, they will get part of that land too. It’s like I’m adopting your 2 sons. There will be a tribe for Ephraim, and there will be a tribe for Manasseh, just like there will be a tribe for my son Reuben, and a tribe for my son Simeon, and for all my other sons. Your 2 sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, they were born here in Egypt country before I came to live here.

Read all of Genesis 48

Cross References

Genesis 13:15I will give you all the country that you can see. Later on, you will have a son, and lots of people will be born into his family, and they will own all this country, for ever.

Genesis 17:8You see, you are now living in this country called Canaan, but it doesn’t belong to you. But later on, I will give all this country to the people that will be born into your family. They will have this country for themselves for ever, and I will be their God.”

Genesis 22:17So I will do really good things for you. And I will give you a really big family. You see, lots of people will be born into your son’s family later on, and they will become a really big mob of people. There will be lots and lots of them, just like there are lots of stars in the sky, and lots of little bits of sand at the beaches beside the sea. And when other nations get up to fight against them, your family will win, and they will take the towns from those other nations.

Genesis 28:3Then Isaac said, “God has power over everything. So I’m asking God to be good to you. I’m asking him to give you lots of kids and grand-kids, so that your family will grow into lots of different tribes.

Genesis 32:12Remember that promise you made to me. You said, ‘I promise that I will be good to you, and I will give you a really big family. Lots of kids and grand-kids will be born into your family later on, and they will become a really big mob of people. Nobody will be able to count them, just like nobody can count all those little bits of sand that are at the beaches by the sea.’ Please be good to me and my family, God, just like you promised. Please don’t let my brother kill us.”

Genesis 46:3And God said, “I am God, I am the one that looked after your father. Don’t be frightened to go to Egypt. I will make your family into a great nation there.”

Matthew Henry on Genesis 48:2-8

Jacob's Last Illness. ( b. c. 1689.) 1 And it came to pass after these things, that one told Joseph, Behold, thy father is sick: and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. 2 And one told Jacob, and said, Behold, thy son Joseph cometh unto thee: and Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed. 3 And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, 4 And said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a… Read the whole commentary →

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Study Genesis 48:4