Israel said to Joseph, “I didn’t think I would see your face, and behold, God has let me see your offspring also.”
Parallel Translations
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Israel said to Joseph, “I didn’t think I would see your face, and behold, God has let me see your offspring also.”
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And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face: and, lo, God hath shewed me also thy seed.
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And Israel said unto Joseph: 'I had not thought to see thy face; and, lo, God hath let me see thy seed also.'
Cross-references (5)
Passages linked to Genesis 48:11 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Ephesians 3:20 Now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,
- Genesis 45:26 They told him, saying, “Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.” His heart fainted, for he didn’t believe them.
- Genesis 37:33 He recognized it, and said, “It is my son’s tunic. An evil animal has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt torn in pieces.”
- Genesis 37:35 All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. He said, “For I will go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” His father wept for him.
- Genesis 42:36 Jacob, their father, said to them, “You have bereaved me of my children! Joseph is no more, Simeon is no more, and you want to take Benjamin away. All these things are against me.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (9 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Gen 48:11 And Israel said unto Joseph, I had…
Gen 48:11 And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face: and, lo, God hath shewed me also thy seed.
Ver. 11. I had not thought to see thy face.] God delights to outbid the hopes of his people, and to be better to them than their deserts, than their desires, yea, than their faith. {Isa 54:2-3; Isa 54:12; Isa 54:14} As it is storied of a certain emperor, that he delighted in no undertakings so much as in those that his counsellors and captains held impossible: and he seldom miscarried. So God, Exo 15:11.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought…
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.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain I had not thought to see thy face, (having…
I had not thought to see thy face, (having many years given him up for lost) and lo God hath shewed me also thy seed? - See here, How these two good men own God in their comforts. Joseph saith, They are my sons whom God has given me - And to magnify the favour he adds, in this place of my banishment, slavery and imprisonment. Jacob saith here, God hath shewed me thy seed - Our comforts are then doubly sweet to us, when we see them coming from God's hand.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 11. I had not thought to see thy…
Verse 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.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Gen 48:11. I had not thought to see thy…
Gen 48:11. I had not thought to see thy face — Having many years given him up for lost; and, lo, God hath showed me also thy seed! — See here, how these two good men own God in their comforts. Joseph saith, They are my sons whom God has given me — And to magnify the favour he adds, in this place of my banishment, slavery, and imprisonment. Jacob saith here, God hath showed me thy seed — Our comforts are then doubly sweet to us, when we see them coming from God’s hand.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Deprived. Hebrew, "I did not expect; or, I durst…
Deprived. Hebrew, "I did not expect; or, I durst not pray" to God for a thing which I thought impossible; I mean, the happiness of seeing thee; and lo, God, &c.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 11. thy seed also] This expression, like the question…
11. thy seed also] This expression, like the question in Gen_48:8, seems to imply that Jacob had not before set eyes upon the sons of Joseph.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought…
And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face: and, lo, God (Elohim) hath showed me also thy seed. The first half of Israel s utterance is rendered by the LXX "Idoupou sou oujk ejsterhqhn"
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 to see your face again
to see your face again
Here "face" stands for the whole person. AT: "to see you again" (See: Synecdoche)
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between Israel's knees
When Joseph placed his sons on Israel's lap or knees it was a sign that Israel was adopting them. This gave the children special inheritance rights from Jacob. (See: Symbolic Action)
then he bowed with his face to the earth
Joseph bowed down to show honor to his father. (See: Symbolic Action)
Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel's right hand
Joseph places the boys so that Israel will put his right hand on Manasseh. Manasseh was the oldest brother and the right hand was the sign he would receive the greater blessing. (See: Symbolic Action)
translationWords
bow
right hand
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.