Joseph saw Ephraim’s children to the third generation. The children also of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were born on Joseph’s knees.
Parallel Translations
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Joseph saw Ephraim’s children to the third generation. The children also of Machir, the son of Manasseh, were born on Joseph’s knees.
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And Joseph saw Ephraim’s children of the third generation: the children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were brought up upon Joseph’s knees.
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And Joseph saw Ephraim's children of the third generation; the children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were born upon Joseph's knees.
Cross-references (8)
Passages linked to Genesis 50:23 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Numbers 32:39 The children of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead, took it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were therein.
- Genesis 30:3 She said, “Behold, my maid Bilhah. Go in to her, that she may bear on my knees, and I also may obtain children by her.”
- Job 42:16 After this Job lived one hundred forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons’ sons, to four generations.
- Genesis 48:19 His father refused, and said, “I know, my son, I know. He also will become a people, and he also will be great. However, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his offspring will become a multitude of nations.”
- Numbers 32:33 Moses gave to them, even to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan; the land, according to its cities and borders, even the cities of the surrounding land.
- Joshua 17:1 This was the lot for the tribe of Manasseh, for he was the firstborn of Joseph. As for Machir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, because he was a man of war, therefore he had Gilead and Bashan.
- Psalms 128:6 Yes, may you see your children’s children. Peace be upon Israel.
- Genesis 49:12 His eyes will be red with wine, his teeth white with milk.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (9 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Gen 50:23 And Joseph saw Ephraim’s children of the…
Gen 50:23 And Joseph saw Ephraim’s children of the third [generation]: the children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were brought up upon Joseph’s knees.
Ver. 23. Brought up upon Joseph’s knees.] Who with great joy danced and dandled them. So God is said to do his people, {Deu 33:3} as some understand it. {a}
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{a} Pedibus suis inservit. Metaph. a parentibus qui filiolos suos quos charos habent, sic tractant. - Cartw., Hist. Christi. Sic Shindler. Buxtorf.
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.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Of the third generation, reckoning from and after Ephraim,…
Of the third generation, reckoning from and after Ephraim, i.e., Ephraim’s grandchildren’s children. So early did Ephraim’s privilege above Manasseh appear, and Jacob’s blessing (Gen 48:19) take place.
The children of Machir, Heb. sons. For though he had but one son, viz. Gilead, by his first wife, yet he married a second wife, and by her had two other sons, 1Ch 7:16, which Joseph lived long enough to see. Or under the name of children his grandchildren also might be comprehended. So there is no need of that enallage of sons for one son which we meet with in other places.
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Were brought up upon Joseph’s knees; laid upon Joseph’s lap or knees, where parents use ofttimes to take up and repose their infants, to express their love to them, and delight in them. And some observe, that it was an ancient custom in divers nations, that the infant, as soon as it was born, was laid upon the grandfather’s knees. So it is an ellipsis, whereby one word is put for two, or under one verb. See more of this phrase on Gen 30:3; 48:12.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die,.... Some…
And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die,.... Some time before his death he called them together, and observed to them, that he expected to die in a little time, as all must:
and God will surely visit you; not in a way of wrath and vindictive justice, as he sometimes does, but in a way of love, grace, and mercy:
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and bring you out of this land; the land of Egypt, in which they then dwelt:
unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; meaning the land of Canaan, which he swore to those patriarchs that he would give to their posterity.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 23. Were brought up upon Joseph's knees.] They…
Verse 23. Were brought up upon Joseph's knees.] They were educated by him, or under his direction; his sons and their children continuing to acknowledge him as patriarch, or head of the family, as long as he lived.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 23. Ephraim’s children of the third generation — That…
23. Ephraim’s children of the third generation — That is, “his great great grandchildren (literally, the sons of the sons of the third generation, as Gesenius shows from Exo_20:5; Exo_34:7; but Furst and others understand the Hebrew to mean great grandchildren.) He took upon his knees also his great grandchildren in the line of Manasseh. It was a serene and trustful old age.” — Newhall.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 23. of the third generation] Ephraim’s children “of the…
23. of the third generation] Ephraim’s children “of the third generation” might mean his great-grandchildren; cf. Exo_34:7. But in Exo_20:5, Num_14:18, the third generation are the grandchildren, the grandparents being reckoned as the first. If this way of reckoning be here followed, Ephraim represents the first generation, and his grandchildren the third. This is also favoured by the next clause, which mentions Manasseh’s grand-children. Joseph, therefore, lived to see his great-grandchildren. On this token of blessing, see Psa_128:6; Pro_13:22; Pro_17:6.
Machir] The name of one of the leading branches of the tribe of Manasseh; cf. Num_32:39; Deu_3:15; Jos_13:31; Jos_17:1; 1Ch_7:14. From these passages it appears that the family of Machir occupied Gilead: while in Jdg_5:14 Machir takes rank with the tribes of Israel.
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upon Joseph’s knees] A phrase denoting that Joseph, as head of the family, acknowledged and adopted the children. See note on Gen_30:3, and cf. Job_3:12, Isa_66:12, and Homer, Od. xix. 401.
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.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (23) The third generation.—These would be Joseph’s great-grandchildren. Thus…
(23) The third generation.—These would be Joseph’s great-grandchildren. Thus Eran, son of Shuthelah, son of Ephraim, was to be born in Joseph’s lifetime (Num_26:35-36).
Were brought up . . . —Heb., were born upon Joseph’s knees, that is, were adopted by him. (See Note on Gen_30:3.) They would not form tribes, as this prerogative was reserved for the sons of Jacob (Gen_48:5), but they would count as Joseph’s sons (Gen_48:6), and form “families.”
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain And Joseph saw Ephraim"s children of the third generation:…
And Joseph saw Ephraim"s children of the third generation: i.e. Ephraim"s great-grandchildren (Kalisch, Lange), or Ephraim s great-great-grandsons (Keil, Murphy), which perhaps was not impossible, since Ephraim must have been born before Joseph"s thirty-seventh year, thus allowing at least sixty-three years for four generations to intervene before the patriarch"s death, which might be, if marriage happened early, say not later than eighteenthe children also of Machir the son of Manasseh-by a concubine (1Ch_7:14) were brought up upon Joseph"s knees literally, were born upon Joseph"s knees, i.e. were adopted by him as soon as they were born (Kalisch, Wordsworth, "Speaker"s Commentary"), or were born so that he could take them also upon his knees, and show his love for them (Keil).
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 50:23 whom he claimed as his own (literally who…
50:23 whom he claimed as his own (literally who were born on Joseph’s knees): Placing them on his knees at their birth was a symbolic act signifying that they came from him and belonged to him (cp. Job 3:12).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.