NOTES for Gen 48:1-22

With the blessing of Joseph's children, the same thing happens that once happened with the blessing of Jacob himself and his brother Esau: Jacob, too, received a blessing that was "not his." True, he obtained that blessing himself, and by deception, while in this case there is no deception to speak of; but the essence of the matter does not change: first place is received not by the one to whom it should have belonged according to custom and established traditions. God often breaks established traditions and human customs, perhaps also so that people will not consider either one something unshakable and coming directly from Him.

Here, incidentally, it also becomes clear how much Jacob's idea of blessing had changed compared with his father Isaac's. For Isaac it is still quite traditional, connected with equally traditional ideas about a power that can be taken or given away, but only once: what has been given away cannot be taken back. For Isaac this power is connected with the God of Abraham; He is its source, but in every other respect blessing, as Isaac understands it, differs practically not at all from a pagan one. Even if he made a mistake, even if God did not want him to give his power to Jacob instead of Esau, and Isaac could well have thought this when he discovered his mistake, nothing could be done: what is given is given. For Jacob himself, however, blessing has become first of all an act of God, while he looks at himself only as an instrument in His hands. He is only the bearer of God's power, in no sense its owner, and he passes it on only to the one whom God indicates.

No one else will be able simply to receive it, for in the final account its owner remains God, and a human being can only be a steward here, free to dispose of it only insofar as his actions do not go beyond the limits of God's plan, God's intentions, and God's will. That is why conflicts like the one that took place when Jacob obtained the blessing by deception now become impossible. And this is no surprise: Jacob really has become not simply the leader of his tribe, but also the leader of the people of God. God made Jacob what He wanted him to be.

Today's reading tells us about the dying Jacob blessing Joseph's children, who had been born to him in Egypt. Within traditional clan and tribal relationships this moment was very important: it meant that Joseph's children were accepted as members of the clan. Usually such a blessing was given soon after birth, but in the case of Joseph's children this had naturally been impossible, and only now did they receive Jacob's blessing as the founder of the clan.

During this traditional ritual, however, something happened that went beyond tradition. Usually the first blessing was received by the oldest son, who was considered the heir in his family (and if the matter concerned, for example, the children of a tribal leader, then customarily the oldest inherited authority after the leader's death). If two children came under the blessing at once, the one giving the blessing usually laid his right hand on the head of the older child and his left on the head of the younger.

Meanwhile, in the biblical story everything happened the other way around: with his right hand Jacob blessed not Joseph's older son, but his younger one (vv. 13-14). Joseph tried to point out the mistake to his father (vv. 17-18), but it turned out that this was no mistake at all, and that Jacob had deliberately blessed the younger with the special blessing traditionally given to the older child (vv. 19-20).

Such a violation of the tradition of seniority occurs repeatedly in the Bible, and in all situations of this kind it turns out to be a charismatic act, performed at God's special direction. This is not surprising: after all, in a society where rite and ritual permeate all of life, both private and public, following ritual and tradition is not merely expected, but so deeply ingrained in everyone that an accidental violation of ritual becomes nearly impossible in such a society.

And if it does happen, the reason may be God's direct intervention, by which He wants to point to His chosen one. Thus a violation of the order and custom established by human beings sometimes becomes an instrument in God's hands and a sign of His intervention.

The book of Genesis concludes with two astonishing prophecies about the tribes of Israel (chapters 48 and 49). Today we read about how the fate of Joseph's sons is woven into the history of the future people: Jacob prophesies not even about them themselves, but about the tribes that will come from Ephraim and Manasseh. They are destined to become the main peoples of northern Israel, with the tribe of Ephraim becoming dominant, so that their southern neighbors, the descendants of Judah, will call all the northern tribes Ephraimites.

This prophecy, which is as if built into the plot line of the Joseph narrative, already brings into the archaic legends of Genesis the message of the future Israel, reminding the reader that no episode of God's History is isolated from the whole picture, the unfolding history of the world He created, made up of many stories, among which is the story of our own life.