NOTES for Gen 48:1-22
The book of Genesis ends with two remarkable prophecies concerning the tribes of Israel (chapters 48 and 49). Today we read how the destiny of Joseph's sons is woven into the history of the future people: Jacob prophesies not even about them personally, but about the tribes that will descend from Ephraim and Manasseh. They are destined to become the principal tribes of northern Israel, with the tribe of Ephraim dominant, so that their southern neighbors, the descendants of Judah, will call all the northern tribes Ephraimites. This prophecy, seemingly embedded in the plot of the story of Joseph, already brings news of Israel's future into the ancient traditions of Genesis, reminding the reader that no episode of God's History is isolated from the whole picture—from the unfolding history of the world He created, made up of many stories, among them the story of our own life.