Ephraim and Manasseh had been standing close to Jacob, between his knees, so he could see and touch them ( Genesis 48:12). Ancient Near Eastern adoption ritual included placing the adopted child on the knees of the adopting parent to symbolize giving him birth in place of the birth mother. [1] Now Joseph took them back to where he had been standing, in front of his father. He then bowed before Jacob. [source][source][source]
"Joseph may be the second most powerful man in Egypt, but he never loses his respect for his father, and he never ceases to be gracious toward him." [2][source]
Arranging Manasseh and Ephraim in the normal order for Jacob"s blessing, by their age, Joseph then brought them forward again ( Genesis 48:13). [source][source][source]
This is the first of many scriptural instances of the laying on of hands ( Genesis 48:14). By this symbolic Acts , a person transferred a spiritual power or gift to another. This rite was part of the ceremony of dedicating a person or group to an office ( Numbers 27:18; Numbers 27:23; Deuteronomy 34:9; Matthew 19:13; Acts 6:6; Acts 8:17; etc.), offering sacrifices, and the healings Jesus Christ and the apostles performed. In this case Jacob symbolically transferred a blessing from himself to Joseph"s sons. Once uttered, blessings were irreversible (cf. Numbers 23:20; Romans 11:29). [source][source][source]
Jacob"s blessing of Ephraim and Manasseh also carried prophetic significance and force ( Genesis 48:19-20). Under the inspiration of God, Jacob deliberately gave Ephraim the privileged first-born blessing and predicted his preeminence. This was the fourth consecutive generation of Abraham"s descendants in which the normal pattern of the firstborn assuming prominence over the second born was reversed: Isaac over Ishmael, Jacob over Esau, Joseph over Reuben, and Ephraim over Manasseh. We can see this blessing in the process of fulfillment during the Judges Period when the tribe of Ephraim had grown very large and influential. The combined tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh increased from72 ,700 in the second year after the Exodus ( Numbers 1:32-35) to85 ,20040 years later ( Numbers 26:28-37). By contrast the tribes of Reuben and Simeon decreased from105 ,800 to65 ,930 during the same period. The Ephraimites took the lead among the ten northern tribes and flourished to the extent that the Jews used the name Ephraim equally with the name Israel. The Ephraimites occasionally demonstrated an attitude of superiority among the tribes that we can trace back to this blessing (e.g, Judges 12:1; et al.). The Hebrew phrase translated "a multitude (group) of nations" ( Genesis 48:19) appears only here in the Old Testament and probably means a company of peoples, namely, numerous. The reference to Israel in Genesis 48:20 applies to the nation in the future from Jacob"s viewpoint. [source][source][source]