Глава 48

Gen.48:1. “And they told Joseph, Behold, your father is sick. And he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim." And from this verse it becomes obvious what I said before, that up to this time Joseph had only two sons - Ephraim and Manasseh. Because if after so many years [after moving to Egypt], when the time came for Jacob to die, Joseph brought only two sons under the blessing, and at that time, at least, his sons were not able to produce offspring, since they were still children suckling at their mother’s breast, then even more so when Joseph’s father and brothers entered Egypt, he could not yet have grandchildren from his sons. Gen.48:2. "Israel gathered his strength and sat down on the bed". I do not know the reason why the Seventy interpreters rendered the same word differently. I will only venture to say that the very word metta ( מִּטָּ ֽ ה ), which they here translated as “bed,” above, where it was said how Jacob bowed, they preferred to understand as “rod” rather than as “bed.” Gen.48:5–6. “And now, these are your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, they are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh, like Reuben and Simeon, will be mine; and your children who are born of you after them will be yours; they will be called by the name of their brothers.” If anyone still doubted that seventy souls of the children of Israel entered Egypt and that Joseph at the time when Jacob entered had not nine, but only two sons, then this is confirmed by this verse. Because here Jacob himself says that Joseph has two sons, not nine. And what he says: “Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine, like Reuben and Simeon,” means: “Just as Reuben and Simeon will form two tribes, which will be called by their own names, so Ephraim and Manasseh will form two tribes, will produce two nations and will inherit the land of promise in the same way as my sons. And the rest of the sons who will be born after my death,” says Jacob, thereby showing that they have not yet been born, “will be yours.” “They will be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance.” He says that they will not receive the land separately and they will not have their own inheritances like the other tribes, but will be mixed with the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh as an addition to the people. Gen.48:22. “And I gave you Sikimah above your brothers, which I took from the hands of the Amorites with my sword and my arrow.” Although the word “Sikima”, according to Greek and Latin custom, is subject to declension here, in Hebrew it sounds like sichem ( שְׁכֶ ֥ ם), as the Evangelist John testifies (4, 5), although a mistake crept in: the city is incorrectly called Sychar. And now this is the Samaritan city of Naples. So, since sichem is translated from Hebrew as “shoulder” or “mountainside,” there is a clever play on words here: “And I will give you one shoulder or one mountainside.” Instead of "predominantly", that is, ἐξαίρετον, the Hebrew text says "one". And when Jacob says that he captured Shechem with the help of a bow and a sword, then by bow and sword he means righteousness, thanks to which he, being a stranger and a wanderer, earned himself freedom from danger after he killed Shechem and Hamor. After all, as we read above, he was afraid that neighboring cities and fortresses would all rise up against him because he destroyed their allied city (Gen. 34). But the Lord did not allow them to harm him. Or, most likely, it should be understood this way: “I will give you Sikima, which I acquired for my perseverance, that is, with money obtained through much labor and sweat.” And the fact that he says “over your brothers” thereby shows that he did not give this land to the tribe of Joseph by lot. After all, Joseph was buried in the same area and his magnificent tomb can still be seen there.