Genesis 48:16

Genesis 48:16, in plain English

Jacob asks God to bless these boys and calls them by his own name and his fathers' names, asking that they multiply into a multitude on the earth. He's grafting them fully into the covenant family's identity and destiny.

Why it's here

This is the heart of the blessing. Jacob is saying these Egyptian-born grandsons belong to the covenant completely. They carry the names of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They're not outsiders; they're heirs. The blessing invokes God's power to make them fruitful beyond measure.

Who's speaking

Jacob, speaking the blessing

Where it sits in the story

The language of multiplying echoes God's original covenant promise. Jacob is invoking that ancient promise over Ephraim and Manasseh. Through these boys, the covenant moves forward and God's promise of multitude is fulfilled.

The scholarly reading

Jacob continues the blessing, calling on God the redeemer to bless the boys, asking that they be called by his name and his fathers' names, and that they multiply greatly.

Language and setting

The 'angel who has redeemed me' (*ha-mal'ach ha-go'el*) likely refers to the divine messenger or God's providential protection—though the precise referent has occasioned scholarly debate since the Targumim. The request that they be 'called by my name'—literally, 'that my name be called upon them' (*yiqqara shem'i aleihem*)—means they will be identified with Jacob's lineage. The invocation of 'Abraham and Isaac' at the blessing's conclusion creates inclusio with verse 15, framing the entire blessing within covenantal continuity. The promise of multiplication ('grow into a multitude upon the earth') extends the fertility promise of verse 4 into the grandsons' generation.

Voice

Jacob, continuing to bless Ephraim and Manasseh

Significance

This blessing extends the Abrahamic covenant promise explicitly into Joseph's Egyptian-born sons, making them full heirs to the covenant promise of land and numerous offspring.

14But Israel stretched out his right hand and put it on the head of Ephraim, the younger; and crossing his hands, he put his left on Manasseh’s head, although Manasseh was the firstborn.

15Then he blessed Joseph and said: “May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day,

16the angel who has redeemed me from all harm— may He bless these boys. And may they be called by my name and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they grow into a multitude upon the earth.”

17When Joseph saw that his father had placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head, he was displeased and took his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s.

18“Not so, my father!” Joseph said. “This one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.”

Read all of Genesis 48 — Jacob blesses Joseph's sons with crossed hands — putting the younger ahead of the older. The pattern of God's upside-down choices continues.