26. MANASSEH AND EPHRAIM.

[GENES. XLVIII.]

Manasseh and Ephraim were the two eldest sons of Joseph, born before the settlement of his father and brothers in Egypt. Jacob loved them, and desired that their descendants should have equal inheritance in the promised land with those of his own children.

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He communicated this wish to Joseph, and as he spoke to the son of his beloved Rachel, his thoughts reverted for a moment to her, and he saw again that distant mountain pass of Bethlehem, where Rachel lay buried beneath the purple vine. He paused in his prophecies of the distant future to dwell upon events of the past: As for me, I saw Rachel die in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was still a distance of land to come to Ephrath, and I buried her there on the way of Ephrath, that is Bethlehem.' Then turning towards Joseph, he saw through the waning light of his eyes the two youths who were with him, and he said Who are these? And Joseph said to his father, They are my sons, whom God has given me here. And he said, Bring them, I pray thee, to me, and I will bless them. But the eyes of Israel were dim from old age, so that he could not see. And he brought them near to him, and he kissed them, and embraced them. And Israel said to Joseph, I had not hoped to see thy face; and, behold, God has allowed me to see thy seed also. And Joseph brought them forth from his knees, and he prostrated himself before his face to the ground. And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand towards Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand towards Israel's right hand, and brought them near to him. And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim's head, who was the

younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh's head, laying on his hands deliberately; for Manasseh was the first-born. And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who was my shepherd from my birth to this day, the angel who redeemed me from all evil, will bless the youths; and let in them my name be called, and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them increase into a vast multitude in the midst of the land. And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him; and he held up his father's hand to remove it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head. And Joseph said to his father, Not so, my father; for this is the first-born; put thy right hand upon his head. And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it; he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; but his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a numerous people. And he blessed them on that day, saying, By thee shall Israel bless, saying, May God make thee as Ephraim and Manasseh: and he put Ephraim before Manasseh. And Israel said to Joseph, Behold I die, but God will be with you, and bring you back to the land of your fathers. And I give to thee one portion above thy brethren, which I take out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.'

Thus spoke Israel in true prophetic tones; and as had been the case several times before, to the younger brother was promised the greater inheritance. Joseph himself, who had been the most illustrious and the most honoured child of his house during his lifetime, was not to have the glory of transmitting his name to a tribe.

27. JACOB'S LAST ADDRESS TO HIS CHILDREN. [GENES. XLIX. 1-28.]

And now, as the long life of the patriarch Jacob was drawing to its close, his whole mind seemed to expand with visions of the future. His sons, some of them old, grey-headed men, left their flocks, and their herds, and their fields, and gathered reverentially round his deathbed. He then addressed them with these prophetic words, which comprise a large epoch of Hebrew history: 'Assemble that I may tell you what will befall you in later days. Gather yourselves and listen, ye sons of Jacob, and listen to Israel your father.

REUBEN, thou art my first-born,

My strength and the firstling of my vigour,

The excellency of dignity and the excellency of power: Unstable as water,

Thou shalt not excel;

For thou didst ascend thy father's bed;

Then didst thou defile it :

My couch he has ascended.

SIMEON and LEVI are brethren,

An instrument of violence is their burning rage.
Into their council my soul shall not come,
In their assembly my glory shall not join:
For in their anger they slew men,

And in their self-will they hamstrung oxen.
Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce,
And their wrath, for it is cruel:

I will disperse them in Jacob,
And scatter them in Israel.

JUDAH, thee thy brethren shall praise;
Thy hand is on the neck of thy enemies;

Thy father's sons shall prostrate themselves before thee.

Judah is a lion's whelp;

From the prey, my son, thou ascendest :
He stoopeth down, he croucheth, like a lion
And like a lioness; who will rouse him?
The sceptre shall not depart from Judah,
Nor the ruler's staff from between his feet-
Even when they come to Shiloh—

And to him shall be submission of nations.
He bindeth his foal to the vine,

And his young ass to the noble vine;
He washeth his garments in wine,
And his raiment in the blood of grapes;
His eyes are sparkling from wine,
And his teeth white from milk.

ZEBULUN will dwell on the coast of seas; Indeed he will dwell on the coast of ships, And his side will extend to Zidon.

ISSACHAR is a strong ass,
Crouching between the folds:

And he saw the rest that it was good,
And the land that it was pleasant;
And he bent his shoulder to bear,
And became a tributary servant.

DAN will judge his people
As one of the tribes of Israel.
Dan will be a serpent by the way,
A viper in the path,

That biteth the heels of the horse,
That its rider falleth backward.-
For Thy help I hope, O Lord!-

GAD, a host will oppress him;
But he will oppress them on their heels.
Of ASHER the bread will be fat,
And he will furnish royal dainties.

NAPHTALI is a graceful hind;
He uttereth words of beauty.
JOSEPH is a fruitful bough,
A fruitful bough by the well;
His branches spread over the wall.
And the archers harassed him,
And they assembled in multitude,
And they persecuted him;

But his bow remained in strength,

And the arms of his hands were brisk.

From the hands of the Mighty of Jacob,

From Him, the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel,
From the God of thy father who shall help thee,
And from the Almighty who shall bless thee,

Will come upon thee blessings of heaven from above, Blessings of the deep that spreadeth beneath, Blessings of the breasts and of the womb.

The blessings of thy father prevail

Above the blessings of the eternal mountains,
Above the delight of the everlasting hills:

They will come on the head of Joseph,

And on the brow of the crowned among his brethren. BENJAMIN is a wolf that teareth to pieces:

In the morning he devoureth prey,

And at even he rendeth spoil.'

The predictions of Jacob were fulfilled, not speedily in the land of Goshen, nor all of them in the time of the Judges, nor in the days of the first and the mightiest kings. They clearly reach down to the period of the divided empire. We cannot stop to examine in detail each verse of this prophetic address; but we will insert a few general remarks taken from a recent Commentary :

"The principal question which arises, is: To what period of the history of the Israelites does this portion refer? or the political condition of what age does it describe? It appears to us manifest: