Before the years of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph by Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On.Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh and said,“ It is because God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household.”The second son he named Ephraim and said,“ It is because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering.” (niv)
Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-Paneah and gave him Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, to be his wife. And Joseph went throughout the land of Egypt. (niv)
And Joseph took both of them, Ephraim on his right toward Israel’s left hand and Manasseh on his left toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them close to him.But Israel reached out his right hand and put it on Ephraim’s head, though he was the younger, and crossing his arms, he put his left hand on Manasseh’s head, even though Manasseh was the firstborn. (niv)
and said to me,‘ I am going to make you fruitful and increase your numbers. I will make you a community of peoples, and I will give this land as an everlasting possession to your descendants after you.’“ Now then, your two sons born to you in Egypt before I came to you here will be reckoned as mine; Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine. (niv)
The descendants of Joseph by their clans through Manasseh and Ephraim were:The descendants of Manasseh: through Makir, the Makirite clan( Makir was the father of Gilead); through Gilead, the Gileadite clan.These were the descendants of Gilead: through Iezer, the Iezerite clan; through Helek, the Helekite clan;through Asriel, the Asrielite clan; through Shechem, the Shechemite clan;through Shemida, the Shemidaite clan; through Hepher, the Hepherite clan.( Zelophehad son of Hepher had no sons; he had only daughters, whose names were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milkah and Tirzah.)These were the clans of Manasseh; those numbered were 52,700.These were the descendants of Ephraim by their clans: through Shuthelah, the Shuthelahite clan; through Beker, the Bekerite clan; through Tahan, the Tahanite clan.These were the descendants of Shuthelah: through Eran, the Eranite clan.These were the clans of Ephraim; those numbered were 32,500. These were the descendants of Joseph by their clans. (niv)
The people of the half-tribe of Manasseh were numerous; they settled in the land from Bashan to Baal Hermon, that is, to Senir( Mount Hermon).These were the heads of their families: Epher, Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah and Jahdiel. They were brave warriors, famous men, and heads of their families.But they were unfaithful to the God of their ancestors and prostituted themselves to the gods of the peoples of the land, whom God had destroyed before them.So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria( that is, Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria), who took the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh into exile. He took them to Halah, Habor, Hara and the river of Gozan, where they are to this day. (niv)
He blessed them that day and said,“ In your name will Israel pronounce this blessing:‘ May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’” So he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh. (niv)
The descendants of Manasseh: Asriel was his descendant through his Aramean concubine. She gave birth to Makir the father of Gilead.Makir took a wife from among the Huppites and Shuppites. His sister’s name was Maakah. Another descendant was named Zelophehad, who had only daughters.Makir’s wife Maakah gave birth to a son and named him Peresh. His brother was named Sheresh, and his sons were Ulam and Rakem.The son of Ulam: Bedan. These were the sons of Gilead son of Makir, the son of Manasseh.His sister Hammoleketh gave birth to Ishhod, Abiezer and Mahlah.The sons of Shemida were: Ahian, Shechem, Likhi and Aniam.The descendants of Ephraim: Shuthelah, Bered his son, Tahath his son, Eleadah his son, Tahath his son,Zabad his son and Shuthelah his son. Ezer and Elead were killed by the native-born men of Gath, when they went down to seize their livestock.Their father Ephraim mourned for them many days, and his relatives came to comfort him.Then he made love to his wife again, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. He named him Beriah, because there had been misfortune in his family.His daughter was Sheerah, who built Lower and Upper Beth Horon as well as Uzzen Sheerah.Rephah was his son, Resheph his son, Telah his son, Tahan his son,Ladan his son, Ammihud his son, Elishama his son,Nun his son and Joshua his son.Their lands and settlements included Bethel and its surrounding villages, Naaran to the east, Gezer and its villages to the west, and Shechem and its villages all the way to Ayyah and its villages.Along the borders of Manasseh were Beth Shan, Taanach, Megiddo and Dor, together with their villages. The descendants of Joseph son of Israel lived in these towns. (niv)
From the sons of Joseph: From the descendants of Ephraim: All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, according to the records of their clans and families.The number from the tribe of Ephraim was 40,500.From the descendants of Manasseh: All the men twenty years old or more who were able to serve in the army were listed by name, according to the records of their clans and families.The number from the tribe of Manasseh was 32,200. (niv)
About Joseph he said:“ May the Lord bless his land with the precious dew from heaven above and with the deep waters that lie below;with the best the sun brings forth and the finest the moon can yield;with the choicest gifts of the ancient mountains and the fruitfulness of the everlasting hills;with the best gifts of the earth and its fullness and the favor of him who dwelt in the burning bush. Let all these rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince among his brothers.In majesty he is like a firstborn bull; his horns are the horns of a wild ox. With them he will gore the nations, even those at the ends of the earth. Such are the ten thousands of Ephraim; such are the thousands of Manasseh.” (niv)
