Who is manasseh and ephraim

Warnings by the Lord were ignored by both Manasseh and his people, so God sent the Assyrian armies, who captured him and took him into exile. It was in captivity that he came to his senses and cried out to God for help. As recorded in 2 Chronicles , The Lord answered his prayers by returning him to Jerusalem. At that point Manasseh realized that the Lord was really God. Manasseh removed the foreign idols from the hills and the Temple and tore down the pagan altars. He then rebuilt the altar of the Lord, and offered sacrifices upon it.

When Manasseh died, he was buried beneath his own palace, and his son Amon became the new king. The story of Manasseh is found in 2 Kings , and 2 Chronicles And we see history repeating itself with the second son getting the bigger blessing. Joseph held out his sons to Jacob, and Jacob crossed his hands to bless Ephraim with his right.

He then blessed them both. Shortly thereafter, Jacob called together all his sons and laid out his impressions of each and what was to befall them all. Joseph received an extra portion of land which Jacob had won from the Amorites, and the tribe of Ephraim would be landed in what is now central Israel, between the west bank of the Jordan River and the coast of the Mediterranean. There are times when Ephraim is referred to as a son of Jacob. In Va-y'chi , the last parashah of Genesis, we read about the blessings that Jacob gives to his sons and grandsons before his death.

The parashah begins with Jacob making Joseph swear that he will bury Jacob's body in the Cave of the Machpelah in Canaan. Soon afterwards, Joseph knows that his father's days are numbered, so he visits Jacob with his sons Manasseh and Ephraim, and Jacob blesses his grandsons.

After this visit, Jacob then speaks words of blessing and rebuke to each of his sons. Jacob dies, and Genesis concludes with Joseph's death in Egypt. In this Torah portion, we also read about the adoption of Joseph's sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, by their grandfather, Jacob. At first, Jacob states that Ephraim and Manasseh will be to him like his own sons Genesis Then further on, we read of the biblical practice of placing the adoptee on the new parent's knees Genesis Jacob's adoption of his grandsons is not a new concept in the Torah; in fact, it is mentioned numerous times in Genesis.

Eliezer is named heir to Abraham's fortune in Genesis , Sarah obtains a son through her maidservant Hagar Genesis , and Rachel raises Dan and Naphtali as her own through Bilhah Genesis Jacob himself is adopted by his father-in-law, Laban, in Genesis Other books of the Torah and the Bible contain additional examples, with the adoption of Moses by Pharaoh's daughter as the most prominent example. Rashi's comments on Jacob's adopting of Ephraim and Manasseh in Genesis refer to the share in the Land of Israel that each one will receive: They are similar to the shares that Jacob's own sons will inherit.

In fact, this adoption is the reason that Ephraim and Manasseh are counted among the twelve tribes of Israel, but Joseph is not nor is Levi. Although Joseph wants his father to bless his children, it's unlikely he has any idea that his father would also give them equal status with his own sons. Joseph may be so moved by this that he, in turn, chooses to adopt his own grandsons later on in the parashah. After three of his sons have disqualified themselves from that right, he takes it upon himself to grant it to his favorite son, a son who has gained the most success and provided the most for his family: Joseph.

This isn't just a token blessing. Later, Ephraim and Manasseh will become two of the most powerful tribes in Israel.

Especially during the time of Judges, Ephraim is one of the strongest military tribes in the nation. How can this be? How is it fair to Judah or Benjamin or Zebulun to receive less inheritance because Jacob chooses to adopt two grandsons? And most of us put ourselves in the place of Judah or Benjamin or Zebulun and wail in outrage. But that is not who we are in this story. As Gentiles who were born in sin and have lived our whole lives in rebellion against God, we have no part in the people of God.