The KJV Holy Bible

 

Genesis Chapter Forty Eight

 

1 And it came to pass after these things, that one told Joseph, Behold, thy father is sick: and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.

2 And one told Jacob, and said, Behold, thy son Joseph cometh unto thee: and Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed.

3 And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me,

4 And said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people; and will give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession.

5 And now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine.

6 And thy issue, which thou begettest after them, shall be thine, and shall be called after the name of their brethren in their inheritance.

7 And as for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan in the way, when yet there was but a little way to come unto Ephrath: and I buried her there in the way of Ephrath; the same is Bethlehem.

8 And Israel beheld Joseph's sons, and said, Who are these?

9 And Joseph said unto his father, They are my sons, whom God hath given me in this place. And he said, Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will bless them.

10 Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he could not see. And he brought them near unto him; and he kissed them, and embraced them.

11 And Israel said unto Joseph, I had not thought to see thy face: and, lo, God hath shewed me also thy seed.

12 And Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth.

13 And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand toward Israel's right hand, and brought them near unto him.

14 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, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh was the firstborn.

15 And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day,

16 The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.

17 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 unto Manasseh's head.

18 And Joseph said unto his father, Not so, my father: for this is the firstborn; put thy right hand upon his head.

19 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 truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.

20 And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh.

21 And Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I die: but God shall be with you, and bring you again unto the land of your fathers.

22 Moreover I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.

 

 

Esoteric Interpretation & Commentary

 

The Hermetic Blueprint of Genesis: The Reversal of Material Law and the Crossing of the Hands

"Genesis Chapter Forty-Eight reveals the Ultimate Supremacy of Spiritual Law over mechanical, biological Law. As the Conscious Mind (Jacob) prepares to transition, it must permanently establish the hierarchy of the next generation of faculties. By adopting Joseph's sons and intentionally crossing his hands to bless the younger over the older, the Adept demonstrates that in the Great Work, the newly birthed Spiritual Will always takes precedence over established material precedence. This chapter is a Masterclass in the Conscious overriding of natural entropy."

 

 

Verses 1-7: The Adoption of the Subconscious Fruits - "And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me... And now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt... are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine."

Joseph brings his two sons, born in the deep Subconscious matrix (Egypt), before the Conscious Mind (Jacob/Israel). Manasseh means "forgetfulness" (the alchemical dissolution of past traumas and material attachments), and Ephraim means "fruitfulness" (the active generation of new Spiritual Power). Israel elevates these two Subconscious fruits to the exact same status as his original, primary Conscious faculties (Reuben and Simeon). The Awakened Mind formally integrates and claims ownership of the Spiritual Wisdom forged in the dark depths of the material world.

 

 

Verses 8-12: The Dimming of the Physical and the Clarity of the Spiritual - "Now the eyes of Israel were dim for age, so that he could not see... And Joseph brought them out from between his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth."

The text explicitly notes that Israel's physical eyes are dim. In Esoteric Anatomy, the decay of the physical, sensory apparatus often coincides with the Absolute Perfection of the Inner, Spiritual Vision (the Third Eye/Pineal functioning). Though he cannot see clearly with the biological organs, his Spiritual Perception is Perfectly Attuned to the Energetic Reality of the two sons. Joseph removes the sons from his knees (the seat of generation) and bows, submitting the products of his Intuition Entirely to the Judgment of the Ruling Conscious Mind.

 

 

Verses 13-16: The Angelic Invocation and the Redemption of the Matrix - "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, guiding his hands wittingly... The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads;" Israel invokes the "Angel which redeemed me from all evil."

This is not an external being, but the perfected Higher Self—the Fully Realized Solar Consciousness that guided the intellect through all its earthly trials and transmutations. He calls upon this Supreme Alchemical Force to bless the new faculties, ensuring they are infused with the exact same transformative power that allowed the Conscious Mind to conquer the material matrix.

 

 

Verses 17-20: The Crossing of the Hands and the Override of Biological Law - "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... And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it... his younger brother shall be greater than he,"

This is the Alchemical climax of the chapter. Joseph (operating here from a place of structured, orderly logic) positions the firstborn (Manasseh) at Jacob's right hand, expecting the blessing to follow standard biological and temporal law. But Israel "guides his hands wittingly," crossing them to place the right hand (the Active, Projective, Supreme Spiritual Power) onto the younger son (Ephraim). When Joseph tries to correct him, Israel refuses. The Adept explicitly overrides the laws of material precedence. In the physical world, the older (biology, habit, established structure) rules. In the Spiritual world, the younger (the newly formed, evolving Spiritual Consciousness) must be exalted to Total Sovereignty.

 

 

Verses 21-22: The Extra Portion and the Weapons of the Will - "And Israel said unto Joseph, Behold, I die: but God shall be with you... Moreover I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow."

Israel gives Joseph one extra portion of land (the center at Shechem) above all his brothers. He claims he took this territory from the material matrix (the Amorites) with his "sword and his bow." In Hermeticism, the Sword represents the piercing, analytical Power of the Active Will, and the Bow represents the Focused, Projected Intention of the Mind. The Conscious ego bequeaths the Ultimate Prize—territory conquered through Strict Mental Discipline and Spiritual Warfare—directly to the faculty of Divine Intuition.