Genesis 48:13

Plain English Version

Then Joseph stood up. He put his son Ephraim on his right side, and he put his son Manasseh on his left side, and he went near to Jacob with his 2 sons, so that Jacob can ask God to be good to them. Then Joseph put his younger son Ephraim in front of Jacob’s left hand, and he put his older son Manasseh in front of Jacob’s right hand. You see, in that culture, people thought that their right hand was more important than their left hand. So Joseph wanted Jacob to put his right hand on Manasseh, because he was the older son. And he wanted Jacob to put his left hand on Ephraim, because he was the younger son.

Cross References

Genesis 41:51

Joseph named his 1st son Manasseh. That name means he let me forget. Joseph said, “You see, God was good to me. He let me forget about all that trouble I had, and he even let me forget that I miss my family.”

Genesis 46:20

Joseph had 2 sons in Egypt country. Their names were Manasseh and Ephraim. Their mother was Joseph’s wife Asenath. Her father’s name was Potifera, and he was a ceremony leader for the Egypt people, at the town called Onn.

Genesis 48:12

Then Joseph got his 2 sons to move away from Jacob. And Joseph got down on his knees and put his face near the ground, to show respect to his father Jacob.

Genesis 48:14

But Jacob didn’t do that. No, he put his right hand on Ephraim’s head, even though Ephraim was the younger son. And then he crossed his left arm over his right arm, and he put his left hand on Manasseh’s head, even though Manasseh was the older son.

Matthew 25:33

I will put one mob on one side of me, and the other mob on the other side of me.