Discovery BoxGenesis 48:5 
Context48:5 “Now, as for your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, they will be mine. 1 Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine just as Reuben and Simeon are.
Genesis 48:13-14
Context48:13 Joseph positioned them; 2 he put Ephraim on his right hand across from Israel’s left hand, and Manasseh on his left hand across from Israel’s right hand. Then Joseph brought them closer to his father. 3 48:14 Israel stretched out his right hand and placed it on Ephraim’s head, although he was the younger. 4 Crossing his hands, he put his left hand on Manasseh’s head, for Manasseh was the firstborn.
Genesis 50:23
Context50:23 Joseph saw the descendants of Ephraim to the third generation. 5 He also saw the children of Makir the son of Manasseh; they were given special inheritance rights by Joseph. 6
1 sn They will be mine. Jacob is here adopting his two grandsons Manasseh and Ephraim as his sons, and so they will have equal share with the other brothers. They will be in the place of Joseph and Levi (who will become a priestly tribe) in the settlement of the land. See I. Mendelsohn, “A Ugaritic Parallel to the Adoption of Ephraim and Manasseh,” IEJ (1959): 180-83.
2 tn Heb “and Joseph took the two of them.”
3 tn Heb “and he brought near to him.” The referents of the pronouns “he” and “him” (Joseph and his father respectively) have been specified in the translation for clarity.
4 tn The disjunctive clause is circumstantial-concessive here.
5 tn Heb “saw Ephraim, the children of the third.”
6 tn Heb “they were born on the knees of Joseph.” This expression implies their adoption by Joseph, which meant that they received an inheritance from him.
