# 442 That Guy Had A Lot of Joseph In Him.

The Book of Genesis

Day 442

Ge 48:17 Now when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him; so he took hold of his father's hand to remove it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head.  18 And Joseph said to his father, "Not so, my father, for this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head."  19 But his father refused and said, "I know, my son, I know. He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his descendants shall become a multitude of nations."  20 So he blessed them that day, saying, "By you Israel will bless, saying, 'May God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh!'" And thus he set Ephraim before Manasseh.  21 Then Israel said to Joseph, "Behold, I am dying, but God will be with you and bring you back to the land of your fathers.  22 "Moreover I have given to you one portion above your brothers, which I took from the hand of the Amorite with my sword and my bow."

Joseph, thinking that his father’s failing eyesight was leading him to bless the wrong child, tried to remove his father’s hand from Ephraim’s head, but Jacob said, “I know what I’m doing,” and he went on to bless Ephraim. Jacob told Joseph that Manasseh’s descendants would be great, but Ephraim’s descendants would be greater in number and would become a “multitude of nations.”

When we follow the history of the descendants of these two brothers, we see that indeed, according to the Book of Numbers, the tribe of Ephraim grew to 40,550, while the tribe of Manasseh grew to 32,200. And as we keep on reading Scripture we see that these two tribes split when the kingdom was divided after the death of Solomon. Many of the descendants of Manasseh eventually wound up in the southern kingdom, or Judah, while most of the Ephraimites wound up in the northern kingdom of Israel. In fact, many times, the northern kingdom  is referred to as Ephraim.

When the Assyrians defeated the northern kingdom in 722 B.C, the Ephraimites pretty much ceased to exist as a people.  The Assyrians carried them off to captivity, and if not carried off, they were mixed with other religious and ethnic groups, thereby losing their identity in the resettlement process. This mix of people became known as the Samaritans, and as Jacob had said in his blessing, they became a “multitude of nations.”

Now, understand that a remnant from each tribe remained and after the Babylonian captivity, and the land was re-allotted to the twelve tribes, including the remnant of Ephraim, but for the most part the Ephraimites became the Samaritans.

Imagine that! Samaritans! Direct descendants of Joseph! Maybe that explains the reason that Jesus included the Good Samaritan in His parable of mercy and compassion. The guy had a lot of Joseph in him!