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The registration for the March semester is open!
The Biblical course starts March 22nd. We have a limited number of places available, so don't be left out.
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Your portion of the weekly portion - and this week we will discuss "Tezaveh". our Biblical Hebrew newsletter is happy to present you the Jewish weekly portion of the week, which is read during prayer services on the Sabbath.
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Dear friends,
In this newsletter we will end our journey among the tribes of Israel with the last two tribes. These are not sons of Jacob, but rather the two sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh, who Jacob considered to be his own sons and who themselves were the forefathers of the tribes bearing their names. The two tribes are often listed together as the tribes who are the sons of Joseph.
The special status of these two grandchildren, the only two to be considered by Jacob as his own sons, is reported in Genesis 48. When Jacob is dying, Joseph comes to visit him with his two sons, and Jacob declares: "And now your two sons who were born to you in the Land of Egypt before I came to you to Egypt, they are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine just like Reuben and Simeon" (Genesis 48:5). Jacob then blesses the two of them, however, contrary to the custom of placing the right hand on the elder son and the left on the younger, he places his right hand on Ephraim, the younger of the two. When Joseph is upset by this and tries to correct him, Jacob explains that he did so because Ephraim's descendants shall be greater.
Illustration of Jacob Blessing Ephraim and Manasseh
Manasseh
Birth
We know no details of the birth of Joseph's sons. We are told that Joseph was married to Asnat, the daughter of Potiphera, a priest to the Egyptian god On, and that two sons were born to him before the years of famine. Manasseh is the older of the two.
Naming
Joseph names his firstborn Manasseh, מנשה, and the name is explained from the root נש"ה, to forget: Joseph declares that God had made him forget his hardship and his father's house.
Personal History
We hear very little of Manasseh himself in the Book of Genesis. We know only that he was blessed by Jacob as we described earlier.
Future as described in the blessings of Jacob and Moses
In the blessing of Jacob, only Joseph is mentioned, whereas Ephraim and Manasseh are not mentioned by name. In the blessing of Moses, Joseph is blessed as having a fruitful country and much power, and as part of the blessing, it is given to the tribes themselves. While Ephraim is described as numbering by tens of thousands, Manasseh is numbered in the thousands. Clearly this shows that Ephraim was the superior of the two tribes.
The Tribe in Biblical History
In Numbers 27, we hear of an important role five women from the tribe of Manasseh played in affecting the Israelite laws of inheritance. Five sisters, the daughters of Zelophehad from the tribe of Manasseh, demanded that their father's inheritance be given to them after his death, since he had no sons. This demand leads to a progressive law for biblical times, which allowed women to inherit property under such circumstances.
Towards the end of the Israelite's wandering in the desert, we hear that the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half of the tribe of Manasseh asked to receive their inheritance on the Eastern Bank of the Jordan rather than in the Land of Canaan, because they were shepherds and the pasture lands in that area were plentiful. Their request was granted, and we hear that half of the tribe of Manasseh settled there. The other half received their inheritance in Northern Israel.
Ephraim
Birth
As in Manasseh's case, we know nothing of Ephraim's birth, only that he was born in Egypt before the famine began.
Naming>
Joseph names Ephraim, אפרים, from the root פר"ה - to be fruitful, because God made him fruitful in the land of his affliction.
Personal History
We hear very little of Ephraim himself in the Book of Genesis. We know only that he was blessed by Jacob as we described earlier.
In the Book of Chronicles (1 Chronicles 7), we learn that two of Ephraim's sons were killed by Philistines, and he mourned them for a long time. It is not clear where and how this happened, since as far as we know from the Book of Genesis, Ephraim was never in Canaan.
Future as Described in the Blessings of Jacob and Moses
Ephraim is not mentioned in the blessing of Jacob. In the blessing of Moses, it is clear that Ephraim is the larger and more superior of the two tribes of Joseph, because it is numbered in the tens of thousands while Manasseh is numbered in the thousands.
The Tribe in Biblical History
The most famous figure from the tribe of Ephraim in early biblical history is Joshua, the son of Nun. At first Moses' servant, Joshua was also the delegate from the tribe sent to check out the Land of Canaan together with representatives of all the other tribes. While most of the spies reported that the Israelites would not be able to conquer the land, Joshua and Caleb, from the tribe of Judah, were the only two who encouraged the people to go forward and conquer the land. The entire generation was punished with 40 years of wandering in the desert because they showed a lack of faith in God, and only Joshua and Caleb survived from that generation and entered Canaan. Joshua thus becomes the leader after Moses. A skilled general as well as a strong believer in God, it is Joshua who leads the Israelites into the Land of Canaan and wages war against the locals so as to conquer the land.
The land of Ephraim, an important area in northern Israel, is a mountainous terrain, and many references are to "Har Ephraim" - the mountain of Ephraim. It is in this area that Jeroboam builds the city of Shechem.
In Deborah's song, after the Israelite victory over the Canaanites, we hear that the Ephramites were active participants in the war. The members of the tribe are central in many of the other wars during the Era of the Judges. They participated in the war against Moab led by Ehud. Twice we hear that they complained about not being included in wars: when they complained to Gideon, he wisely reconciles them. However, when Jephthah does not include them in his war, rather than dealing with their complaint properly, he rages a civil war against them. He places guards by the fords of the Jordan, and they ask every person passing by to say the word שִׁבֹּלֶת "Shibolet" - literally a shaft of wheat. The Ephramites had a different way of pronouncing the word, and this is how they were detected. 42 thousand Ephramites were killed at that time.
Later in biblical history, we hear of Ephraim only as a geographical area, and there are no references to people who were specifically from the tribe of Ephraim.
Have a great week!
The Biblical Hebrew Online Team.
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| Weekly Biblical Hebrew Words and Phrases |
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יְשִׂמְךָ אֱלֹהִים כְּאֶפְרַיִם וְכִמְנַשֶּׁה
| Transcription: |
Yesimcha Elohim ke'Ephraim ve'chiMenasheh |
| Literal meaning: |
God will make you as Ephraim and Manasseh |
This is the sentence used by Jacob to bless Ephraim and Manasseh. It is traditionally used by parents to bless their sons, while placing their hands on their heads as Jacob did. It is customary to place the right hand on the head of the elder, as Joseph thought Jacob should have done.
רְבָבָה
| Transcription: |
Revava |
| Literal meaning: |
10,000 |
The number 10,000 is frequently used in the Bible for counting, and the word is also often used in biblical poetry, blessings and songs. Revava is often juxtaposed to Elef, thousand, as in the blessing of Moses, where it conveys a difference in size between the tribes of Ephraim and Manasse. However, in one case, this juxtaposition is used in order to mock King Saul. After David becomes a well known warrior, we hear that the women sang in merry הִכָּה שָׁאוּל בְּאַלָפָיו וְדָוִד בִּרִבְבֹתָיו, "Hika Shaul be'alaphav ve'David bi'rvevotav": "Saul killed his thousands, and David his ten thousands" (1 Samuel 18:7). This song of the commoners obviously upset Saul very much.
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