Lives of Scripture

Manasseh was the firstborn son of Joseph and Asenath, born in Egypt before the years of famine (Genesis 41:50-51). Joseph named him 'Manasseh,' saying, 'God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father's household' (41:51). Late in his life, Jacob formally adopted Joseph's two sons as his own, declaring that Ephraim and Manasseh would be reckoned as tribes of Israel equal to Reuben and Simeon (Genesis 48:5). When Joseph brought his sons to receive Jacob's blessing, he positioned Manasseh, the elder, at Jacob's right hand for the greater blessing and Ephraim at his left. Jacob, though nearly blind, deliberately crossed his hands, placing his right hand on the younger Ephraim's head instead (48:13-14). When Joseph tried to correct him, Jacob refused, explaining that although Manasseh would also become a people and be great, 'his younger brother shall be greater than he' (48:19) -- a reversal of birth order that echoes God's pattern throughout Genesis of choosing according to His own purposes rather than human expectation (as with Isaac over Ishmael, and Jacob over Esau). Manasseh's descendants became a large tribe, notable for being split into two half-tribes -- one inheriting territory east of the Jordan alongside Reuben and Gad, and the other west of the Jordan alongside Ephraim -- a unique arrangement among the twelve tribes (Numbers 32; Joshua 13, 17).