And he blessed Joseph: some understand that Joseph is the one who receives the blessing. The Good News Translation footnote says “In blessing Ephraim and Manasseh, Jacob was in fact blessing Joseph.” However, the Septuagint has “them,” which may refer to the two boys, or to Joseph and his sons.

In the following lines of the spoken blessing, God is given three titles which taken together form the subject of the verb bless in the expression bless the lads in the next verse.

God before whom … walked: in 17.1 Abraham was instructed by God to “walk before me and be blameless.” See also 24.40. Walk means to live as God requires, to conform Abraham’s life to God’s will or to serve him.

The God who has led me … day: led translates a verb that means to tend as a shepherd tends his sheep. The general sense is to “care for,” “look after.” In pastoral terms it says “The God who has shepherded me to this very day.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .