And Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, crossing his hands (for Manasseh was the firstborn).
A dying man, almost blind, crosses his arms so that his right hand falls on the younger boy's head instead of the elder's. Two questions follow. What does laying a hand on a head mean? And why does God so often reverse the order that nature has fixed?
The Sign of the Hands
In Scripture, placing a hand on someone's head is not an empty gesture. One writer explains it from the offerings brought at the altar:
The Christian's FriendTo put the hand on the head means in Scripture identification. It is to say, "I identify myself with you." We see it in the burnt offering. The offerer identified himself with the value of the sacrifice. In this way he identified himself with all that Christ was to God, in every excellence of His person.
So which hand lands where is the point of the scene. The right hand has its own meaning:
Norman AndersonThe "right hand" speaks of authority, power, and high standing. According to Exodus 15:6, the power to deliver and to subdue belongs to the right hand. In Genesis 48:14 the right hand gives a blessing that is sovereign and cannot be taken back.
Blind Eyes, Clear Faith
Older translations say Jacob guided his hands "wittingly" — that is, knowingly. The ESV reads "crossing his hands." His eyes had failed; his judgment had not. Shrewdness once served him. Now faith does the seeing.
The Christian's FriendHe now had "no confidence in the flesh." His natural eye was dim, but faith made him clear-sighted, and he guided his hands knowingly. Jacob had used his own shrewdness in many ways in his past life. But now, as his natural powers fade, faith is very keen in discerning the ways of God… It takes a soul trained by experience, as well as a spiritual gift, to see the way of grace clearly.
Crossed Hands, Reversed Order
The shape Jacob's arms make is itself a sign:
The Bible TreasuryThe sign of the cross cuts across and reverses natural order and human expectations. We find it here as everywhere… So the shadow of the cross falls on all that follows. It swaps the places of the members of both families, Jacob's and Joseph's. It rejects and selects in a sovereign and final way that sets aside human hopes and rules. It selects Ephraim and Judah, and rejects Manasseh, Reuben, and others. If we are surprised as Joseph was, then the reply is, "I know it, my son, I know it." It is absolute. We must submit whether we understand its action or not.
Jacob does not invent this reversal. He accepts it:
J. G. BellettIt is the proper business and duty of faith to accept the decisions of grace, and that is just what grace is doing here. Grace adopts the sons of Joseph, who had no title in the flesh, and takes them into the family of Abraham. Grace gives them the place and portion of the firstborn, the double portion, as though they were Reuben and Simeon. Grace sets the younger of them above the elder. … Joseph was moved when Jacob set Ephraim above Manasseh. Jacob feels for him, but he fulfils the word of God given to him, however surprised or wounded nature may be.
Why Ephraim and Not Manasseh
The boys' names carry meanings, and the meanings fit the choice:
Samuel RidoutEphraim (fruitfulness) comes before Manasseh (forgetting); that is, the positive side of divine things is more important than the negative side.
Later history bore the choice out:
The Bible TreasuryManasseh's very name had a weak suggestion in it, and his half-hearted descendants fulfilled it. When they came to the Jordan, half of them stopped short and half went on.
Jacob's Own Story Answered
Years before, Jacob had schemed to get a blessing his blind father meant for someone else. Now Jacob is the blind father, and he crosses the line on purpose.
William KellyJacob was clear, where Isaac had been dim. Jacob saw more clearly than Joseph, though God had given Joseph sharper insight into divine things than other men until now. What deep self-judgment must have passed through Israel's spirit as he looked back at the blessing he once stole by trickery! Could the Lord not have crossed Isaac's hands Himself, to His own glory and without His servant's shame, to keep His word of promise to Jacob? How sad that Jacob did not trust Him!
The New Testament singles out this one moment in Jacob's life:
The Christian's FriendThis one act of Jacob's life is the only one Hebrews 11 records as an act of faith on Jacob's part… At the end he said what we all ought to say at the beginning: "Not this man here, though he is the eldest born and the first on the scene, but that Man is the man of God's counsel."
Summary
- Identify — a hand on the head says, "I am joined to this one." The question is whether your hand is on the right head.
- Right hand — the hand Jacob moved carries authority and power. Here it gives a blessing no one can take back.
- Knowing — his eyes were dim, yet he knew what he was doing. Faith saw what Joseph, walking by sight, could not.
- Crossed — the crossed hands set aside the elder's rights and choose the younger. When nature protests, the answer is, "I know it, my son."
- Faith — the man who once stole a blessing by trickery now bows to God's choice for someone else, and Hebrews calls this his one act of faith.