Genesis 48:22

"A double portion" refers to the share of a firstborn or eldest heir. So in Genesis 48:22, Israel says to Joseph, "I have given to you one portion above your brothers." Joseph received the birthright of Reuben (1 Chronicles 5:1-2). Deuteronomy 21:17 can be compared too. A similar Hebrew phrase occurs there, and the sense is beyond question a double portion compared with what other heirs might get.

The position linked with the birthright went to Judah, the fourth son of Leah. The wealth linked with it went to Joseph, the first son of Rachel, the loved one. The firstborn had a right to a double portion of the inheritance. Or rather it went to Joseph's sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. Jacob had already blessed them and more or less adopted them as his own sons.

It is easy for us to say that Joseph earned the birthright. Judah earned the royalty, Levi the priesthood, and so Joseph the double portion. His father gave him a pledge, a down payment on the inheritance, and it was characteristic of that inheritance. It was a sample as well. It spoke of the inheritance as it would be in Joseph's hand. This portion had been won, and so had Joseph's. Jacob's sword had gained this piece of ground, as Joseph's patience had gained the inheritance and the birthright.

The last verse of the chapter seems to refer to an event not recorded before. We read of "the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph" (John 4:5), and Joshua 24:32 seems to refer to this gift as well. If so, we must identify it with the deal recorded in Genesis 33:19. That stands close to the violent action of his sons Simeon and Levi, yet nothing there says anything about a sword and bow in Jacob's hands. Still, Jacob gained a portion in the land by conflict as well as by purchase, and he gave it to Joseph. Joseph became lord of that little piece of the land as well as lord of all Egypt. It was a kind of foretaste and pledge that in the end the whole land would be theirs.

He reminds Joseph again that he had given him a portion double to that of his brothers. He speaks of taking it by conquest from the Amorites, the enemies inside the land of Canaan, though we have no record of such warfare. But the sufferer, Joseph, is well repaid for all the affliction he had seen.

Jacob buys a place to live in. He buys from man what God had given him. He had acted the same way before, getting God's gift of grace and Isaac's blessing by craft. He gives up the rights of God, and even denies them, so that he can buy it back for himself.

The only material thing mentioned in this chapter is the portion he had taken out of the hand of the Amorite, with his sword and his bow (v. 22). But Jacob is not in the land of the Amorite now. He does not actually hold it.

Jacob had faith in God. Death would not end his relationship with God, even "the God of Bethel." Like his fathers, he "died in faith, not having received the promises" (Hebrews 11:13). But he had so "embraced them" that he could count on God making everything good in resurrection.