And Joseph saw Ephraim's children of the third generation. The children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were counted as Joseph's own.
Genesis closes with Joseph, an old man in Egypt, seeing his great-grandchildren counted as his own. The verse shows a settled, prosperous family — so why are Joseph's next words about leaving Egypt?
A family fully at home in Egypt
Joseph's own comfort was matched by the standing of his whole family in Egypt:
J. G. BellettThe children of Israel were at that time very happy in the land of Egypt. They had the king's full favour. They held the richest district in the country. And they saw one of their own as the second man in the kingdom. Not a single symptom of danger or of change appeared in all their condition. And Joseph himself was as happy as circumstances could make him.
Egyptian-born grandchildren, counted among Israel
Joseph's sons had an Egyptian mother. By birth, then, their children had no claim to a place in Israel's line. That changed when Jacob took the two boys as his own:
J. G. BellettHe then adopts the sons of Joseph. This was needed to give them the rights of children, because in a strict legal sense they were strangers to Abraham. Their mother was an Egyptian. They were a seed, therefore, whom the law would, in its day, have put away... But Jacob adopts them. He takes them into the family. He says to Joseph, "And now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt ... are mine." They are made of the seed of Abraham, and made children of Jacob.
Machir
Machir is the only descendant the verse names. Older translations say his sons were born on Joseph's knees. His line did not stay in the background:
Morrish Bible DictionaryEldest son of Manasseh, and father of Gilead. His descendants were warlike and were the foremost in the tribe.
Established in the land — but not the land of rest
Joseph's family had been in Egypt long enough for any move to Canaan to look impossible:
Hamilton SmithJoseph had been long in Egypt; he saw Ephraim's children of the third generation (v. 23). They were firmly established in the land of Egypt. To nature, nothing looked less likely than that a day would come when they would leave the land of Egypt for a land they had never seen. But faith rises above the things that are seen. It refuses to reason the way nature does. It sees clearly that the people of God may live for a time in the land of Egypt, yet Egypt is not the land of rest that God has promised for His people. Being strangers in the land of Egypt may be part of God's ways with His people. But it has no place in God's purpose for His people.
Faith reading the future against the evidence
Joseph's certainty rested on what God had already said, not on what he could see:
J. G. BellettThis was strange, very strange! Who could believe it? Statesmen and politicians might have said, "Was Joseph dreaming?" But no, Joseph was not dreaming. God's word was his wisdom. God's message in Genesis 15 had warned that Egypt would oppress Israel, but that God would befriend them and bring them back to Canaan. This word from God was everything to Joseph, everything to faith. Appearances counted for nothing. God had spoken it. Joseph believed it and remembered it. And so by faith Joseph saw Israel's suffering on the day of Israel's brightest promise and prosperity. He saw Egypt's hostility in this day of Egypt's friendship. He saw brick-kilns and taskmasters in the fair fields and sunny harvest of Goshen.
A hundred and ten years that changed nothing
Joseph had rank, family and long life in Egypt. None of it changed what he was waiting for:
William KellyHe lived there, ruled there, had a family there, and died there at a hundred and ten years old, fuller of honours than of years. Yet he feels that Egypt is not the land of God. He knows that God will redeem His people from it and bring them into Canaan. It was beautiful fruit in its season. No change of circumstances got in the way of the promises of God to the fathers. Joseph waited, as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had waited. Earthly honours did not settle him down in Egypt.
Summary
- Fruitful — Joseph lived to see his great-grandchildren, and Machir's line became the foremost branch of its tribe.
- Adopted — those Egyptian-born children belonged to Israel only because Jacob had taken Joseph's sons as his own.
- Established — three generations born in Egypt made leaving look impossible to anyone who judged by sight.
- Undeceived — Joseph read the future from God's word, not from his comfort. He saw taskmasters while Goshen's harvest was still golden.
- Unsettled — a hundred and ten years of honour never made Egypt home. Joseph died still waiting for the land God promised.