Matthew Henry Commentary Genesis 48:1-7

"And it came to pass after these things, that one said to Joseph, Behold, thy father is sick: and he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. And one told Jacob, and said, Behold, thy son Joseph cometh unto thee: and Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed. And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, and said unto me, Behold, I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a company of peoples, and will give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession. And now thy two sons, who were born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh, even as Reuben and Simeon, shall be mine. And thy issue, that thou begettest after them, shall be thine; they shall be called after the name of their brethren in their inheritance. And as for me, when I came from Paddan, Rachel died by me in the land of Canaan in the way, when there was still some distance to come unto Ephrath: and I buried her there in the way to Ephrath (the same is Beth-lehem)." — Genesis 48:1-7 (ASV)

The deathbeds of believers, with the prayers and counsels of dying persons, are suited to make serious impressions upon the young, the carefree, and the prosperous. We would do well to take children on such occasions, when it can be done properly. If the Lord wills, it is very desirable to bear our dying testimony to His truth, His faithfulness, and the pleasantness of His ways.

And one would wish to live in such a way as to give energy and weight to our dying exhortations. All true believers are blessed at their death, but not all depart equally full of spiritual consolations. Jacob adopted Joseph's two sons. Let them not succeed their father in his power and grandeur in Egypt, but let them succeed in the inheritance of the promise made to Abraham.

Thus the aged, dying patriarch teaches these young persons to take their lot with the people of God. He appoints each of them to be the head of a tribe. Those are worthy of double honor who, through God's grace, break through the temptations of worldly wealth and advancement to embrace religion in disgrace and poverty. Jacob wants Ephraim and Manasseh to know that it is better to be low and in the church, than high and out of it.