Jacob Blesses Joseph and His Sons: On learning that Jacob has become very ill, Joseph and his sons Manasseh and Ephraim go to visit him. On this occasion Jacob blesses both Joseph and his sons. Significantly, he raises Joseph’s two sons to the level of his own children. This account carries great weight, for it modifies Israel’s tribal structure.

Throughout the account there are abrupt shifts that disturb the narrative flow. Joseph introduces his sons to Jacob (vv. 8–9) even though Jacob has already spoken about them (v. 5). Later, the heading to Jacob’s blessing of Joseph’s sons reads “he blessed Joseph” (vv. 15–16). Joseph objects about the position of his father’s hands on his sons’ heads (v. 18), but this objection appears to be after the fact (v. 14). In addition, the text does not inc…