And he blessed them that day, saying, In you shall Israel bless, saying, God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh.
All Commentaries on Genesis 48:20 Go To Genesis 48
Ambrose of Milan
AD 397
Indeed, the old man Jacob stated that this mystery referred in a spiritual sense to the peoples. For since his son Joseph thought that he had made a mistake from a defect in his vision, which was a bit dim, he wanted to change the position of his hands, saying, “ ‘Not so, father, for this is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.’ But he refused and said, ‘I know, son, I know. He too shall become a people, he too shall be exalted, but his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed will be a multitude of nations.’ ” Yes, by the order also in which he gave his blessing, Jacob prophesied that Ephraim was to be preferred to the elder brother, for he said, “In you Israel will be blessed, and it will be said, ‘May God do to you as to Ephraim and Manasseh.’ ” And so, although they were grandsons, they were adopted into the place of sons, so that they would not be deprived of their grandfather’s blessing.
