The relevant passage is Genesis 48:5-6: And now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are. (6) And the children that you fathered after them shall be yours. They shall [...]
Answers about Joseph
54 years. Joseph entered the service of Pharaoh at the age of 30 (Gen 41:46). He remained there for seven years of plenty and two years of famine before revealing himself to his brothers (Gen 41:48; 45:6). So Joseph was 39 when his family moved to Egypt. Jacob was 130 (Gen 47:9). This means Jacob [...]
It wasn’t Joseph’s brothers who took his bones to Canaan, as they had long since died. It was the people of Israel, the descendants of Joseph and his brothers. The chronology of this period is outlined in my book The Times: a Chronology of the Bible, chapter 3. Joseph died in about 1585 BC. The Israelites [...]
Joseph asked his family to take his bones back to the promised land when they returned: Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.” (Gen 50:25) When Moses led the people of Israel out of Egypt, he did take Joseph’s [...]
We know that Mary’s relative Elizabeth was from the tribe of Levi: Luke 1:5 Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. Luke 1:36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the [...]
Joseph’s mother had already died (Gen. 35:19) when Joseph received the dream in Gen. 37:9-11. Joseph’s other dream (in Gen. 37:5-8) came true (Gen. 42:6), so it seems likely that this dream — including the part about his mother bowing down to him — will also come true. If this is so, it means the [...]
