Genesis 50:23

Gen 50:23 And Joseph saw Ephraim’s children of the third [generation]: the children also of Machir the son of Manasseh were brought up upon Joseph’s knees.

Ver. 23. Brought up upon Joseph’s knees.] Who with great joy danced and dandled them. So God is said to do his people, {Deu 33:3} as some understand it. {a}

{a} Pedibus suis inservit. Metaph. a parentibus qui filiolos suos quos charos habent, sic tractant. - Cartw., Hist. Christi. Sic Shindler. Buxtorf.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

50:23 whom he claimed as his own (literally who were born on Joseph’s knees): Placing them on his knees at their birth was a symbolic act signifying that they came from him and belonged to him (cp. Job 3:12).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 23. Were brought up upon Joseph's knees.] They were educated by him, or under his direction; his sons and their children continuing to acknowledge him as patriarch, or head of the family, as long as he lived.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(23) The third generation.—These would be Joseph’s great-grandchildren. Thus Eran, son of Shuthelah, son of Ephraim, was to be born in Joseph’s lifetime (Num_26:35-36).

Were brought up . . . —Heb., were born upon Joseph’s knees, that is, were adopted by him. (See Note on Gen_30:3.) They would not form tribes, as this prerogative was reserved for the sons of Jacob (Gen_48:5), but they would count as Joseph’s sons (Gen_48:6), and form “families.”

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

23. of the third generation] Ephraim’s children “of the third generation” might mean his great-grandchildren; cf. Exo_34:7. But in Exo_20:5, Num_14:18, the third generation are the grandchildren, the grandparents being reckoned as the first. If this way of reckoning be here followed, Ephraim represents the first generation, and his grandchildren the third. This is also favoured by the next clause, which mentions Manasseh’s grand-children. Joseph, therefore, lived to see his great-grandchildren. On this token of blessing, see Psa_128:6; Pro_13:22; Pro_17:6.

Machir] The name of one of the leading branches of the tribe of Manasseh; cf. Num_32:39; Deu_3:15; Jos_13:31; Jos_17:1; 1Ch_7:14. From these passages it appears that the family of Machir occupied Gilead: while in Jdg_5:14 Machir takes rank with the tribes of Israel.

upon Joseph’s knees] A phrase denoting that Joseph, as head of the family, acknowledged and adopted the children. See note on Gen_30:3, and cf. Job_3:12, Isa_66:12, and Homer, Od. xix. 401.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And Joseph said unto his brethren, I die,.... Some time before his death he called them together, and observed to them, that he expected to die in a little time, as all must:

and God will surely visit you; not in a way of wrath and vindictive justice, as he sometimes does, but in a way of love, grace, and mercy:

and bring you out of this land; the land of Egypt, in which they then dwelt:

unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; meaning the land of Canaan, which he swore to those patriarchs that he would give to their posterity.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Of the third generation, reckoning from and after Ephraim, i.e., Ephraim’s grandchildren’s children. So early did Ephraim’s privilege above Manasseh appear, and Jacob’s blessing (Gen 48:19) take place.

The children of Machir, Heb. sons. For though he had but one son, viz. Gilead, by his first wife, yet he married a second wife, and by her had two other sons, 1Ch 7:16, which Joseph lived long enough to see. Or under the name of children his grandchildren also might be comprehended. So there is no need of that enallage of sons for one son which we meet with in other places.

Were brought up upon Joseph’s knees; laid upon Joseph’s lap or knees, where parents use ofttimes to take up and repose their infants, to express their love to them, and delight in them. And some observe, that it was an ancient custom in divers nations, that the infant, as soon as it was born, was laid upon the grandfather’s knees. So it is an ellipsis, whereby one word is put for two, or under one verb. See more of this phrase on Gen 30:3; 48:12.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

23. Ephraim’s children of the third generation — That is, “his great great grandchildren (literally, the sons of the sons of the third generation, as Gesenius shows from Exo_20:5; Exo_34:7; but Furst and others understand the Hebrew to mean great grandchildren.) He took upon his knees also his great grandchildren in the line of Manasseh. It was a serene and trustful old age.” — Newhall.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And Joseph saw Ephraim"s children of the third generation: i.e. Ephraim"s great-grandchildren (Kalisch, Lange), or Ephraim s great-great-grandsons (Keil, Murphy), which perhaps was not impossible, since Ephraim must have been born before Joseph"s thirty-seventh year, thus allowing at least sixty-three years for four generations to intervene before the patriarch"s death, which might be, if marriage happened early, say not later than eighteenthe children also of Machir the son of Manasseh-by a concubine (1Ch_7:14) were brought up upon Joseph"s knees literally, were born upon Joseph"s knees, i.e. were adopted by him as soon as they were born (Kalisch, Wordsworth, "Speaker"s Commentary"), or were born so that he could take them also upon his knees, and show his love for them (Keil).

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

על ברכי יוסף [WERE BORN] ON JOSEPH’S KNEES — The meaning is as the Targum gives it: He brought them up upon his knees.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.