"Jacob Blesses Joseph's Children" by Shoshannah Brombacher; pastel and ink on paper , 16 X 12 inches, New York, 2008
"Jacob Blesses Joseph's Children" by Shoshannah Brombacher; pastel and ink on paper , 16 X 12 inches, New York, 2008

This drawing is based on the text from Genesis 48:14-21.

When the time drew nigh that Jacob must die, he asked his son Joseph to come and bring his children, Manasseh and Ephraim, so he could bless them.

Jacob crossed his hands, and put his right hand over the youngest son, Ephraim, and his left hand over the oldest, Manasseh, against the custom. When Joseph wanted to correct his father, Jacob gently rebuked him, telling him that the oldest one, Manasseh, would become a great people, but the younger one would be greater.

Did Jacob remember that long ago he himself took the blessing of the first born instead of Esau?

The children and Joseph look puzzled, but the old patriarch Jacob knows what he is doing.