Question: After Jacob lives in Egypt for 17 years and is near death we read that Joseph brings Menashe and Efraim to him. Why did Joseph wait until then to bring then to meet their grandfather? There is no other mention in the Torah that they met before this.

Answer: It is true that Gn48-01 says that “...they told Joseph that his father was sick …and he took his two sons with him….” But that doesn’t mean it was the first time they visited him.

Already Rashi, a premier commentary on the Bible states “...there are those who say that Ephraim used to frequently visit his grandfather Jacob who taught him Jewish Law…when Jacob got sick it was Ephraim who told Joseph how serious it was.”

Furthermore Rashi comments on Gn42-23 that Menasheh was Joseph’s interpreter.

These Rashi’s are not derived from Scriptural hints but are based on reasonable real-world assumptions. If Joseph was vice president it makes sense that he should appoint someone trusted to be a translator, his son. It is also reasonable that he chose Menasheh, the eldest son, to be the interpreter.

We find in Gn49 that Jacob “knew” the two grandchildren quite well and expected Ephraim, the youngest to surpass, Menasheh the oldest. A reasonable explanation of why Jacob knew Ephraim so well is because he spent quality time with him (Menasheh did not go because he was tied up with his government job).

There of course is a moral lesson here. Menasheh the oldest was awarded the government job of translator. But Ephraim the youngest who spent regular time with his grandfather obtained the greater blessing because he was closer, by virtue of his extra learning, to Jewish law.

Russell Jay Hendel;