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Chapter 48 records the adoption of Joseph's two sons by Jacob, his father. It is not easy to understand. The questions that arise are, why was it necessary and why wasn't there a tribe of Joseph? The best guess is that by now Joseph was, for all practical purposes, an Egyptian. The two boys, even though they were half Egyptian, would, by adoption, become Israelites. Therefore, they would make up the tribe of Joseph. It is believed that Manasseh who was the first born, was supposed to be the tribe of Joseph but as it worked out, there became a half tribe of Ephraim and a half tribe of Manasseh.
In the blessing of the two boys, Joseph positioned them before his father so the right hand of his father would fall upon the oldest, Manasseh, and his left upon Ephraim. But Jacob's eyesight was so poor that he could not tell the difference. God caused Jacob to cross his hands and the blessing of the right hand fell upon Ephraim. Manasseh would father a great nation but Ephraim would father many nations. Joseph was not completely left out; he would inherit a mountain slope which Jacob had taken from the Amorites.
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