Bible Figure
Ephraim
son of Joseph
Ephraim was the younger son of Joseph and Asenath whom Jacob deliberately blessed ahead of his older brother Manasseh; his descendants became one of Israel's dominant tribes.
Biography
Joseph's second son Ephraim was born in Egypt before the famine. When Jacob neared death, Joseph brought Manasseh and Ephraim to him for blessing. Jacob crossed his hands and placed his right hand on the younger Ephraim, deliberately giving him precedence and declaring that his descendants would become a multitude. Jacob effectively adopted both sons as his own, giving Joseph a double tribal inheritance. The tribe of Ephraim later occupied a central hill-country allotment, produced Joshua, and became so prominent in the northern kingdom that prophets sometimes used 'Ephraim' as a name for the northern tribes collectively.
Biblical Significance
Ephraim links Joseph's family with Israel's tribal structure and later northern history. Jacob's deliberate blessing of the younger son continues Genesis' recurring theme that God's purposes do not necessarily follow normal expectations of primogeniture.