The period of Jacob’s own sojourning in the _land of Ham_ (Ps. cv. 23) was limited to seventeen years, at the close of which he had reached the age of 147, and perceived that his end was nigh. Informed that his father was sickening, Joseph brought his two sons Ephraim and Manasseh and placed them before his bedside. _Guiding his hands wittingly_, the aged patriarch stretched out his right hand and laid it on Ephraim’s head, though he was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head, though he was the firstborn. At this Joseph was displeased, and would have altered the disposition of his father’s hands. But Jacob refused, and with his hands as they were, bestowed upon the young men and their father his solemn and abiding blessing. Though born in Egypt, Ephraim and Manasseh were to be reckoned as his own sons, and would both grow into great tribes. But as it had been in Jacob’s own case, so would it be with them; _the younger brother would be greater than the elder, and his seed should become a multitude of nations_. Then turning to Joseph the Patriarch bestowed on him a special mark of affection, even _one portion above his brethren_, a piece of land which with _his sword and his bow_ he had conquered from the Amorites, probably outside the green vale of Shechem (Gen. xlviii. 22, Josh. xvii. 14, &c.). And now the day drew nigh when the Patriarch’s eventful life must close. Wishing by virtue of the gift of prophecy, which gained greater power the nearer he approached the borders of the eternal world, to tell them that _which should befall them in the last days_, he desired that his sons might be summoned to his bedside. Obedient to his word, they gathered round him, and then in prophetic trance “but having his eyes open,” he beheld the mighty vision of the future, and predicted their several fortunes in the land, through which he himself had wandered as a pilgrim for more than one hundred years. First, before him stood Reuben, over whom in the tents of Laban he had rejoiced as _his firstborn, his might_, and _the beginning of his strength_. To him by the law of primogeniture belonged the headship of the family, and the double inheritance. But he had proved unworthy of his vocation. _Unstable as water, he should not excel._ Next in order of their birth came Simeon and Levi. Brethren of one mother, they had been also brethren in cruelty and deceit. In their conduct towards the Shechemites they had proved the fierceness of their anger, and the cruelty of their disposition. Unworthy were they to be the head of a nation which was to be a blessing and not a curse to all peoples of the earth, therefore were they to be _divided in Jacob, and scattered in Israel_. Next came Judah, and to him the patriarch could assign a portion at least of the blessing of the firstborn. His should be the pre-eminence in power and dignity, him should _his brethren praise_, before him should _his father’s children bow down_; his should be the