Hebrews 11:21
New International Version
By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.

New Living Translation
It was by faith that Jacob, when he was old and dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons and bowed in worship as he leaned on his staff.

English Standard Version
By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff.

Berean Standard Bible
By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.

Berean Literal Bible
By faith Jacob, dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worshiped on the top of his staff.

King James Bible
By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff.

New King James Version
By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.

New American Standard Bible
By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.

NASB 1995
By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.

NASB 1977
By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.

Legacy Standard Bible
By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and WORSHIPED, leaning ON THE TOP OF HIS STAFF.

Amplified Bible
By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and bowed in worship, leaning on the top of his staff.

Christian Standard Bible
By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and he worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and he worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.

American Standard Version
By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
By faith, when Jacob was dying, he blessed each one of the sons of Joseph and bowed on the top of the staff.

Contemporary English Version
Later, when Jacob was about to die, he leaned on his walking stick and worshiped. Then because of his faith he blessed each of Joseph's sons.

Douay-Rheims Bible
By faith Jacob dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and adored the top of his rod.

English Revised Version
By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
While Jacob was dying, faith led him to bless each of Joseph's sons. He leaned on the top of his staff and worshiped God.

Good News Translation
It was faith that made Jacob bless each of the sons of Joseph just before he died. He leaned on the top of his walking stick and worshiped God.

International Standard Version
By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph's sons "and worshipped while leaning on the top of his staff."

Literal Standard Version
By faith Jacob, dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worshiped on the top of his staff.

Majority Standard Bible
By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.

New American Bible
By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and “bowed in worship, leaning on the top of his staff.”

NET Bible
By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worshiped as he leaned on his staff.

New Revised Standard Version
By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, “bowing in worship over the top of his staff.”

New Heart English Bible
By faith, Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and bowed down over the top of his staff.

Webster's Bible Translation
By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshiped, leaning upon the top of his staff.

Weymouth New Testament
Through faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of Joseph's sons, and, leaning on the top of his staff, worshipped God.

World English Bible
By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.

Young's Literal Translation
by faith Jacob dying -- each of the sons of Joseph did bless, and did bow down upon the top of his staff;

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Faith of Isaac, Jacob, Joseph
20By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning the future. 21By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff. 22By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites and gave instructions about his bones.…

Cross References
Genesis 47:31
"Swear to me," Jacob said. So Joseph swore to him, and Israel bowed in worship at the head of his bed.

Genesis 48:1
Some time later Joseph was told, "Your father is ill." So he set out with his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.

Genesis 48:5
And now your two sons born to you in Egypt before I came to you here shall be reckoned as mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine.

Genesis 48:16
the angel who has redeemed me from all harm--may He bless these boys. And may they be called by my name and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they grow into a multitude upon the earth."

Genesis 48:20
So that day Jacob blessed them and said: "By you shall Israel pronounce this blessing: 'May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.'" So he put Ephraim before Manasseh.

1 Kings 1:47
The king's servants have also gone to congratulate our lord King David, saying, 'May your God make the name of Solomon more famous than your own name, and may He make his throne greater than your throne.' And the king has bowed in worship on his bed,


Treasury of Scripture

By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning on the top of his staff.

faith.

Genesis 48:5-22
And now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine…

and worshipped.

Genesis 47:31
And he said, Swear unto me. And he sware unto him. And Israel bowed himself upon the bed's head.

Jump to Previous
Bless Blessed Blessing Bow Bowing Death Dying Faith Head Jacob Joseph Joseph's Leaning Staff Supported Top Worship Worshiped Worshipped
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Bless Blessed Blessing Bow Bowing Death Dying Faith Head Jacob Joseph Joseph's Leaning Staff Supported Top Worship Worshiped Worshipped
Hebrews 11
1. What faith is.
6. Without faith we cannot please God.
7. The examples of faithfulness in the fathers of old time.














(21) Both the sons.--Rather, each of the sons. The separate character of the two blessings is thus brought out (Genesis 48:14-19). (See the last Note.) In the case of the two events mentioned in this verse the order of time is reversed, probably that the blessing of Jacob may immediately follow the similar record of Hebrews 11:20.

And worshipped.--The incident referred to will be found in Genesis 47:31. After receiving from Joseph a promise, confirmed by oath, that he shall be buried with his fathers, "Israel bowed himself upon" (or, worshipped towards) "the bed's head." In the LXX. and in the Targums the words are understood as denoting an act of worship. The Greek translators have taken the last word of the Hebrew verse to denote "staff" (Genesis 32:10), not "bed," the words which bear these different meanings differing very slightly in form. The whole clause is given here as it stands in the LXX., the difference between the renderings being immaterial for the purpose which the writer had in view. The quotation of the familiar words serves to recall the scene, and brings before us Israel's thankful and devout satisfaction when assured that he should rest with his fathers in the land of Canaan; by this, at the point of death, he expressed his faith in the promise by which Abraham and his seed received Canaan as their inheritance.

Verse 21. - By faith Jacob, when he was a-dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff. Here two distinct incidents are referred to, both at the close of Jacob's life. That first mentioned, the blessing of the sons of Joseph (Genesis 48:2), closely resembles the dying act of Isaac already spoken of, and has a similar significance. In both cases, too, human intention is overruled, in that the younger son obtains the higher blessing; and each patriarch accepts alike the Divine intimation to this effect, thus further evincing faith in a power and a will above his own. The latter part of the verse, "and worshipped," etc., is quoted from Genesis 47:31, and refers to a previous instance of the dying Jacob's faith, in his charge to Joseph to bury him with his fathers in the land of promise. The reversal in the text of the historical order of the two instances may be because the one referred to first is cognate with the instance of Isaac's faith which has gone before, the other with that of Joseph's which follows. For the benedictions of Isaac and Jacob, when a-dying, expressed faith in revelations made to them about the several races of their future seed; the deathbed charges of Jacob and Joseph expressed faith in the chosen seed's inheritance of the Promised Land. Though in the verse before us Jacob's charge to Joseph, with a view to this inheritance, is not mentioned, yet the quotation from the account of it in Genesis, "and worshipped," etc., would be sufficient, in this concise summary of instances, to recall it to the mind of readers, and so intimate the writer's meaning. The variation of the LXX., which is here followed as usual, from the Massoretic text, in reading "staff" instead of "bed," is due to the ambiguity of the Hebrew word, which has one meaning or the other according to its pointing. "Bed" seems more likely to have been intended, inasmuch as the bed on which the patriarch lay is twice again mentioned (Genesis 48:2; Genesis 49:33) in the account of the closing scene; and we find also a similar expression used of David in his old age (1 Kings 1:47). Bat the variation is unimportant, the essence of the passage being in the word translated "bowed himself," which in the Hebrew as well as the Greek certainly expresses an act of worship. The only difference is that, according to one rendering, this worship was expressed by his bowing over the staff on which he leant as he sat upon the bed (Genesis 48:2); according to the other, by his turning round to prostrate himself with his head upon the pillow. The view of some of the Fathers, who, adopting the LXX. rendering and supposing the staff to be Joseph's, regard the act as expressing reverence to Joseph himself, in fulfillment of Gem 38:5-11, has little probability in its favor, and is controverted by St. Augustine. But so Chrysostom, and apparently Theodoret. And suitably to this idea, the Vulgate has in Hebrews, "et adoravit fastigium virgae ejus," though in Genesis, "adoravit Israel Deum, conversus ad lectuli caput." Quite untenable, and only worthy of mention because of the use that has been made of it in support of image-worship, is the idea that Joseph's staff was surmounted by some sacred image which Jacob adored.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
By faith
Πίστει (Pistei)
Noun - Dative Feminine Singular
Strong's 4102: Faith, belief, trust, confidence; fidelity, faithfulness.

Jacob,
Ἰακὼβ (Iakōb)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 2384: Of Hebrew origin; Jacob, the progenitor of the Israelites.

when he was dying,
ἀποθνῄσκων (apothnēskōn)
Verb - Present Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 599: To be dying, be about to die, wither, decay. From apo and thnesko; to die off.

blessed
εὐλόγησεν (eulogēsen)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 2127: (lit: I speak well of) I bless; pass: I am blessed. From a compound of eu and logos; to speak well of, i.e. to bless.

each
ἕκαστον (hekaston)
Adjective - Accusative Masculine Singular
Strong's 1538: Each (of more than two), every one. As if a superlative of hekas; each or every.

of
τῶν (tōn)
Article - Genitive Masculine Plural
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

Joseph’s
Ἰωσὴφ (Iōsēph)
Noun - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 2501: Joseph, a proper name. Of Hebrew origin; Joseph, the name of seven Israelites.

sons
υἱῶν (huiōn)
Noun - Genitive Masculine Plural
Strong's 5207: A son, descendent. Apparently a primary word; a 'son', used very widely of immediate, remote or figuratively, kinship.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

worshiped
προσεκύνησεν (prosekynēsen)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 4352: From pros and a probable derivative of kuon; to fawn or crouch to, i.e. prostrate oneself in homage.

[as he leaned] on
ἐπὶ (epi)
Preposition
Strong's 1909: On, to, against, on the basis of, at.

the
τὸ (to)
Article - Accusative Neuter Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

top
ἄκρον (akron)
Noun - Accusative Neuter Singular
Strong's 206: The end, extremity. Neuter of an adjective probably akin to the base of akmen; the extremity.

of
τῆς (tēs)
Article - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

his
αὐτοῦ (autou)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 846: He, she, it, they, them, same. From the particle au; the reflexive pronoun self, used of the third person, and of the other persons.

staff.
ῥάβδου (rhabdou)
Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 4464: A rod, staff, staff of authority, scepter. From the base of rhapizo; a stick or wand.


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NT Letters: Hebrews 11:21 By faith Jacob when he was dying (Heb. He. Hb)
Hebrews 11:20
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