One of the things I know about the Bible – and that I have to keep reminding myself of often – is that the Word doesn’t tell us everything we want to know. Instead, it tells us everything we need to know. It gives us everything, as 2 Peter 1:3 says, “pertaining to life and Godliness.”
But every once in a while, the Text gives us breadcrumbs to stories that we’re not privty to. It gives us a hint of something, assuming we recognize it, and then completely moves on. What we’re left with is a lot of questions (but ultimately none that affect our salvation).
Genesis 48:22 is one such example. After he’s finished blessing Manasseh and Ephraim, Jacob informs Joseph that he’s giving him an extra portion apart from his brothers.
We know this. That’s the point of the rest of Genesis 48, isn’t it? That instead of one inheritance, Joseph’s blessing is divided amongst his two sons?
Wrong. The Text immediately qualifies this extra blessing by saying that it is one he took “from the hand of the Amorite with [his] sword and bow.”
Just one question: When did that happen?
Here’s the frustrating answer: We don’t know. There is virtually no reference to this action anywhere else in Scripture. The Amorites are one of the oldest nations in Genesis – their first mention is in Genesis 10:16 – but no mention is made anywhere of any connection they may have with Jacob.
If you really want to go down this rabbit trail, there are lots of interesting theories about what Jacob could be referring to here. In my opinion, not many of them have merit. In some cases, they could be downright dangerous to believe.
What is most likely is that this “extra portion” has something to do with the town of Shechem, and could even be referring to a land promise for Joseph.
The reason I think that is multi-faceted. For starters, the town of Shechem, like most towns in Canaan, were a part of the Amorite territory during the time period of Jacob. In fact, Jacob even references Amorite land as the land “in which [the Jews} are now living” in his monumental speech in Joshua 24.
Furthermore, the Hebrew for “portion” in Genesis 48 is actually the word “Shechem.” That word could be translated several ways, but at least in some versions, the word “shechem” is used in place of “portion.” Jacob’s use of Shechem to literally give Joseph the land of Shechem could be interesting, at the very least.
In John 4:5, there’s a passing mention to this very parcel of land. Right before Jesus meets with the Samaritan woman, Jesus comes to a town called Sychar, which John says is “near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.”
And where is Sychar, you may be wondering? Within a frisbee throw of the Old Testament city of Shechem.
We may never know exactly what this “portion” is that Jacob refers to, but I think we can come to a reasonable conclusion that it involves the city of Shechem that Jacob obtained in Genesis 33:19.
One thing we won’t pontificate about is Jacob’s acquisition of the land. He says it came “by sword and bow.” What that means I’ll leave in the hands of others to explain.