It was the dying wish of the old patriarch to be buried with his
fathers, and he made Joseph promise to carry his bones to the land of
Canaan and bury them in the sepulchre which Abraham had bought,--even
the cave of Machpelah.

Before Jacob died, Joseph brought his two sons to him to receive his
blessing,--Manasseh and Ephraim, born in Egypt, whose grandfather was
the high-priest of On, the city of the sun. As Manasseh was the oldest,
he placed him at the right hand of Jacob, but the old man wittingly and
designedly laid his right hand on Ephraim, which displeased Joseph. But
Jacob, without giving his reason, persisted. While he prophesied that
Manasseh should be great, Ephraim he said should be greater,--verified
in the fact that the tribe of Ephraim was the largest of all the tribes,
and the most powerful until the captivity. It was nearly as large as all
the rest together, although in the time of Moses the tribe of Manasseh
had become more numerous. We cannot penetrate the reason why Ephraim
the younger son was preferred to the older, any more than why Jacob was
preferred to Esau. After Jacob had blessed the sons of Joseph, he called
his other sons around his dying bed to predict the future of their
descendants. Reuben the oldest was told that he would not excel, because
he had loved his father's concubine and committed a grievous sin. Simeon
and Levi were the most active in seeking to compass the death of Joseph,
and a curse was sent upon them. Judah was exalted above them all, for he
had sought to save Joseph, and was eloquent in pleading for
Benjamin,--the most magnanimous of the sons. So from him it was
predicted that the sceptre should not depart from his house until Shiloh
should come,--the Messiah, to whose appearance all the patriarchs
looked. And all that Jacob predicted about his sons to their remote
descendants came to pass; but the highest blessing was accorded to
Joseph, as was realized in the future ascendency of Ephraim.