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• The Zohar teaches that Jacob's illness before death was the first illness in history that preceded death with a warning — until this time, people died suddenly, but Jacob prayed for a preparatory illness so that he could set his affairs in order and bless his children (Zohar I:216a-217a). This prayer was granted because Tiferet, as the central axis of the Sefirot, has the unique ability to mediate between life and death, drawing out the transition. The Zohar regards this as an act of profound chesed, establishing the precedent of the righteous preparing for death with consciousness and intention.
• Jacob's crossing of his hands to bless Ephraim and Manasseh — placing the right hand on the younger and the left on the older — is one of the most celebrated passages in the Zohar, for it demonstrates the mystery of the sefirotic reversal: the right (Chesed) is placed upon the one who will be greater, and the left (Gevurah) upon the firstborn, reversing the natural order in accordance with the supernal pattern (Zohar I:224a-225a). The Zohar teaches that the crossing of hands forms the Hebrew letter Shin (the initial of Shaddai, the divine Name associated with Yesod), channeling blessing through the proper sefirotic configuration. Joseph's objection was natural, but Jacob "refused" because he perceived the higher order.
• Ephraim and Manasseh, though sons of Joseph born in Egypt, are elevated to the status of full tribes — the Zohar explains this as the splitting of Yesod into two subsidiary channels, one concealed (Manasseh, connected to the attribute of forgetting/transcending Egypt) and one revealed (Ephraim, connected to fruitfulness in the land) (Zohar I:225a-225b). This doubling compensates for the loss of Levi as a territorial tribe (Levi being dedicated to Temple service). The Zohar teaches that Yesod's nature is to distribute — it receives from above and channels outward, and its splitting into two reflects this essential generosity.
• The blessing "The angel who redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads" invokes, according to the Zohar, not a created angel but the Shekhinah herself — the malakh (angel/messenger) who accompanied Jacob through all his exiles and trials (Zohar I:226a). The word "ha-go'el" (the redeemer) is the Shekhinah in her redemptive aspect, gathering and protecting the holy sparks. Jacob's prayer that "my name and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac be called upon them" channels the full triadic inheritance — Chesed, Gevurah, and Tiferet — into the next generation through the medium of Yesod's sons.
• The Zohar reveals that the phrase "Let them grow into a multitude (veyidgu) in the midst of the earth" uses the root for "fish" (dag), invoking the mystery of fish, which live in water (Torah) and are protected from the evil eye because they are concealed beneath the surface (Zohar I:226a-226b). This blessing protects Joseph's descendants from spiritual harm through the power of concealment — the same concealment that preserved Joseph in Egypt. The Zohar teaches that the blessing given to Ephraim and Manasseh is recited over Jewish children every Friday night precisely because it activates the protective power of Yesod's hiddenness against the forces of the evil eye.
• Berakhot 48b connects Jacob's blessing of Ephraim and Manasseh to the Birkat HaMazon (Grace After Meals), noting that the phrase "the angel who redeemed me from all evil" is incorporated into various blessings. The Talmud treats Jacob's words as liturgical prototypes that entered the daily prayer life of Israel. The patriarchal blessing becomes communal worship.
• Pesachim 56a teaches that when Jacob was about to bless his sons, the Shekhinah departed from him and he feared that one of his sons was unworthy. They all declared, "Hear, O Israel (our father), the Lord our God, the Lord is one!" — and Jacob responded, "Blessed be the name of His glorious kingdom forever." The Talmud derives the daily Shema from this scene.
• Megillah 17a discusses the crossing of Jacob's hands when blessing Ephraim and Manasseh — placing the right hand on the younger — as a deliberate prophetic act that foreshadowed Ephraim's greater future. The Talmud uses this to discuss the relationship between primogeniture and merit, concluding that spiritual destiny can override birth order.
• Bava Batra 123a analyzes why Joseph's sons received tribal status, effectively giving Joseph a double portion. The Talmud connects this to the firstborn's right that Jacob transferred from Reuben to Joseph. The legal implications of this transfer — the firstborn's double share being moved between tribes — generate extensive halakhic discussion.
• Sanhedrin 19a derives from the verse "Ephraim and Manasseh shall be to me like Reuben and Simeon" the principle that one who raises an orphan is considered as if he fathered the child. Jacob "adopted" Joseph's sons as his own. The Talmud uses this as the primary source for the legal and spiritual status of adopted children.
• Jubilees 45:1-5 covers Jacob's blessing of Joseph's two sons, with the deliberate crossing of hands — placing the right hand on Ephraim (the younger) rather than Manasseh (the firstborn). The pattern repeats: younger over older, as with Jacob over Esau, as with Isaac over Ishmael.
• Jubilees treats the adoption of Ephraim and Manasseh as Jacob's sons (not grandsons) as a doubling of Joseph's inheritance — two tribal portions instead of one. Joseph's faithfulness in Egypt earns the double portion.
• The crossed-hands blessing is prophetic: Ephraim will become the greater tribe, and this is recorded on the heavenly tablets as the divine will, not Jacob's senility.