죽음을 앞둔 야곱은 요셉과 그의 아들들에게 또 역차별 축복(창세기 48장)

임종을 앞둔 야곱 손주들을 만나다

 

창세기 47장 읽기 

 

1.you in the land of  After this, Joseph was told, "Behold, your father is ill." So he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.

2. And it was told to Jacob, "Your son Joseph has come to you." Then Israel summoned his strength and sat up in bed.

 

 

3. And Jacob said to Joseph, " God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me,

4. and said to me, 'Behold, I will make you fruitiful and multiply you, and I will make of you a company of peoples and will give this land to your offsprings after you for an everlasting possession.'

5. And now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, as Reuben and Simeon are.

 

 

 

6. And the children that you fathered after them shall be yours. They shall be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance.

7. As for me when I came from Paddan, to my sorrow Rachel died in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was still some distance to go to Ephrath, and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath( that is, Bethlehem)."

 

야곱이 노쇠하여 죽을 날이 다가워오자 요셉은 그의 두 아들을 데리고 야곱에게 갑니다. 그러자 야곱은 하나님이 축복을 내렸다며 요셉에게 번영을 약속합니다. 

 

 

눈이 멀어 손주들을 못 알아보는 야곱

 

8. When Israel saw Joseph sons, he said, "Who are these?"

9. Joseph said to his father, "They are my sons, whom God has given me here." And he said, "Bring them to me, please, that I may bless them."

10. Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see. So Joseph brought them near him, and he kissed them and embraced them.

11. And Israel said to Joseph, " I never expected to see your face: and behold, God has let me see your offspring also."

12. Then Joseph removed them from his knees, and he bowed himself with his face to the earth.

13. And Joseph took them both, Ephraim in his right hand towards Israel's left hand, and Manasseh in his left hand towards Israel's right hand, and brought them near him.

14. And Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on the head of Ephraim, who was the younger, and his left hand on the head of Manasseh, crossing his hands(for Manasseh was the firstborn).

15. And he blessed Joseph and said,

 " The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day,

16. the angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the boys; and in them let my name be carried on, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth."

 

요셉에게 축복을 내리는 동안 얼핏 요셉의 자식들이 보였는지 누구냐고 묻고 요셉이 말하니 야곱은 손주들에게도 축복을 주는 일을 멈추지 않습니다. 아주 무한 축복입니다.

 

 

 

 요셉의 발끈과 하나님의 계획

 

 

17. When Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand on the head of Ephraim, it displeased him, and he took his father's hand to move it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head.

18. And Joseph said to his father, "Not this way, my father; since this one is the firstborn, put your right hand on his head."

19. But his father refused and said, " I know, my son, I know, He also shall become a people, and he also shall be great. Nevertheless, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude of nations.

20. So he blessed them that day, saying,

  "By you Israel will pronounce blessings, saying, 'God make you as Ephraim and as Manasseh."

Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh.

 

21. Then Israel said to Joseph, "Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you again to the land of your fathers.

22. Moreover, I have given to you rather than to your brothers one mountain slooe that I took from the hand of the Amorites with my sword and with my bow."

 

야곱이 축복을 내리는 데 야곱이 요셉의 큰 아들 므낫세를 왼손으로 에브라임을 오른손으로 축복하여 발끈하여 아버지를 만류합니다. 아버지 장자가 므낫세입니다. 얘가 더 큰 축복을 받아야 합니다,라고 말하는데요. 좀 기가 막히지 않나요? 자기도 형들 제치고 편애를 받아 놓고서 할아버지가 둘째 손주에게 더 큰 축복을 준다고 발끈하다니요.

 

 

 

아무튼, 그러자 야곱은 모르고 한 것이 아니라면서 하나님이 므낫세보다 에브라임이 더 강력하게 번성할 거라고 예언했다고 말을 하네요. 뭐, 종교인들은 이러한 상황을 두고 남다른 의미를 두고 큰 뜻이 있다고들 하는데요. 그냥 액면 그대로 성경을 읽고 해석하는 입장에서는 편애가 가득하다는 생각뿐이네요. 그리고 어찌나 재산과 축복된 미래에 대해 연연하는지 모르겠습니다. 훗날의 영광을 위해 현재는 편법을 해도, 차별을 해도, 고생을 해도 다 참고 견디면 된다고 하는 것 같은데요. 

 

인간이 태어나서 나름의 소명과 사명도 가져야 하지만 개인의 행복과 조금 마음대로 살 권리는 부여받지 못한 것인가요? 오로지 하나님 뜻대로 사는 길만이 참되고 바르다는 것은 그 지역의 특수한 상황에 대한 위안 차원이겠죠? 다른 지역 사람들은 조금 걸러서 해석할 필요도 있어 보입니다.