Manasse was the firstborn son of Joseph and his Egyptian wife Asenath. He was born in Egypt before the famine and became the ancestor of one of Israel's twelve tribes. His name means 'the one who causes to forget', because God made Joseph forget all his hardship.
Manasseh was born as Joseph's firstborn son in Egypt, during the seven good years before the famine. Joseph gave him the name Manasseh because God had made him forget all his hardship.
When Jacob was old, he blessed Joseph's sons. To Joseph's surprise, Jacob placed his right hand on the younger Ephraim and gave him the greater blessing over Manasseh.
13Joseph took them both, Ephraim on his right toward Israel's left hand, and Manasseh on his left toward Israel's right hand, and brought them close to him.
14But Israel reached out his right hand and laid it on Ephraim's head, though he was the younger, and crossing his hands, he laid his left hand on Manasseh's head, even though Manasseh was the firstborn.
17When Joseph saw that his father was placing his right hand on Ephraim's head, he was displeased; so he took hold of his father's hand to move it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's.
19But his father refused and said, "I know, my son, I know. He too will become a people, and he too will be great. Yet his younger brother will be greater than he, and his descendants will become a multitude of nations."
20So he blessed them that day, saying: "By you Israel will pronounce this blessing: 'May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.'" And so he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh.
Jacob adopted Manasseh and Ephraim as his own sons, so that they would be counted on equal footing with his other sons and become patriarchs in Israel.
5Now then, your two sons who were born to you in Egypt before I came to you here—they are mine. Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are.
34The descendants of Manasseh: all the men twenty years old and upward who were fit for military service were listed by name, according to their genealogy, by clan and family.
1A lot also fell to the tribe of Manasseh, since he was Joseph's firstborn. Machir, Manasseh's firstborn and the father of Gilead, received Gilead and Bashan, because he was a man of war.
2The rest of the descendants of Manasseh received land by their clans: the sons of Abiezer, the sons of Helek, the sons of Asriel, the sons of Shechem, the sons of Hepher, and the sons of Shemida. These were the male descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph, by their clans.