Mistaking Sons Again? (Likrat Shabbat) Vayechi

(1) Some time afterward, Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” So he took with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. (2) When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to see you,” Israel summoned his strength and sat up in bed.

(3) And Jacob said to Joseph, “El Shaddai appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and He blessed me, (4) and said to me, ‘I will make you fertile and numerous, making of you a community of peoples; and I will assign this land to your offspring to come for an everlasting possession.’

(5) Now, your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, shall be mine; Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine no less than Reuben and Simeon. (6) But progeny born to you after them shall be yours; they shall be recorded instead of their brothers in their inheritance.

(7) I [do this because], when I was returning from Paddan, Rachel died, to my sorrow, while I was journeying in the land of Canaan, when still some distance short of Ephrath; and I buried her there on the road to Ephrath”—now Bethlehem.

(8) Noticing Joseph’s sons, Israel asked, “Who are these?” (9) And Joseph said to his father, “They are my sons, whom God has given me here.” “Bring them up to me,” he said, “that I may bless them.”

(1) The sons of Reuben the first-born of Israel. (He was the first-born; but when he defiled his father’s bed, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph son of Israel, so he is not reckoned as first-born in the genealogy;

(10) Now Israel’s eyes were dim with age; he could not see. So [Joseph] brought them close to him, and he kissed them and embraced them. (11) And Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see you again, and here God has let me see your children as well.” (12) Joseph then removed them from his knees, and bowed low with his face to the ground.

(13) Joseph took the two of them, Ephraim with his right hand—to Israel’s left—and Manasseh with his left hand—to Israel’s right—and brought them close to him. (14) But Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it on Ephraim’s head, though he was the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh’s head—thus crossing his hands—although Manasseh was the first-born.

(17) When Joseph saw that his father was placing his right hand on Ephraim’s head, he thought it wrong; so he took hold of his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s. (18) “Not so, Father,” Joseph said to his father, “for the other is the first-born; place your right hand on his head.”

(19) But his father objected, saying, “I know, my son, I know. He too shall become a people, and he too shall be great. Yet his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall be plentiful enough for nations.” (20) So he blessed them that day, saying, “By you shall Israel invoke blessings, saying: God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.” Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh.

After the Torah says "Israel saw the sons of Joseph" (v. 8) how can it say "he was not able to see" (v. 10)? The meaning [of "he was not able to see"] is [he could not] see well [enough] to distinguish them.

(1) When Isaac was old and his eyes were too dim to see, he called his older son Esau and said to him, “My son.” He answered, “Here I am.”

וְיִקָּרֵ֤א בָהֶם֙ שְׁמִ֔י

"In them may my name be recalled"

ibn Ezra understands the phrase to mean "my name shall be called by them:"

For all Israel are called "Ephraim" and "Joseph." The Scripture also says "Rachel is crying for her children...

Once Reuben was no longer fitting for the role of first born, Joseph was [fitting], as he opened the womb. ...

ויקרא בהם שמי ושם אבותי, he meant that Joseph would be called Israel, as for instance in Psalms 80,2 רועה ישראל האזינה נהג כצאן יוסף, “Give ear O shepherd of Israel who leads Joseph like a flock.”

Also in Amos 6,6 we read ולא נחלו על שבר יוסף, “but they are not concerned about the ruin of Joseph;” ...

And so it says (Psalms 80,3) לפני אפרים ובנימין ומנשה עוררה את גבורתך ולכה לישועתך לנו, “at the head of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Menashe! Rouse Your might and come to our help!”

(16) And you, O mortal, take a stick and write on it, “Of Judah and the Israelites associated with him”; and take another stick and write on it, “Of Joseph—the stick of Ephraim—and all the House of Israel associated with him.”

"he [Joseph] thought it wrong"

Perhaps Joseph loved Menashe more since he was his firstborn; for this reason he became upset.

But the correct understanding in my eyes is that Joseph thought that his father was mistaken about [their identity]. If Jacob's blessing was unintended it would not take effect, for it would not have been conveyed through the holy spirit (ruach hakodesh) as was fitting.

Once Jacob responded "I know, my son, I know" (v. 19), Joseph was reconciled.

(41) Now Esau harbored a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing which his father had given him, and Esau said to himself, “Let but the mourning period of my father come, and I will kill my brother Jacob.” (42) When the words of her older son Esau were reported to Rebekah, she sent for her younger son Jacob and said to him, “Your brother Esau is consoling himself by planning to kill you.

(19) But Joseph said to them, “Have no fear! Am I a substitute for God? (20) Besides, although you intended me harm, God intended it for good, so as to bring about the present result—the survival of many people. (21) And so, fear not. I will sustain you and your children.” Thus he reassured them, speaking kindly to them.