Genesis 49:25-26

"Even by the God thy father, who shall help thee, And by the Almighty who shall bless thee, With blessings of heaven above, Blessings of the deep which coucheth beneath, Blessings of the breasts, and of the womb. The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors Unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: They shall be on the head of Joseph, And on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren."

Jacob here blessed Joseph with all the blessings that he himself had received from God, but significantly the blessings promised did not partake of the nature of spiritual excellence, but tended rather to worldly glory and power. As often noted, Judah received the spiritual leadership of Israel, and Joseph the political and temporal leadership, blessings which reached their climax in the glory of the northern Israel, but which were destined to be swallowed up in the Assyrian invasion and destruction of the ten tribes. It was perhaps the introduction of pagan influence into the posterity of Joseph through their mother the daughter of Potiphera the pagan priest of On that constituted the seeds of the ultimate downfall of Joseph (Ephraim).

"Him that was separate from his brethren ..." is a plaintive statement of the early disfavor of Joseph's brothers toward him; but for that he was richly rewarded. "No spiritual blessings were foretold for this favorite son of Jacob; spiritually, his tribe never excelled; and it was by a member of the tribe of Ephraim (Jeroboam) that the calf-worship was institutionalized in Israel, thus `making Israel to sin'."[30]