Genesis 48:9

And Joseph said unto his father, they are my sons, whom God hath given me in this place ,.... In the land of Egypt; he accounts his sons as the gifts of God, as children are, Psalm 127:3 ; and it was not only a sentiment of the Jews, that children are the gift of God; hence the names of Mattaniah, Nathaniel, &c.; but of Heathens, as the Greeks and Romans, among whom are frequent the names of men which show it, as Theodorus, Deodatus, Apollodorus, Artemidorus, &c.;

and he said, bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will bless them ; not in a common way, barely wishing them prosperity and happiness, but as a patriarch and prophet, under the influence and inspiration of the Spirit of God, declaring what would befall them, and what blessings they should be partakers of, in time to come.