Manasés fue el primogénito de José, nacido de él en Egipto de una madre egipcia, cuyo nombre significa "hacer olvidar", porque José dijo que Dios le había hecho olvidar todo su trabajo y toda la casa de su padre. Él y su hermano menor Efraín fueron adoptados más tarde por su abuelo Jacob (Israel) y recibieron el mismo estatus que los hermanos de padre y madre de José, convirtiéndose en los padres de una de las doce tribus de Israel.
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Vida e historia
The story of Manasseh begins in the household that Joseph built in Egypt. After years of being sold by his brothers and enduring slavery and imprisonment, Joseph had been exalted by Pharaoh because God was with him. His wife Asenath bore him two sons, the firstborn being Manasseh. Joseph named the child "Manasseh," meaning "causing to forget," because he had experienced God's grace that made him forget his former toil and the pain of being separated from his father's house. The name itself is a confession of faith, testifying that God's providence can reverse the deepest sorrows of life. Years later, on his deathbed, Jacob adopted Joseph's two sons as his own, granting Manasseh and Ephraim equal standing with Reuben and Simeon. Although born in the foreign land of Egypt, Manasseh was thus formally brought into the covenant family of Israel, inheriting the promises made to the patriarchs. When Jacob blessed them, he deliberately placed his right hand on the younger Ephraim rather than the firstborn Manasseh, foreshadowing God's sovereign choice that overrides human convention. The blessing Jacob pronounced that day became a standard by which later generations of Israelites blessed their children: "God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh." The tribe descended from Manasseh later received its inheritance in the land of Canaan and became one of the twelve tribes of Israel. The Old Testament also speaks of a king of Judah named Manasseh, who became notorious for doing evil in the sight of the Lord. He introduced Baal worship, erected Asherah in the Temple, practiced sorcery, divination, and necromancy, and shed innocent blood in Jerusalem; his sins are recorded as a primary reason for Judah's eventual exile and judgment.