Joseph - The children of Joseph or Israel. The name of Joseph, the most eminent of the patriarchs, is elsewhere put for all the tribes. Cherubim - Which were by the mercy seat above the ark.
Before Ephraim - Here is an allusion to the ancient situation of the tabernacle in the wilderness, where these tribes were placed on the west - side of the tabernacle, in which the ark was, which consequently was before them.
Be - To protect and strengthen him. Right - hand - Benjamin signifies the son of the right hand, a dearly beloved son, as Benjamin was to Jacob. Son of man - The people of Israel, who are often spoken of as one person, as God's son and first - born.
