Ephraim Facts for 3-8 Year Olds

Categories: Joseph

• Ephraim is the second son of Joseph.
• His name means “fruitfulness.”
• Joseph takes his two sons to see Jacob.
• Jacob adopts Joseph’s two children.
• Jacob also blesses them.
• Ephraim is on his right toward Jacob’s left hand and Manasseh is on his left toward Jacob’s right hand. He brings them close to him.
• Jacob reaches out his right hand and puts it on Ephraim’s head, though he is the younger son, and crossing his arms, he puts his left hand on Manasseh’s head, even though Manasseh is the firstborn.
• Like so many other times, Jacob very specifically gives the blessing to the younger son.
• Ephraim is “modest and not selfish.”
• He has several sons; one is the ancestor of Joshua.
• Ephraim is the main ancestor of the Tribe of Ephraim.
• The Tribe of Ephraim is at the center of Canaan.
• Its regions of Shechem and Shiloh are the center of Israelite religious activity for the better part of 400 years.
• But when the Ark is officially established at Mount Zion (in Judah’s territory), Ephraim becomes less important.
• They don’t like it.
• When the tribes divide, Jeroboam, from the Tribe of Ephraim, is made king.
• They are accused of forsaking God; they establish a second altar.
• The Tribe of Ephraim is conquered by the Assyrians in 723 BCE.
• It is one of the ten lost tribes of Israel.