an Aramean concubine, and that they had two sons, named Asriel and Machir; in the Torah's genealogy of Manasseh's family, which textual scholars ascribe to the earlier priestly source, Asriel instead appears to be the son of Gilead, the son of Machir. Near the end of the book of Genesis, according to some English translations of the Bible (such as the King James Version), Manasseh's grandchildren are described as having been brought up upon Joseph's knees, while other English translations (such as the Revised Version) render the same text as born upon Joseph's knees; the gloss for this passage given by some English translations (such as the New International Version) is that the grandchildren were adopted by Joseph as his own children, at the moment they were born. Rabbinical interpretations In the Torah, the eventual precedence of the tribe of Ephraim is argued to derive from Joseph tricking Jacob, blind and on his deathbed, into blessing Ephraim before Manasseh. The text describing this blessing features a hapax legomenon – the word שכל (sh-k-l) – which classical rabbinical literature has interpreted in esoteric manners; some rabbinical sources connect the term with sekel, meaning mind/wisdom, and view it as indicating that Jacob was entirely aware of who he was actually blessing; other rabbinical sources connect the term with shikkel, viewing it as signifying that Jacob was despoiling Manasseh in favour of Ephraim; yet other rabbinical sources argue that it refers to the power of Jacob to instruct and guide the holy spirit. The Targum Pseudo-Jonathan argues that Manasseh had been a steward in Joseph's household, and had acted as an interpreter between Joseph and his other brothers; this targum also mentions that Manasseh had unusually large strength. Herbert Armstrong British Israelite Herbert W. Armstrong of the Worldwide Church of God (1940s to 1980s), in a book called The United States and Great Britain in Prophecy, claimed the United States was a remnant of the Tribe of Manasseh. British Israelite theories are uniformly rejected by mainstream modern scholarship. Veneration Manasses is venerated in Catholic Church as a saint, whose feast day is 3 November or 19 December. See also Ephraim Tribe of Ephraim Tribe of Manasseh References External links Founders of biblical tribes Joseph (Genesis) Book of Genesis people Christian saints in unknown century Roman Catholic royal saints Christian royal saints Saints Christian saints from the Old Testament Old Testament people People of