Commentary for Genesis 48:8

וירא ישראל את בני יוסף AND ISRAEL SAW JOSEPH’S SONS — he wished to bless them but the Divine Presence departed from him because he saw that from Ephraim would be born the wicked kings Jeroboam and Ahab, and from Manasseh Jehu and his sous (Midrash Tanchuma, Vayechi 6).

וירא ישראל, even though we have been told that Yaakov could not see well due to his age (verse 10), it is possible for people whose eyesight has become dimmed to recognise the silhouette of a person without being able to distinguish his facial features sufficiently to identify them. When G’d told Moses that it was impossible for man to “see” Him (Exodus 33,20), He did not mean that man is unable to see any aspect of G’d. This is why the prophet Michyahu could claim to have “seen” G’d (Kings I 22,19) without this being a contradiction to what is written in Exodus 33,20. [thus invalidating King Menashe ordering the execution of the prophet Isaiah for being a false prophet based on his saying that he had “seen” (Isaiah 6,1) G’d. Ed.]

וירא ישראל את בני יוסף, he recognised them as human beings, but did not recognise them for who they were.

וירא ישראל את בני יוסף, Israel saw the sons of Joseph, etc. It is difficult to understand how Jacob failed to recognise grand-sons whom he had tutored for the last 17 years on a regular and frequent basis. Tanchuma on our portion explains that Jacob saw with his mental eye that in the future some evil people would come out of Menashe. This is homiletics, of course. We need to be able to explain the plain meaning of the verse also, and this is why the Torah reveals here that Jacob's eyesight had begun to fail him so that he could not see clearly and recognise people. Hence, although Jacob was aware that in addition to Joseph with whom he was speaking two other human beings were standing in front of him, he had recognised Joseph because he had been told in verse 2 that Joseph had come to visit him. He did not recognise Joseph's sons, however, and this is why he asked who they were.

וירא, he saw them from a distance and was unable to make out who they were due to his failing eyesight. This is why, even when they were already quite close to him, he had to ask: “who are these lads?”

ויאמר מי אלה, He said: “who are these?” According to the plain meaning of the text, Yaakov’s eyesight was failing to the extent that he no longer recognised his grandchildren, especially those who did not live in Goshen.

וירא ישראל את בני יוסף “Yisrael saw the sons of Joseph, etc.” The word “he saw” in this verse is to be understood as a vision; he did not see them physically. We have already been told כי לא יכול לראות, “for he was unable to see.” (verse 10)
מי אלה, “who are these? How can they qualify for a blessing?” He foresaw at that moment that Jerobam, a future descendant of Ephrayim, would erect two golden calves of whom it was said: “these are your gods O Israel” (Exodus 32,8). He also foresaw that Yehu and his sons would be descendants of Menashe. To this question Joseph replied:
בני הם אשר נתן לי אלוקים בזה, “they are my sons whom G’d has given me here.” Joseph mentioned the name of the Lord who had performed miracles for him and had raised him to the position of king so that he had been given this woman as a wife by Pharaoh. This wife had born these children for him. Targum Yonatan explains the word בזה to mean that he showed his father his marriage certificate, כתובה.

He attempted to bless them, but the Divine Presence departed from him... Rashi is answering the question: Why is it written ‘Who are these?” Did Yaakov not recognize that they were Menasheh and Ephraim? Alternatively, Rashi is answering the question: [How can it say,] “Yisrael saw”? It is written right afterward (v. 10), “Yisrael’s eyes were heavy ... he could not see.” Thus Rashi explains, “He attempted to bless them but the Divine Presence departed from him...” Accordingly, “Yaakov saw” means he saw through ruach hakodesh, as [Rashi explained on], “Yaakov saw that food was being sold in Egypt” (42:1).

ויאמר, ״מי אלה?״, he said: “who are these?” According to the plain meaning of the text, Yaakov’s eyesight had been dimmed so that he could not recognise their facial features; This is why the Torah added that his failing eyesight was due to old age, (verse 10) If you were to counter that the Torah had described Yaakov just before as “seeing the sons of Joseph,” (verse 8) this was not sufficient to be able to identify them individually. He had no trouble indentifying Joseph as he recognised him by his voice.

ויאמר מי אלה AND HE SAID “WHO ARE THESE?” — Whence come these who are unfitted for blessing?

It is also possible that Jacob wanted to arouse feelings of love in the heart of the children's father before he commenced to bless them. In such circumstances the effectiveness of the blessing is enhanced. By asking מי אלה, Jacob was sure he would elicit the response of a proud father, someone who loved his children.