Evidence Offered That Ephraim Became the United Kingdom
There has been a long time question of which of the sons of Joseph represent two of the world leading end time nations. The position of most of the Churches of God have thought and taught that Ephraim is today represented by the United Kingdom while the USA represents Manasseh. When we look to the Bible we can find the answer to the question. In this paper I have used three Bible translations and Strong's definitions for key words to help find the answer for a specific verse. It has been taught that Deuteronomy 33:17 provides the evidence that Ephraim Is the United Kingdom and therefore Manasseh is the USA. This thought may be based on a conclusion that all the "colonies" of the UK had greater numbers that the USA as spoken of in Deuteronomy 33:17. That conclusion does not take into account that the UK was a single nation with colonies who were under the rule of that single nation.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zpjv3j6#zk9k8hv
The British Empire began in the late 1500s under Queen Elizabeth I
.By 1913 the empire had grown to rule over 400 million people, making it the largest empire in history.
British government and society benefitted economically from the empire.
The people colonised by the British had British laws and customs imposed upon them, lost their ability to govern themselves and were, in many cases, violently oppressed.
The colonies were generally run by British government officials who lived in the colony and not by the indigenous people. British laws were brought to colonies that often did not take into account cultural differences between the people of the colonies and the British. Taxes on colonised people were often high and the British exploited natural resources for their own financial gain.
A close look at the evidence will show the USA is the Ephraim spoken of so often in the Bible.
KJV:
Deu 33:16 With the precious things of the earth and its fullness, And the favor of Him who dwelt in the bush(burning bush). Let the blessing come 'on the head of Joseph, And on the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers.
Deu 33:17 His gloryH1926 is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of unicorns: with them he shall pushH5055 the peopleH5971 togetherH3162 to the endsH657 of the earthH776: and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh.
NKJV:
Deu 33:16 With the precious things of the earth and its fullness, And the favor of Him who dwelt in the bush(burning bush). Let the blessing come 'on the head of Joseph, And on the crown of the head of him who was separate from his brothers.'
Deu 33:17 His glory is like a firstborn bull, And his horns like the horns of the wild ox; Together with them He shall push the peoples To the ends of the earth; They are the ten thousands of Ephraim, And they are the thousands of Manasseh."
H1926 From H1921; magnificence, that is, ornament or splendor: - beauty, comeliness, excellency, glorious, glory, goodly, honour, majesty.
H5055 A primitive root; to but with the horns; figuratively to war against: - gore, push (down, -ing).
H5971 From H6004; a people (as a congregated unit); specifically a tribe (as those of Israel); hence (collectively) troops or attendants; figuratively a flock: - folk, men, nation, people.
H3162 From H3161; properly a unit, that is, (adverbially) unitedly: - alike, at all (once), both, likewise, only, (al-) together, withal.
H657 From H656; cessation, that is, an end (especially of the earth)
H776 From an unused root probably meaning to be firm; the earth (at large, or partitively a land): - X common, country, earth, field, ground, land, X nations, way, + wilderness, world.
Important added information.
Young's Literal translation of the Bible has been highly appraised.
"A strictly literal rendering may not be so pleasant to the ear ... yet it is not euphony but truth that ought to be sought" -- Author's Preface
Perhaps the most literally precise translation available.
Young's Literal Translation of the Bible is a strictly literal translation of the original Hebrew and Greek texts. It was written in 1898 by Robert Young. It is a great resource for anyone serious about finding out what the original authors of the Bible actually wrote., especially when used as a supplement to a standard translation. It includes the preface to the 1st, Revised and 3rd Editions.
This is one of the many that found this translation to be helpful.
Seadollar50 - Awesome
This is great, I like it because it is a literal translation - exactly as was origionally written, and in some places it is a bit Yoda like speech, which is still easy to understand. I like it because no one is interpreting what they think the scripture writers mean!!! Amazon has an excellent price already and I bought it from one of their used sellers and true to what was stated it was very good condition, and almost looks new.
I have come across a few areas in Young's Literal that I had a difference of opinion with, but his agreement with the word studies of Brown- Driver-Briggs', Strong's Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries and Thayer's Greek Definitions has been exceptional.
YLT:
Deu 33:16 And by precious things--of earth and its fulness, And the good pleasure Of Him who is dwelling in the bush(burning bush), --Let it come for the head of Joseph, And for the crown of him Who is separate from his brethren.
Deu 33:17 His honour is a firstling of his ox, And his horns are horns of a reem; By them peoples he doth push together To the ends of earth; And they are the myriads of Ephraim, And they are the thousands of Manasseh.
Verse 16 is the same for the KJV & NKJV. In both we see the following: " Let the blessing come 'on the head of Joseph". In verse 17 we see that Joseph is represented by the two tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. The KJV uses the word "he" with the term "he shall push". The NKJV capitalizes the he in that term since it would reference God being in the burning bush. But, we can ask the question who is the "he" in these verses? In the YLT "he" is in reference to the words "By them", which would naturally be Joseph or possibly both Ephraim and Manasseh since verse 16 shows God has greatly blessed Joseph. Verse 17 states "His honour is a firstling", which would show Joseph is given the honour of a first born. The YLT does help to clear up this question and makes good sense. It gives the rendering that Ephraim and Manasseh, together, war with nations all over the world. The following is a paraphrase for verse 17. One final note a "reem" is also a name for a unicorn and the "them" in verse 17 is plural (Ephraim & Manasseh) where as a unicorn has only one horn.
Joseph is given the honour of a first born and his weapons are mighty, as mighty as the rhinoceros; Ephraim and Manasseh, together, have wars all over the world.;
1Ch 5:1 Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel, (for he was the firstborn; but, forasmuch as he defiled his father's bed, his birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph the son of Israel: and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright.
It then goes on to say that the numbers of Ephraim are larger that the number of Manasseh that have these wars. What two other related nations of the world have been involved with that kind of action. There are none.
U.K. Population: https://www.macrotrends.net/global-metrics/countries/GBR/united-kingdom/population 1950 - 50,055,065 1970 - 55,650,166 1990 - 57,210,442 2010 - 62,760,039 2024 - 67,961, 439 United States Population: https://www.macrotrends.net/global-metrics/countries/USA/united-states/population
1950 - 148,281,550 1970 - 200,328,340 1990 - 248,083,732 2010 - 311,182,845
2024 - 341,814,420
In 1950 U.S. population was about three times bigger than the U.K.
In 2024 U.S. population was about five times bigger than the U.K.
Since the end of the Second World War the USA has become the dominant world nation. It is now being challenged by China. In the paper titled "Ephraim My Firstborn" substantial evidence has been provided that show Ephraim is the USA. Of principle importance, that can not be denied, is the USA is younger than the UK.
KJV: Gen 48:19 And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: In the United States, the government of each of the 50 states is structured in accordance with its individual constitution. In turn, each state constitution must be grounded in republican principles. Article IV, Section 4, Clause 1 of the United States Constitution tasks the federal government with assuring that each state's government is so organized. All state governments are modeled after the federal government and consist of three branches (although the three-branch structure is not Constitutionally required): executive, legislative, and judicial. All state governments are also organized as presidential systems where the governor is both head of government and head of state (even though this too is not required). The government of each of the five permanently inhabited U.S. territories is modeled and organized in a like fashion. Each state is itself a sovereign entity, (as Texas asserts) and as such, reserves the right to organize in any way (within the above stated parameter) deemed appropriate by its people. As a result, while the governments of the various states share many similar features, they often vary greatly with regard to form and substance. No two state governments are identical. The following tables compare and contrast some of the features of U.S. state governments. (not included)
Yes, we can see that the United States of America has become a "multitude of nations".
It is generally agreed that America is the Greatest Nation in the History of the World. A quick summery of is unique nature would include: the exceptional individual freedom as a result of its Bible inspired Constitution (my studies have found the USA is the only nation whose constitution was formulated on Biblical principles) - - - that freedom insures a true freedom of religion - - - because of a free trade concept of all business, we are unencumbered to do the very best with our personal abilities - - - our standard of living is the envy of the entire world - - - because of our wealth we have the strongest military of all the nations (leads the world in military innovations) - - - America is the Most Genuinely Compassionate Nation On Earth - - - our culture has permeated the world - - - one could go on and on. God is fulfilling all that He said about Ephraim's future. In these "end times" it has become more evident why Ephraim was called "my firstborn" in Jeremiah 31:9.