And now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt, [are] mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine.
Ver. 5. As Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine.] God hath in like sort adopted us for his dear children; saying, "I will be a Father unto them, and they shall be my sons and my daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." 2Co 6:18 This St John calls a royalty or prerogative, εξουσια , Joh 1:12 such as he elsewhere stands amazed at. 1Jn 3:1 And well he may; for all God's children are "firstborn," and so "higher than all the kings of the earth." Psa 89:27 They "in the fulness of their sufficiency are in straits." Job 20:22 Whereas the saints, in the fulness of their straits, are in an all-sufficiency.