Sometimes the Torah uses a turn of phrase which we assume has some kind of ancient meaning. “Oh,” we say. “That was how it was done then. There is no deeper meaning or symbolism.”
One such example is the use of the word “knees.” It is found, for example, when Rachel makes the following suggestion to her husband:
She said, “Here is my maid Bilhah. Consort with her, that she may bear on my knees and that through her I too may have children.”
Indeed, the word “knees” seems to bear a strange connection to children in other places as well!
Joseph takes his sons, and removed them from his knees, and bowed low with his face to the ground.
And later… Joseph lived to see children of the third generation of Ephraim; the children of Machir son of Manasseh were likewise born upon Joseph’s knees.
Is this just some archaic expression? Or is there a better explanation?
The key to understanding is found when we see that the word translated in the above as “knees” is the very same word as “blessing.” בָרַךְ is the three letter root word that is translated both as “bless” and “knees.” [The Torah actually has another word entirely for “knees” כָּרַ֨ע – as well as distinct words for “foot” and “leg.”]
And where is the first mention of “blessing” in the Torah? What does this word mean?
And God blessed them, saying: Bear fruit and be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let the birds be many on earth! (G. 1:22) God blessed [humanity], and God said to them: Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it! (G. 1:28)
The word for blessing is the same translated as “knees” – and rather than being two different words and meanings, they are actually the same!
Rachel is not talking about her knees at all! She is saying “take my maidservant, that she may bear for my blessing [to be fruitful and multiply].” The same thing is true with Joseph’s grandchildren – they count against the divine blessing to be able to procreate.
But what about Joseph and his sons, with Jacob and the blessings of Ephraim and Menasseh? Surely that example must actually mean “knees” rather than blessing, right?
No! Here’s how the story unfolds:
We know that from the beginning, Rachel is interested in maximizing her progeny. She names Yosef for “give me more.” She uses Bilhah to help her fulfill that blessing. And then Jacob takes up the mantle. As he relates to Joseph:
So-now, your two sons who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, they are mine; Efrayim and Menashe, like Re’uven and Shim’on, let them be mine! … While I— when I came back from Paddan, Rachel died on me, in the land of Canaan, on the way, with still a stretch of land left to come to Efrat [fruitfulness]. There I buried her, on the way to Efrat [fruitfulness].
So Jacob tells Joseph that he wants to acquire Joseph’s sons to help fulfill Rachel’s dreams of fruitfulness – that Ephraim and Menasseh are going to be counted as if they had come from Rachel and Jacob.
What does Joseph do? He promptly honors his father’s request! The common translation is: Joseph then removed [the boys] from his knees, and bowed low with his face to the ground.
But with our new understanding, we can see this phrase really means: Joseph then removed them from his blessing, and bowed low with his face to the ground.
Joseph then puts his sons under his father’s hands: Joseph took the two of them, Ephraim with his right hand—to Israel’s left—and Manasseh with his left hand—to Israel’s right—and brought them close to him.
Joseph is asked to consider his sons – his only sons – as actually coming from his mother and father. He does not hesitate to do so. The story has nothing to do with Joseph’s knees at all!
We thus see that the first blessing G-d gives to all animals and to people is really the master blessing of them all: to be fruitful and multiply speaks to both biological/physical continuation as well as our spiritual legacy (the third time “blessing” is mentioned is for the spiritual day of Shabbos).
There is a broader idea here as well. Blessing someone else is a giving and even loving act. We only bless things we care about – so presumably G-d blesses the animals and mankind precisely because He cares about us as well.
When we kneel, we elevate someone else. We show respect to them. And the act is reciprocal: showing respect to someone else is itself a civilized and bonding event. It creates our nurtures a relationship between the person who is kneeling and the recipient of that deference. When you defer to someone else, even if only by nodding your head, you are creating an instant connection.
The letters for “kneel” are the same as for “blessing” precisely because they are interconnected meanings.
In the Torah, barech, blessing, is only used once to describe kneeling. When Avraham’s servant comes to find a bride for Isaac, there is a verse which describes camels literally kneeling:
He made the camels kneel [barech] by the well outside the city. (G. 24:11)
What happens when a camel kneels? It becomes possible for someone else to mount it, to elevate themselves! The camels kneel, which in human body language is a show of deference. It is a way of saying “I will exalt/elevate you.”
Hence when Yosef is promoted to become Pharoah’s lieutenant, the Torah tells us:
and [Pharoah] made [Joseph] to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried before him, Avrekh (I will bless/kneel): and made him ruler over all the land of Egypt. (G. 41:43)
Joseph was the means for the elevation of all Egypt – both its sustenance and its survival.
There is a curse that mentions knees again – much later in the text (D. 28).
But if you do not listen … G-d will afflict you at the knees and thighs with a severe inflammation, from which you shall never recover.
The meaning is the same: all of the curses in this section reflect on being incapable of any elevatable acts – we will not have knees – or blessings – to allow us to rise.