Joseph's two sons by Asenath, born in Egypt before the famine, and both named for what exile had done to him. MANASSEH (Menashsheh) puns on nashani — 'God has made me FORGET all my toil and all my father's house' (41:51), a startling thing to say aloud about the family that is about to walk back into his life. EPHRAIM puns on hiphrani — 'God has made me FRUITFUL in the land of my affliction' (41:52); he calls Egypt, where he governs, the land of his affliction. Jacob later adopts both as his own and crosses his hands to put the younger first (48:5, 14) — one more overturned birthright — and their names become two of Israel's tribes; 'Ephraim' eventually stands for the whole northern kingdom in the prophets.