House of Joseph (LDS Church)

The House of Joseph (sometimes referred to as the Tribe of Joseph) is a designation which members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) apply to the ancient "birthright" tribe of the house of Israel (Jacob) as it is described in the Old Testament, made up of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. The tribes' namesakes — the two sons of Joseph of Egypt — are first mentioned in .

Members of the LDS Church believe themselves, in a general sense, to be members of the House of Israel, many of whom believe themselves also to be the literal bloodline descendants of Ephraim, Joseph of Egypt's youngest son, but inheritor, notwithstanding, of Israel's "firstborn" birthright blessings. These modern Josephites claim, however, that many in their ranks are also of the tribe of Manasseh, Joseph's eldest son and a joint-recipient of the 'double portion' of Jacob's birthright blessing upon the heads of his grandsons.

Church members therefore consider themselves to be a 'covenant people', specially called or foreordained from 'eternity' (or before earth's creation, which they call 'premortality', or pre-existence). They profess to attend to sacred saving ordinances as they existed anciently in God's holy temple — "the place of the covenant" — with sacred responsibilities and obligations for God-given 'birthright' blessings that are contingent upon upright living.

Young people within the church are often referred to as 'youth of the noble birthright' — a designation inspired by lyrics from one of the faith's time-honored hymns.

Much of the story of the House of Joseph, according to Latter-day Saints, is reflected in ancient ancestral prophecies, including those made by the patriarch Jacob and his son, Joseph of Egypt (many of them now restored through revelation by the LDS faith's founding prophet). that, for some Latter-day Saints, mirrors the earthly mission of Joseph Smith, the faith's founder, who in the LDS worldview stands preeminent among the heirs of Joseph's house.

The house of Joseph is mentioned in the Bible several times, notably in ; ; ; and . There is also an allusion to the house of Joseph in .

Patriarchal primogeniture

thumb|[[Jacob blessing Manasseh and Ephraim.]]

<blockquote><poem>Let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph ... [upon] him that was separated from his brethren. His glory is like the firstling of his bullock, and his horns are like the horns of the wild-ox: with them he shall push the people together to the ends of the earth: and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh ... (Deut 33:16-17; see D&C 110:9)

I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn. Hear the word of the Lord, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, as a shepherd doth his flock ... (Jer 31:9-10)

Joseph is a father to Ephraim and to all Israel in these last days ... (latter-day prophet Brigham Young, 9 Apr 1837)</poem></blockquote>

According to LDS doctrine, the Twelve Tribes of Israel descended from the twelve sons of the patriarch Jacob (who was later named Israel) and his two wives, Leah and Rachel, and two concubines, Zilpah and Bilhah. Jacob was the last of a line of ancient biblical patriarchs who held the full power of the 'blessings of the firstborn,' of bechor. But Jacob's firstborn by first wife Leah — Reuben — forfeited by transgression his spiritual inheritance, and it passed instead to the Patriarch's newly sanctioned 'firstborn' son by favored but second wife, Rachel. This son's name was Joseph — a name signifying 'fruitful'. This divided the blessings of God's children into two parts — with 'kingship' going to the House of Judah, and the firstborn 'priesthood' inheritance going to the House of Joseph — leading to an eventual breach between the children of Judah and those of Joseph's sons Ephraim and Manasseh. That critical breach — which widened again later with divisions between Levi and the sons of Aaron — would only be healed in a far-distant, future day, after Israel's 'scattering' (722-586 BC) and centuries-long apostate captivity among Gentile nations.

The Ephraimite tribe would eventually come to rule over all of Israel's tribes (Gen 37:510; 49:22-26). Afterwards, there would be a New Jerusalem that would come down from heaven where the remnant would live. When Jesus visited the Nephites in the Americas, he taught that they were a remnant of the house of Joseph. After they were brought to the knowledge of the Lord, they would be given the Americas as their inheritance. Repentant Gentiles will assist them in building the New Jerusalem. Early Latter Day Saints interpreted these scriptures to mean that there would be a sudden and dramatic conversion of the American Indians to Mormonism. They viewed themselves as repentant Gentiles that would assist the American Indians in building the New Jerusalem,

After some failed missions to the American Indians, the concept of the New Jerusalem started being reinterpreted. Instead of building New Jerusalem together with the Native Americans, they began seeing it as two different places, with Zion being built upon the hills and the Lamanites in the wilderness. and the Latter-day Saints Even though Latter-day Saints do not believe themselves to be exclusively descended from these specific tribes, in their use of tribal names, they associate themselves most closely with these specific dominant tribes of 'Joseph'. No denomination of Judaism affirms these Samaritan or LDS beliefs, nor similar beliefs perhaps adhered to by other faiths.

Proposed House of Joseph

thumb|right|250px|The [[Salt Lake Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the largest attraction in the city's Temple Square.]]

The Church teaches that the gathering of the descendants of Ephraim and Manasseh in the Americas fulfills the prophecy of Jacob that "Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall" (Gen 49:22), wherein the enclosed "wall" of the water-filled "well" is understood to be an ocean-barrier of safety that separates lands. As such, members of the church often refer to themselves collectively as 'modern Israel'. All are an integral part of the restored church and kingdom of God on earth — which, Latter-day Saints profess, is the same organization of the primitive church that existed anciently, as originally established by Christ and His apostles.

As descendants principally, therefore, of Joseph of Egypt, and particularly of Ephraim, they believe that theirs is a special latter-day commission from God to 'gather' into 'one fold' the remnants of the house of Israel from the nations of the earth, according to ancient prophecy (2 Ne 9:2; 3 Ne 21:1-11, 22).

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who believe themselves predominantly to be of the Ephraimite branch of the House of Joseph, assert that revelations given of God to the Prophet Joseph Smith (JST Gen 50), and as contained in the Book of Mormon (2 Ne 3), bear witness that the Patriarch Jacob's firstborn 'double portion' of both progeny and lands with which he blessed his son, Joseph of Egypt (and his 'double portion'-inheriting grandsons Ephraim and Manasseh), included the additional 'land' portion of the whole of the American continent — to which (c. 588 BC), from the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, a "fruitful branch" of Joseph's posterity (the 'Lehite Colony', composed of descendants of both Ephraim and Manasseh) traveled by sea. with the ancient prophet Lehi (Hebrew לחי Léḥî / Lāḥî "jawbone") being an Israelite of the Josephite tribe of Manasseh (Alma 10:3) and the wives of his sons, as the Prophet Joseph Smith later explained, being of the Josephite tribe of Ephraim.

Theories about modern Lamanite descendants

Many Mormons consider Native Americans to be descendants of the Lamanites. Officially, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints appears to at least partially accept this position. The introduction to the Latter Day Saint (LDS) edition of The Book of Mormon states, "[T]he Lamanites ... are among the ancestors of the American Indians." However, this position of the Lamanites being among the ancestors of the American Indians is controversial. Based on genetic and archeological data, mainstream scientists have concluded that Native Americans are descended from the prehistoric inhabitants of East Asia, although mixed genetics are not precluded by either science or LDS doctrine.

House of Joseph (LDS Church)

Patriarchal primogeniture

Proposed House of Joseph

Theories about modern Lamanite descendants

See also

References