Menasseh was Joseph’s firstborn son who assisted his father in running Egypt. His younger brother Ephraim received “his” firstborn blessing from their grandfather Jacob. Because of Menasseh’s great humility, this did not bother him at all. He was given tribal status, and his tribe later settled in the Samaria region of the Land of Israel as well as the Bashan (the modern-day Golan and parts of north-western Jordan). The other famous Manasseh in the Bible is the evil King Manasseh (son of Hezekiah) from Judea.
