masc. personal name, in Old Testament, younger son of Joseph; also the tribe descended from him, sometimes used figuratively for "Kingdom of Israel;" Greek form of Hebrew Ephrayim, a derivative of parah "was fruitful" (related to Aramaic pera "fruit").
double fruitfulness ("for God had made him fruitful in the land of his affliction"). The second son of Joseph, born in Egypt (Gen. 41:52; 46:20). The first incident recorded regarding him is his being placed, along with his brother Manasseh, before their grandfather, Jacob, that he might bless them (48:10; comp. 27:1). The intention of Joseph was that the right hand of the aged patriarch should be placed on the head of the elder of the two; but Jacob set Ephraim the younger before his brother, "guiding his hands wittingly." Before Joseph's death, Ephraim's family had reached the third generation (Gen. 50:23).
one of the 12 tribes of Israel that in biblical times comprised the people of Israel who later became the Jewish people. The tribe was named after one of the younger sons of Joseph, himself a son of Jacob