Joseph (Genesis)

For the New Testament Joseph, see Saint Joseph.

Joseph

Joseph interprets the dream of the Pharaoh. Painting by Peter von Cornelius.

Joseph or Yosef (Hebrew: יוֹסֵף, Standard Yosef Tiberian Yôsēp̄, Arabic: يوسف, Yusuf ; "He (The Lord) increases/may add"), is a major figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament). He was Jacob's eleventh son and Rachel's first. He is also mentioned favourably in the Qur'an.

Joseph, son of Jacob, is one of the best-known figures in the Torah, famous for his coat of many colors (although this may be a mistranslation of the Hebrew word for "stripes") and his God-given ability to interpret dreams. Due to jealousy, his brother Judah sold him into slavery for 20 pieces of silver. Eventually he worked under the Egyptian official Potiphar, but was freed and became the chief adviser (vizier) to the Egyptian Pharaoh, allegedly during either the Hyksos Era or, according to Kenneth Kitchen, the Middle Kingdom of Egypt.

The shrine called Joseph's Tomb in Nablus/Shechem is traditionally considered to be his tomb.

The eleventh son of Jacob and the elder of the two sons of Rachel was born at Haran. The meaning given to the name (l.c.) is "shall add": "The Lord shall add to me another son." It seems probable, however, it has God as its first element, and is a contraction, the original form being "Jehoseph", while in Gen. 30:23 there is an allusion to the connection of "Joseph".

Joseph sold by his brothers, by Anna Bilińska-Bohdanowiczowa, 1883.

Upon Joseph centered the love of his father, Jacob, who showered upon "the son of his old age" many tokens of special favor, and arrayed him in a "coat of many colors". This favoritism, however, excited the envy of his older brothers, and Joseph increased their envy by telling them of two dreams which prognosticated his ruling over them (Gen. 37:2-11).

When a lad of seventeen, Joseph was sent by his father to inquire after his brothers, who were pasturing the flocks in Shechem. He found them at Dothan, and when his brothers saw him approaching they planned to kill him. Reuben, however, took his part, and, in order to remove him from the fury of the others, advised them to throw Joseph into a pit (Gen. 37:13-24). He intended to rescue Joseph and return him to Jacob later.

Detailed accounts are given of the sale of Joseph, which immediately followed; according to one, the brothers, while eating at some distance from the pit, sighted a caravan of Ishmaelites, to whom they decided to sell Joseph. In the meantime some Midianite merchants passing the pit drew Joseph out and sold him for twenty pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took Joseph to Egypt (Gen. 37:25-28 ). The last statement is repeated in Gen. 39:1, while in Gen. 37:36 it is said that the Midianites (Hebr. "Medanites") sold him to Potiphar in Egypt. Midianites and Ishmaelites are interchangeable terms.

The evidence of Judges 8:24 is especially telling. The condition of being an Ishmaelites is associated with the wearing of a golden earring. This suggests that "Ishmaelites" was not a racial connotation, but a material one. It may be suggested that because Ishmael was a wanderer in the desert, the name was attached to those who were vagrant wanderers with no home base, as might attach themselves to trade caravans for protection. (One will notably not find "Ishmaelites" used in the Bible anywhere else except Ps. 83:6, which offers no discerning information other than that the Ishmaelites lived in tents.)

Imprisonment

Joseph Accused by Potiphar's Wife, by Rembrandt van Rijn, 1655.

In Potiphar's house Joseph fared well, for, seeing that he prospered in all that he did, his impressed master appointed him superintendent of his household. But Joseph was "a goodly person and well favored", and his master's wife conceived a passion for him. Her repeated advances being repulsed, she finally attempted compulsion; still failing, she brought a false accusation against him before her husband, and Joseph was thrown into prison.

There, too, God was with Joseph; the keeper of the prison, seeing that he could place confidence in him, committed the other prisoners to his charge (Gen. 39). Soon afterward, two of Pharaoh's officers, the chief butler and the chief baker, having offended the king, were thrown into the prison where Joseph was, and Joseph was appointed to serve them.

One morning both officers told Joseph their dreams of the previous night, which they themselves were unable to interpret. Joseph concluded from their dreams that the chief butler would be reinstated within three days and that the chief baker would be hanged. Joseph requested the chief butler to mention him to Pharaoh and secure his release from prison, but that officer, reinstalled in office, forgot Joseph (Gen. 40).

Joseph remained two years in prison, at the end of which period Pharaoh had an uneasy dream of seven lean kine devouring seven fat kine on the Nile, and of seven withered ears devouring seven full, ripe ears. Great importance was attached to dreams in Egypt, and Pharaoh was much troubled when his magicians proved unable to interpret them satisfactorily.

Then the chief butler remembered Joseph and spoke of his skill to Pharaoh. Accordingly he was sent for, and he interpreted Pharaoh's dream as foretelling that seven years of abundance would be followed by seven years of famine and advised the king to appoint some able man to store the surplus grain during the period of abundance. Pleased with his interpretation, Pharaoh made him viceroy over Egypt, giving him the Egyptian name of Zaphnath-paaneah and conferring on him other marks of royal favor.

Shortly afterwards, Joseph was married by Pharaoh to Asenath, the daughter of Potipherah, priest of On, through whom he soon had two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim (Gen. 41:1-52).

Viceroy of Egypt

During the seven years of abundance, Joseph amassed for the king a great supply of grain, which he sold to both Egyptians and foreigners (Gen. 41:48-49, 54-57). The famine, having extended to all the neighboring countries, caused Joseph's brothers, with the exception of Benjamin, to go to Egypt in search of wheat. Joseph recognized his brothers, who prostrated themselves before him and therein fulfilled, in part, his dreams. He received them roughly and accused them of being spies, thereby compelling them to give him information about their family.

Desiring to see Benjamin, Joseph demanded that they substantiate their statements by sending one of their number for Benjamin while the others remained behind. He accordingly imprisoned them for three days, and then sent them away with wheat, retaining Simeon as a hostage (Gen.42:1-25).

The famine in Canaan continuing, Jacob was again obliged to send his sons to Egypt for corn. As Joseph had commanded them not to appear before him again without Benjamin, Jacob was compelled to let Benjamin go with them. He sent also a present to Joseph in order to win his favor, together with the money which had been, by Joseph's orders, put into their sacks.

Revelation to brothers

The second time Joseph received them very kindly and prepared a feast for them, but paid special attention to Benjamin (Gen. xliii.). Desiring to know what his brothers would do if under some pretext he retained Benjamin, Joseph gave orders to fill their sacks with corn, put their money into their sacks, and put his silver goblet in Benjamin's. On the following morning the brothers departed, but before they had gone far a messenger overtook them, accusing them of stealing the goblet. The messenger searched their sacks and found the goblet in Benjamin's sack; this compelled them to return.

Joseph reproached them for what they had done, and Judah, speaking on behalf of his brothers, expressed their willingness to remain as slaves to Joseph. The latter, however, declined their offer, declaring that he would retain Benjamin only (Gen. 44:1-17).

Overcome by Judah's eloquent appeal (Gen. 44:18-34) and convinced of his brothers' repentance, Joseph disclosed himself to them. He inquired after his father, but as they were too much amazed and startled to answer him, he assured them that in treating him as they did they had been carrying out the will of God. He then urged them to return home quickly, loaded them with presents for his father, and supplied them with vehicles for the transportation of the whole family (Gen. 40).

Joseph met his father in the Land of Goshen. He recommended his brothers to represent themselves as shepherds so that they might remain in Goshen unmolested. Then he presented five of his brothers to Pharaoh, who granted them a domain in Goshen; and, after having introduced Jacob to Pharaoh, Joseph domiciled the whole family, at Pharaoh's command, "in the land of Ramesses", where he supplied them with all they needed (Gen. 44:29-47:12).

As a ruler, Joseph changed the system of land-tenure in Egypt. The famine being severe, the people first expended all their money in the purchase of corn, then they sold their cattle, and finally gave up their land. Thus all the cultivated land in Egypt, except that of the priests, became the property of the crown, and the people farmed it for the king, giving him one-fifth of the produce (Gen. 47:14-26).

Hearing of his father's sickness, Joseph went to him with his two sons, whom Jacob blessed, conferring upon Joseph at the same time one portion more than the portions of his brothers (Gen. 48). Joseph carried Jacob's remains to the land of Canaan, where he gave them stately burial. His brothers, fearing that he had only been waiting until after their father's death to avenge himself upon them, sent to implore his forgiveness. Joseph allayed their fears and promised that he would continue to provide for their wants.

He lived to the age of one hundred and ten, and saw his great-grandchildren grow up. Before his death, he made the children of Israel take an oath that when they left the land of Egypt they would take his bones with them. His body was embalmed and placed temporarily in a coffin. At the Exodus his bones accompanied Moses, and were finally buried in Shechem (Gen. l. 25; Ex. 13:19; Josh. 24:32).

Blessing

Jacob, before he died, blessed all his sons and included blessings for Joseph's sons. He first blessed Joseph's sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. Though Manasseh was the older brother, Jacob blessed Ephraim with a greater ambition than his older brother.

He then gave his blessing upon all his sons. Though he blessed them in order by their age, the blessing he gave Joseph was greater than the others:

'Joseph is a fruitful tree by a spring, whose branches climb over the wall. The archers savagely attacked him, shooting and assailing him fiercely, but Joseph's bow remained unfailing and his arms were tireless by the power of the Strong One of Jacob, by the name of the Shepherd of Israel, by the God of your father--so may he help you! By God Almighty--so may he bless you with the blessings of heaven above, and the blessings of the deep that lies below! The blessings of breast and womb and the blessings of your father are stronger than the blessings of the eternal mountains and the bounty of the everlasting hills. May they rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of him who was prince among his brother.' (Genesis 49:22-26)

Timeline

Kenneth Kitchen notes that the title of 'hery-per' or domestic servant which Joseph enjoyed in Potiphar's household was very popular "for the Old and Middle Kingdoms [of Egypt but] not usually later" in his 2003 book On the Reliability of the Old Testament. While no chariots were depicted in use during the Middle Kingdom this is not conclusive evidence that chariots were not employed by the late 13th Dynasty administration of Egypt's Middle Kingdom when a series of minor kings ruled Egypt. The Bible's comment that Joseph was in charge of the second chariot after the king and that he employed them for his everyday use—which presumably would make it very complicated to identify Joseph's time-period with the Middle Kingdom era (c.1991-1650 BC) is not inconsistent with the known archaeological facts. According to Kitchen, while "The chariot came in [use] not later than the Hyksos [era]; there is evidence for the horse [already] in the Thirteenth Dynasty (which is an indirect evidence for chariots, as they were initially not ridden but simply used to draw the latter.)" This can be deduced from "Horse remains of late Thirteenth Dynasty (just pre-Hyksos) [which] were found at the fortress of Buhen." Consequently, a position for Joseph in either the late Middle Kingdom or the Hyksos (c.1650-1540 BC) period of Egypt is plausible.

Chariots were likely employed as early as the start of the 15th Dynasty (c.1650 BC) when the Hyksos stormed Lower Egypt from Canaan and captured Memphis thereby ending the Egyptian Middle Kingdom around 1650 BC. The Hyksos are believed to have transformed Egyptian military technology by introducing the chariot and curved sword This would give Joseph a state position during the Hyksos Dynasty and explain the Bible's comment that the Hebrews sojourned in Egypt for about 400 years until the reign of Ramesses II (1279-1213 BC) who is commonly viewed as the Pharaoh of the Exodus. Even though chariots only officially became a separate entity in the Egyptian army from the reign of Tuthmosis IV onwards, a New Kingdom position for Joseph is not established here because chariots are known to have been used in battle in the reign of Ahmose I--the founder of Egypt's 18th Dynasty--rather than the reign of Thutmose I, who is the first known New Kingdom Pharaoh depicted riding an Egyptian chariot in a scarab.[1] Indeed, archaeological excavations of the remains of the Abydos mortuary temple of king Ahmose I in the 1990s have uncovered thousands of fragmentary reliefs depicting this pharaoh's battles against the Hyksos as well as the earliest known depiction of chariots in Egyptian warfare.[2] This discovery affirms the general view that it was the Hyksos who first brought the chariot into Egypt and permits Joseph to have enjoyed a high position in office during the 15th Hyksos Dynasty as opposed to the later native Egyptian 18th Dynasty. Ahmose merely used the Hyksos chariot against them. It should be stressed that the concept of an Egyptian chariot division is a modern convention: during the Hyksos and Middle Kingdom eras, few Pharaohs were concerned with the formalities of naming a new chariot division.

The price of 20 Shekels which was paid for Joseph's slavery in Mesopotamia also affirms a relative date for Joseph in the 18th or 17th Century BC. In his book, On the Reliability of the Old Testament, Kitchen writes:

"AT WHAT PRICE? (Paragraph Header)...the story of a young Joseph sold off [into slavery] into Egypt fits in easily, especially in the early second millennium, in the overall period of the late Twelfth/Thirteenth and Hyksos Dynasties. After a good haggle, his brothers got 20 shekels for their young brother (Gen. 37:28). This we know to be approximately the right price in about the eighteenth century. This is the average price (expressed as one-third of a mina) in the laws of Hammurabi (§§116,214,252) and in real-life transactions at Mari (exactly) and in other Old Babylonian documents (within a 15- to 30-shekel range, averaging 22 shekels). Before this period slaves were cheaper, and after it, they steadily got dearer, as inflation did its work...After the eighteenth/seventeenth centuries, prices duly rose. In fifteenth-century Nuzi and fourteenth/thirtenth-century Ugarit, the average crept up to 30 shekels and more. (cf. replacement price of 30 shekels in Exod. 21:32.) Then in the first millennium, male slaves in Assyria fetched 50 to 60 shekels."

The controversial Egyptologist David Rohl, in his book Pharaohs and Kings, proposes an alternate chronology for the Old Testament. Dr. Rohl believes that Joseph was vizier during the reign of Pharaoh Amenemhat III. Other writers have placed him even earlier, owing to the famous inscription from Upper Egypt mentioning a seven-year famine during the time of Pharaoh Djoser (Third Dynasty). Christian scholars point to Apopi, Thutmose III or Amenhotep III, the last of these being the father of the monotheistic "heretic" pharaoh Akhenaten, as a possible Joseph's Pharaoh.

According to the Bible the Hebrews only spent 215 years in Egypt. Jacob and his sons and his son's sons entered into Egypt approx in 1665BC and according to Exodus 6:16, 18 and 20 there are only four generations between Jacob and Moses.

Jacob Levi Kohath Amram Moses

Jacob, Levi and Kohath were already alive when they entered Egypt(Genesis 46:8-27). Kohath can't be more than 22 years old at this point(as he is not mentioned before Joseph was carried away to Egypt). And Amram married his half sister of his father Kohath. Amram's wife Jochebed was the half sister of Kohath the daughter of Levi. Levi lived 137 years. Assuming Levi fathered Jochebed the year of his death and Levi was 49 years old when Jacobs family moved to Egypt then the Hebrews had been living in Egypt for 88 years when Jochebed was born. The Hebrews lived in Egypt for 215 years. Moses was 80 years old at the time of the Exodus. 215 minus 80 equals 135. 135 minus 88 years equals 47 the age of Jochebed when Moses was born. I admit this all hangs on how old Levi was at the time of Jacob and family moving to Egypt but we know Joseph was 39 years old when Jacob moved to Egypt and Levi is older than Joseph.

The 430 and 400 years refers to the time God gave the promises to Abraham when he was 75 years and when Isaac was five years old. Egypt in Exodus 12:40 refers to the Hebrews sojourn in Canaan and Egypt. The Hykos and the Hebrews are not the same people but the pharaoe of Joseph was probably a Hykos king.

Christian view

Joseph is regarded as a saint by several Catholic churches. He is commemorated as one of the Holy Forefathers in the Calendar of Saints of the Armenian Apostolic Church on July 30. In the Eastern Orthodox Church and those Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Byzantine Rite, he is known as "Joseph the all-comely", a reference not only to his physical appearance, but more importantly to the beauty of his spiritual life. They commemorate him on the Sunday of the Holy Forefathers (two Sundays before Christmas) and on Holy and Great Monday (Monday of Holy Week). In icons, he is sometimes depicted wearing the nemes headdress of an Egyptian vizier. The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod commemorates him as a patriarch on March 31.

Joseph's life has been seen as a type of Jesus' death and resurrection.

Islamic view

Main article: Islamic view of Joseph

The story of Joseph or Yusuf as it is told in Qur'an has the same general outlines as the Biblical narrative; but in the Arabic account there is a wealth of accessory detail and incident. One significant departure in the Qur'anic account of the Joseph story is the use of an unspecified King in place of the Biblical Pharaoh. Joseph is regarded by Muslims as a prophet (Qur'an, suras vi. 84, xl. 36). He is also a type of manly beauty; so that one often finds the expression "a second Joseph", meaning one extraordinarily beautiful. He is likewise called the "Moon of Canaan." A great many public works in Egypt have been attributed to him. Some believe that he built the city of Memphis, and that he was instrumental in building the obelisks and pyramids. He also instructed the Egyptians in science. In the Qur'an a whole chapter (sura xii.) is devoted to Joseph; and the commentators add many details to this "best of stories" (sura xii. 3).

Zulaikha

Main article: Yusuf and Zulaikha

The Islamic story and the Arabic one are not the same, as the Arabic version contains supplementary detail which is not found in the Islamic tradition.

The story of Yusuf and Zulaikha is a favorite love-song in the East, and the Persian poet Firdowsi has written on the subject an epic which begins with Jacob's suit for Rachel. The narrative, however, among the Muslims is more than a simple love-tale. Their theologians use it to symbolize the spiritual love between God and the soul (D'Herbelot, "Bibliothèque Orientale", iii. 371). Zulaikha or Ra'il is the wife of Kitfir or Itfir (the Biblical Potiphar), through whose accusations, although they are proved to be false, Yusuf is thrown into prison. After his phenomenal rise to power, as he is passing through the street one day his attention is attracted by a beggar woman whose bearing shows traces of former greatness. Upon stopping to speak to her he discovers Zulaikha, who has been left in misery at the death of her husband. Yusuf causes her to be taken to the house of a relative of the king, and soon obtains permission to marry her, she having lost none of her former beauty nor any of her first love for him.

Other features in the Arabic history of Yusuf which are lacking in the Old Testament narrative, are the stories of Jacob and the wolf and of Joseph at his mother's tomb (contained in a manuscript at Madrid). After Joseph's brothers had returned to their father with the coat dipped in blood, Jacob was so prostrated that for several days he was as one dead. Then he began to wonder that the garment had no rents or marks of claws and teeth, and suspicions of the truth arose in his mind. To allay his doubts the brothers scoured the country and caught in a net a wolf, which they brought alive to their father. Jacob, after reproaching the wolf for its cruelty, asked it to relate how it came to commit so wicked a deed; whereupon Allah opened the mouth of the beast and it talked, disclaiming any connection with the death of Yusuf. It even expressed sympathy for the grieving father, saying that it had itself lost its own dear child. The patriarch was much affected by this tale, and entertained the wolf hospitably before sending it on its way with his blessing.

The story of Yusuf at his mother's tomb shows the boy's piety and forgiving nature. As the caravan bearing him to Egypt passed near his mother's grave Yusuf slipped away unnoticed and fell upon the tomb in an agony of tears and prayer. For this he was severely abused, whereupon a storm suddenly arose, making further progress impossible. Only when Yusuf had forgiven the offender did the storm disappear. This Poema de José was written in Spanish with Arabic characters by a Morisco, who had forgotten the language of his forefathers, but still remembered their traditions.

Differences of tradition

There are certain points in which the Islamic story differs from the Biblical. In the Qur'an the brothers ask Jacob to let Joseph go with them. The pit into which Joseph is thrown is a well with water in it, and Joseph was taken as a slave by passing-by travellers (Qur'an 12:19).

In one account, Joseph's face possessed such a peculiar brilliancy that his brothers noticed the different light in the sky as soon as he appeared above the edge of the well, and they came back to claim him as their slave. This same peculiarity was noticeable when they went to Egypt: although it was evening when they entered the city, his face diffused such a light that the astonished inhabitants came out to see the cause of it.

In the Bible, Joseph discloses himself to his brethren before they return to their father the second time after buying corn. The same in the Islamic story but they are compelled to return to Jacob without Benjamin, and the former weeps himself blind. He remains so until the sons have returned from Egypt, bringing with them Joseph's garment healed the patriarch's eyes as soon as he put it to his face (Qur'an 12:96).

In one Talmudic story, Joseph was buried in the Nile, as there was some dispute as to which province should be honored by having his tomb within its boundaries. Moses, led there by an ancient holy woman named Serach, was able by a miracle to raise the sarcophagus and to take it with him at the time of the Exodus. There is no mention of that in the Bible or the Qur'an.

House of Joseph

Main article: Tribe of Joseph

Yuya

Main article: Yuya

It has been suggested that Yuya, a court official of Egyptian Pharaoh Amenhotep III, was Joseph. Yuya is believed to have been of foreign origin. He was married to a woman named Tjuyu, and was the father of Amenhotep III's queen Tiye. If Amenhotep's successor Akhenaten is the father of Tutankhamen, that would make the boy king Yuya's great-grandson.

The problem is that Yuya's mummy has been found in his tomb in the Valley of the Kings, whereas Joseph is traditionally supposed to be buried in Joseph's Tomb in Nablus/Shechem. Nevertheless, Ahmed Osman, in his series of books connecting Egypt and Christianity, states firmly that he believes Yuya is Joseph.

Literature and culture

Thomas Mann retells the Genesis stories surrounding Joseph in his four novel omnibus, Joseph and His Brothers, identifying Joseph with the figure of Osarseph known from Josephus, and the pharaoh with Akhenaten.

Joseph figures prominently in Anita Diamant's novel The Red Tent, which retells the story of Dinah, his sister.

The musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is about Joseph's story.

The 1995 miniseries "The Bible: Joseph" is a dramatic retelling of the Biblical story of Joseph. It stars Paul Mercurio in the title role, and received an Emmy for Outstanding Miniseries.

In the video game "Castlevania: Symphony of the Night", there is an item called "Joseph's Cloak" which allows the player to change the colors of Alucard's cape.

In 2000, DreamWorks produced an animated film based on the story of Joseph called Joseph: King of Dreams.

Also currently a tv serial is broadcasting from IRIB which depicates his life.

See also

• Torah portions on Joseph: Vayeshev, Miketz, Vayigash, and Vayechi.

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)