[5], In rabbinic tradition, he is considered the ancestor of a second Messiah called "Mashiach ben Yosef", who will wage war against the forces of evil alongside Mashiach ben David and die in combat with the enemies of God and Israel. We think of it differently, because we simply cannot imagine a maidservant being willing or even eager to consent to such an arrangement but when we look at it in terms of the times you will see a poor woman who was a servant, probably sold by her impoverished father to Labans family because he had no money to get her married off not out of coldness but because if he died without seeing her provided for her only options were starvation or prostitution; she was resigned to perhaps never marrying, or if she did it would be to another servant, to give birth to servants. When Rachel had successfully provided Jacob with an heir, Leah felt her position was tenuous. 11Then a famine came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, causing great affliction. At this time, Joseph's father was 147 years old and bedridden. These children are the offspring of four different women, Leah and Rachel, his wives, and Zilpah and Bilhah, their respective handmaids. The Lutheran ChurchMissouri Synod commemorates him as a patriarch on 31 March. The next two instances of dream interpretation establish his reputation as a great interpreter of dreams; first, he begins in a low place, interpreting the dreams of prisoners. Joseph is between 39 and 56 years old. 13When they went the second time Joseph was recognized by his brothers, and Josephs origins were revealed to Pharaoh. (Acts 7:9-13). At last Rachel was able to have a child. Joseph had his father embalmed, a process that took forty days. R. 14:16). 42-45), Jacob, his sons, and all of his descendants moved to Egypt to be with Joseph. 17:1; 1 Ne. 16Their remains were brought back to Shechem, and laid in the tomb that Abraham, for a price in silver, purchased from the children of Hamor in Shechem. (Acts 7:14-16). They were rapacious, while Joseph never enjoyed anything that was not his (Zeb. Though Manasseh was the older brother, Jacob placed his right hand on Ephraim, the younger, and gave him the greater blessing. Answer and Explanation: Joseph has one wife, Asenath the daughter of Potiphar the priest of On, whom he marries in Egypt. 2:1; 2 Ne. After correctly interpreting the dreams of Pharaoh, however, he rises to second-in-command in Egypt and saves Egypt during a famine. He then gave his blessing upon all of his sons, and the blessing he gave to Joseph was the greatest of all: Joseph's sons Ephraim and Manasseh multiplied to become two separate tribes of Israel. This also created rivalries between their sons. [42] Joseph is said to have been extremely handsome, which attracted his Egyptian master's wife to attempt to seduce him. Joseph was fully trusted by his master, Potiphars wife took a fancy to Joseph, but he refused to sin with her. It served a specific societal function within a context that no longer exists (much like the need for Levirate marriage). Israel declared that they would be heirs to the inheritance of the house of Israel, as if they were his own children, just as Reuben and Simeon were. Joseph's half-brothers were jealous of him; (Genesis 37:1820) wherefore, in Dothan, most of them plotted to kill him, with the exception of Reuben,[12][13] who suggested to have Joseph thrown into an empty cistern, intending to rescue Joseph himself. So they named this spot Abel Mizraim. Joseph, son of Jacob and Rachel, lived in the land of Canaan with ten half-brothers, one full brother, and at least one half-sister. When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel commanded him to do. To the modern proponents of polygamy (as opposed to Biblical polygamy, which was entirely different), our forefather Jacob is the shining example after all, he had four wives right? Convinced of his brothers' repentance and overcome with emotion, Joseph finally revealed himself to them. The majority opinion of the rabbis is that Joseph always kept in mind his father and brothers. The community seems to confuse quite often what is description vs prescription. They were directed into the province of Goshen and Joseph readied his chariot to meet his father there. Both were born after their mothers had been barren for a long time. People just cherry pick with the descriptions to determine prescriptives without studying out the matter. Short answer: Jacob worked 7 years for Laban before he married his two wives, Leah and Rachel.Long answer: Jacob worked 7 years to pay . The brothers were frozen and could not utter a word. As Zipporah was a Midianite, calling her a Kusite makes absolute sense. Joseph is represented as a perfectly righteous man (tzadik gamur) and as the counterpart of his father Jacob. (note that the second wife is only permissibly taken in response to barrenness), [146] If a man take a wife and she give this man a maid-servant as wife and she bear him children, and then this maid assume equality with the wife: because she has borne him children her master shall not sell her for money, but he may keep her as a slave, reckoning her among the maid-servants. Because she was now barren (for whatever reason), she was in the legal position to give her own maidservant to Jacob as another woman, concubine. When the steward caught up with the brothers, he seized them and searched their sacks. Rachel had the perfectly acceptable legal recourse in those days to provide her husband with a surrogate, and according to the laws of the surrounding nations, any child borne by the concubine would be counted as coming from her which is exactly why Rachel, and not Bilhah, named the boys. The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him: But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob (From thence is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel), Even by the God of your father who shall help thee; and by the Almighty who shall bless thee With blessings of heaven above, Blessings of the deep that lieth under, Blessings of the breasts and of the womb. Both were met by angels at various times (Gen. R. 84:6; Num. Even though I never watched either Big Love or Sister Wives, I knew about people who lived like this and I will bet that anyone who lives in certain parts of certain western states can tell you the same thing. You can also subscribe without commenting. John 10:30) is hen and the word used by Paul in those instances is mia. Great article Tyler! [41], Joseph (Arabic: , Ysuf) is regarded by Muslims as a prophet (Quran, suras vi. After Joseph rejected the attempts of Potiphar's wife to seduce him, she accused him of attempted rape, and he was cast into the state prison (Gen. 39:40), where he became the most trusted inmate and remained for at least two years. Israel. 13. Modern critics have made various estimates of the historical worth of these narratives of Joseph. According to the Documentary Hypothesis Joseph's toy is a combination of two or more versions which were later combined into the current narrative. When he returned, the Vizier took Simeon and bound him as a hostage. Deceptively, Joseph also ordered the steward to put his silver cup in Benjamin's sack. Her father contracted with her husbands father that she would be a wife in that house, that she would provide heirs to the house who would have rights to his share of the inheritance. Afterward, Joseph's family personally met the Pharaoh of Egypt. yosef] to me another son." (Gen. 30:24) He was born in Padan-aram when Jacob was about 90 years old. Now Jacob had twelve sons. When they met, they embraced each other and wept together for quite a while. Joseph, son of Jacob and Rachel, lived in the land of Canaan with ten half-brothers, one full brother, and at least one half-sister. Jacob is between 130 and 147 years old. On the third day, he brought them out of prison to reiterate that he wanted their youngest brother brought to Egypt to demonstrate their veracity. of Potiphera, priest of On, to be his wife, Jacob, before he died, gave his blessing to Josephs two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. Loads of love from me my sister Wisdom Speaks. We passed on to Zilpah, and they noticed it again Gad is Leahs son!, Very good, I smiled. (Genesis 50:1521), Joseph lived to the age of 110, living to see his great-grandchildren. What about the Ethiopian woman that Moses took as a wife in Numbers 12:1? Here, their lamentation was so great that it caught the attention of surrounding Canaanites who remarked "This is a deep mourning of the Egyptians." Then he revealed to the Hebrews that he was in fact their brother, Joseph. | Alpha Index The Wives of Jacob's Sons (xxxiv. At the age 30, Joseph married Asenath, the daughter of the priest of Heliopolis. Abraham then died at 175 years of age (25 . (Genesis 47:147:12) The family was then settled in Goshen. According to Legend of the Jews, the name of Potiphar's wife is Zuleikha and when she was enticing Joseph to give up to her sinful passion, God appeared unto him, holding the foundation of earth (Eben Shetiyah), that He would destroy the world if Joseph touched her. Some of those women were also married to friends of his.Nov 11, 2014 20 And to Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Poti-Pherah priest of On, bore to him. And Jo. The words do not share the same lemma and so are unrelated. 19The new king took advantage of our people, and mistreated our fathers. [53] These come in the forms of allusions written by the Bb and Bah'u'llh. [35] This tendency is represented in John Chrysostom who said that Joseph's suffering was "a type of things to come",[36] Caesarius of Arles who interpreted Joseph's famous coat as representative of the diverse nations who would follow Christ,[37] Ambrose of Milan who interpreted the standing sheaf as prefiguring the resurrection of Christ,[38] and others. Ultimately, Joseph was sold to Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh's guard (Genesis 37:36, Genesis 39:1). According to the Old Testament, Jacob was the younger twin brother of Esau, who was the ancestor of Edom . Why did Jacob go to paddan? His brothers did not understand his spirituality and saw him as a threat. Joseph's own remains were reportedly taken by Moses with the Israelites during the Exodus (Exodus 13:19) and later buried at Shechem (Joshua 24:32). These are the generations of Jacob. Similar theories are propounded to explain confusion in the narrative's parallel accounts of his slavery and imprisonment, as well as his and reunion(s) with his brothers, with Benjamin present in one, and absent in another. Indeed the name Potiphar may even be a version of Merenptah's name (Poti = Ptah, Phar = Pharaoh). Joseph was sold by his brothers into slavery in Egypt (Genesis 37). The later reunion of Joseph with Jacob (Israel), though anti-climactic after two previous reunions with his brothers, is one of the most poignant in the Bible. [46], In the Bible, Joseph discloses himself to his brethren before they return to their father the second time after buying grain. Elkannah had two women but again, one of them was barren so I suspect that Peninah was a concubine. | Fact Sheet Index Pseudo-Jonathan to Gen. 1:26). Response: We read in Genesis 41:45 that Pharaoh gave Joseph Osnat daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, to be his wife. 25 Rachel's servant Bilhah's sons were Dan and Naphtali. Jacob lives in Egypt for seventeen years after his arrival (Genesis 47:28). Particularly galling is Jacob's reaction to Rachel the wife whom he loves deeply when she cannot become pregnant. Bilhah, they replied. Isaac had one wife. Could Paul have been saying that the husband and wife need to be one (Hebrew echad) instead of limiting a man to one wife? The motif of dreams/dream interpretation contributes to a strong story-like narrative. They stopped at Atad where they observed seven days of mourning. Joseph named his eldest Manasseh ('to forget' in Hebrew) because "God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father's household," while his younger son was named Ephraim ('to be fruitful') "because God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering." (Genesis 41 . They also discovered that all of their money sacks still had money in them, and they were dismayed. ", "The bones of Joseph which the children of Israel had brought up from the land of Egypt, they buried at Shechem in the plot of ground that Jacob had purchased from the sons of Hamor". After they had consumed all of the grain that they brought back from Egypt, Jacob told his sons to go back to Egypt for more grain. I love reading and studying from you. The time of the promises to Abraham spans the generations of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In Jewish tradition, Joseph was the progenitor of the northern tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, named for his two sons. JOSEPH. Both the term "Joseph" and the term "Ephraim" were also frequently used by the biblical writers to refer to the norther tribes generally or to the later northern kingdom, usually called Israel. [28] Impressed with Joseph's interpretations, Pharaoh appoints him as second-in-command (Gen 41:41). Isaac, the son of Abraham , was married to Rebecca for many years before being blessed with children. selling him to an Ishmaelite trade caravan. display: none !important; As a last resort, all of the inhabitants of Egypt, less the Egyptian priestly class, sold their properties and later themselves (as slaves) to Joseph for seed; wherefore Joseph set a mandate that, because the people would be sowing and harvesting seed on government property, a fifth of the produce should go to the Pharaoh. Israel (Jacob) agreed to his son's invitation to move to Egypt and began the journey to see Joseph. . The levirate marriage was for the purpose of providing a woman with offspring and so if a man was already married, he could still perform the levirate function and she would be provided for with her dead husbands share of the inheritance, which then belongs to her son (or daughter, because the Torah also says that if a man dies and has only daughters they can inherit so that his name and inheritance will not pass from Israel). Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. Legacy. Joseph understood what they were saying and removed himself from their presence because he was caught in emotion. Our fathers found no food. 17As the time of the promise drew near, the promise that God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt. (Genesis 49:3350:14), After their father died, the brothers of Joseph feared retribution for being responsible for Joseph's deliverance into Egypt as a slave. Who is Dans mom? I asked. And as it was budding, its blossoms came out and they produced grapes. Half of Manasseh's tribe settled east of the Jordan, while the other half settled west of it. When they were brought to Joseph's house, they were apprehensive about the returned money in their money sacks. These were the 11 sons that were born to Jacob when he lived with Rachel's father Laban. Her maid Bilhah is ancestor of two more ( Gen 35:25; Gen 46:23-24). 14. Who was Jacob's first wife? Jacob's favoritism for Joseph made his half-brothers so jealous that they were ready to murder him (see Genesis 37). It was the first successful production in the career of Andrew Lloyd Webber. pseudo-Jonathan), protecting her from the lustful eyes of Esau (Gen. R. 78:13). This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. 3. She has seen her sister Leah bear Jacob three sons (presumably within three years), and can no longer take the pain of being the barren wife. Some declare that during the 22 years he was away from home he drank no wine (Shab. Through his father, he also has six half-brothers: Dan and Naphtali (whose . Esau. Genesis 41:45 says that after Joseph interpreted the dreams of Pharaoh 45 Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphnath-paaneah; and he gave him to wife Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On. 5 Bibliography. 38). He was present at Jacob's famous reconciliation with his brother Esau. Joseph Born in the wilderness, he was the youngest son in the family. Isaac had one wife. Joseph did very well with Gods help. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Josephs ability to interpret dreams got him out of jail and into great favour with Pharoah. 84, xl. As a result, he was envied by his half-brothers. Jacob became greatly distressed, feeling deprived of successive sons: Joseph, Simeon, and (prospectively) Benjamin. The narrative describes his emotional reaction upon seeing Benjamin: "Deeply moved at the sight of his brother, Joseph hurried out and looked for a place to weep.