Answer (1 of 13): There are thirteen persons in the Bible who bear the name Joseph. At last Rachel was able to have a child. Afterward, Joseph's family personally met the Pharaoh of Egypt. 2. Israel is another name for Jacob as, son of Isaac as. Moreover, Inter. This caused a stir amongst the brothers. [51] The remaining verses describe the migration of Jacob's family to Egypt and the emotional meeting of Jacob and his long lost son, Joseph. Joseph became the slave of Potiphar a very high official in Egypt. .". And as for Jacob, he never intended to have any other wife but Rachel and only ended up in this polygamous situation because of trickery he chose to be a polygamist because it would seem that a man who was willing to work a grand total of fourteen years for a woman evidently could not imagine living without her. Joseph was sworn to do as his father asked of him. As with Bilhahs offspring, Zilpahs children are claimed and named by Leah as her own. What does Ex 22:16-17 tell us about the rape of Dinah in Genesis, Episode 164: Purim 2023Honor, Shame and Two Brave Queens, Episode 163: Sociology IIReligion, Weird Science, and Practical Linguistics, Episode 162 Sociology I: Groupthink, Holy/Profane and Clean/Unclean, Episode 161: The Advent of John the Baptist in Luke, Episode 160: Special Teaching #1The Advent of the Messiah in Matthew, Challenging the "Everything is Pagan" Meme Culture, Infertility, Barreness, Miscarriage, Stillbirth and Child Loss. However, they agreed to be escorted back to Egypt. A midrash asked, How many times was Joseph sold? Is the word Bible pagan? The narrative also indicates that they went straight to Joseph or were directed to him, even by the Pharaoh himself (Genesis 41:3757). He even instructed them to take his bones with them. If, however, to the sixty-six Stephen added the wives of Jacob's sons', he could have legitimately reckoned Jacob's household as numbering seventy-five, instead of seventy. With Reuben and Judah's persistence, they persuaded their father to let Benjamin join them for fear of Egyptian retribution (Genesis 42:2943:15). In the time of the Exodus, Serah, daughter of Asher, showed Moses where the coffin was sunk. His favourite, Joseph, walked closely with God, heard from Him and had great discernment. Rabbah l.c). In the Bible, the name Joseph was first mentioned as the eleventh son of Jacob, and the For example, just before his death he predicted that God would visit the children of Israel and lead them out of Egypt and into the promised land. You can also subscribe without commenting. Joseph's brothers were motivated by fear. When he. But Joseph had taken Mary to be his wife (Matthew 1:20), and there is no suggestion that her role as Joseph's wife was in any way different from the role of any other wife. This also created rivalries between their sons. When we look at Jacobs situation, the >description< of it and how much sorrow and dysfunction followed, it's not for us to overlook all that and consider it as a prescription to do to our own family! Is Polygamy Really Biblical? Part of the problem with that verse is that it is almost always separated from the context of the verses before it the case of the woman taken as a prisoner of war, brought into a mans home and taken as a wife. At the end of that period, the Pharaoh had a strange dream which none of his advisers could interpret. Ephraim was one of the major northern tribes, just north of the territory of Judah. The sons of Leah; Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, and Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Zebulun: Genesis 29:32-35 And Leah conceived, and bare a son, and she called his name Reuben: for she said, Surely the LORD hath looked upon my affliction; now therefore my husband will love me A. degree from Wheaton College, and the B. D. and Th. He wept so loudly that even the Egyptian household heard it outside. But Judah pleaded for Benjamin, offering himself as a slave instead. 19The new king took advantage of our people, and mistreated our fathers. 'He shall add';[1] Standard: Ysef, Tiberian: Ysp; alternatively: ,[2][3] lit. He also equipped a considerable army, with which he marched to help the Ishmaelites against the Tarshishites (Gen. R. 90:5). When they were brought to Joseph's house, they were apprehensive about the returned money in their money sacks. 'Yahweh shall add'; Standard: Yhsef, Tiberian: Yhsp;[4] Arabic: , romanized:Ysuf; Ancient Greek: , romanized:Isph) is an important figure in the Bible's Book of Genesis. The younger daughter of Laban and wife of Jacob, Rachel is the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, who become two of the twelve tribes of Israel ( Gen 35:24; Gen 46:15-18). Really Bilhahs and Zilpahs lives would have looked bleak but they would have accepted it as their lot in life in ancient times people firmly believed that their conditions and station in life were pre-determined by the gods and hardly worth complaining about or trying to get out of. By way of background, the Bible tells us that God created the first man, Adam, out of dust, and then created Eve out of Adam's ribs (Genesis 2:7,22). Her maid Bilhah is ancestor of two more ( Gen 35:25; Gen 46:23-24). More rabbinical literature has been generated concerning him than any of the other sons of Jacob, and he is also a significant figure in Islamic tradition. He had fallen ill and lost most of his vision. Deceptively, Joseph also ordered the steward to put his silver cup in Benjamin's sack. Then Israel laid his left hand on the eldest Mannasseh's head and his right hand on the youngest Ephraim's head and blessed Joseph. Full Bible Timeline - section on the life of Jacob. Jacob's favoritism for Joseph made his half-brothers so jealous that they were ready to murder him (see Genesis 37). The sons by Leah (Jacob's first wife) were: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun. Mary and Joseph ended up in Bethlehem where the birth took place. Soon, the family took up residence in the town of Bethel and later moved to Hebron. In the interim, Joseph's mother died giving birth to his brother, Benjamin. Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah, and this made Leah sad. God blessed Leah with a firstborn son named Reuben. Response: We read in Genesis 41:45 that Pharaoh gave Joseph Osnat daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, to be his wife. Rather, he requested to be carried to the land of Canaan to be buried with his forefathers. yosef] to me another son." R. 14:16). 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. Joseph had good reasons not to have an affair with Potiphar's wife: he did not want to abuse his master's trust; he believed in the sanctity of marriage; and . How many wives did Joseph have in the Bible? 20. pseudo-Jonathan). "All Pharaoh's officials accompanied himthe dignitaries of his court and all the dignitaries of Egyptbesides all the members of Joseph's household and his brothers and those belonging to his father's household Chariots and horsemen also went up with him. Isaac had one wife. [15] Both men had dreams, and Joseph, being able to interpret dreams, asked to hear them. The Bible states that this name was given to Jacob as by God later in his life: "And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed." (Genesis 32:28 . The problem lies in the fact that the Hebrew word for wife, isha, is also the generic word for woman (we see this same phenomenon in Greek), and so Bilhah and Zilpah were given to Jacob as women who were there for the express purpose of bearing children otherwise known as concubines. This family, with its sordid history of deceit, jealousy, and . For an excellent read on many matters pertaining to women in the Bible (not all of which I agree with, of course), see Matthews, Victor H., Gender and Law in the Hebrew Bible and the Ancient Near East (1998) p 229 is directly relevant to this discussion. At this time, Joseph's father was 147 years old and bedridden. Full Bible Timeline - section on the life of Jacob. Joseph disguised his identity and devised a plot to bring the rest of the family to him: He accused them of being spies and imprisoned them for three days. So Joseph was reunited with his family, Stephen provided a brief summary of Josephs Story, Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-Paneah and gave him Asenath, daughter Joseph was sold by his brothers into slavery in Egypt (Genesis 37). Israel. Moses followed Joseph's pattern in rising from slavery to a position of royal favor in the court of the pharaohs, and would later lead the Israelites out of Egypt and back to the land of Canaan. The text says that they are Jacobs wives, and yet wives would retain ownership over their own children, so how can they be actual wives?. 38). popularly referred to as a "coat of many colors." He was present at Jacob's famous reconciliation with his brother Esau. Later we will learn a lot more about Joseph, because he became a very important person. Great article Tyler! The Haran controversy wrestles with the question of how long Abraham's grandson Jacob lived in Haran. (Genesis 30:24).[10][11]. Later we read, "His . He worked under the Egyptian official Potiphar but was freed and became the chief adviser (vizier) to the Egyptian Pharaoh. Here is the list lifted from my answer to Who was Joseph in the Bible? Upon their return to Egypt, the steward of Joseph's house received the brothers. well, that did go well. He could not control himself any longer and so he sent the Egyptian men out of the house. 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. The coffin thereupon floated up (Ex. Here, Potiphar's wife (called Zuleika in later tradition) tried to seduce Joseph, which he refused. Jacob's wife, were Joseph and Benjamin. The favoritism Israel showed Joseph and the plot against him by his brothers were divine means of getting him into Egypt. Tsaphenath Paneach", "Allusions to the Joseph Narrative in the Synoptic Gospels and Acts: Foundations of a Biblical Type", The Story of Joseph in the Babi and Baha'i Faiths, "The New Media Bible: Book of Genesis (Video 1979)", "Jewish religious life in the Persian period", The Composition of Genesis 37: Incoherence and Meaning in the Exposition of the Joseph Story, "The Odyssey and the myth of Joseph; Autolykos and Jacob", "Strange Bedfellows: Politics and Narrative in Philo", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Joseph_(Genesis)&oldid=1142074895, 1979, New Media Bible Genesis Project (TV)-cap. Why did Jacob go to paddan? The baker's dream was about three baskets full of bread for the Pharaoh, and birds were eating the bread out of those baskets. www.simplybible.com Copyright Ron Graham 2001 2018, "the ten thousands of Ephraim and the thousands of Manasseh", "By faith Joseph, when he was dying, said confidently that the children of Israel would leave Egypt. 2. [48] Similarly, the eldest son of Jacob had decided not to leave the land because of the oath taken to protect Benjamin beforehand. He wanted to know if they would be willing to risk danger in order to save their half brother Benjamin. According to the biblical account, Joseph was the son of Jacob by Rachel, the patriarch's favorite wife (Gen. 30:23, 24), who, on the occasion of Joseph's birth, said, "The Lord shall add [Heb. He was also the first born of his mother Rachel, whom his father loved more than any of his wives and made Joseph Jacob's favorite son (Genesis 29-30:24; Genesis 37:1-4). Matthew 1:25 says, "But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son" (emphasis added). Both women had a crisis of identity Rachel wasnt a mother and Leah wasnt really a wife in her own eyes. I think Ill stick with my one wife (Staci) of 23 years. pseudo-Jonathan), protecting her from the lustful eyes of Esau (Gen. R. 78:13). He is Jacob's favorite (Genesis 37:3). They may have been: (1) the sons of Mary, the mother of Jesus, and Joseph (the most natural inference); (2) sons of the Mary named in Mark 15:40 as "mother of James and Joses", whom Jerome identified with the wife of Clopas and sister of Mary the mother of Jesus; or (3) sons of Joseph by a former marriage. The genealogy of Jesus in the New Testament traces Jesus' ancestry lineally, from Abraham to David, and then from David to Jesus. Leah. Joseph (/dozf, -sf/; Hebrew: , lit. How many children did Mary have after Jesus? Joseph was born the 11 th of 12 sons to his father Jacob. [29] Maimonides comments that even the villager in Shechem, about whom Joseph inquired his brother's whereabouts, was a "divine messenger" working behind the scene.[30]. As Zipporah was a Midianite, calling her a Kusite makes absolute sense. Yes and No. Although this very well may offend our modern sensibilities, Zilpah and Bilhah had a better life than they had hoped for, in the end. Joseph settled Jacob's growing clan with Pharaoh's blessing in the Land of Goshen (Gen. 47:29). Stories about Jacob in the Bible begin at Genesis 25:19. Josephs ability to interpret dreams got him out of jail and into great favour with Pharoah. This was Joseph's full brother, Benjamin. In the Yahwist version Joseph is sold to Ismaelites, while in the Elohist (E) narrative it is Midianites who buy him. When he regained control of himself, he returned and ordered a meal to be served. Zulaikha is the wife of Kitfir (the Biblical Potiphar), through whose accusations Yusuf is thrown into prison. But Israel refused saying, "but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he," a declaration he made just as Israel himself was to his firstborn brother Esau. 42-45), Jacob, his sons, and all of his descendants moved to Egypt to be with Joseph. As a result, he was envied by his half-brothers. The composition of the story can be dated to the period between the 7th century BCE and the third quarter of the 5th century BCE, which is roughly the period to which scholars date the Book of Genesis. He is the favourite son of the patriarch Jacob, and his jealous brothers sell him into slavery in Egypt, where he eventually ends up incarcerated. Unaware of this secondary intention, the others obeyed him first. The story of Joseph or Yusuf as it is told in Arabic literature has the same general outlines as the Biblical narrative; but in the Arabic account there is a wealth of accessory detail and incident. Convinced of his brothers' repentance and overcome with emotion, Joseph finally revealed himself to them. 'ewe') was a Biblical figure, the favorite of Jacob's two wives, and the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the . He comforted them and their ties were reconciled. How many children did Jacob have? Joseph and Asenath. Muhammad is believed to have once said, "One half of all the beauty God apportioned for mankind went to Joseph and his mother; the other one half went to the rest of mankind. After the (presumed) death of Joseph, we read, "All of his [Jacob's] sons and daughters got up to comfort him . Jacob therefore let the wolf go. . The family prostrated before him hence the fulfilment of his dream aforetime.[52]. Esau. [45] Joseph is thrown into a well, and was taken as a slave by a passing caravan. Our President, Mr . Scripture doesn't tell us much about Asenath, the wife of Joseph, the son of Jacob. Joseph would have been approximately six years old when his family returned from Haran to Canaan. Following the prediction, Joseph became Vizier, under the name of Zaphnath-Paaneah (Hebrew: pna Pana),[e][19] and was given Asenath, the daughter of Potipherah, priest of On,[f] to be his wife. Although Bilhahs and Zilpahs children ranked lower than Leahs biological children (as Joseph will prove with his behavior later on) and Rachels future children, they were officially counted as the sons of the wives, not as the sons of the concubines. during the Egyptian Middle Kingdom, to a later time during the Hyksos Era (16481540 B.C.E. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Please consider supporting this ministry, which is offered free of charge in order to help newcomers understand Biblical context and develop good spiritual fruit. [53] These come in the forms of allusions written by the Bb and Bah'u'llh. As Jacob's favorite son, he received from his father a coat of many colors, which made his brothers jealous to . As Jacob's name became synonymous with all Israel, so that of Joseph was eventually equated with all the tribes that made up the northern kingdom. Abravanel explains that she had accused other servants of the same crime in the past. | The Hub Gad and Asher: On the heels of Rachel's entry into the battle of the babies, Leah decided to give her maid, Zilpah to Jacob ( Genesis 30:9-12 ). During the seven years of abundance, Joseph ensured that the storehouses were full and that all produce was weighed. Confronting Pseudo-archaeological memes Pt 4: Was Byblos the Goddess of Writing? 10God saved Joseph from all his afflictions, and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. 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 . During this period of famine, Joseph's brothers, except for Benjamin, also came down to Egypt to buy grain. [26][27] The plot begins by showing Joseph as a dreamer; this leads him into trouble as, out of jealousy, his brothers sell him into slavery. The majority of modern scholars agree that the Joseph story is a Wisdom novella constructed by a single author and that it reached its current form in the 5th century BCE at the earliest. He became the second most powerful man in all Egypt. The story concludes by Joseph praying, "My lord you have indeed bestowed upon me of the sovereignty and taught me something of the interpretation of dreams- the (only) creator of heavens and the earth! Joseph is commemorated as one of the Holy Forefathers in the Calendar of Saints of the Armenian Apostolic Church on 26 July. [28] Impressed with Joseph's interpretations, Pharaoh appoints him as second-in-command (Gen 41:41). Since Joseph and Benjamin were born from Rachel, this test was necessary to reveal if they would betray Benjamin as they did with Joseph when he was seventeen.
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