Joseph - Son of Jacob

Joseph's own remains were reportedly taken by Moses with the Israelites during the Exodus Exodus Jacob , before he died, blessed each of his sons and two of his grandsons, the two sons of Joseph. Indeed, he blessed Joseph's sons before all the rest. Though Manasseh was the older brother, Jacob placed his right hand on Ephraim, the younger, and gave him the greater blessing. 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.

Ephraim was one of the major northern tribes, just north of the territory of Judah. Half of Manasseh's tribe settled east of the Jordan, while the other half settled west of it. The two halves of Manasseh were often treated as two separate units in the biblical account. 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.

Joseph occupies a very important place in Rabbinical literature, and no patriarch was the subject of so many Midrashic traditional narratives. Joseph is represented as a perfectly righteous man tzadik gamur and as the counterpart of his father Jacob. Not only did Joseph resemble his father in appearance, but the main incidents of their lives were parallel. Both were born after their mothers had been barren for a long time.

Both were hated by their brothers. Both were met by angels at various times Gen. Joseph is also extolled by the rabbis for being a prophet , and for supporting his brothers. One tradition holds that Jacob's other children came into the world only for Joseph's sake.

It was because of his virtue that the children of Israel passed over the Red Sea and the Jordan dry-shod Gen.

When Joseph and his mother bowed to Esau Gen. After being beaten by his brethren, Joseph was thrown by Simeon into a pit, among serpents and scorpions; but Joseph prayed to God and the reptiles retired to their holes Targ. When Joseph's half-brothers reached home after selling him, Jacob ordered them to arm themselves and capture the beast that had supposedly killed Joseph. They returned with a wolf, but when Jacob began to reproach the beast for its cruelty, the wolf answered, in human language, that she had not committed the crime, and that she herself was searching for her lost cub. Jacob therefore let the wolf go.

Joseph, son of Jacob/Israel

Jacob did not wholly believe that Joseph was dead, because he could not forget him, while the dead are soon forgotten. In Egypt, Joseph's character was antithetical to that of all the other slaves. They were rapacious, while Joseph never enjoyed anything that was not his Zeb.

Some rabbis, however, charged Joseph with vanity, saying that, even before being sold, he took too much pains with his personal appearance Gen. God punished him, therefore, by setting against him Potiphar's wife Gen. Certain rabbis declared that Joseph was ready to yield to his mistress, but that his father's image suddenly appeared to him and called him to his duty Sotah 36b; Gen. When Joseph interpreted Pharaoh 's dreams, the king asked him for a sign by which he might know that his interpretation was true. Joseph then told him that the queen, who was about to be delivered of a child, would give birth to a son, but that at the same time another of the king's sons, two years of age, would die—all of which came to pass exactly as Joseph predicted.

As the king's appointed viceroy, Joseph built himself a magnificent palace, placing in it a great number of slaves. He also equipped a considerable army, with which he marched to help the Ishmaelites against the Tarshishites Gen. He stored up in Egypt all the gold and silver of the world, and it was carried away by the Israelites when they left Egypt. According to another tradition, Joseph placed the gold and silver in three hidden treasuries, of which one was discovered by the Israelite villain Korah; one by the Roman Antoninus, son of Severus; and one yet undiscovered, which is being kept for the righteous in the future world Pes.

Sefer ha-Yashar , section Wayiggash. The majority opinion of the rabbis is that Joseph always kept in mind his father and brothers. Some declare that during the 22 years he was away from home he drank no wine Shab. Despite his wealth, most rabbis represent him as very modest, and was not vain of his power Ex. Knowing that his brothers would come to buy grain, Joseph gave orders that nobody should be permitted to enter until he had given in writing his own and his father's names. According to most rabbinical authorities, Joseph's coffin was sunk in the Nile Targ.

In the time of the Exodus , Serah, daughter of Asher, showed Moses where the coffin was sunk. Moses threw a pebble into the water there and cried out: Joseph's story is recounted in some detail in the New Testament , during Saint Stephen's speech before the Sandhedrin in Acts 7. His prophetic powers are sited as an example of "faith" in Hebrews Frightened, Joseph ran from the house. Later, Potiphar's wife showed her husband the coat and claimed that Joseph had tried to seduce her.

The outraged Potiphar sent Joseph to prison. While in prison, the apparently likeable Joseph gained the friendship of the chief jailor, who placed Joseph in charge of all of the other prisoners. Two of the other prisoners included the Pharoah's butler and baker. One night, both of these men had strange, disturbing dreams, so they went to Joseph, who seemed to possess the ability to interpret dreams. Joseph told the butler that his dream meant that he would soon be released from prison and return to his previous position.

Only three days later, the interpretation came true. As the butler was leaving, Joseph asked him to put in a good word for him to the Pharoah. The butler agreed, but later forgot about Joseph. However, two years later, the Pharoah experienced troubling dreams that his magicians could not interpret. The butler remembered Joseph and told Pharaoh about him.

Pharaoh sent for Joseph. By now, Joseph was thirty years old. He listened to the Pharoah's dream and told the ruler that the dream predicted seven years of feast that would be followed by seven years of famine. In addition to the interpretation, he offered advice. He suggested that the Pharoah place a wise man in charge of all of the land who would organize the gathering and storage of food in preparation for the upcoming years of famine.

The Pharoah was so impressed with Joseph's advice that he elevated the former prisoner to his second-in-command. Essentially, Joseph became that "wise man" who would plan for the famine. He was in placed in charge of gathering and storing grain for the upcoming famine, and his duties took him to cities all throughout Egypt. For his new position, Joseph received a ring, a gold necklace and fine clothes. Also, the Pharaoh gave him the Egyptian name Zaphenath-paneah and gave him a wife, Asenath, who was the daughter of the priest Potiphera. During these years, Asenath and Joseph had two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.

When the famine struck, it was widespread, and Egypt was the only country that had food. Joseph rationed grain to Egyptians and to outsiders who came seeking help. Canaan was one of many places affected by the famine, so Jacob sent his ten sons to Egypt to buy food. After Joseph's disappearance, Rachel and Jacob had one more son, Benjamin, but he remained behind, as Joseph was concerned about his safety. When the brothers reached Egypt, they bowed down to Joseph, unaware of who he was. Joseph recognized his brothers but pretended he did not.

Joseph interrogated them and accused them of being spies. To try and prove their innocence, the brothers revealed they had a younger brother back home, and that they were concerned for his safety. Joseph imprisoned the brothers for three days then demanded that they go home and bring back their youngest brother, to prove they were telling the truth.

The brothers consulted among themselves and said that they knew they were finally being punished for what they had done to their brother Joseph. Joseph overheard them and wept, but he continued his deception. He gave the brothers provisions for their journey and grain for their homeland, but he kept Simeon in jail, to ensure his brothers' return.

He also returned to them the money they had paid, but he did it without their knowledge, slipping the money into one of the brother's bags. Back home, the brothers told Jacob what happened in Egypt and asked that Benjamin be allowed to accompany them. He had already lost Joseph, and now it looked as if he lost Simeon as well. He did not want to lose another son. Reuben promised that Jacob could kill his own sons if he did not return safely with Benjamin.

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Eventually, the rations ran out, and the brothers had no choice but to return to Egypt for more supplies. Jacob sent the brothers back to Egypt with Benjamin, along with a gift for Joseph and twice the amount of money needed to repay Joseph for the money he returned to them during the first trip. When the brothers reached Egypt, Joseph took them to the entrance of his house and instructed his servant to prepare a meal.

The brothers were frightened. They feared that Joseph believed they had stolen the money that they had found in their bag at the end of the first trip. But Joseph only told them that God must have put it there because he received their payment. The brothers then went inside and waited to eat. When Joseph returned, they gave him the gifts and bowed to him. He asked about their father. Bowing again, they said he was well. Soon, Joseph became overwhelmed with emotion, and he left the room. Then he came back and they all dined. He then instructed his servant to fill the brothers' bags with food, return each one's money a second time, and put his own silver goblet in Benjamin's bag.

When the brothers left Egypt, Joseph's servant chased after them and accused them of stealing Joseph's goblet. He said that whoever had the goblet in his possession would be kept as a slave, while the others would go free.

Genesis 37

He found the goblet in Benjamin's bag. The brothers returned to Egypt and threw themselves at Joseph's feet, begging on Benjamin's behalf. But Joseph insisted that only Benjamin would become a slave. Judah pleaded passionately with Joseph, revealing Jacob's reluctance to send Benjamin and of his own responsibility in the matter. He told of the sorrow that Benjamin's loss would bring to Jacob. Finally, Joseph could not continue with the deception. He revealed his true identity. Then, Joseph again asked about his father. The brothers were too stunned to reply. Joseph explained that he was not angry with them.

He sent them home with instructions to tell Jacob what really had become of his beloved son Joseph. In addition, he wanted them to bring Jacob and his household to the nearby town of Goshen, where Joseph could care for all of them during the remainder of the famine. All of the brothers then wept and kissed. When the brothers revealed the news to their father, Jacob initially did not believe them.

But after he saw the wagons and provisions Joseph had provided, he knew it was all true. Then Jacob, at age , set out for Goshen with the 70 members of his household. The brothers were placed in charge of the Pharoah's livestock. They now lived in Ramses, the richest part of Egypt, and Joseph provided them with food.

Eventually as the famine continued, and the Egyptian economy became endangered, Joseph established a just arrangement with the people, where they were supplied with seed and would return one-fifth of their crops to the Pharoah. All farmland became nationalized, and the people became serfs. After Jacob had lived in Egypt for 17 more years, he asked Joseph to bury him not in Egypt but in the burial place of his fathers, in the cave of Machpelah.

For Jacob knew that he was sick and dying. Before he passed away, he gave an extra portion of his inheritance to Joseph, a custom usually reserved for the first born. Jacob then blessed Joseph's sons and all of his own sons, saving the longest blessing for Joseph. After Jacob passed away, the Egyptians mourned for seventy days, and Joseph returned to Canaan to bury his father. Upon Jacob's death, the brothers feared that Joseph would finally take his revenge on them.

They tried to convince Joseph that, before he died, Jacob had told them to tell Joseph that he wanted him to forgive them. They even offered to be his slaves. But the ruse and the offer were both unnecessary. Joseph told them that God had always intended that he go to Egypt, to save many people. Therefore, he intended to take care of his brothers, their children, and his father's household. Joseph reportedly lived to be one-hundred-and-ten years old. He resided in Egypt with his brothers and their families until he died.

He had many grandchildren and great-grandchildren from his sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. Before Joseph died, he told his brothers that God would raise them up from Egypt—meaning the Jewish people—and take them to the "promised land. According to accounts, when the Jews finally left Egypt, about one hundred years later, Moses carried out Joseph's bones. Eventually, Joseph was buried in Shechem, on a piece of land that Jacob had once owned. Joseph's two sons became the ancestors of two large and important tribes in Israel.

The northern Israelite kingdom is often times called the "House of Joseph. Today, among scholars, the story of Joseph is considered historical fact and not allegorical historical fiction. The recorded story reveals numerous verifiable details about Egypt, particularly the Hyksos period, when the Pharaohs tended to be Semitic foreigners. That would explain how a Semite such as Joseph would attain such a high position in Egypt.

In addition, historical records reveal a significant economic change taking place during the Hyksos period.

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This change can easily be accounted for by details from the story of Joseph. Further, Egyptian monuments illustrate many details of the story of Joseph. Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. Retrieved December 03, from Encyclopedia. Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list. Because each style has its own formatting nuances that evolve over time and not all information is available for every reference entry or article, Encyclopedia.

The American Indian Joseph ca. Joseph was born in the Wallowa Valley of northeastern Oregon. The commissioners were disconcerted by Joseph, who stood 6 feet tall, was amicable but firm, and spoke with amazing eloquence. Despite the obvious fraudulence of the old treaty, President Ulysses S.

White settlers moved onto the land and committed atrocities against the Indians. Against his will, Joseph was forced by his tribesmen to fight. Pressed hard by Gen. Oliver Otis Howard 's forces, Joseph was convinced that he could not win and began a lengthy withdrawal toward Canada. Pursued by Howard and harassed by many small detachments, Joseph fled toward Canada and thrilled the nation, whose sympathies were with the Native Americans.

During the fall of Joseph led his followers into Montana. In the fighting he showed rare military genius and great humanity; he refused to make war on women and children, bought his supplies when possible, and allowed no mutilation of bodies. Miles with approximately soldiers.

With only 87 warriors, Joseph chose to fight. He would not abandon the children, the women, and the aged. After a 5-day siege, however, he said to Miles and his followers: The little children are freezing to death…. Hear me, my chiefs. I am tired; my heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever. There so many of them sickened and died that an aroused American public demanded action. Chief Joseph was moved to Colville Reservation in Washington, along with of his followers; the others were returned to Oregon.

Joseph made many pleas to be returned to his tribal homeland, but he died on Sept. The best of the many biographies of Joseph is Merrill D. In the Bible , Joseph is the name of a Hebrew patriarch, son of Jacob. He was given a coat of many colours by his father, whose favourite he was, and he exacerbated his brothers' jealousy by dreams which predicted his dominance over them, as by their sheaves in the harvest field bowing down to the sheaf of Joseph.

Sold by them into captivity in Egypt and at risk from the machinations of Potiphar 's wife, he attained high office in Egypt, finding favour with Pharaoh by his interpretation of the dream of seven fat and seven lean cattle, and seven full and seven thin ears of corn, as a warning against a coming famine.

The story is ultimately one of reconciliation, when his brothers come to Egypt to buy corn and are in Joseph's power; in the end the whole family of Jacob settles in Egypt. St Joseph husband of the Virgin Mary. A carpenter of Nazareth, and by later tradition already elderly, he was betrothed to Mary at the time of the Annunciation. In Christian art, representations of the Nativity often show St Joseph a little apart from the main group, with his chin on his hand. His feast day is 19 March.

Joseph of Arimathea a member of the council at Jerusalem who, after the Crucifixion, asked Pilate for Christ's body, which he buried in his own tomb. He is also known from the medieval story that he came to England with the Holy Grail and built the first church at Glastonbury. Joseph, one of the heroes of the patriarchal narratives of the Book of Genesis. He is presented as the favored son of Jacob and Rachel, sold as a boy into slavery by his brothers, who were jealous of Joseph's dreams and of his coat of many colors given him by Jacob. In Egypt, Joseph gained a position of authority in the household of his master, Potiphar, and was later imprisoned on the false accusations of Potiphar's wife.

He was released after interpreting Pharaoh's dream of the lean and fat cows. Pharaoh renamed him Zaphnath-paaneah and took him into favor. Joseph's recognition of his brothers in the famine years when he was governor over Egypt is a famous scene. His wife was Asenath, an Egyptian, and their sons Manasseh and Ephraim were eponymous ancestors of two of the 12 tribes of Israel.

The Joseph saga bridges the era of the patriarchs in Canaan and the Hebrews in Egypt. The Joseph story is retold in the Qur'an. Joseph, —77, king of Portugal —77 , son and successor of John V. After Lisbon was partially destroyed by an earthquake and a tsunami, Pombal gained emergency powers and quickly rose in importance.

He was supported by Joseph, who allowed Pombal to rule the country in fact if not in title. Given a richly woven, multi-coloured coat by his father, Joseph was sold into slavery by his jealous elder brothers. He was taken to Egypt , where he gained the Pharaoh's favour by predicting the seven-year famine, thus allowing stores to be laid by from the previous seven good years. He was later reconciled with his brothers. Oratorio by Handel Joseph and His Brethren perf.

London , New Orleans Paris , Philadelphia , London concert , CG rev. Oratorio by Macfarren, Leeds Fest. The favourite son of the patriarch Jacob , borne by his wife Rachel. His story is told in Genesis 37— The Canadian-Jewish branch of the Joseph family some converted to Catholicism and others intermarried with Protestants was founded by henry joseph — , a nephew of Aaron Hart, regarded as the first permanent Jewish settler in Canada.

In , year-old Henry arrived from England and settled in Berthier, Quebec, where he entered the fur trade. He later moved to Quebec City and established a chain of successful trading posts in the interior of the country for a time, John Jacob Astor was one of his employees. He also became known as the "father of Canada's merchant marine" because of a shipping network he set up to move goods to and from his posts.

He was one of three Jews among the founders of the Bank of Montreal in , Canada's first bank. Henry Joseph and his son Samuel died in the cholera epidemic of After Henry's death, his firm passed to his son abraham — of Quebec City. Besides the family business, Abraham served as president of the Quebec and Dominion Boards of Trade, a director of the Banque Nationale, president of the Stadacona Bank when it failed during the panic of , he used personal funds to repay investors and depositors , and a member of the Quebec city council he failed in a bid for the mayoralty.

A memorial horse trough was erected there in his memory. Abraham's son, montefiore joseph — , took over the family firm, as, in turn, did his sons and grandson after him. He founded Canada's first telegraph line and was a partner in the Newfoundland Telegraph Company, president of the Montreal Elevator Company, vice president of the Montreal Board of Trade, a bank director, a real estate mogul, and a supporter of charitable and cultural institutions in Montreal. Jesse Joseph, a life-long bachelor, studied law but eventually followed the family tradition into business.

He served as president of both the Montreal Gas Company he sold his interest in the Montreal Electric Company because he did not believe electricity had a future and the City Passenger Railway, which formed the nucleus of Montreal's mass transit, and operated the Theatre Royale, the city's premier theater.

A promoter of trade between Canada and Belgium, he was named Belgian consul in Montreal, and was one of the largest real-estate owners in the city. He was a member of the executive of the spca and known for giving lavish parties in the Sherbrooke Street mansion, which, after his death, became the McCord Museum of McGill University. Like others of Canada's pre Jewish elite, the Josephs were proudly British and staunchly patriotic. Abraham Joseph belonged to the St. Henry, the family patriarch, fought in the War of , and his son, Abraham, fought with the Royal Volunteers during the Rebellion of The family firm boasted of having provisioned the troops in every war from to World War ii and never profiteered.

Family members took full part in the social life of the English-speaking community in Quebec and seemed to suffer no discrimination because of their faith. Although Henry's brother, Judah, became a Roman Catholic one of his descendants, Joseph Olivier Joseph, was among the organizers of the French-Canadian, nationalist Saint Jean Baptiste Society in the s , and some of Henry's grandchildren intermarried, the Josephs were remarkably faithful to their Jewish roots, despite the difficulties of practicing Judaism far from any sizeable community. Henry Joseph was a traditional Jew who instructed his children in Jewish living and taught himself ritual slaughtering so that the family would have a supply of kosher meat.

Joseph, son of Jacob

Brown, Jew or Juif ; A. In the fragment known as the Cambridge Document, which was found in the Cairo Genizah , his father Aaron and grandfather Benjamin are also mentioned by name and the document adds line 59 that Joseph was married to a daughter of the king of the Alans. As Rachel's son, Joseph was treasured by his father. Resentful of Joseph's resulting conceit, his brothers sold him to a group of passing traders, who took him to Egypt, where he was purchased by one of pharaoh's officers.

He comforted them and their ties were reconciled. Joseph lived to the age of , living to see his great-grandchildren. Before he died, he made the children of Israel swear that when they left the land of Egypt they would take his bones with them, and on his death his body was embalmed and placed in a coffin in Egypt. The children of Israel remembered their oath, and when they left Egypt during the Exodus , Moses took Joseph's bones with him.

Shechem was in the land which was allocated by Joshua to the Tribe of Ephraim , one of the tribes of the House of Joseph , after the conquest of Canaan. The Bible offers two explanations of the name Yosef: Whybray argued that unity and artistry implied a single author. 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. Then Joseph is summoned to interpret the dreams of Pharaoh himself. This sets up the climax of the story, which many regard to be the moment Joseph reveals his identity to his brothers Gen The historicity of the Joseph narrative cannot be demonstrated.

Most scholars [51] place its composition in a genre that flourished in the Persian period of the Exile. In the midrash , the selling of Joseph was part of God's divine plan for him to save his tribes. The favoritism Israel showed Joseph and the plot against him by his brothers were divine means of getting him into Egypt. A midrash asked, How many times was Joseph sold? In analyzing Genesis Chapter 37 , there are five different Hebrew names used to describe five different groups of people involved in the transaction of selling Joseph, according to Rabbi Judah and Rav Huna.

The first group identified, are Joseph's brothers when Judah brings up the idea of selling Joseph in verses 26 and The final group, where a transaction is made, is among the Egyptians in the same verse. After identifying the Hebrew names, Rabbi Judah claims that Joseph was sold four times: Rav Huna adds one more sale by concluding that after the Medanites sold him to the Egyptians, a fifth sale occurred when the Egyptians sold him to Potiphar.

Abravanel explains that she had accused other servants of the same crime in the past. Potiphar believed that Joseph was incapable of such an act and petitioned Pharaoh to spare his life. He wanted to know if they would be willing to risk danger in order to save their half brother Benjamin. 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.

Because Joseph the Dreamer predicts the future by analyzing dreams, alternative Jewish tradition claims that he practiced divination using this silver cup as the steward charged [61] and as Joseph himself claimed in Genesis However, according to the Hebrew scriptures, Joseph is never depicted as actually practicing divination.

A silver cup was a perfect object in this case, as it held great financial and spiritual value in Egypt. The preferred narrative in Jewish tradition is that Joseph had no need to use a cup for divination. God had enabled him to have prophetic dreams himself and to interpret the dreams of others.

After revealing his identity to his brothers and forgiving the wrong they had done him, Joseph sent them back to their father with this report: In one Talmudic story, Joseph was buried in the Nile river , 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.

Joseph is mentioned in the New Testament as an example of faith Hebrews 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. In icons , he is sometimes depicted wearing the nemes headdress of an Egyptian vizier.

In addition to honoring him, there was a strong tendency in the patristic period to view his life as a typological precursor to Christ. This tendency, although greatly diminished, was followed throughout late antiquity , the Medieval Era , and into the Reformation. Even John Calvin, sometimes hailed as the father of modern grammatico-historical exegesis , [69] writes "in the person of Joseph, a lively image of Christ is presented. In addition, some Christian authors have argued that this typological interpretation finds its origin in the speech of Saint Stephen in Acts 7: It is described as the 'best of stories'.

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. When the brothers revealed to the father that a wolf had eaten Joseph, he cried in grief till he became blind. In the Bible, Joseph discloses himself to his brethren before they return to their father the second time after buying grain.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. This article is about the Joseph of the Book of Genesis. For other uses, see Joseph disambiguation. Manasseh son Ephraim son [1]. Jacob father Rachel mother. Reuben half brother Simeon half brother Levi half brother Judah half brother Issachar half brother Zebulun half brother Dan half brother Naphtali half brother Gad half brother Asher half brother Benjamin brother Dinah half sister Rebecca grandmother Isaac grandfather Esau uncle Leah aunt Laban grandfather Abraham great-grandfather Sarah great-grandmother.

Vayeshev , Miketz , Vayigash , and Vayechi. Antiquities of the Jews , Book II, 6. The Antiquities of the Jews. Sarah was the half—sister of Abraham. Biddle , , p. A study of the biblical story of Joseph: Supplements to Vetus Testamentum. This evidence is not found in narratives like the Joseph Story.