Jacob also had some daughters, but the Bible gives the name of only one of them. At this time, Joseph's father was 147 years old and bedridden. The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills. 25 Rachel's servant Bilhah's sons were Dan and Naphtali. 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 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. Jacob lived in the land of his father's sojournings, in the land of Canaan. The family, including the Egyptians, mourned him seventy days. Tap the title above, next to the arrow, to go to thatlesson with a link back to thispage. Half of Manasseh's tribe settled east of the Jordan, while the other half settled west of it. Moses threw a pebble into the water there and cried out: "Joseph! popularly referred to as a "coat of many colors." 15So Jacob moved down into Egypt, and lived there till he died, as did our fathers. He could not control himself any longer and so he sent the Egyptian men out of the house. 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. 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. In Jewish tradition, Joseph was the progenitor of the northern tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, named for his two sons. There is much confusion about the word Cush in Scripture the first being that it does not actually refer to Ethiopia at all but instead a region more in the Sudan. Abravanel explains that she had accused other servants of the same crime in the past. If later he is disgusted with her (after all, she was from a pagan nation), he cannot treat her as a slave and simply sell her away but must treat her as he would treat a divorced wife. Thus, Joseph was indeed a "child of Isaac's old age" (Gen 37:3). Esau took a third wife to please his father Isaac (Genesis 28:6-9). 17:1; 1 Ne. well, that did go well. 42-45), Jacob, his sons, and all of his descendants moved to Egypt to be with Joseph. To Joseph he declared: Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall. 21 . Cause me to die as a Muslim and join me with the righteous" (Qur'an 12:101). Judah, too, counseled against murder and convinced the brothers to sell Joseph to a company of Ishmaelite merchants, who bought him in exchange for 20 shekels of silver. Recall that Jacob was born in the land of Canaan, the land God promised to Abraham, and where Jacob's father Isaac was born and lived his entire life. This also created rivalries between their sons. "[40], In addition, some Christian authors have argued that this typological interpretation finds its origin in the speech of Stephen in Acts 7:9-15, as well as the Gospel of Luke and the parables of Jesus, noting strong verbal and conceptual collocation between the Greek translation of the portion of Genesis concerning Joseph and the Parable of the Wicked Tenants and the Parable of the Prodigal Son. 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. In Genesis 29:31-30:24 the birth . As we progress through the stories about Jacob and his family, you will notice that his wives are respectfully addressed by name while Bilhah and Zilpah are repeatedly called, the maidservants. Culturally, they were never elevated to the level of either Leah or Rachel and they probably never expected to be. So the final birth order of Jacob's thirteen children by these four women was: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Dinah, Joseph, and Benjamin. Judah is the fourth son of the patriarch Jacob and his first wife, Leah: his full brothers are Reuben, Simeon and Levi (all older), and Issachar and Zebulun (younger), and he has one full sister, Dinah. Israel. This family, with its sordid history of deceit, jealousy, and . She then had three more sons: Simeon, Levi and Judah. After the (presumed) death of Joseph, we read, "All of his [Jacob's] sons and daughters got up to comfort him . She became angry and told lies about him, so he was put in jail. Thus, "Joseph gathered up all the money that was in the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the grain which they bought.". 3. 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. R. 87:9). Joseph interpreted this dream as the cup-bearer being restored as cup-bearer to the Pharaoh within three days. Then the Hebrew phrase shm midyanm srm in verse 28 describes Midianite traders. '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 . (Genesis 47:2731), Later, Joseph came to visit his father having with him his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. 14Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his whole family, seventy-five souls, to come and live in Egypt. M. degrees from Grace Theological Seminary. The motif of dreams/dream interpretation contributes to a strong story-like narrative. Rachel is his mom, one of them gasped. You can also subscribe without commenting. In response, Judah pleaded with the Vizier that Benjamin be allowed to return to his father, and that he himself be kept in Benjamin's place as a slave (Genesis 44). R. 1:7). In an essay posted without fanfare to its website in late October, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said for the first time that Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormon church, had as many as 40 wives. Who was the wife of Joseph son of Jacob? I pray you will be preserved by our maker. 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? In the time of the Exodus, Serah, daughter of Asher, showed Moses where the coffin was sunk. But you'd be wrong. 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. Jacob lives in Egypt for seventeen years after his arrival (Genesis 47:28). The story of Joseph's near seduction by his master's wife bears a marked similarity to the Egyptian story of the Tale of Two Brothers, which was popular at the time of Pharaoh Seti II. The historicity of Joseph's story is debated, with dates ranging from an early estimate beginning around 2000 B.C.E. He kept the sacred records after Nephi (see 1 Ne. When he returned, the Vizier took Simeon and bound him as a hostage. She gave birth to Joseph, one of the most important figures of the Old Testament, who saved the nation of Israel during a famine. What is Jacob's new name? Jacob was 130 at this time (Gen 47:9). 24 Rachel's sons were Joseph and Benjamin. The steward found the cup in Benjamin's sack - just as he had planted it the night before. They thought that the missed transaction would somehow be used against them as way to induct them as slaves and to confiscate their possessions. 2. After identifying the Hebrew names, Rabbi Judah claims that Joseph was sold four times: First his brothers sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites (Yishma'elm), then the Ishmaelites sold him to the Midianite traders (shm midyanm srm), the Midianite traders to the Medanites (mdanm), and the Medanites into Egypt. Families desperately needed heirs, and the dyadic social identity of a woman depended on her being not only a wife, but also a mother it simply didnt matter if your husband loved you best, if you had no children Rachel knew that (so did Sarah, Rebekah, Hannah and Elizabeth). Joseph was the first son of Rachel and Jacob, and the 11th of Jacob's 12 sons (Genesis 30:22-24). Jacob's family travel to Egypt to escape the famine, and it is through him that they are given leave to settle in the Land of Goshen (the eastern part of the Nile Delta). arose that night, and took his two wives, his two maidservants1 and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 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. According to the Old Testament, Jacob was the younger twin brother of Esau, who was the ancestor of Edom . I had no idea about what dyadic social identity was all about, or concubinage, and although I did understand the importance of political marriages (Solomon did NOT need that many alliances, just sayin) I was way too caught up in idea that black Mormons (not meaning color, but it was just what they were called in my neck of the woods) represented a sort of an ideal Biblical model for what was going on in ancient times. But Judah pleaded for Benjamin, offering himself as a slave instead. Here, Potiphar's wife (called Zuleika in later tradition) tried to seduce Joseph, which he refused. According to Josephus, Reuben tied a cord around Joseph and let him down gently into the pit. 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 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). 18:7, 19; 2 Ne. Others consider the story a semi-independent novella, which has been independently added to the biblical record. Jacob's favoritism for Joseph made his half-brothers so jealous that they were ready to murder him (see Genesis 37). Jacob with Ephraim and Manasseh. [53] These come in the forms of allusions written by the Bb and Bah'u'llh. The Gadites would later be described as, "brave warriors, ready for battle and able to handle the shield and spear. Zulaikha is the wife of Kitfir (the Biblical Potiphar), through whose accusations Yusuf is thrown into prison. They commemorate him on the Sunday of the Holy Forefathers (two Sundays before Christmas) and on Holy and Great Monday (Monday of Holy Week). The brothers were frozen and could not utter a word. During the seven years of abundance, Joseph ensured that the storehouses were full and that all produce was weighed. So they named this spot Abel Mizraim. Genesis 31:38-41. I am a fifty-something-year-old Bible teacher, wife of twenty-eight years to Mark, and mom of adult twin sons. 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. Response: We read in Genesis 41:45 that Pharaoh gave Joseph Osnat daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, to be his wife. Abraham had one wife, and then only took a concubine when she was still barren at 80; he took a second wife only after the death of his first. When the steward caught up with the brothers, he seized them and searched their sacks. Both were met by angels at various times (Gen. R. 84:6; Num. Not only did Joseph resemble his father in appearance, but the main incidents of their lives were parallel. If Jacob, Joseph, and Joseph's two sons are added, then the total number is seventy (46:27). 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. In fact, this is all we learn about her: Genesis 41:45: "Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-Paneah and gave . 9The fathers, moved by jealousy against Joseph, sold him into Egypt as a slave; but God was with him. Later we read, "His . Joseph Born in the wilderness, he was the youngest son in the family. I smiled, and told them to listen again. The account of the birth of Jacob's children is found in Genesis 2930, 35. Then Joseph buried Israel in the cave of Machpelah, the property of Abraham when he bought it from the Hittites. whoa whoa whoa personal suite? Joseph is regarded by Muslims as a prophet (Qur'an, suras vi. As the king's appointed viceroy, Joseph built himself a magnificent palace, placing in it a great number of slaves. At last Rachel was able to have a child. 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. To sum up, true Biblical (as well as ancient Near Eastern) polygamy (having more than one wife on purpose) was really limited to Kings, and that was historically for the purpose of creating alliances and safety for the kingdom. Particularly galling is Jacob's reaction to Rachel the wife whom he loves deeply when she cannot become pregnant. Moreover, Inter. Cushan and Midian are equated with each other, as are tents and curtains and affliction and trembling. Unbeknownst to them, Joseph had also returned their money to their money sacks (Genesis 42:128). When the Vizier (Joseph) appeared, they gave him gifts from their father. Old and nearly blind, Jacob is overwhelmed with joy, saying: "I never expected to see your face again, and now God has allowed me to see your children too" (Gen 48:11). He wanted to know if they would be willing to risk danger in order to save their half brother Benjamin. 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. 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. [15] Both men had dreams, and Joseph, being able to interpret dreams, asked to hear them. 23 Leah's sons were Reuben (Jacob's first-born), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. Elkannah had two women but again, one of them was barren so I suspect that Peninah was a concubine. The twelve sons of Jacob (Israel) from oldest to youngest were as follows. Joseph! After this, his brothers plotted against him and would have killed him had not his brother Reuben intervened. Answer and Explanation: Joseph has one wife, Asenath the daughter of Potiphar the priest of On, whom he marries in Egypt. Soon, the family took up residence in the town of Bethel and later moved to Hebron. Deceptively, Joseph also ordered the steward to put his silver cup in Benjamin's sack. Joseph was fully trusted by his master, Potiphars wife took a fancy to Joseph, but he refused to sin with her. It was because of his virtue that the children of Israel passed over the Red Sea and the Jordan dry-shod (Gen. R. 84). Joseph's sons Manasseh and Ephraim were born before the years of famine. The true faith in Jesus Christ stands the test and wins victory. 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 The sons by . 11Then a famine came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, causing great affliction. Bilhah, they replied. [6], The Bible offers two explanations of the name Ysf: first it is compared to the Hebrew root (-s-p), meaning "to gather, remove, take away":[7] "And she conceived, and bore a son; and said, God hath taken away my reproach" (Genesis 30:23);[8] Ysf is then identified with the similar root (y-s-p), meaning "to add":[9] "And she called his name Joseph; and said, The LORD shall add to me another son." When Rachel did not have any children, she became upset. 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. Jacob was tricked into polygamy (Genesis 29:20-30) and later received two additional wives bringing the grand total of four wives (Genesis 30:4, 9). Joseph did very well with God's help. The cup-bearer's dream was about a vine with three branches that was budding. Joseph likely also has this status because he is the eldest child of Jacob's favorite (deceased) wife, Rachel . 1. I have questioned this over the years, but didnt understand the cultural context as well as you have laid out. What is a forbidden marriage in the Bible? I smiled. A. degree from Wheaton College, and the B. D. and Th. Jacob's daughters, like too many Bible women, often go unnamed, are mentioned only in passing, or both. Judah appealed to the Vizier begging that Benjamin be released and that he be enslaved in his stead, because of the silver cup found in Benjamin's sack. . Her name was Dinah. 14 Facts About Esau Everyone Should Know. (Genesis 45:128), Thus, Jacob (also known as Israel) and his entire house of seventy[22] gathered up with all their livestock and began their journey to Egypt. After correctly interpreting the dreams of Pharaoh, however, he rises to second-in-command in Egypt and saves Egypt during a famine. 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. Loads of love from me my sister Wisdom Speaks. 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. 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. 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). 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. They were rapacious, while Joseph never enjoyed anything that was not his (Zeb. Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. Answer (1 of 10): If you are talking about Jacob (Israel)'s son Joseph, then he had one wife. Joseph's wife is considered to be an Egyptian. Unaware of this secondary intention, the others obeyed him first. 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. Known for: Rachel was the younger daughter of Laban and Jacob's favored wife. In the second year of famine,[20] Joseph's half brothers were sent to Egypt to buy goods. Great article Tyler! Joseph was the first son of Rachel and Jacob, and the 11th of Jacobs 12sons, Joseph was sold by his brothers into slavery in Egypt, Joseph became the slave of Potiphar a very high official in Egypt. The genealogy of Jesus in the New Testament traces Jesus' ancestry lineally, from Abraham to David, and then from David to Jesus. (Gen. 28:3, 4) This explains why Jacob when nearly 100 years old did everything in his power to obtain God's blessing; he even wrestled with a materialized angel. He then sent them away with grain, retaining Simeon as a hostage (Gen. 42:1-25), while ordering them not to return without Benjamin, the only one of his brothers born of Joseph's own mother, Rachel. Home The Hebrew word translated as "tender" means "soft, delicate, or lovely.". Efforts to Bear Children. in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. When the Vizier (Joseph) confronted them about the silver cup, he demanded that the one who possessed the cup in his bag become his slave. The eleventh son of Jacob and elder of the two sons Rachel (Genesis 30:23, 24). In the Elohist version it is Rueben intervenes on Joseph's behalf, while in the Yahwist version it is Judah that saves him. 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. of Potiphera, priest of On, to be his wife, Jacob, before he died, gave his blessing to Josephs two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. during the Egyptian Middle Kingdom, to a later time during the Hyksos Era (16481540 B.C.E. These years were followed by seven years of famine "over all the face of the earth," when "all countries came into Egypt to Joseph to buy grain" (Gen. 41:56, 57; 47:13,14). 2) Simeon was next, and he was also a son of Leah. Joseph predicted seven years of plenty to be followed by seven years of famine and advised the Pharaoh to appoint someone to store up surplus grain. Joseph would have been approximately six years old . Loaded with knowledge and wisdom. selling him to an Ishmaelite trade caravan. The Vizier broke down into tears. God blessed Leah with a firstborn son named Reuben. Their relationship is first mentioned in Genesis 41:45. He Was the Son of Isaac. When Joseph interpreted Pharaoh's dreams, the king asked him for a sign by which he might know that his interpretation was true. The baker's dream was about three baskets full of bread for the Pharaoh, and birds were eating the bread out of those baskets. Joseph And His Brothers, The cultural impact of the Joseph story in early-modern times is discussed in, This page was last edited on 28 February 2023, at 10:50. He wept so loudly that even the Egyptian household heard it outside. Many of these amplifications have been borrowed by rabbinical tradition. Jacob, Hebrew Yaaqov, Arabic Yaqb, also called Israel, Hebrew Yisrael, Arabic Isrl, Hebrew patriarch who was the grandson of Abraham, the son of Isaac and Rebekah, and the traditional ancestor of the people of Israel. Her father, Jacob, saw that his family was deeply ashamed of his new granddaughter. [47] But in Islam they returned leaving behind Benjamin because the mizzen bowl of the king was found in his bag. One tradition holds that Jacob's other children came into the world only for Joseph's sake. These were Jacob's sons who were born to him while he . The Amidah and the New Testament I: Long Prayers and Vain Repetitions? His brothers' jealousy grew when Joseph told them of his two dreams (Gen. 37:11) in which all the brothers, as well as his parents, bowed down to him. 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. The word until speaks of a change to the first action . [24] Its redaction history may have included a first "Reuben version" originating in the northern kingdom of Israel and intended to justify the domination by the "house of Joseph" over the other tribes, this was followed by a later "Judah-expansion" (chapters 38 and 49) elevating Judah as the rightful successor to Jacob, and finally various embellishments so that the novella would function as the bridge between the Genesis and the story of Moses and the Exodus.[25]. It was during this return to Egypt that Joseph disclosed his real identity to his brothers. (Genesis 47:147:12) The family was then settled in Goshen. . Charles L. Zimmerman holds the B. God richly bless you my sis. Tap the title above, next to the arrow, to go to thatlesson with a link back to thispage. A fourth group in verse 36 is named in Hebrew as mdanm that is properly identified as Medanites. His brothers did not understand his spirituality and saw him as a threat. His favourite, Joseph, walked closely with God, heard from Him and had great discernment. Upon their return to Egypt, the steward of Joseph's house received the brothers. [46], In the Bible, Joseph discloses himself to his brethren before they return to their father the second time after buying grain. 119a; comp. Isaac had one wife. | Servants of Grace Apologetics, Mishpatim in Context: Selling your daughter into slavery? She also bore Benjamin and was a faithful wife to Jacob. Sefer ha-Yashar, section Wayiggash). . He and his family took everything they owned. However Jacob gave the greater blessing to the younger Ephraim, Moses, before he died, gave a similar blessing to the house of Joseph, which he called, Jospeh had great faith in God. Sarah died when she was 127 (23:1) - so Abraham would have been 137 and Isaac would have been 37.
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