Joseph would have been approximately six years old when his family returned from Haran to Canaan. [b] Upon imprisoning Joseph, the brothers saw a camel caravan carrying spices and perfumes to Egypt, and sold Joseph to these merchants. Answer (1 of 10): If you are talking about Jacob (Israel)'s son Joseph, then he had one wife. 119a; comp. 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. Loads of love from me my sister Wisdom Speaks. It was the first successful production in the career of Andrew Lloyd Webber. Joseph or Yosef (Hebrew: , Arabic: , Yusuf; "The Lord increases") is a major figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament). The other polygamists in Scripture were Lamech (a descendant of Cain who killed a guy) and Esau (who well he was Esau, nuff said) we dont see any of the twelve sons of Jacob having mutliple wives, Moses, Joshua, Caleb, the Judges (not even Sampson) or the prophets. Esau took a third wife to please his father Isaac (Genesis 28:6-9). A. degree from Wheaton College, and the B. D. and Th. Potiphar believed that Joseph was incapable of such an act and petitioned Pharaoh to spare his life. Angered by his running away from her, she made a false accusation of rape, and thus assured his imprisonment[d] (Genesis 39:120). It has also been suggested that there are similarities between the rise to power of Joseph, and Manethos' tale of Osarseph, who was Syrian born, and rose to be Vizier of Egypt, beginning his career under Pharaoh Merenptah and his son Seti II. Thus, Israel was able to bless the Pharaoh. Taking 130 and subtracting it from Joseph's age of 39 means Jacob was 91 when Joseph was born. Ultimately, Joseph was sold to Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh's guard (Genesis 37:36, Genesis 39:1). 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. Because the Pharaoh had such a high regard for Joseph, practically making him his equal,[23] it had been an honor to meet his father. 9The fathers, moved by jealousy against Joseph, sold him into Egypt as a slave; but God was with him. [28] Impressed with Joseph's interpretations, Pharaoh appoints him as second-in-command (Gen 41:41). Jacob's favoritism for Joseph made his half-brothers so jealous that they were ready to murder him (see Genesis 37). So they named this spot Abel Mizraim. Bible References: Rachel's story is told Genesis 29:6-35:24, 46:19-25, 48:7 . 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. The Lutheran ChurchMissouri Synod commemorates him as a patriarch on 31 March. The shrine called Joseph's Tomb in Nablus/Shechem is traditionally considered to be his tomb. . The Hebrew word translated as "tender" means "soft, delicate, or lovely.". 20. He was Rachel's firstborn and Jacob's eleventh son. After they mentioned a younger brother at home, the Vizier (Joseph) demanded that he be brought to Egypt as a demonstration of their veracity. In the sixth year, Asenath bore two children to Joseph: Manasseh and Ephraim. 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. Great article Tyler! 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). The family prostrated before him hence the fulfilment of his dream aforetime.[52]. [a] When Joseph was seventeen years old, he shared with his brothers two dreams he had had: in the first dream, Joseph and his brothers gathered bundles of grain, of which those his brothers gathered, bowed to his own. 13When they went the second time Joseph was recognized by his brothers, and Josephs origins were revealed to Pharaoh. (Acts 7:9-13). However there are two separate lands related to the epithet Cush. Kusiteand Kusan are both used and they are spelled almost exactly the same the only difference being a tav vs a nun at the end of the word. How many wives did Abraham have? 17As the time of the promise drew near, the promise that God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt. (Gen. 30:24) He was born in Padan-aram when Jacob was about 90 years old. 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. Upon their return to Egypt, the steward of Joseph's house received the brothers. Jacob is 147 years old. The Persian poet Firdowsi wrote an epic on this subject. Although this very well may offend our modern sensibilities, Zilpah and Bilhah had a better life than they had hoped for, in the end. Pharaoh was pleased with Joseph's interpretation and gave him authority to carry out the suggested policy (Gen. 41:46). Known best for his coat of "many colors" and his God-given ability to interpret dreams, Joseph was sold into slavery by his jealous half-brothers. How many sons did Jacob have with bilhah? Abraham married Sarah, who was his niece; Isaac married Rebekah, who was his first cousin once removed; and Jacob married Leah and Rachel, who were his first cousins. Rachel is his mom, one of them gasped. The scene is a fitting resolution to Jacob's own drama, in which his father, Isaac, had been old and blind when Jacob himself deceived deceived him in order to obtain his blessing, meant for Esau. He then tested them further, by accusing Benjamin of theft. 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. 14 Then Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and all his relatives to him, seventy-five people. That night, Joseph ordered his steward to load the brothers' donkeys with food and all their money. Then he commanded them to go and bring their father and his entire household into Egypt to live in the province of Goshen, because there were five more years of famine left. (Genesis 46:134). 14Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his whole family, seventy-five souls, to come and live in Egypt. His favourite, Joseph, walked closely with God, heard from Him and had great discernment. 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.". And Jo. For the New Testament Joseph, see, Another possible translation is "coat with long sleeves" (. Joseph ordered the steward to go after the brothers and to question them about the "missing" silver cup. In Genesis 29:31-30:24 the birth . The word used by for echad in the LXX (Septuagint, the authorized Greek translation of the Tanach OT) and the NT (ie. In Jewish tradition, Joseph was the progenitor of the northern tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, named for his two sons. The final group, where a transaction is made, is among the Egyptians in the same verse. This mandate lasted until the days of Moses (Genesis 47:2031). Home The family, including the Egyptians, mourned him seventy days. 23 Leah's sons were Reuben (Jacob's first-born), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. Then Joseph buried Israel in the cave of Machpelah, the property of Abraham when he bought it from the Hittites. How many children did Jacob have? 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. Leah was "Tender Eyed". (Genesis 50:1521), Joseph lived to the age of 110, living to see his great-grandchildren. Elkannah had two women but again, one of them was barren so I suspect that Peninah was a concubine. When he regained control of himself, he returned and ordered a meal to be served. Because the 12 sons of Jacob became the 12 tribesGod's covenantal peoplethe 12 stones on the high priest's breastplate of course represent God's promise to them ( Genesis 28:12-15 ). 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 story begins in Canaan - modern day Palestine, Syria and Israel - around 1600 to 1700 BC. Half of Manasseh's tribe settled east of the Jordan, while the other half settled west of it. The Priestly source adds some statistics and gives a list of the people who went down to Egypt, while a later editor has supplied details to make the accounts appear as one, such as Joseph's subterfuge of sending the brothers back to Canaan first to get Benjamin, and later to get Jacob. Cindy Crawford's son Presley Gerber, 23, opens up about 'mistakes' he made during his battle with depression: 'I feel like it should be talked about a lot more than it is' Joseph's story is recounted in some detail in the New Testament, during Saint Stephen's speech before the Sandhedrin in Acts 7. Jacob lives in Egypt for seventeen years after his arrival (Genesis 47:28). She then had three more sons: Simeon, Levi and Judah. Joseph was then summoned. 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 ). Jacob did not wholly believe that Joseph was dead, because he could not forget him, while the dead are soon forgotten. 24 Rachel's sons were Joseph and Benjamin. (Genesis 48:122). So Joseph supplied them Egyptian transport wagons, new garments, silver money, and twenty additional donkeys carrying provisions for the journey. [16] Joseph requested that the cup-bearer mention him to Pharaoh to secure his release from prison,[17] but the cup-bearer, reinstalled in office, forgot Joseph. 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. Jacob, before he died, blessed each of his sons and two of his grandsons, the two sons of Joseph. And as it was budding, its blossoms came out and they produced grapes. Habakkuk 3:7, in a paralellism (a literary device where something is said twice, slightly differently, in such a way as to equate two concepts), says this of Cushan. When the Vizier (Joseph) appeared, they gave him gifts from their father. : > 1. Muslim theologians, especially of the Sufi tradition, use this story to symbolize the spiritual love between God and the soul. (Genesis Rabbah 84:22). He interpreted the dream as seven years of abundance followed by seven years of famine, and advised the Pharaoh to store surplus grain. What is Jacob's new name? The brothers were frozen and could not utter a word. 4) Judah was the next. 118b); they were given to lust, while Joseph was chaste and resisted temptation. 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 . Joseph is regarded as a saint by several Christian churches, including the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, which commemorates him as a patriarch on March 31. How many kids did Mary have? The children of Israel remembered their oath, and when they left Egypt during the Exodus, Moses took Joseph's bones with him. Some rabbis, however, charged Joseph with vanity, saying that, even before being sold, he took too much pains with his personal appearance (Gen. R. 84:7), and that he continued to do so as ruler over Potiphar's house, forgetting his father, who was mourning over his disappearance. I want to point out something obvious about Joseph's wife Asenath I think many of us have a tendency to skip over without giving it much thought. The merchants, meanwhile, brought Joseph to Egypt, where he was sold to Potiphar, an "officer of Pharaoh's, and captain of the guard" (Gen. 37:36). Indeed the name Potiphar may even be a version of Merenptah's name (Poti = Ptah, Phar = Pharaoh). 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. Answer and Explanation: Joseph has one wife, Asenath the daughter of Potiphar the priest of On, whom he marries in Egypt. Jacob therefore let the wolf go. 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. 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?. How long did Jacob in the Bible wait to marry his wife? Joseph prospered in Potiphar's household and was eventually made head of the servants. The cup-bearer took those grapes and squeezed them into Pharaoh's cup, and placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand. "-Genesis 41:45. 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). This would not be a true case of polygamy, because his intention was not to have two wives, but to provide for his sister-in-law it was considered a mitzvah towards the dead brother as well as to the woman to refuse to do this for her at her request would be to deprive her of her rights within the family. Mary and Joseph ended up in Bethlehem where the birth took place. He and his family took everything they owned. With Reuben and Judah's persistence, they persuaded their father to let Benjamin join them for fear of Egyptian retribution (Genesis 42:2943:15). 34), and a whole chapter Yusuf (sura xii.) Laws of Hammurabi: [144] If a man take a wife and this woman give her husband a maid-servant, and she bear him children, but this man wishes to take another wife, this shall not be permitted to him; he shall not take a second wife. The community seems to confuse quite often what is description vs prescription. Joseph is between 39 and 56 years old. She named him Joseph. But Judah pleaded for Benjamin, offering himself as a slave instead. Some declare that during the 22 years he was away from home he drank no wine (Shab. But like everything else, modern context is not Biblical context we dont think the same way or have the same needs and therefore we dont live the same way; we certainly dont have the same expectations. Deut 21:15 says that if a man has two wives, one loved and one unloved that he cannot disinherit the child of the unloved wife doesnt this say that men can have two wives? The sons by . Joseph was fully trusted by his master, Potiphars wife took a fancy to Joseph, but he refused to sin with her. Am happy to have read this. How many children did Mary have after Jesus? 18:7, 19; 2 Ne. The cup-bearer's dream was about a vine with three branches that was budding. After the (presumed) death of Joseph, we read, "All of his [Jacob's] sons and daughters got up to comfort him . 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 . Tap the title above, next to the arrow, to go to thatlesson with a link back to thispage. The two halves of Manasseh were often treated as two separate units in the biblical account. Isaac had one wife. . He also equipped a considerable army, with which he marched to help the Ishmaelites against the Tarshishites (Gen. R. 90:5). I am a fifty-something-year-old Bible teacher, wife of twenty-eight years to Mark, and mom of adult twin sons. 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. Although they had betrayed him in the past, Joseph greeted them . 3) Levi was the third of Jacob and Leah's children. His story functions as an explanation for Israel's residence in Egypt. Jacob's partiality to Rachel was the source of a great deal of hostility and scheming among Jacobs's wives and concubines (see Genesis 30). 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. 18A new Pharaoh arose in Egypt, who knew nothing of Joseph. Conversations that Christians Must Have#MeToo and #BLM, Episode 82: Mark Part 24Cosmic Encounters 3The Woman with the Issue of Blood. selling him to an Ishmaelite trade caravan. The Bible tells us twice that Jacob had daughters. He is presently pastor of the Evangelical Church of Archbold, Ohio. 11Then a famine came over all the land of Egypt and Canaan, causing great affliction. You are my Guardian in this world and in the Hereafter. New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article As the reputed ancestor of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, he is regarded by some as altogether legendary or even mythical by some critics. Jacob became greatly distressed, feeling deprived of successive sons: Joseph, Simeon, and (prospectively) Benjamin. He was present at Jacob's famous reconciliation with his brother Esau. In the Bible, the name Joseph was first mentioned as the eleventh son of Jacob, and the Her maid Bilhah is ancestor of two more ( Gen 35:25; Gen 46:23-24). The musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is about Joseph's story. 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. Of all the sons, Joseph was preferred by his father, who gave him a "long coat of many colors". Is Polygamy Really Biblical? They thought that the missed transaction would somehow be used against them as way to induct them as slaves and to confiscate their possessions. 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. Joseph! The remaining brothers returned to their father in Canaan, and told him all that had transpired in Egypt. 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. 15 So Jacob went down to Egypt; and he died, he and our fathers. Jacob's concubine Bilhah gave birth to Dan . 19The new king took advantage of our people, and mistreated our fathers. She gives birth to two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. pseudo-Jonathan). (7-14) Genesis 29:17. To Joseph he declared: Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall. According to the Midrash, Joseph would have been immediately executed by the sexual assault charge against him by Potiphar's wife. Rather, he requested to be carried to the land of Canaan to be buried with his forefathers. But you'd be wrong. He kept the sacred records after Nephi (see 1 Ne. In the Yahwist version Joseph is sold to Ismaelites, while in the Elohist (E) narrative it is Midianites who buy him. They betrayed him by. One opinion holds that the Holy Spirit dwelt in Joseph from his childhood until his death (Pirke R. El. 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. The steward found the cup in Benjamin's sack - just as he had planted it the night before. He was the first of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel (Jacob's twelfth child and eleventh son). What is a forbidden marriage in the Bible? Jacob was 130 at this time (Gen 47:9). This article incorporates text from the 19011906 Jewish Encyclopedia, a publication now in the public domain. Simeon had six sons, all of whom migrated to Egypt (Gen. xlvi. Levirate marriage served two functions that a mans name would not cease to go forward and that a woman would not be bereft of support. In the Elohist version it is Rueben intervenes on Joseph's behalf, while in the Yahwist version it is Judah that saves him. 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. I smiled. Pharaoh made Joseph governor over Egypt and all Pharaohs house. As they approached Egyptian territory, Judah went ahead to ask Joseph where the caravan should unload. This sets up the climax of the story, which many regard to be the moment Joseph reveals his identity to his brothers (Gen 45:3). In the time of the Exodus, Serah, daughter of Asher, showed Moses where the coffin was sunk. The twelve sons of Jacob (Israel) from oldest to youngest were as follows. As for kings - marriages were largely about political alliances (especially with . . [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. According to most rabbinical authorities, Joseph's coffin was sunk in the Nile (Targ. Joseph and Asenath. He withdrew to his chambers and wept. She gave birth to Joseph, one of the most important figures of the Old Testament, who saved the nation of Israel during a famine. [54], This article is about the Joseph of the Book of Genesis. An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and he said; "Take Mary home as your wife.". well, that did go well. 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. Jacob's wife, were Joseph and Benjamin. He worked under the Egyptian official Potiphar but was freed and became the chief adviser (vizier) to the Egyptian Pharaoh. The historicity of Joseph's story is debated, with dates ranging from an early estimate beginning around 2000 B.C.E. Jacob's other children are between 56 and 63. (Genesis 30:24).[10][11]. As a result, he was envied by his half-brothers. 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?