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! Joseph was 11th of 12 sons of a wealthy nomad Jacob and his second wife Rachel. Isaac, the son of Abraham , was married to Rebecca for many years before being blessed with children. The following morning the brothers began their journey back to Canaan. 9The fathers, moved by jealousy against Joseph, sold him into Egypt as a slave; but God was with him. They stopped at Atad where they observed seven days of mourning. 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. 15 So Jacob went down to Egypt; and he died, he and our fathers. When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel commanded him to do. They were survival oriented, and so when greeted with the opportunity to be something greater in the family, not wives but the mothers of some of the heirs of the House, that was a chance to have a much better life and better prospects for the future. (Genesis 47:2731), Later, Joseph came to visit his father having with him his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. 3) Levi was the third of Jacob and Leah's children. And Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. How many children did Jacob have? (Genesis 50:1521), Joseph lived to the age of 110, living to see his great-grandchildren. Why did the angel told Joseph to go to Egypt? - Sage-Answers Joseph In The Old Testament: Bible Character Profile And Study In Jewish tradition, Joseph was the progenitor of the northern tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, named for his two sons. 26 Leah's servant Zilpah's sons were Gad and Asher. The motif of dreams/dream interpretation contributes to a strong story-like narrative. Did You Know Jacob Had Daughters Too? - CBE International JOSEPH. Jacob lived in the land of his father's sojournings, in the land of Canaan. Indeed, he blessed Joseph's sons before all the rest. The favoritism Israel showed Joseph and the plot against him by his brothers were divine means of getting him into Egypt. As Zipporah was a Midianite, calling her a Kusite makes absolute sense. How many children did Mary and Joseph have? Here, Potiphar's wife (called Zuleika in later tradition) tried to seduce Joseph, which he refused. Home [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." 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. Unaware of this secondary intention, the others obeyed him first. 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. 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 had fallen ill and lost most of his vision. He was present at Jacob's famous reconciliation with his brother Esau. When they came to Egypt, they stood before the Vizier but did not recognize him as their brother Joseph, who was now in his late 30s; but Joseph did recognize them and did not speak at all to them in his native tongue of Hebrew. 36). (Genesis Rabbah 84:22). He became the second most powerful man in all Egypt. . So they named this spot Abel Mizraim. His death does not change the familys obligation towards her. Even John Calvin, sometimes hailed as the father of modern grammatico-historical exegesis,[39] writes "in the person of Joseph, a lively image of Christ is presented. No, he had two (and not by his choosing) wives and two concubines four women to whom he was connected through children. , romanized: Rl, lit. | The Hub The community seems to confuse quite often what is description vs prescription. 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. Though Manasseh was the older brother, Jacob placed his right hand on Ephraim, the younger, and gave him the greater blessing. On top of all this, Leah had stopped bearing children perhaps because Jacob was no longer performing his legal obligations to continue to provide her with marital relations (at one point, she actually had to buy a night with him from her sister). How many sons did Jacob have with bilhah? This mandate lasted until the days of Moses (Genesis 47:2031). Joseph would have been approximately six years old when his family returned from Haran to Canaan. In his father's house, Joseph is the favored son: "Israel (another name for Jacob) loved Joseph more than all his sons since he was a child of his old age" (Genesis 37:3). Why Did Jacob Have Children With Bilhah? - FAQS Clear 14 Facts About Esau Everyone Should Know. How Many Brothers Did Joseph Have? - Answers On Web Joseph, son of Jacob - New World Encyclopedia How many wives did Joseph have in the Old Testament? 21-22; comp. R. 1:7). How many Josephs are there in the Bible? - Quora How many wives did Jacob have? 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. The time of the promises to Abraham spans the generations of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 5. The two principle sources are the Yahwist and the Elohist versions, with a few details included as well from the Priestly source. Joseph and Asenath. The word until speaks of a change to the first action . It was a very large company." It was because of his virtue that the children of Israel passed over the Red Sea and the Jordan dry-shod (Gen. R. 84). 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. Moreover, Inter. ACTS 7:13-15 13 And the second time Joseph was made known to his brothers, and Joseph's family became known to the Pharaoh. 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. Seeing only the powerful minister who controlled their lives and fortunes, they "bowed themselves before him with their faces to the ground" (Gen. 42:6), thus fulfilling in part his earlier prophetic dream. The first mention of Ishmaelites (Yishma'elm) is in verse 25. Now we get to your verse if he sends her away and she has provided him with children despite the fact that he hates her he cannot treat her sons with contempt when it comes time to give the inheritance. 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. The narrative also indicates that they went straight to Joseph or were directed to him, even by the Pharaoh himself (Genesis 41:3757). They shall be on the head of Joseph, And on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren. He worked under the Egyptian official Potiphar but was freed and became the chief adviser (vizier) to the Egyptian Pharaoh. The first group identified, are Joseph's brothers when Judah brings up the idea of selling Joseph in verses 26 and 27. At that time Moses was born (Acts 7:17-19). Sarah died when she was 127 (23:1) - so Abraham would have been 137 and Isaac would have been 37. Joseph likely also has this status because he is the eldest child of Jacob's favorite (deceased) wife, Rachel . Is Polygamy Really Biblical? Was Joseph married before Mary? | GotQuestions.org Joseph or Yosef (Hebrew: , Arabic: , Yusuf; "The Lord increases") is a major figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament). Tap a Lookup below to generate a list oflessons. pseudo-Jonathan), protecting her from the lustful eyes of Esau (Gen. R. 78:13). Then he prepared a great ceremonial journey to Canaan leading the servants of the Pharaoh, and the elders of the houses Israel and Egypt beyond the Jordan River. lol does it come with a jetted jacuzi tub? 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. Response: We read in Genesis 41:45 that Pharaoh gave Joseph Osnat daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, to be his wife. Sarah was ninety when Isaac was born and Abraham was 100 years old (21:5). pseudo-Jonathan). Later we read, "His . According to most rabbinical authorities, Joseph's coffin was sunk in the Nile (Targ. Both were hated by their brothers. 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 it went against his ethical, moral and religious principles taught to him by his father Jacob. Jacob with Ephraim and Manasseh. The cup-bearer's dream was about a vine with three branches that was budding. Your email address will not be published. [42] Joseph is said to have been extremely handsome, which attracted his Egyptian master's wife to attempt to seduce him. I have written six books on the ancient Near Eastern and First Century context of Scripture, including a family curriculum series. These were Jacob's sons who were born to him while he . SONS OF JACOB - Who Were The 12 Sons And 53 Grandsons Of Jacob? Both women had a crisis of identity Rachel wasnt a mother and Leah wasnt really a wife in her own eyes. When Rachel had successfully provided Jacob with an heir, Leah felt her position was tenuous. 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. Joseph, son of Jacob and Rachel, lived in the land of Canaan with ten half-brothers, one full brother, and at least one half-sister. Jacob and His 12 Sons - Life, Hope & Truth (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. She was no longer the mother of all of Jacobs children Rachel had a child now and she was the one who was truly regarded, by Jacob, as his wife. 119a; comp. "Give me children, or I shall die," she says to Jacob (Genesis 30:1). 5:26; Jacob 1:2, 18-19). 20-21). 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. Joseph prospered in Potiphar's household and was eventually made head of the servants. 18A new Pharaoh arose in Egypt, who knew nothing of Joseph. Joseph's sons born in Egypt by Asenath, daughter of Potipherah, Priest In the midrash, the selling of Joseph was part of God's divine plan for him to save his tribes. 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. But you'd be wrong. [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 is between 39 and 56 years old. He wanted to know if they would be willing to risk danger in order to save their half brother Benjamin. 17As the time of the promise drew near, the promise that God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt. 50 Before the year of famine came, Joseph had two sons, whom As'enath, the daughter of Poti'phera priest of On, bore to him. 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. Jacob, before he died, blessed each of his sons and two of his grandsons, the two sons of Joseph. In addition to honoring him, there was a strong tendency in the patristic period to view his life as a typological precursor to Christ. 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). He then tested them further, by accusing Benjamin of theft. Then the Hebrew phrase shm midyanm srm in verse 28 describes Midianite traders. Who was Leah's 4th son? Jacob was 130 at this time (Gen 47:9). There are many examples of descriptions that we don't assume to be a prescription for us today living as nomads in tents, giving each wife her own tent (modern day equivalent would be that each wife has her own home or at minimum her own personal suite), digging our own wells, making alliances via sons and daughters, being without citizenship, for husbands to devote their first year of marriage being at home with their wives, etc. 10God saved Joseph from all his afflictions, and gave him favor and wisdom before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. These dreams, implying his supremacy, angered his brothers (Genesis 37:111) and made the brothers plot his demise. Genesis 35:23 The sons of Leah were Reuben the firstborn of Jacob 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 children of Israel remembered their oath, and when they left Egypt during the Exodus, Moses took Joseph's bones with him. 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. [48] Similarly, the eldest son of Jacob had decided not to leave the land because of the oath taken to protect Benjamin beforehand. The Pharaoh honored their stay and even proposed that if there were any qualified men in their house, then they may elect a chief herdsman to oversee Egyptian livestock. In the Elohist version it is Rueben intervenes on Joseph's behalf, while in the Yahwist version it is Judah that saves him. [49] When Jacob learned their story after their return, he wept in grief till he lost his eyesight because of sorrow. 5 Bibliography. 14 Then Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and all his relatives to him, seventy-five people. When the brothers claimed to the father that a wolf had eaten Joseph, he observed patience. 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. 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.