JOSEPH (יﯴסֵפ׃֙; LXX Ιωσήφ; He [God] will add). 1. Joseph was the first son of Rachel, Jacob’s favorite wife. While in Paddan-aram, Jacob saw and loved Rachel, and arranged to work seven years for her (Gen 29:17, 18). Laban, her father, gave Leah, his oldest daughter, to Jacob, insisting that custom demanded that the oldest daughter be married first. Jacob worked seven more years for Rachel. Leah, however, bore children, but Rachel was barren until the birth of Joseph. As the first son of the favorite wife, Jacob was partial to Joseph. Evidence of this is seen in the coat which he gave to Joseph, alone, of all his sons (Gen 37:3). The antagonism of Joseph’s brothers grew when Joseph told them of dreams which he had, suggesting that they, along with his father and mother, would one day bow before him. When Joseph was seventeen years old, his father sent him to Shechem to inquire about the welfare of his brothers. They had gone on to Dothan, where Joseph found them. The brothers saw him approaching and determined to kill him, but Reuben, the oldest son of Jacob, persuaded his brothers to spare the life of Joseph and instead to cast him into a pit. Reuben hoped to rescue Joseph from the pit, but before he could do so a company of Ishmaelite merchants passed. While Reuben was away, the other brothers sold Joseph as a slave to the Ishmaelites who took him to Egypt. The brothers then dipped Joseph’s coat in the blood of a goat, and told their father that they had found his blood-soaked coat. Jacob concluded that a wild animal had killed Joseph.

In Egypt, Joseph was sold to the captain of Pharaoh’s guard, Potiphar. As a trustworthy worker, Joseph was given a responsible position. Potiphar’s wife was attracted to Joseph and attempted to seduce him. When Joseph spurned her advances, she accused him of being the aggressor, with the result that he was imprisoned for several years.

In prison, Joseph again proved himself worthy of a position of trust. He interpreted the dreams of the chief butler and the chief baker, the first of whom was restored to Pharaoh’s confidence, and the second, beheaded. After two years Pharaoh had a dream, and the chief butler remembered how Joseph had correctly interpreted the dreams. Joseph was sent for, and he explained that the Pharaoh’s dreams foretold seven years of plenty, to be followed by seven years of famine. Pharaoh was so impressed with Joseph that he appointed him superintendent of the royal granaries. Joseph was now second in rank to Pharaoh himself (Gen 41:39-44). He married Asenath, daughter of a priestly family at On (Heliopolis). Before the famine began, Joseph had two sons: Manasseh, and Ephraim. When the famine came, the entire world of the eastern Mediterranean lands suffered, but Joseph’s advice saved Egypt. Joseph’s brothers came from Canaan to buy food, but they did not recognize him. He recognized them, however, and questioned them closely concerning their family. The welfare of Jacob, his father, and Benjamin, his full brother who had remained at home, was his prime concern. Keeping Simeon as a hostage, Joseph permitted his brothers to return home. On their second visit they brought along Benjamin, and Joseph plotted to find an excuse to keep Benjamin with him. Joseph ordered that a silver cup be placed in Benjamin’s bag. This was done and Joseph then sent his men after the caravan to search for the supposed thief. When the cup was found in Benjamin’s bag, all returned. Judah, however, insisted that Benjamin must return home. Jacob had lost his favorite son already, and the loss of the second child of the beloved Rachel would be too much for him. Judah offered to remain himself if Benjamin were permitted to go with his brothers home to Jacob. Years before the brothers had been jealous of Joseph to the point that they were prepared to kill him. Now, however, th ey were willing to indulge their father in his special love for Benjamin. Joseph was so moved at Judah’s words that he could contain his emotions no longer. He ordered his courtiers out of the room, and revealed himself to his brothers. They were frightened, feeling that he would seek revenge for their treatment of him, but he assured them that he saw the hand of God in all that had happened. Joseph urged them to bring their father and settle in the eastern delta region of Egypt—in the land of Goshen. Jacob, who had difficulty believing that Joseph was really alive, joined his sons in moving down to Egypt. They were settled near Joseph’s palace and enjoyed a favored position. Jacob thus died a happy man. Joseph lived to the age of 110—the ideal life span in Egyp. thought. At the Exodus, the mumified remains of Joseph were taken from Egypt and, following the Conquest, they were buried at Shechem (Exod 13:19; Josh 24:32).

Most scholars suggest that Joseph rose to prominence during the Second Intermediate, or Hyksos period of Egyp. history (c. 1780-1570 b.c.). Since the Pharaoh is not named, certainty is impossible. The Hyksos were Semites, and it is thought likely that Joseph would have been given a position of trust by fellow Semites. A further bit of evidence is the fact that the capital was located in the Delta, near Goshen, “in the fields of Zoan” (Ps 78:12, 43). The “king...who knew not Joseph” (Exod 1:8) was evidently of a new dynasty, and was certainly a ruler of the new kingdom, or empire period (after 1570 b.c.). Egyptian records document the presence of many Semites in Egypt during the time of Joseph. Forty-five Semites are named in a prison register from c. 1740 b.c. The list, known as Papyrus Brooklyn 35.1446 contains NW Sem. names similar to the Biblical Jacob, Issachar, Asher, Job, and Menahem (cf. W. F. Albright, “Northwest-Semitic Names in a List of Egyptian Slaves from the 18th Century, b.c.” JAOS. LXXIV [1954], pp. 222-233). For dress during the time of Joseph, the Beni Hassan tomb painting, showing Sem. traders entering Egypt, may be studied. It is reproduced in color in Benjamin Mazar, et al. (Views of the Biblical World, I, pp. 114-115 [New York: Jordan Publications, 1959]). The Egyptian Tale of the Two Brothers contains a parallel to the Biblical record of Potiphar’s wife tempting Joseph (Gen 39:7-23). Portions of the Egyp. story are in Pritchard, ANET, but the whole story is available in The Ancient Egyptians: A Sourcebook of their Writings (former title: The Literature of the Ancient Egyptians), New York, Harper Torchbooks TB 1233P, pp. 150-161.

The Sinuhe Story tells of the adventures of an Egyp. who left Egypt for political reasons, and spent many years in Canaan and Syria. Sinuhe married the daughter of a Bedouin chief, and prospered in his adopted country. In old age, however, he had the opportunity to return to his native land, and did so. He was properly embalmed and buried in a pyramid. Joseph, on the other hand, gave orders that his remains should be returned to his native land. In accord with Egyp. custom, Joseph, too, was embalmed. Subsequently his body was taken from Egypt to the Shechem area for burial.

2. Joseph, the husband of Mary, the mother of Jesus. The gospels of Matthew and Luke assert that Jesus was born to Mary at a time when she was betrothed to Joseph, before their marriage was consummated (Matt 1:18; Luke 1:27, 35).

Joseph was a carpenter (Matt 13:55), and was known as a “just” man (Matt 1:19). When he learned that Mary was bearing a child, he was understandably disturbed. When he learned that she was to become the mother of Israel’s Messiah through the instrumentality of the Holy Spirit, he proceeded with his plans which brought him, with Mary, to Bethlehem where the child Jesus was born.

A tradition embodied in the 4th cent. History of Joseph the Carpenter, states that Joseph was a widower with children at the time he espoused Mary, a girl of twelve. The Scriptures make one reference to Joseph following the Passover journey when Jesus was twelve years old (Luke 2:41-48). Later references mention Mary and the brothers of Jesus (Mark 3:31; 6:3), but not Joseph. Jesus asked John to treat Mary as his own mother (John 19:26, 27), implying that she had need of someone to care for her. References to the brothers of Jesus (Mark 6:3) imply that Mary and Joseph had other children after the virgin birth of Jesus. Some scholars have assumed that the “brothers” of Jesus were sons of Joseph by a previous marriage, or cousins of Jesus. The natural meaning of the words, however, imply that Mary and Joseph married subsequent to the birth of Jesus, and that they had children who grew up with Jesus and were known in the community as His “brothers.”