1653. However, it is instructive to note that only Dinah is mentioned (Genesis 30:19-21; 34:1-3; 46:15) . 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. 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' The word used by for echad in the LXX (Septuagint, the authorized Greek translation of the Tanach OT) and the NT (ie. When he. The money they had brought was double what they had offered on the first trip. These were Jacob's sons who were born to him while he . [54], This article is about the Joseph of the Book of Genesis. 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. Later we read, "His . Then he brought the brothers into the house of Joseph and received them hospitably. Joseph is 56 and Benjamin is about 40. 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. 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 ). Joseph was made a ruler over Egypt second to Pharoah. 2) Simeon was next, and he was also a son of Leah. I think some translators/editors have erred when they separate the two sections. 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. . 17:1; 1 Ne. As Bilhah and Zilpah were almost undoubtedly purchased by Laban as young girls from fathers who either needed to pay debts or who could not afford to provide dowries, this term does make sense again, these were women of a special class. Christian Apologetics & Intelligence Ministry, Tyler Dawn How Many Wives did Jacob Have? For Jacob however, a time came when his parents urged him to leave Canaan . He forgave them and sent for Jacob and the entire household to come to Egypt. | Bible Topics Elkannah had two women but again, one of them was barren so I suspect that Peninah was a concubine. arose that night, and took his two wives, his two maidservants1 and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He is Jacob's favorite (Genesis 37:3). 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. 21 . After correctly interpreting the dreams of Pharaoh, however, he rises to second-in-command in Egypt and saves Egypt during a famine. Later, Joseph became Potiphar's personal servant, and subsequently his household's superintendent. (Exodus 13:19) The bones were buried at Shechem, in the parcel of ground which Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor (Joshua 24:32), which has traditionally been identified with site of Joseph's Tomb, before Jacob and all his family moved to Egypt. Her name was Dinah. [45] Joseph is thrown into a well, and was taken as a slave by a passing caravan. And after Joseph perished, the sons of Jacob took unto themselves wives. Joseph's brothers were motivated by fear. The motif of dreams/dream interpretation contributes to a strong story-like narrative. Sarah died when she was 127 (23:1) - so Abraham would have been 137 and Isaac would have been 37. She gave birth to Joseph, one of the most important figures of the Old Testament, who saved the nation of Israel during a famine. Thus, Israel was able to bless the Pharaoh. (obviously would not happen to a wife). Jacob should not have had more than one wife.) When the steward caught up with the brothers, he seized them and searched their sacks. In the ancient Near East, according to the laws of many of the surrounding nations, a woman had two years to bear a child to her husband and if she didnt, she could legally be divorced. 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. These are the generations of Jacob. She became angry and told lies about him, so he was put in jail. | Servants of Grace Apologetics, Mishpatim in Context: Selling your daughter into slavery? 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. The "seven lean years" has been taken to refer to a Middle Eastern famine documented at that time. 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). Jacob became greatly distressed, feeling deprived of successive sons: Joseph, Simeon, and (prospectively) Benjamin. The shrine called Joseph's Tomb in Nablus/Shechem is traditionally considered to be his tomb. Jacob is between 130 and 147 years old. [53] These come in the forms of allusions written by the Bb and Bah'u'llh. The cupbearer took this opportunity to inform the king of Joseph's gift and recommended his services. Zulaikha is the wife of Kitfir (the Biblical Potiphar), through whose accusations Yusuf is thrown into prison. After he had washed his face, he came out and, controlling himself, said, 'Serve the food'" (Gen 43:30-32). Rachel is his mom, one of them gasped. In the Qayyumu'l-Asma', the Bb refers to Bah'u'llh as the true Joseph and makes an analogous prophecy regarding Bah'u'llh suffering at the hands of his brother, Mrz Yahy. 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. A fourth group in verse 36 is named in Hebrew as mdanm that is properly identified as Medanites. 8, 10). In the interim, Joseph's mother died giving birth to his brother, Benjamin. It also includes the marvelous story and time of Jacob's son Joseph (Genesis 35-50). This was Joseph's full brother, Benjamin. 42-45), Jacob, his sons, and all of his descendants moved to Egypt to be with Joseph. The baker's dream was about three baskets full of bread for the Pharaoh, and birds were eating the bread out of those baskets. Abravanel explains that she had accused other servants of the same crime in the past. The Haran controversy wrestles with the question of how long Abraham's grandson Jacob lived in Haran. 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. After his phenomenal rise to power, as he is passing through the street one day, his attention is attracted by a beggar woman whose bearing shows traces of former greatness. 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. And as for Jacob, he never intended to have any other wife but Rachel and only ended up in this polygamous situation because of trickery he chose to be a polygamist because it would seem that a man who was willing to work a grand total of fourteen years for a woman evidently could not imagine living without her. (Genesis 47:147:12) The family was then settled in Goshen. 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. Your email address will not be published. We can have a conquering faith in Jesus though we are tested by many tribulations. The warden put Joseph in charge of the other prisoners,[14] and soon afterward Pharaoh's chief cup-bearer and chief baker, who had offended the Pharaoh, were thrown into the prison. Bilhah, they replied. [18] After two more years, the Pharaoh dreamt of seven lean cows which devoured seven fat cows; and of seven withered ears of grain which devoured seven fat ears. In Genesis 29:31-30:24 the birth of twelve of Jacob's children is recorded. (Genesis 50:1521), Joseph lived to the age of 110, living to see his great-grandchildren. "[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. His prophetic powers are sited as an example of "faith" in Hebrews 11:22. The favoritism Israel showed Joseph and the plot against him by his brothers were divine means of getting him into Egypt. His story functions as an explanation for Israel's residence in Egypt. The Egyptians would not dine with Hebrews at the same table, as doing so was considered loathsome, thus the sons of Israel were served at a separate table (Genesis 43:1644:34). How many kids did Mary have? When the famine came, it was so severe that people from surrounding nations came to Egypt to buy bread. He was Rachel's firstborn and Jacob's eleventh son. 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. These dreams, implying his supremacy, angered his brothers (Genesis 37:111) and made the brothers plot his demise. During this period of famine, Joseph's brothers, except for Benjamin, also came down to Egypt to buy grain. The Hebrew word translated as "tender" means "soft, delicate, or lovely.". 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. This mandate lasted until the days of Moses (Genesis 47:2031). It simply was a rarity. In the Kitb-i-Aqdas, Bah'u'llh states that "from my laws, the sweet-smelling savour of my garment can be smelled" and, in the Four Valleys, states that "the fragrance of his garment blowing from the Egypt of Baha," referring to Joseph. I have questioned this over the years, but didnt understand the cultural context as well as you have laid out. At last Rachel was able to have a child. 14. Who was Jacob's first wife? Then Joseph buried Israel in the cave of Machpelah, the property of Abraham when he bought it from the Hittites. (Gen. 30:24) He was born in Padan-aram when Jacob was about 90 years old. 4) Judah was the next. After bearing Judah, Leah stopped bearing children for a . Did Jacob have 4 wives? 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. Joseph occupies a very important place in Rabbinical literature, and no patriarch was the subject of so many Midrashic traditional narratives. The sons by . Joseph understood what they were saying and removed himself from their presence because he was caught in emotion. 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. In the midrash, the selling of Joseph was part of God's divine plan for him to save his tribes. The story tells of two servants of Pharaoh's household who were in jail with Joseph and asked him to interpret their dreams. Zilpah bore Jacob his seventh and eighth sons, Gad and Asher. Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. Thank you. is devoted to him, the only instance in the Quran in which an entire chapter is devoted to a complete story of a prophet. The robotic sermon went on to relate the story of when Joseph, the son of Jacob, was reunited with his brothers after many years. 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. (Gen 50:7-9). 18A new Pharaoh arose in Egypt, who knew nothing of Joseph. Joseph's story is recounted in some detail in the New Testament, during Saint Stephen's speech before the Sandhedrin in Acts 7. Joseph is also extolled by the rabbis for being a prophet, and for supporting his brothers. 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. Convinced of his brothers' repentance and overcome with emotion, Joseph finally revealed himself to them. The community seems to confuse quite often what is description vs prescription. Joseph saw and inquired of Benjamin, and was overcome by emotion but did not show it. Both women had a crisis of identity Rachel wasnt a mother and Leah wasnt really a wife in her own eyes. (Genesis Rabbah 84:22). 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. The Bible states that this name was given to Jacob as by God later in his life: "And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed." (Genesis 32:28 . So they immediately informed the steward of what had transpired. Joseph prospered in Potiphar's household and was eventually made head of the servants. How many wives did Joseph have in the Bible? R. 1:7). Some believe that he built the city of Memphis, and that he was instrumental in building the obelisks and pyramids. They shall be on the head of Joseph, And on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren. Is Polygamy Really Biblical? He was present at Jacob's famous reconciliation with his brother Esau. 17As the time of the promise drew near, the promise that God had sworn to Abraham, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt. Jacob's sons, including Joseph, are listed at the end of this page. In the Yahwist version Joseph is sold to Ismaelites, while in the Elohist (E) narrative it is Midianites who buy him. During the seven years of abundance, Joseph ensured that the storehouses were full and that all produce was weighed. 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. 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. Tap a Lookup below to generate a list oflessons. Jacob lives in Egypt for seventeen years after his arrival (Genesis 47:28). He brought them closer and relayed to them the events that had happened and told them not to fear, that what they had meant for evil, God had meant for good. He went into his private room and wept there. 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. 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. 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. Isaac, the son of Abraham , was married to Rebecca for many years before being blessed with children. How many children did Jacob have? When he returned, the Vizier took Simeon and bound him as a hostage. He Was the Son of Isaac. The first born of this union is still his firstborn even after he marries another woman, loves her, and has children with her. 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). Joseph was brought from prison to interpret the king's dream. , romanized: Rl, lit. Their relationship is first mentioned in Genesis 41:45. . 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 dieall of which came to pass exactly as Joseph predicted. In Egypt, Joseph's character was antithetical to that of all the other slaves. pseudo-Jonathan). | Fact Sheet Index [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. Legacy. Mary and Joseph ended up in Bethlehem where the birth took place. The Lutheran ChurchMissouri Synod commemorates him as a patriarch on 31 March. Tap the title above, next to the arrow, to go to thatlesson with a link back to thispage. His estranged brothers later reunited with him when they came to Egypt to buy grain during a famine, and thus Joseph became the central figure to lead the children of Israel (Jacob) during their course of exile in Egypt. Ultimately, Joseph was sold to Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh's guard (Genesis 37:36, Genesis 39:1). (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. It was because of his virtue that the children of Israel passed over the Red Sea and the Jordan dry-shod (Gen. R. 84). "Give me children, or I shall die," she says to Jacob (Genesis 30:1). Jacob's concubine Bilhah gave birth to Dan . 1. If Jacob, Joseph, and Joseph's two sons are added, then the total number is seventy (46:27). Tap the title above, next to the arrow, to go to thatlesson with a link back to thispage. 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). However, Joseph was displeased that his father's right hand was not on the head of his firstborn, so he switched his father's hands. She named him Joseph. 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 story of Yusuf and Zulaikha was a favorite love song in the Near East. How many sons did Jacob have with bilhah? Response: We read in Genesis 41:45 that Pharaoh gave Joseph Osnat daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, to be his wife. After relaying his prophecies, Israel died. Genesis 31:38-41. 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. Now Jacob had twelve sons. [44] In the Quran the brothers ask Jacob ("Yaqub") to let Joseph go with them. It was the first successful production in the career of Andrew Lloyd Webber. Joseph was then summoned. His father then remarked, "Now let me die, since I have seen your face, because you are still alive." yosef] to me another son." Both were hated by their brothers. . [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." The final group, where a transaction is made, is among the Egyptians in the same verse. Joseph disguised his identity and devised a plot to bring the rest of the family to him: He accused them of being spies and imprisoned them for three days. 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. How many wives did Jacob have? 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. She also bore Benjamin and was a faithful wife to Jacob. He has humbled her (had sexual relations with her) and cannot sell her to another man, he must allow her to go out for nothing (she came in with no dowry). Her father, Jacob, saw that his family was deeply ashamed of his new granddaughter. which references passages that point to Jacob having "daughters" (plural, more than one) such as Genesis 37:34-35. Joseph interpreted this dream as the baker being hanged within three days and having his flesh eaten by birds. [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. The historicity of Joseph's story is debated, with dates ranging from an early estimate beginning around 2000 B.C.E. [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. Rabbah l.c). Leah. Joseph was the first son of Rachel and Jacob, and the 11th of Jacob's 12 sons (Genesis 30:22-24). (notice that she is given the same treatment as a wife but is not a wife), [147] If she have not borne him children, then her mistress may sell her for money. The majority opinion of the rabbis is that Joseph always kept in mind his father and brothers. One opinion holds that the Holy Spirit dwelt in Joseph from his childhood until his death (Pirke R. El. .". Afterward, Joseph's family personally met the Pharaoh of Egypt. In the sixth year, Asenath bore two children to Joseph: Manasseh and Ephraim. 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. 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. At their first meeting, the brothers did not recognize him. 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? 2. Stories about Jacob in the Bible begin at Genesis 25:19. 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. Could Paul have been saying that the husband and wife need to be one (Hebrew echad) instead of limiting a man to one wife? Joseph's sons Manasseh and Ephraim were born before the years of famine. Then the Hebrew phrase shm midyanm srm in verse 28 describes Midianite traders. Who is Dans mom? I asked. According to most rabbinical authorities, Joseph's coffin was sunk in the Nile (Targ. Information much needed for understanding context. (note that the second wife is only permissibly taken in response to barrenness), [146] If a man take a wife and she give this man a maid-servant as wife and she bear him children, and then this maid assume equality with the wife: because she has borne him children her master shall not sell her for money, but he may keep her as a slave, reckoning her among the maid-servants. He is presently pastor of the Evangelical Church of Archbold, Ohio. Pharaoh was pleased with Joseph's interpretation and gave him authority to carry out the suggested policy (Gen. 41:46). 25 Rachel's servant Bilhah's sons were Dan and Naphtali. Pseudo-Jonathan to Gen. 1:26). 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. Thus, Joseph was indeed a "child of Isaac's old age" (Gen 37:3). 118b); they were given to lust, while Joseph was chaste and resisted temptation. 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. He received the same name as two great prophets, one past and one future: Joseph of Egypt and the Prophet Joseph Smith. Her maid Bilhah is ancestor of two more ( Gen 35:25; Gen 46:23-24). Joseph is regarded by Muslims as a prophet (Qur'an, suras vi. He is also a type of manly beauty; so that one often finds the expression "a second Joseph," meaning one extraordinarily beautiful. 15So Jacob moved down into Egypt, and lived there till he died, as did our fathers. The first mention of Ishmaelites (Yishma'elm) is in verse 25. 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. It was a very large company." Then Joseph is summoned to interpret the dreams of Pharaoh himself. Yet, from this answer in Quora. Esau took a third wife to please his father Isaac (Genesis 28:6-9). in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. Matthew 1:25 says, "But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son" (emphasis added). Despite his wealth, most rabbis represent him as very modest, and was not vain of his power (Ex. God punished him, therefore, by setting against him Potiphar's wife (Gen. R. 87:3). Our President, Mr . during the Egyptian Middle Kingdom, to a later time during the Hyksos Era (16481540 B.C.E. 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. (Genesis 49:3350:14), After their father died, the brothers of Joseph feared retribution for being responsible for Joseph's deliverance into Egypt as a slave. [21] After questioning them, he accused them of being spies.
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