how many wives did joseph son of jacob have
The name of Reuben's wife is 'Ad 1 and the name of Simeon's wife is 'Adb'a, a Canaanite; 1 and the name of Levi's wife is Mlk, 2 of the daughters of Aram, of the seed of the sons of Terah; and the name of Judah . Israel declared that they would be heirs to the inheritance of the house of Israel, as if they were his own children, just as Reuben and Simeon were. An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and he said; "Take Mary home as your wife.". 36). It was during this return to Egypt that Joseph disclosed his real identity to his brothers. Simeon in Apocryphal and Rabbinical Literature). Unaware of this secondary intention, the others obeyed him first. Joseph likely also has this status because he is the eldest child of Jacob's favorite (deceased) wife, Rachel . 14 Then Joseph sent and called his father Jacob and all his relatives to him, seventy-five people. 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. At their first meeting, the brothers did not recognize him. 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. (Genesis 47:147:12) The family was then settled in Goshen. Joseph occupies a very important place in Rabbinical literature, and no patriarch was the subject of so many Midrashic traditional narratives. The latter third of the book of Genesis relates the complex and vola- tile relationship of the patriarch Jacob, his four wives, and their thirteen children (twelve sons, one daughter). After this, his brothers plotted against him and would have killed him had not his brother Reuben intervened. Here, Potiphar's wife (called Zuleika in later tradition) tried to seduce Joseph, which he refused. [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. Your email address will not be published. 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. lol does it come with a jetted jacuzi tub? Yes, the Bible does indicate that Jacob had more than one daughter. He is Jacob's favorite (Genesis 37:3). When the Pharaoh's advisers failed to interpret these dreams, the cup-bearer remembered Joseph. 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. When Joseph's half-brothers reached home after selling him, Jacob ordered them to arm themselves and capture the beast that had supposedly killed Joseph. 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. So, did Jacob have four legally wedded wives? This family, with its sordid history of deceit, jealousy, and . How many kids did Mary have? 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. In Hebrew Joseph means: increaser. Convinced of his brothers' repentance and overcome with emotion, Joseph finally revealed himself to them. To Joseph, he gave a portion more of Canaanite property than he had to his other sons; land that he fought for against the Amorites. How many sons did Jacob have with bilhah? The word until speaks of a change to the first action . (Genesis 50:2226). He interpreted the dream as seven years of abundance followed by seven years of famine, and advised the Pharaoh to store surplus grain. At the end of that period, the Pharaoh had a strange dream which none of his advisers could interpret. After bearing Judah, Leah stopped bearing children for a . 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. She also bore Benjamin and was a faithful wife to Jacob. The money they had brought was double what they had offered on the first trip. | Servants of Grace Apologetics, Mishpatim in Context: Selling your daughter into slavery? 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. [15] Both men had dreams, and Joseph, being able to interpret dreams, asked to hear them. This was the legal world and social context of the time of the Patriarchs. Thank you. (Gen. 30:24) He was born in Padan-aram when Jacob was about 90 years old. 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. The following morning the brothers began their journey back to Canaan. According to another tradition, Joseph placed the gold and silver in three hidden treasuries, of which one was discovered by the Israelite villain Korah; one by the Roman Antoninus, son of Severus; and one yet undiscovered, which is being kept for the righteous in the future world (Pes. 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. 9The fathers, moved by jealousy against Joseph, sold him into Egypt as a slave; but God was with him. Esau took a third wife to please his father Isaac (Genesis 28:6-9). Full Bible Timeline - section on the life of Jacob. Josephs ability to interpret dreams got him out of jail and into great favour with Pharoah. Later we will learn a lot more about Joseph, because he became a very important person. Jacob's other children are between 56 and 63. whoa whoa whoa personal suite? Sarah was ninety when Isaac was born and Abraham was 100 years old (21:5). Joseph is also extolled by the rabbis for being a prophet, and for supporting his brothers. [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. Joseph was the first son of Rachel and Jacob, and the 11th of Jacob's 12 sons (Genesis 30:22-24). It is described in the Quran as the 'best of stories'. Isaac and Rebecca's son Jacob was sent there to avoid the wrath of his brother Esau. 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. "[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. You can also subscribe without commenting. Thus, Joseph was indeed a "child of Isaac's old age" (Gen 37:3). Joseph, in the Old Testament, son of the patriarch Jacob and his wife Rachel. which references passages that point to Jacob having "daughters" (plural, more than one) such as Genesis 37:34-35. He withdrew to his chambers and wept. . '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 . Not only did Joseph resemble his father in appearance, but the main incidents of their lives were parallel. 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. Ultimately, Joseph was sold to Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh's guard (Genesis 37:36, Genesis 39:1). . 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. 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). Judah (left) talking to Tamar (right) (1606-1669), by Rembrandt. One of the hardest things there is, is to contemplate the possibility that our point of view has been utterly contaminated after all, they never taught ancient Near Eastern context in any of the churches I attended. Then Israel called all of his sons in and prophesied their blessings or curses to all twelve of them in order of their ages. The family, including the Egyptians, mourned him seventy days. [29] Maimonides comments that even the villager in Shechem, about whom Joseph inquired his brother's whereabouts, was a "divine messenger" working behind the scene.[30]. ), and as recently as the reign of Pharaoh Merneptah about 1200 B.C.E. [46], In the Bible, Joseph discloses himself to his brethren before they return to their father the second time after buying grain. 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. Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. 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. Really Bilhahs and Zilpahs lives would have looked bleak but they would have accepted it as their lot in life in ancient times people firmly believed that their conditions and station in life were pre-determined by the gods and hardly worth complaining about or trying to get out of. Then the Hebrew phrase shm midyanm srm in verse 28 describes Midianite traders. Pseudo-Jonathan to Gen. 1:26). One opinion holds that the Holy Spirit dwelt in Joseph from his childhood until his death (Pirke R. El. Nice going! Who is Dans mom? I asked. This caused a stir amongst the brothers. 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. Tyler Dawn How Many Wives did Jacob Have? 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). 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. When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel commanded him to do. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Joseph! 84, xl. Her name was Dinah. We passed on to Zilpah, and they noticed it again Gad is Leahs son!, Very good, I smiled. The cup-bearer's dream was about a vine with three branches that was budding. (Genesis 37:35, Common English Bible). 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. I put up the white board and I was marking out the family tree of the patriarchs. 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 served a specific societal function within a context that no longer exists (much like the need for Levirate marriage). (Gen 50:7-9). is devoted to him, the only instance in the Quran in which an entire chapter is devoted to a complete story of a prophet. 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. Abraham then died at 175 years of age (25 . Then he revealed to the Hebrews that he was in fact their brother, Joseph. Joseph's brothers were motivated by fear. He even forced them to throw out their babies to die. | Bible Topics [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." It is later mentioned in Genesis 41:50 that before the years of famine, Joseph had two sons with Asenath. 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). They stopped at Atad where they observed seven days of mourning. 2. Joseph wept as they spoke and told them that what had happened was God's purpose to save lives and the lives of his family. So they named this spot Abel Mizraim. The Vizier broke down into tears. Is Polygamy Really Biblical? 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. : > 1. Sarah died when she was 127 (23:1) - so Abraham would have been 137 and Isaac would have been 37. She then had three more sons: Simeon, Levi and Judah. To Joseph he declared: Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall. God blessed Leah with a firstborn son named Reuben. (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. 13When they went the second time Joseph was recognized by his brothers, and Josephs origins were revealed to Pharaoh. (Acts 7:9-13). In the Qur'an a whole chapter (sura xii) is devoted to Joseph; and Islamic commentators add many details to this "best of stories.". He is presently pastor of the Evangelical Church of Archbold, Ohio. What does Ex 22:16-17 tell us about the rape of Dinah in Genesis, Episode 164: Purim 2023Honor, Shame and Two Brave Queens, Episode 163: Sociology IIReligion, Weird Science, and Practical Linguistics, Episode 162 Sociology I: Groupthink, Holy/Profane and Clean/Unclean, Episode 161: The Advent of John the Baptist in Luke, Episode 160: Special Teaching #1The Advent of the Messiah in Matthew, Challenging the "Everything is Pagan" Meme Culture, Infertility, Barreness, Miscarriage, Stillbirth and Child Loss. And Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father. The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills. When they met, they embraced each other and wept together for quite a while. [42] Joseph is said to have been extremely handsome, which attracted his Egyptian master's wife to attempt to seduce him. Jacob's concubine Bilhah gave birth to Dan . 2:1; 2 Ne. Jacob lived in the land of his father's sojournings, in the land of Canaan. The true faith in Jesus Christ stands the test and wins victory. When Joseph interpreted Pharaoh's dreams, the king asked him for a sign by which he might know that his interpretation was true. Charles L. Zimmerman holds the B. 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 And Jo. It was after this that Isaac married Rebekah and Abraham took Keturah as a wife (possibly a concubine) (see Genesis 24 and 25:1). The genealogy of Jesus in the New Testament traces Jesus' ancestry lineally, from Abraham to David, and then from David to Jesus. And as it was budding, its blossoms came out and they produced grapes. 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 brothers were frozen and could not utter a word. Some declare that during the 22 years he was away from home he drank no wine (Shab. As for kings - marriages were largely about political alliances (especially with . One tradition holds that Jacob's other children came into the world only for Joseph's sake. 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. selling him to an Ishmaelite trade caravan. As Jacob's favorite son, he received from his father a coat of many colors, which made his brothers jealous to . 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. In addition to honoring him, there was a strong tendency in the patristic period to view his life as a typological precursor to Christ. They were rapacious, while Joseph never enjoyed anything that was not his (Zeb. Joseph would have been approximately six years old when his family returned from Haran to Canaan. Both were met by angels at various times (Gen. R. 84:6; Num. This tendency, although greatly diminished, was followed throughout late antiquity, the Medieval Era, and into the Reformation. Confronting a Devastating Doctrine: Are Children Is Hand Washing Commanded? In Jewish tradition, Joseph was the progenitor of the northern tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, named for his two sons. Finally, after 20 years of marriage, they were blessed with twin boys, Jacob and Esau. During this period of famine, Joseph's brothers, except for Benjamin, also came down to Egypt to buy grain. | Fact Sheet Index [50] He thus charged his sons to go and inquire about Joseph and his brother and despair not of God's mercy. 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. The narrative also indicates that they went straight to Joseph or were directed to him, even by the Pharaoh himself (Genesis 41:3757). 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). 8, 10). 5 Bibliography. 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. In Genesis 29:31-30:24 the birth of twelve of Jacob's children is recorded. Rachel is his mom, one of them gasped. 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. Jacob did not wholly believe that Joseph was dead, because he could not forget him, while the dead are soon forgotten. , romanized: Rl, lit. Leah was "Tender Eyed". Joseph's own remains were reportedly taken by Moses with the Israelites during the Exodus (Exodus 13:19) and later buried at Shechem (Joshua 24:32). Upon their return to Egypt with Benjamin, Joseph received them kindly and prepared a feast for them. Some believe that he built the city of Memphis, and that he was instrumental in building the obelisks and pyramids. To add to the distinction within the family, in chapter thirty-seven, when Joseph goes tattling on his brothers, it specifically mentions that they are the sons of the neshe Bilhah and Zilpah. When the steward caught up with the brothers, he seized them and searched their sacks. 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. When the brothers claimed to the father that a wolf had eaten Joseph, he observed patience. After correctly interpreting the dreams of Pharaoh, however, he rises to second-in-command in Egypt and saves Egypt during a famine. 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? The robotic sermon went on to relate the story of when Joseph, the son of Jacob, was reunited with his brothers after many years. [g] Then he had their donkeys prepared with grain and sent the other brothers back to Canaan. 3) Levi was the third of Jacob and Leah's children. She told Jacob, "Here is my maid Bilhah. These were the 11 sons that were born to Jacob when he lived with Rachel's father Laban. Many of these amplifications have been borrowed by rabbinical tradition. . The motif of dreams/dream interpretation contributes to a strong story-like narrative. Their relationship is first mentioned in Genesis 41:45. Tsaphenath Paneach", "Allusions to the Joseph Narrative in the Synoptic Gospels and Acts: Foundations of a Biblical Type", The Story of Joseph in the Babi and Baha'i Faiths, "The New Media Bible: Book of Genesis (Video 1979)", "Jewish religious life in the Persian period", The Composition of Genesis 37: Incoherence and Meaning in the Exposition of the Joseph Story, "The Odyssey and the myth of Joseph; Autolykos and Jacob", "Strange Bedfellows: Politics and Narrative in Philo", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Joseph_(Genesis)&oldid=1142074895, 1979, New Media Bible Genesis Project (TV)-cap. [c] Thereafter the guilty brothers painted goat's blood on Joseph's coat and showed it to Jacob, who therefore believed Joseph had died (Genesis 37:1235). According to the Midrash, Joseph would have been immediately executed by the sexual assault charge against him by Potiphar's wife. 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. ISBN links support NWE through referral fees, https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/p/index.php?title=Joseph,_son_of_Jacob&oldid=1017043, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License, More recently, Joseph figures prominently in Anita Diamant's novel. 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). Our President, Mr . 51 Joseph called the name of the first-born Manas'seh, "For," he said, "God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father's house." 52 The name of the second he called E'phraim, "For God has . 12Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, so he sent our fathers there for the first time. [44] In the Quran the brothers ask Jacob ("Yaqub") to let Joseph go with them. "-Genesis 41:45. Though Manasseh was the older brother, Jacob placed his right hand on Ephraim, the younger, and gave him the greater blessing. When Joseph and his mother bowed to Esau (Gen. 33:7), Joseph shielded his mother with his body (Targ. 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 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. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Please consider supporting this ministry, which is offered free of charge in order to help newcomers understand Biblical context and develop good spiritual fruit. 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. 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' Both the term "Joseph" and the term "Ephraim" were also frequently used by the biblical writers to refer to the norther tribes generally or to the later northern kingdom, usually called Israel. | The Hub In the Eastern Orthodox Church and those Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Byzantine Rite, he is known as "Joseph the all-comely", a reference not only to his physical appearance, but more importantly to the beauty of his spiritual life. A. degree from Wheaton College, and the B. D. and Th. in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. These were Jacob's sons who were born to him while he . 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. 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. Joseph would have been approximately six years old . Well, thats what I thought for many years as well and it was no wonder I was looking through a lens colored by modern movies, television shows, and ten years spent living in uber-Mormon southern Idaho. Joseph's sons Manasseh and Ephraim were born before the years of famine. He could not control himself any longer and so he sent the Egyptian men out of the house. Jacob with Ephraim and Manasseh. This makes Jesus related to Adam, both as the son of God and . Now Jacob had twelve sons. Although they had betrayed him in the past, Joseph greeted them . Israel (Jacob) agreed to his son's invitation to move to Egypt and began the journey to see Joseph. 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. Our fathers found no food. I smiled. Who was the angel of Joseph interpreted this dream as the baker being hanged within three days and having his flesh eaten by birds. When the famine came which Pharoah had dreampt of, and Joseph had predicted, Joseph's father, brothers, and their families, settled in Egypt where there was food.