Birth and family 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. He was Rachel's firstborn and Jacob's eleventh son. Of all the sons, Joseph was preferred by his father, who gave him a "long
coat of many colors". When Joseph was seventeen years old, he shared with his brothers two dreams he had: in the first dream, Joseph and his brothers gathered bundles of grain, of which those his brothers gathered, bowed to his own. In the second dream, the Sun (father), the Moon (mother), and eleven stars (brothers) bowed to Joseph himself. These dreams, implying his supremacy, angered his brothers () and made the brothers plot his demise. File:Joseph dreams of wheat.JPG|Joseph's dream of grain File:Owen Jones - Joseph dreams of stars.JPG|Joseph's dream of stars
Plot against Joseph , 1630. In Genesis 37,
Vayeshev, Joseph's half-brothers were envious of him. Most of them plotted to kill him in
Dothan, except
Reuben, who suggested they throw Joseph into an empty
cistern; he intended to rescue Joseph himself later. Unaware of this plan to rescue Joseph, the others agreed with Reuben. Upon imprisoning Joseph, the brothers saw a camel caravan carrying spices and perfumes to Egypt, and sold Joseph to these merchants. The guilty brothers painted goat's blood on Joseph's coat and showed it to Jacob, who therefore believed Joseph had died.
Potiphar's house In Genesis 39,
Vayeshev, Joseph was sold to
Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh's guard. Later, Joseph became Potiphar's servant, and subsequently his household's superintendent. Here,
Potiphar's wife (later called
Zulaykha) tried to seduce Joseph, which he refused. Angered by his running away from her, she made a false accusation of rape so he would be imprisoned.
Joseph in prison , 17th century. The warden put Joseph in charge of the other prisoners and soon afterward Pharaoh's chief
cup-bearer and chief baker, who had offended the Pharaoh, were thrown into the prison. Both men had dreams, and Joseph, being able to
interpret dreams, asked to hear them. The cup-bearer's dream was about a vine with three branches that was budding. And as it was budding, its blossoms came out and they produced grapes. The cup-bearer took those grapes and squeezed them into Pharaoh's cup, and placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand. Joseph interpreted this dream as the cup-bearer being restored as cup-bearer to the Pharaoh within three days. The baker's dream was about three baskets full of bread for the Pharaoh, and birds were eating the bread out of those baskets. Joseph interpreted this dream as the baker being hanged within three days and having his flesh eaten by birds. Joseph requested that the cup-bearer mention him to Pharaoh to secure his release from prison, but the cup-bearer, reinstalled in office, forgot Joseph. 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. When the Pharaoh's advisers failed to interpret these dreams, the cup-bearer remembered Joseph. Joseph was then summoned. He interpreted the dream as seven years of abundance followed by seven years of famine and advised the Pharaoh to store surplus grain.
Vizier of Egypt . Following the prediction, Joseph became
Vizier, under the name of
Zaphnath-Paaneah (
Hebrew: צָפְנַת פַּעְנֵחַ
Ṣāp̄naṯ Paʿnēaḥ), and was given
Asenath, the daughter of
Potipherah, priest of
On, to be his wife. During the seven years of abundance, Joseph ensured that the storehouses were full and that all produce was weighed. In the sixth year, Asenath bore two children to Joseph:
Manasseh and
Ephraim. When the famine came, it was so severe that people from surrounding nations came to Egypt to buy bread. The narrative also indicates that they went straight to Joseph or were directed to him, even by the Pharaoh himself (). 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. This mandate lasted until the days of
Moses ().
Brothers sent to Egypt by Raphaël de Mercatelli,
Ghent, late 15th century. In the second year of famine, Joseph's half brothers were sent to Egypt to buy goods. 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. After questioning them, he accused them of being spies. After they mentioned a younger brother at home, the Vizier (Joseph) demanded that he be brought to Egypt as a demonstration of their veracity. This was Joseph's full brother,
Benjamin. Joseph placed his brothers in prison for three days. On the third day, he brought them out of prison to reiterate that he wanted their youngest brother brought to Egypt to demonstrate their veracity. The brothers conferred amongst themselves speaking in Hebrew, reflecting on the wrong they had done to Joseph. Joseph understood what they were saying and removed himself from their presence because he was caught in emotion. When he returned, the Vizier took
Simeon and bound him as a hostage. Then he had their donkeys prepared with grain and sent the other brothers back to Canaan. Unbeknownst to them, Joseph had also returned their money to their money sacks ().
The silver cup The remaining brothers returned to their father in Canaan, and told him all that had transpired in Egypt. They also discovered that all of their money sacks still had money in them, and they were dismayed. Then they informed their father that the Vizier demanded that Benjamin be brought before him to demonstrate that they were honest men. Jacob became greatly distressed, feeling deprived of successive sons: Joseph, Simeon, and (prospectively) Benjamin. 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. With Reuben and Judah's persistence, they persuaded their father to let Benjamin join them for fear of Egyptian retribution (). Upon their return to Egypt, the steward of Joseph's house received the brothers. When they were brought to Joseph's house, they were apprehensive about the returned money in their money sacks. They thought that the missed transaction would somehow be used against them as way to induct them as slaves and to confiscate their possessions. So they immediately informed the steward of what had transpired. The steward put them at ease, telling them not to worry about the money, and brought out their brother Simeon. Then he brought the brothers into the house of Joseph and received them hospitably. When the Vizier (Joseph) appeared, they gave him gifts from their father. Joseph saw and inquired of Benjamin, and was overcome by emotion but did not show it. He withdrew to his chambers and wept. When he regained control of himself, he returned and ordered a meal to be served. 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 (). That night, Joseph ordered his steward to load the brothers' donkeys with food and all their money. The money they had brought was double what they had offered on the first trip. Deceptively, Joseph also ordered the steward to put his silver cup in Benjamin's sack. The following morning the brothers began their journey back to Canaan. Joseph ordered the steward to go after the brothers and to question them about the "missing" silver cup. When the steward caught up with the brothers, he seized them and searched their sacks. The steward found the cup in Benjamin's sack - just as he had planted it the night before. This caused a stir amongst the brothers. However, they agreed to be escorted back to Egypt. When the Vizier (Joseph) confronted them about the silver cup, he demanded that the one who possessed the cup in his bag become his slave. 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 ().
Family reunited 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. The Vizier broke down into tears. He could not control himself any longer and so he sent the Egyptian men out of the house. Then he revealed to the Hebrews that he was in fact their brother, Joseph. He wept so loudly that even the Egyptian household heard it outside. The brothers were frozen and could not utter a word. 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. 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. So Joseph supplied them Egyptian transport wagons, new garments, silver money, and twenty additional donkeys carrying provisions for the journey. () Thus, Jacob (also known as Israel) and his entire house of seventy gathered up with all their livestock and began their journey to Egypt. As they approached Egyptian territory, Judah went ahead to ask Joseph where the caravan should unload. They were directed into the province of Goshen and Joseph readied his chariot to meet his father there. It had been over twenty years since Joseph had last seen his father. When they met, they embraced each other and wept together for quite a while. His father then remarked, "Now let me die, since I have seen your face, because you are still alive." () Afterward, Joseph's family personally met the
Pharaoh of Egypt. The Pharaoh honoured 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. Because the Pharaoh had such a high regard for Joseph, practically making him his equal, it had been an honour to meet his father. Thus, Israel was able to bless the Pharaoh (). The family was then settled in Goshen.
Father's blessing and passing s. The house of Israel acquired many possessions and multiplied exceedingly during the course of seventeen years, even through the worst of the seven-year famine. At this time, Joseph's father was 147 years old and bedridden. He had fallen ill and lost most of his vision. Joseph was called into his father's house and Israel pleaded with his son that he not be buried in Egypt. Rather, he requested to be carried to the land of Canaan to be buried with his forefathers. Joseph was sworn to do as his father asked of him. () Later, Joseph came to visit his father having with him his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. 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. Then Israel laid his left hand on the eldest Mannasseh's head and his right hand on the youngest Ephraim's head and blessed Joseph. 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. But Israel refused saying, "but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he," a declaration he made just as Israel himself was to his firstborn brother Esau. 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. () Then Israel called all of his sons in and prophesied their blessings or curses to all twelve of them in order of their ages. To Joseph he declared: After relaying his prophecies, Israel died. The family, including the Egyptians, mourned him seventy days. Joseph had his father
embalmed, a process that took forty days. 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. They stopped at
Atad where they observed seven days of mourning. Here, their lamentation was so great that it caught the attention of surrounding Canaanites who remarked "This is a deep mourning of the Egyptians." So they named this spot
Abel Mizraim. Then Joseph buried Israel in the cave of
Machpelah, the property of
Abraham when he bought it from the
Hittites. () After their father died, the brothers of Joseph feared retribution for being responsible for Joseph's deliverance into Egypt as a slave. 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. He comforted them and their ties were reconciled. ()
Joseph's burial Joseph lived to the age of 110, living to see his great-grandchildren. 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. () The
children of Israel remembered their oath, and when they left Egypt during
the Exodus,
Moses took Joseph's bones with him. () The bones were buried at
Shechem, in the parcel of ground which Jacob bought from the sons of
Hamor (), which has traditionally been identified with site of
Joseph's Tomb, before Jacob and all his family moved to Egypt. 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. == Composition and literary motifs ==