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Jul 27, 2022 · Who is Joseph’s wife in the Bible? Learn about Aseneth, who married Joseph and came to be revered as an early Jewish matriarch.
Joseph’s wife, Asenath, was the daughter of Potiphera, the priest in the city of On. Before the first year of hunger came, Joseph and Asenath had two sons. Joseph named the first son Manasseh.
In Parashat Miketz, the Torah states that after being elevated to high office, Pharaoh gives Joseph a wife, Asenat the daughter of Poti Phara. The Rashbam (see Genesis 41:45 and Genesis 48:9) maintains that Asenat was given to Joseph in marriage as part of his elevation in status.
- Rabbi Moshe Davis
Joseph and Asenath is a narrative that dates from between 200 BCE and 200 CE. [1] It concerns the Hebrew patriarch Joseph and his marriage to Asenath, expanding the fleeting mentions of their relationship in the Book of Genesis.
Asenath was a high-born, aristocratic Egyptian woman. [4] She was the wife of Joseph and the mother of his sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. There are two Rabbinic approaches to Asenath. One holds that she was an Egyptian woman that converted to marry Joseph.
Joseph is successful and, among other favours, Pharaoh arranges that Joseph marry a high-born Egyptian woman called Asenath. Asenath has two sons who will be essential to the Israelites’ later history: Manasseh and Ephraim, who will be the forefathers of two of the twelve tribes of Israel.
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.
