Joseph’s wife was a high-born Egyptian

Genesis 41:45, 41:50, and 46:20

Asenath sat a short distance from her two sons who were playing a rough-and-tumble game that’s never been named but boys of all generations seem to know.

The bejewelled, high-born Egyptian smiled out of love for Manasseh and Ephraim. An even bigger grin stretched her lips when she considered the irony of marrying a Hebrew who was an ex-con but now second in charge of her country, Egypt.

Just look at me, she thought, admiring her dark, silky skin. I am an aristocratic woman, the daughter of Potiphera, an Egyptian priest who serves gods quite different from my husband’s one called Yahweh, the Almighty. My husband Joseph is the son of the leader of the Israelites who were no more than nomadic herders before Joseph brought the old man Jacob and about 75 relatives to Egypt to live.

Asenath, whose name means “gift of the sun-god,” was a paradigm of virtue and grace who disdained marriage until the handsome, well-built caramel-colored Joseph appeared on the scene. There had been suitors around for Asenath, even Pharaoh’s son, but no one had caught her eye except Joseph, whose name means “Yahweh increases or adds to.”

Even for Asenath, her husband’s story was fascinating.

Joseph had been serving time in Pharaoh’s prison on what most of us knew were trumped up charges leveled by the king’s wife. But Pharaoh released Joseph from prison and made him Egypt’s prime minister simply because he interpreted his dream. I guess it didn’t matter to the king that those Hebrews worshipped Yahweh only, her reverie continued.

Only Joseph knew of the years of trials and tribulations he’d survived as the favorite son of his father Jacob. Joseph was considered a dreamer and he frequently shared with his siblings his visions of dominance. So, sibling rivalry, jealousy and downright hatred led Joseph’s 11 brothers to sell him at age 17 to some Midianite traders. When Joseph eventually landed in Egypt, he was purchased by Potipar, an officer of Pharaoh and the captain of the guard.

Potiphar liked Joseph, recognizing his hard work, integrity and other exceptional abilities. When he entrusted Joseph with the management of his household, God blessed the entire estate, prospering everything under Joseph’s care. However, Potiphar’s wife falsely accused Joseph of trying to seduce her. As punishment, Potiphar sent him to the king’s prison where he was eventually called to interpret Pharaoh’s frightening dream.

Pharaoh’s delight in Joseph’s clever mind and his gift for interpreting dreams knew no bounds. He liked Joseph’s fresh perspective and took him into his service, trusting him with running the country, not just interpreting dreams. Joseph’s shrewd intelligence enabled him to reorganize Egypt’s grain supplies in anticipation of a deadly drought.

What Joseph understood but Pharaoh, Potipar and everyone else in Egypt did not realize was that his faith in God predominated everything in his life. That was the reason for his success, not their favor or his God-given skills and knowledge. God had orchestrated their favor. Joseph’s faith came from a relationship with God that enabled him to live and thrive in a foreign, idol-worshipping country.

Joseph repeatedly made it clear that God was the source of his interpretation and everything else in his life.

Before interpreting the dream, Joseph told Pharaoh, “It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.”

While explaining the dream,“Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one: God hath shewed Pharaoh what he is about to do,” Genesis 41: 25, KJV.

From the moment Joseph arrived in Egypt, he tried to integrate himself into the culture, although he stopped at engaging in practices seen as immoral or unlawful under God’s watchful eye. For example, he would not sleep with his boss’s wife. Also, Egyptians shaved their head and face while Hebrews wore beards and were not clean shaven. And, Hebrews wore home-spun woolen cloth, while Egyptians wore linen or cotton wrap-around “skirts.”

Before Joseph was allowed to interpret Pharaoh’s dream, he shaved and changed into appropriate clothes for his meeting with the king. He didn’t balk, Joseph went along with protocol.

When Pharaoh appointed Joseph Prime Minister at the age of 30, he gave him the name, Zaphenath-paneah, to make him acceptable to courtiers and commoners alike. And, he arranged Joseph’s marriage to the priest’s daughter to smooth his path as he traveled throughout the country to set up his plan for the seven years of plenty and seven years of drought.

Being literate and well-educated, Asenath understood that her marriage was a visible sign that Joseph was “one of us.” But what she didn’t understand, at that moment, was that her status in Egyptian culture paled in comparison to the fact that her sons plopped her in the bloodline of not one, but TWO Israelite tribes.

Research shows that some accounts note that Asenath converted to Joseph’s faith. Whether it’s true or not, it is widely known that Joseph chose the names of their sons when they were born and Egyptian economy was booming. Egypt was hailed as the “land of plenty” during the seven good years.

Manasseh, the first born, means “God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s house.” Ephraim means “God has made me fruitful in the land of my misfortunes.”

When conditions in Egypt deteriorated towards the drought, Manasseh and Ephraim were still young.

The Nile River flows northward for 4,160 miles from east-central Africa to the Mediterranean, providing ancient Egypt with fertile soil and water for irrigation. The Egyptians also used the river for transporting materials for building projects. Although the flood waters were an irritant, people looked forward to the annual event. However, near the end of the seven years of plenty, the floods were meager and less land was covered with the life-giving silt. Crops were poor.

Asenath witnessed the true nature of her God-fearing husband as the drought began to move in. Joseph had correctly predicted the famine, and wisely stored up the country’s resources against future trouble. Her husband’s foresight kept the people from starving, and her position in society was even stronger than before.

Joseph eventually brought to Egypt all of his family “Jacob and all his offspring, sons, son’s sons, daughters, and his sons’ daughters.”

For Asenath, she could always brag that she was an Egyptian daughter who became a Jewish monarch.

Source:

Ahearne-Kroll, Patricia. Aseneth of Egypt. Biblical Archaeology Review. Summer 2022

Ahearne-Kroll, Patricia. Aseneth of Egypt: The Composition of a Jewish Narrative: Reconstructed Texts and Their Limitation. Early Judaism and Its Literature 56. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2020.

Asenath. Wikipedia.

Bolinger, Hope. Who was Asenath and Why Does She Give Hope to Christian Singles?

Sauter, Megan. Who Is Joseph’s Wife in the Bible?Who is Aseneth? Biblical Archaeology Review. 2022.

Standhartinger, Angela. Asenath: Bible. Jewish Women’s Archive. The Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women. 2021. https://www.crosswalk.com/author/hope-bolinger/ .