The likelihood of jewish authorship is confirmed by the laudatory reference to hebrew women in ch. Pdf this article provides a survey of the last 25 years of research on joseph and aseneth, a jewish greek novel probably written between the. The romance tells how aseneth, daughter of an egyptian priest, became the wife of joseph, pharaos viceroy, following her conversion to the god of the hebrews. This translation of joseph and aseneth is taken from h.
Joseph and asenath, the confession and prayer of asenath. Pdf the heavenly counterpart traditions in joseph and. How joseph rebuked asenath because she worshipped idols. Hyperlinked bibliography by dr mark goodacre, duke university this bibliography focuses on texts and studies of joseph and aseneth, attempting to provide a useful, online guide to available material. Thus, in the writings of porphyrius the third century neoplatonist, honey is the food of gods which grants life and conveys immortality. This is the study of an anonymous ancient work, usually called joseph and aseneth, which narrates the transformation of the daughter of an egyptian priest into an acceptable spouse for the biblical joseph, whose marriage to aseneth is given brief notice in genesis. Essenes, therapeutae, or some unknown form of judaism shaped in the iamge of a. The importance of joseph and aseneth for the study of the. The tenuous basis of this anecdote is one verse in genesis 41. Joseph sent a message to potipherah that he would come to his house. Pdf recent scholarship on joseph and aseneth 198820. As far as possible, i have attempted to hyperlink the bibliography, giving leads to publishers, electronic catalogues, homepages of scholars and, on.
Joseph and aseneth article about joseph and aseneth by. One important feature of the text that sets it apart from other early jewish visionary accounts is that the recipient of the revelation and subsequent metamorphosis is a female seeraseneth, who is depicted in the pseudepigraphon as a daughter of an. Yet the first complete edition of the greek text was not published until 1890, and. By subscribing to my channel, along with liking and sharing these videos, you are helping this channel to grow. Pdf orphanhood and parenthood in joseph and aseneth. Full text of joseph and asenath, the confession and prayer of.
The fact that conversion does not involve baptism weighs heavily against christian composition. Joseph and asenath, the confession and prayer of asenath, daughter of pentephres the priest by brooks, e. It recounts an attempt by pharaohs son to kill joseph and aseneth, his death and josephs 48year rule over egypt. So potipherah rejoiced greatly, saying to his daughter, joseph, the friend of god, enters herein. O but asenath was sore vexed when she heard these words, and saidn. And aseneth saw joseph and she was cut to the quick, her stomach turned over, her knees became. Full text of joseph and asenath, the confession and prayer of asenath, daughter of pentephres the priest see other formats bs 1830.
An egyptian man purchased joseph to be a servant to his wife. Joseph and aseneth is a narrative that dates from between 200 bce and 200 ce. And he gave him to wife, asenath, the daughter of potipherah, priest of on. The tale of joseph and aseneth gives an account of the love, conversion and preservation of aseneth, the haughty daugther of an egyptian priest, who married joseph, son of jacob cf. Joseph and aseneth attempts to fill in the gaps and mitigate the disreputable fact.
The romance of joseph and asenatk ja, a work almost entirely neglected by classicists, was extremely popular for many centuries and translated into many languagesslavonic, syriac, armenian, roumanian, latin twice, middle english, coptic, and ethiopian. Joseph and aseneth book is a romance, telling the story of josephs marriage to aseneth, the daughter of potiphera called pentepheres in this book. Scholarly research barely relates to this story, probably since it inhabits the margins of the love. History, text, and commentary kindle edition by lumpkin, joseph. If joseph was such a godly jew, how could he marry an egyptian, especially one whose father is. Joseph and asenethchapters 2229 journal of hebrew scriptures. The question of asenaths origins has significant consequences for the. Translated by david cook hyptertext version by dr mark goodacre, university of birmingham. The story begins after josephs own brothers sold him into slavery. It is not right for a man who worships god to repay his. Asenath has two sons who will be essential to the israelites later. When aseneth met joseph paperback ross shepard kraemer. A plot to dethrone a hyksos king, a high priests daughter held.
Click download or read online button to get joseph and aseneth book now. This narrative of ancient judaism is offered in a new translation on the basis of a recently revised greek text. When joseph arrives he too is amazed at her beauty and asks her name. The heroism of the composer of joseph and aseneth, and the heroism of the rabbis afterwards, was to breathe life into an ancient text and make it relevant for the world in which they lived. And joseph got down from his chariot and extended his right hand to them.
Asenath is instructed to prepare herself for his arrival, so she dresses beautifully. The story of joseph and aseneth is an ancient jewish romance. And pentephres came, and his wife, and all his relatives, except their daughter aseneth. This book contains the first critical edition of the ancient jewish romance of joseph and aseneth with full apparatus from the entire manuscript tradition both greek and versional. The rabbis found it difficult to accept that joseph, who withstood the wiles of potiphars wife and proclaimed his loyalty to the lord in the palace of pharaoh, would marry a nonisraelite woman.
The romance of joseph and asenath is founded upon the words of gen. Joseph arrives for his second visit in chapters 1820. These comparisons illumine how, despite the frequency of the motif of the living god, each work used it for different theological aims. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading joseph and aseneth, a love story.
This site is like a library, use search box in the widget to get ebook that you want. So potipherah rejoiced greatly, saying to his daughter, ojoseph, the friend of god, enters herein. Like the book of jubilees, the book attempts to answer a question which many people have about the story of joseph. Joseph is successful and, among other favours, pharaoh arranges that joseph marry a highborn egyptian woman called asenath. Introduction the pseudepigraphic work joseph and aseneth consists of two main stories. It is also a story of religious intolerance, racism, sexism, subterfuge, betrayal, and hate. Ad 100 and perhaps as early as the first century bc. Kraemer, when aseneth met joseph, a late antique tale of the biblical patriarch and his egyptian wife, reconsidered, oxford university press, new york oxford, 1998.
Apocrypha and aseneth in the catholic encyclopedia. There are many ways you can help me to bring this message to the world. Joseph and asenath, pseudepigraphic work the story of how asenath, daughter of pentephres, priest of heliopolis, converted to the worship of the god of israel and married joseph. Unfortunately, the only thing known about aseneth from these biblical passages is that she was josephs wife and the daughter of an egyptian priest. Then in the final chapters of the book, pharaohs son, in love with aseneth himself, attempts to seize her, persuading dan and gad to assist him and kill joseph. Its original language was probably greek, but it is available in syriac, slavonic, armenian, latin, and middle english versions. The first part of the work, which is also the longest chs. Pharaoh is so impressed by josephs shrewd intelligence that he employs him to reorganize grain supplies for egypt. The story of asenath pseudepigrapha, apocrypha and.
Asenath is mentioned in the torah as the daughter of potiphera gen. The problem, however, is that she consistently maintains cordial relations with her family. It provides an introduction into the vexed question of genre, given the. Recent scholarship on joseph and aseneth 198820 article pdf available in currents in biblical research 123. Full text of joseph and asenath, the confession and. Aseneth, promising to love, honour, and obey joseph, is now seen as a potential wife by him, and the two marry and she bears him ephraim and manasseh. Kraemer takes issue with the scholarly consensus that the tale is a jewish conversion story composed no. D discuss this text or ask a question on the official early writings forum. These chapters, compare joseph and aseneth to other grecojewish literature, such as greek esther, theodosian and og daniel, and 3 maccabees in chapter four, and jubilees and pauls letters in chapter five. This volume is a comprehensive but accessible guide to the major questions raised by the hellenistic jewish work, joseph and aseneth. Josasen appears to have originated in the jewish diaspora of egypt, no later than c.
Joseph and aseneth is an excellent example of the controverted issues of text, dating and sitz im leben, when such decisions must be largely based on internal evidence. She is so striking her fosterfather says at last the lord god of heaven has chosen you as a bride for his firstborn son, joseph. Arguing with aseneth shows how the ancient jewish romance known as joseph and aseneth moves a minor character in genesis from obscurity to renown, weaving a new story whose main purpose was to intervene in ancient jewish debates surrounding gentile access to israels god. And he said to him, give me aseneth the daughter of pentephres the priest 11 of heliopolis as my wife. In the romance joseph and aseneth, aseneth identifies herself as an orphan abandoned by her parents e. Loyalty, traitors, antiquity and diasporan identity article pdf available in journal for the study of the pseudepigrapha 221. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Besides its detailed introduction, the volume offers a wide range of essays. Joseph and aseneth is an epic story of love, desire, sanctification, and forgiveness. Joseph and aseneth download ebook pdf, epub, tuebl, mobi.
Joseph and aseneth is actually a nonbiblical story originating from as early as a century before christ, when a group of jews were trying to explain how the patriarch joseph had come to marry the daughter aseneth of an egyptian priest when jews were forbidden to intermarry. Joseph and aseneth is a story centered around the enigmatic aseneth of genesis 41. The marriage of the chaste and pious joseph to the pagan asenath was problematic for strictly observant jews. It must not be reproduced elsewhere without their permission.