Guide
What Is Joseph and Aseneth?
2nd Century BCE–2nd Century CE
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When Pharaoh promoted Joseph to the second most powerful position in all of Egypt, he “gave him Aseneth daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, to be his wife” (Genesis 41:45), which in the biblical text appears to be an intermarriage. This tantalizing reference was enough to inspire an anonymous Hellenistic Jew living in Egypt in the centuries around the turn of the millennium to write a narrative about their relationship, in the style of a novella. Joseph and Aseneth is a literary rendering of Aseneth’s developing love for Joseph and for the God of Israel, which ultimately leads her to convert. The novella engages with complex questions about religious and cultural identity and the permeability of Israelite and Egyptian boundaries.
Related Primary Sources
Primary Source
Aseneth Succumbs to Joseph’s Charm
Joseph and Aseneth 2–11, 14–15, 19
Aseneth [ . . . ] despised and rejected all the men who courted her, and she was arrogant and superior to everyone. Indeed, no man had ever seen her, because she resided in a tower which adjoined…
Primary Source
Joseph Blesses Aseneth
Joseph and Aseneth 8
Raising his right hand, he placed it upon her head, and said:
O Lord, God of my father Israel,Most High, Mighty One of Jacob,Who gave life to all things,And summoned them out of the darkness into…
Primary Source
Aseneth’s Prayer of Confession
Joseph and Aseneth 21
She then began her confession to the Lord God and gave thanks, praying for all those who were deemed acceptable by the Lord:
I have sinned, O Lord, I have sinned!I have committed many sins in your…
Related Guide
What Are the Pseudepigrapha?
ca. 200 BCE–200 CE