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Joseph and Aseneth

About this book
Chapter 14

1 And, when Asenath had finished making her confession to the Lord, look, the morning star also rose in the sky in the east; 2 and Asenath saw it and was delighted and said: "Has the Lord God heard my prayer? For this star is a messenger and herald of the light of the great day." 3 And look, close by the morning star the sky was torn open and a great and indescribable light appeared.⁠ 4 And when she saw it Asenath fell on her face on the ashes, and at once a man came to her from heaven, sending out rays of light, and stood above her head. And, as she lay on her face, the divine angel said to her, "Asenath, stand up." 5 And she said: "Who is it that called me? For the door of my room is shut and the tower is high, and how then has he come into my room?" 6 And he called her again a second time, saying, "Asenath, Asenath." And she said, "Here I am, lord, tell me who you are." 7 And he said: "I am the supreme commander of the Lord God and commander of the whole army of the Most High: stand up and stand on your feet, so that I may speak my words to you." 8 And she lifted up her face and saw, and look, a man like Joseph in every way, with a robe, a wreath, and a royal staff, 9 except that his face was like lightning, and his eyes like the light of the sun, and the hair of his head like the flame of a burning torch, and his hands and his feet like iron glowing from the fire,⁠ for what seemed like sparks came from both his hands and his feet. 10 Seeing these things Asenath was afraid and fell on her face, unable even to stand on her feet, for she became greatly afraid and all her limbs trembled. 11 And the man said to her: "Take heart, Asenath, and do not be afraid; but stand up and stand on your feet, so that I may speak my words to you." 12 Then Asenath stood up and stood on her feet, and the angel said to her: "Go without hesitation into your second room and take off the black tunic you are wearing, and remove the sackcloth from your waist, and shake out the ashes from your head, 13 and wash your face and your hands with spring water⁠ and put on a white robe that has never been worn and fasten around your waist the bright double belt of your virginity, 14 and come back to me, and I will tell you the message sent to you from the Lord." 15 Then Asenath hurried and went into her second room, where the chests of her jewelry were, and opened her chest and took a fine white robe that had never been worn and put it on, after first taking off the black robe, 16 and also untied the rope and the sackcloth from her waist and fastened on a bright double belt of her virginity, one belt around her waist and another around her breast. 17 And she also shook the ashes out from her head and washed her hands and face with spring water, and she took a very beautiful, fine head covering and covered her head.

Texts in conversation

Compare Daniel 10:6 and Joseph and Aseneth 14:9

Hebrew Bible · Pseudepigrapha, Hebrew Bible Expansions

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Summary

Joseph and Aseneth uses the same imagery as Daniel 10, describing a shining figure with fiery eyes and gleaming limbs. The scene describes divine power and the “extramission theory” of vision, where sight was the result of light coming out of the eyes.

Passages

Daniel 10:6

Hebrew Bible
5 I looked up and saw a man clothed in linen; around his waist was a belt made of gold from Ufaz. 6 His body resembled yellow jasper, and his face had an appearance like lightning. His eyes were like blazing torches; his arms and feet had the gleam of polished bronze. His voice thundered forth like the sound of a large crowd. 7 Only I, Daniel, saw the vision; the men who were with me did not see it. On the contrary, they were overcome with fright and ran away to hide.
200–101 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Daniel

Joseph and Aseneth 14:9

Pseudepigrapha, Hebrew Bible Expansions
7 And he said: "I am the supreme commander of the Lord God and commander of the whole army of the Most High: stand up and stand on your feet, so that I may speak my words to you." 8 And she lifted up her face and saw, and look, a man like Joseph in every way, with a robe, a wreath, and a royal staff, 9 except that his face was like lightning, and his eyes like the light of the sun, and the hair of his head like the flame of a burning torch, and his hands and his feet like iron glowing from the fire, for what seemed like sparks came from both his hands and his feet. 10 Seeing these things Asenath was afraid and fell on her face, unable even to stand on her feet, for she became greatly afraid and all her limbs trembled.
100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Joseph and Aseneth

References

"... In the Pseudepigrapha the figure of a chief angel, who possessed at least part of God's glory, became of great importance in the period leading up to the advent of Christianity. Whilst the status of Joseph in Joseph and Aseneth, or the Logos in Philo’s work, is still unclear, probably deliberately so, the chief angels in the Pseudepigrapha are clearly angelic and clearly vice-regents of God. There are three texts worth examining in this context ... In Joseph and Aseneth we meet an unnamed figure; according to Burchard this is Michael. This angel is like a man, but his face is like lightning and eyes like sunshine, his hair is like fire, his hands and feet shoot forth sparks and are like iron shining forth from fire (like the molten bronze in Apocalypse of Zephaniah) (14:9-10). He also carries a staff like the angel Yahoel in the Apocalypse of Abraham (14:9). The unnamed angel is described as 'chief of the house of the Lord and commander of the whole host of the Most High' (14:8) ..."
Norman Ricklefs, “An Angelic Community: The Significance of Beliefs about Angels in the First Four Centuries of Christianity” (PhD diss., Macquarie University, 2002), 105–106.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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