Go to Related Reading
About this book

Jubilees

About this book

Pharaoh’s Dreams and Joseph’s Appointment

Chapter 40

1 And in those days Pharaoh dreamed two dreams in one night concerning a famine which was to be in all the land, and he awoke from his sleep and called all the interpreters of dreams that were in Egypt, and magicians, and told them his two dreams, and they were not able to explain (them). 2 And then the chief cupbearer remembered Joseph and spoke of him to the king, and he brought him out from the prison, and he told his two dreams before him. 3 And he said before Pharaoh that his two dreams were one, and he said to him: 'Seven years shall come (in which there shall be) plenty over all the land of Egypt, and after that seven years of famine, such a famine as has not been in all the land. 4 And now let Pharaoh appoint overseers in all the land of Egypt, and let them store up food in every city throughout the days of the years of plenty, and there will be food for the seven years of famine, and the land will not perish through the famine, for it will be very severe.' 5 And the Lord gave Joseph favor and mercy in the eyes of Pharaoh, and Pharaoh said to his servants: 'We shall not find such a wise and discerning man as this man, for the spirit of the Lord is with him.' 6 And he appointed him the second in all his kingdom and gave him authority over all Egypt, and caused him to ride in the second chariot of Pharaoh. 7 And he clothed him with fine linen clothes, and he put a gold chain upon his neck, and (a herald) proclaimed before him ' 'El 'El wa 'Abirer,' and placed a ring on his hand and made him ruler over all his house, and exalted him, and said to him: 'Only on the throne shall I be greater than you.' 8 And Joseph ruled over all the land of Egypt, and all the princes of Pharaoh, and all his servants, and all who did the king's business loved him, for he walked in uprightness, for he was without pride and arrogance, and he showed no favoritism, and did not accept bribes, but he judged in uprightness all the people of the land.⁠ 9 And the land of Egypt was at peace before Pharaoh because of Joseph, for the Lord was with him, and gave him favor and mercy for all his generations before all those who knew him and those who heard concerning him, and Pharaoh's kingdom was well ordered, and there was no Satan and no evil person (in it).⁠ 10 And the king called Joseph's name Sephantiphans, and gave Joseph as wife the daughter of Potiphar, the daughter of the priest of Heliopolis,⁠ the chief cook. 11 And on the day that Joseph stood before Pharaoh he was thirty years old [when he stood before Pharaoh]. 12 And in that year Isaac died. And as Joseph had said in the interpretation of his two dreams, according as he had said it, there were seven years of plenty over all the land of Egypt, and the land of Egypt abundantly produced, one measure (producing) eighteen hundred measures. 13 And Joseph gathered food into every city until they were full of grain until they could no longer count and measure it because there was so much.

Texts in conversation

Compare Jubilees 40:10 and Joseph and Aseneth 1:4

Pseudepigrapha, Hebrew Bible Expansions

Share:

Summary

In Jubilees, Joseph marries the daughter of his old master Potiphar, who is also the priest of Heliopolis. Joseph and Aseneth similarly expands on the details in Genesis, but the priest is a separate man named Pentephres, not Potiphar.

Passages

Jubilees 40:10

Pseudepigrapha, Hebrew Bible Expansions
9 And the land of Egypt was at peace before Pharaoh because of Joseph, for the Lord was with him, and gave him favor and mercy for all his generations before all those who knew him and those who heard concerning him, and Pharaoh's kingdom was well ordered, and there was no Satan and no evil person (in it). 10 And the king called Joseph's name Sephantiphans, and gave Joseph as wife the daughter of Potiphar, the daughter of the priest of Heliopolis, the chief cook. 11 And on the day that Joseph stood before Pharaoh he was thirty years old [when he stood before Pharaoh].
170–125 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Jubilees

Joseph and Aseneth 1:4

Pseudepigrapha, Hebrew Bible Expansions
4 And there was a man in that city named Pentephres, who was a priest of Heliopolis and a satrap of Pharaoh, and chief over all Pharaoh's satraps and princes; 5 and this man was very rich and very wise and gentle, and he was also a counselor of Pharaoh, because he was more discerning than all Pharaoh's princes. 6 And he had a virgin daughter, named Asenath, eighteen years old, tall and graceful, and more beautiful to look at than any virgin on the earth.
100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Joseph and Aseneth

References

... Jubilees 40.10 explicitly equates Joseph’s master, Potiphar (Hebrew: Potiphar), with Aseneth’s father (Hebrew: Potiphera) so that Aseneth becomes Potiphar’s daughter: ‘And [Pharaoh] gave the daughter of Potiphar, the daughter of the priest of Heliopolis, the chief of the guard, to Joseph (as) a wife.’ This claim is, in fact, in direct opposition to our Aseneth stories, which assume that her father, Pentephres, and Joseph’s former master are two different people. ...
Ross Shepard Kraemer, When Aseneth Met Joseph: A Late Antique Tale of the Biblical Patriarch and His Egyptian Wife, Reconsidered (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998), 229.

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

Your feedback

Jubilees 40:10 and Joseph and Aseneth 1:4

Leave a comment

Your questions and comments are welcome!

Comments

Glossary

Search the Library