Josephיוסף

1740 BCE – 1640 BCE · Canaan / Egyptislamic

Description

Joseph was a dream interpreter and considered an important Hebrew figure in the Bible's Book of Genesis.

Born	Paddan Aram, Aram-Naharaim, (present-day Harran, Turkey)
Died	Ancient Egypt
Resting place	Joseph's Tomb, Nablus, West Bank (disputed), 32°12′47″N 35°16′58″E / 32.2130268°N 35.2829153°E / 32.2130268; 35.2829153
Other name	Zaphnath-Paaneah (צָפְנַת פַּעְנֵחַ)
Spouse	Asenath
Children	Manasseh (son) Ephraim (son)
Parents	Jacob (father)Rachel (mother)
Relatives	Reuben (half-brother) Simeon (half-brother) Levi (half-brother) Judah (half-brother) Dan (half-brother) Naphtali (half-brother) Gad (half-brother) Asher (half-brother) Issachar (half-brother) Zebulun (half-brother) Dinah (half-sister) Benjamin (brother) Abraham (great-grandfather) Sarah (great-grandmother) Potipherah (father-in-law) Isaac (grandfather) Rebecca (grandmother) Esau (uncle) Ishmael (great half-uncle)

Summarised by section — one row per topic, for fast reading.

Topic	Summary
Etymology	The Bible offers two explanations of the name Yosēf: first, it is compared to the triliteral א־ס־ף (ʾ-s-p), meaning "to gather, remove, take away": "And she conceived, and bore a son; and said, God hath taken away my reproach" (Genesis 30:23); Yosēf is then identified with the similar root יסף (y-s-p), meaning "to add": "And she called his name Joseph; and said, The LORD shall add to me another son." (Genesis 30:24).
Biblical narrative	Joseph, son of Jacob and Rachel, lived in the land of Canaan with ten half-brothers, one full brother, and at least one half-sister.
Jewish tradition	In the midrash, the selling of Joseph was part of God's divine plan for him to save his tribes.
Christian tradition	Joseph is mentioned in the New Testament as an example of faith (Hebrews 11:22).
Islamic tradition	Joseph (Arabic: يوسُف, Yūsuf) is regarded by the Quran as a prophet (Quran 6:84), and a whole chapter Surah Yusuf 12 is devoted to him, the only instance in the Quran in which an entire chapter is devoted to a complete story of a person.
Baha'i tradition	There are numerous mentions of Joseph in Bahá'í writings.

Key prophetic utterances and visions attributed to Joseph, with sources.

Prophecy / vision	Source
The sun, the moon and eleven stars bow to you — the dream of rulership	Quran 12:4
God shall make you judge over the land; the dream fulfilled at the throne	Quran 12:100