Asenath (, ;

Koine Greek Koine Greek (, ), also variously known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek, Septuagint Greek or New Testament Greek, was the koiné language, common supra-regional form of Greek language, Greek spoken and ...

: Ἀσενέθ, ''Asenéth'') is a minor figure in the

Book of Genesis The Book of Genesis (from Greek language, Greek ; ; ) is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its incipit, first word, (In the beginning (phrase), 'In the beginning'). Genesis purpor ...

. Asenath was a high-born, aristocratic Egyptian woman. She was the wife of

Joseph Joseph is a common male name, derived from the Hebrew (). "Joseph" is used, along with " Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the modern-day Nordic count ...

and the mother of his sons,

Manasseh Manasseh () is both a given name and a surname. Its variants include Manasses and Manasse. Notable people with the name include: Surname * Ezekiel Saleh Manasseh (died 1944), Singaporean rice and opium merchant and hotelier * Jacob Manasseh ( ...

and

Ephraim Ephraim (; , in pausa: ''ʾEp̄rāyīm'') was, according to the Book of Genesis, the second son of Joseph ben Jacob and Asenath, as well as the adopted son of his biological grandfather Jacob, making him the progenitor of the Tribe of Ephrai ...

. There are two

Rabbinic Rabbinic Judaism (), also called Rabbinism, Rabbinicism, Rabbanite Judaism, or Talmudic Judaism, is rooted in the many forms of Judaism that coexisted and together formed Second Temple Judaism in the land of Israel, giving birth to classical rabb ...

approaches to Asenath. One holds that she was an

Egyptian woman ''Egyptian'' describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years ...

who converted to marry Joseph. This view has her accepting

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

before marriage and then raising her two sons in the tenets of Judaism. This presents her as a positive example of

conversion to Judaism Conversion to Judaism ( or ) is the process by which non-Jews adopt the Jewish religion and become members of the Jewish ethnoreligious community. It thus resembles both conversion to other religions and naturalization. "Thus, by convertin ...

and places her among the devout women converts. The other approach argues she was not Egyptian by descent but was from the family of

Jacob Jacob, later known as Israel, is a Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions. He first appears in the Torah, where he is described in the Book of Genesis as a son of Isaac and Rebecca. Accordingly, alongside his older fraternal twin brother E ...

. Traditions that trace her to the family of Jacob relate that she was born as the daughter of

Dinah In the Book of Genesis, Dinah (; ) was the seventh child and only named daughter of Leah and Jacob. The episode of her rape by Shechem, son of a Canaanite or Hivite prince, and the subsequent revenge of her brothers Simeon and Levi, commonly ...

. Dinah was raped by

Shechem Shechem ( ; , ; ), also spelled Sichem ( ; ) and other variants, was an ancient city in the southern Levant. Mentioned as a Canaanite city in the Amarna Letters, it later appears in the Hebrew Bible as the first capital of the Kingdom of Israe ...

and gave birth to Asenath, whom Jacob left on the wall of Egypt, where she was later found by

Potiphar Potiphar ( ; ; ) is a figure in the Hebrew Bible and the Quran. His name possibly indicates the same figure as Potiphera (). Potiphar is the captain of the guard for a pharaoh who is said to have purchased Joseph as a slave and, impressed by hi ...

. She was then raised by Potiphar's wife and eventually married Joseph. However, in ''

Genesis Rabbah Genesis Rabbah (, also known as Bereshit Rabbah and abbreviated as GenR) is a religious text from Judaism's classical period, probably written between 300 and 500 CE with some later additions. It is an expository midrash comprising a collection of ...

'' 80:11 she is not stated to be Dinah's daughter; rather, Dinah's rape resulted in her giving birth to Shaul, the son of Simeon. Asenath's importance is related to the birth of her two sons, who later become forefathers of two of the

Twelve Tribes of Israel The Twelve Tribes of Israel ( , ) are described in the Hebrew Bible as being the descendants of Jacob, a Patriarchs (Bible), Hebrew patriarch who was a son of Isaac and thereby a grandson of Abraham. Jacob, later known as Israel (name), Israel, ...

Name

Her name is believed to derive from the Ancient Egyptian '' js .tj-

(n) A thumb signal, usually described as a thumbs-up or thumbs-down, is a common hand gesture achieved by a closed fist (hand), fist held with the thumb extended upward or downward, respectively. The thumbs-up gesture is associated with positivity, ...

- n(j)t'', meaning "belonging/she belongs to

Neith Neith (, a borrowing of the Demotic (Egyptian), Demotic form , also spelled Nit, Net, or Neit) was an ancient Egyptian deity, possibly of Ancient Libya, Libyan origin. She was connected with warfare, as indicated by her emblem of two crossed b ...

". Neith was an Egyptian goddess. "Asenath" or "Osnat" is a commonly used female first name in present-day

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

Portrayal

Asenath is mentioned in three verses of the Bible, all in the

. First appearing in Genesis 41:45, Asenath is said to have been given by the

Pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian language, Egyptian: ''wikt:pr ꜥꜣ, pr ꜥꜣ''; Meroitic language, Meroitic: 𐦲𐦤𐦧, ; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') was the title of the monarch of ancient Egypt from the First Dynasty of Egypt, First Dynasty ( ...

to Joseph as a wife. Here, she is referred to as the daughter of

Potipherah According to the Hebrew Bible, Potiphera (, ) was a priest of the ancient Egyptian town of On (Ancient Egypt), On, mentioned in the and . He was the father of Asenath, who was given to Joseph (Genesis), Joseph as his wife by the Pharaohs in the B ...

, priest of On (Gk. Heliopolis). Genesis 41:50 says that before the years of famine,

had two sons with Asenath. The firstborn was named

and the second

. Later, in Genesis 46:20,

and Asenath are mentioned in the family of

; the verse says that in Egypt,

had two sons named

and

, whom Asenath, daughter of

Potiphera According to the Hebrew Bible, Potiphera (, ) was a priest of the ancient Egyptian town of On, mentioned in the and . He was the father of Asenath, who was given to Joseph as his wife by the Pharaoh, () and who bore Joseph two sons: Manasseh and ...

, the priest of On, bore to

. In the

Book of Jubilees The Book of Jubilees is an ancient Jewish apocryphal text of 50 chapters (1,341 verses), considered canonical by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, as well as by Haymanot Judaism, a denomination observed by members of Ethiopian Jewish ...

, generally considered to be

apocryphal Apocrypha () are biblical or related writings not forming part of the accepted canon of scripture, some of which might be of doubtful authorship or authenticity. In Christianity, the word ''apocryphal'' (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to ...

, Asenath is said to be given to Joseph to marry by the

, a daughter of

, a high priest of Heliopolis, with no clarification as to whether or not this Potiphar is the same Potiphar whose wife falsely accused Joseph of attempting to rape her. While in the

Midrash ''Midrash'' (;"midrash"
. ''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ; or ''midrashot' ...

and

Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (also known as the Jerusalem Targum, Targum Yerushalmi, or Targum Jonathan) is an Aramaic translation and interpretation (targum) of the Torah (Pentateuch) traditionally thought to have originated from the land of Israel, al ...

, she is said to be the daughter of Dinah, Joseph's sister, and Shechem, born of an illicit union, described as either premarital sex or rape, depending on the narrative. A later-date

apocrypha Apocrypha () are biblical or related writings not forming part of the accepted canon of scripture, some of which might be of doubtful authorship or authenticity. In Christianity, the word ''apocryphal'' (ἀπόκρυφος) was first applied to ...

l publication written in Greek, believed to be a Christian document, called ''

Joseph and Aseneth ''Joseph and Asenath'' is a narrative that dates from between 200 BCE and 200 CE. It concerns the Hebrew patriarch Joseph and his marriage to Asenath, expanding the fleeting mentions of their relationship in the Book of Genesis. The text was t ...

'', supposedly details their relationship and their 48-year long reign over Egypt; in it, Asenath weds Joseph, whose brothers

Dan Dan or DAN may refer to: People * Dan (name), including a list of people with the name ** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark * Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa ** Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivo ...

and Gad plot to kill him for the sake of Pharaoh's son, who wants Asenath to be his wife, only for their efforts to be thwarted by Joseph's younger brother

Benjamin Benjamin ( ''Bīnyāmīn''; "Son of (the) right") blue letter bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h3225/kjv/wlc/0-1/ H3225 - yāmîn - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv) was the younger of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel, and Jacob's twe ...

Depictions

File:The Repentance of Aseneth.png, This painted image, which is part of a 1475 painted Flemish manuscript of unknown origin, shows Aseneth repenting. This image is likely inspired by an apocryphal text that describes Aseneth rejecting her pagan religion and repenting so that she may marry Joseph. File:Aseneth Offering Bread, Wine, and Honey to an Angel.png, This painted image, which is part of a 1475 Flemish manuscript, shows Aseneth offering honey, wine, and bread to an angel. This image was likely inspired by an apocryphal text that describes Aseneth being visited by an angel after she rejects paganism and offering the angel bread and wine. In turn, the angel gives Aseneth a honeycomb. File:Aseneth Requesting the Angel's Blessing of Seven Young Women.png, This image from a 1475 Flemish manuscript shows Aseneth asking for an angel's blessing for seven young women. The image is likely inspired by an apocryphal text in which Aseneth, while being visited by an angel after converting from paganism, asks the angel to bless her seven slaves. File:Rembrandt - Jacob Blessing the Children of Joseph - WGA19117.jpg, This Rembrandt work shows Aseneth standing with her husband, Joseph, and her sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, as her father-in-law, Jacob, blesses her sons. File:Jacob's Blessing of Ephraim and Manasseh.jpg, This image from an illuminated manuscript dating back to the 6th century shows Jacob blessing Joseph and Aseneth's sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, while Joseph and Aseneth look on. File:The Birth of Ephraim.jpg, This mosaic in the Venetian Basilica di San Marco shows a midwife presenting the newborn Ephraim to Joseph. Aseneth and Manasseh are also present.

Veneration

Asenath is venerated in Catholic Church as a saint. Her feast day is 13 December.

References

External links

Text of Joseph and Asenath
{{Authority control Ancient Egyptian women Biblical matriarchs Converts to Judaism from paganism Joseph (Genesis) Book of Genesis people Book of Jubilees Women in the Hebrew Bible Christian saints in unknown century Roman Catholic royal saints Eastern Orthodox royal saints Christian saints from the Old Testament Christian female saints from the Old Testament