Yosef (; also
transliterated
Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one writing system, script to another that involves swapping Letter (alphabet), letters (thus ''wikt:trans-#Prefix, trans-'' + ''wikt:littera#Latin, liter-'') in predictable ways, such as ...
as Yossef, Josef, Yoseph
Tiberian Hebrew
Tiberian Hebrew is the canonical pronunciation of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) committed to writing by Masoretic scholars living in the Jewish community of Tiberias in ancient Galilee under the Abbasid Caliphate. They wrote in the form of Tib ...
and
Aramaic
Aramaic (; ) is a Northwest Semitic language that originated in the ancient region of Syria and quickly spread to Mesopotamia, the southern Levant, Sinai, southeastern Anatolia, and Eastern Arabia, where it has been continually written a ...
''Yôsēp̄'' and Yosseph, or Joseph,
Arabic
Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
''Yusof'') is a
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
male name derived from the Biblical character
Joseph. The name can also consist of the Hebrew yadah meaning "praise", "fame" and the word asaf. It is the Hebrew equivalent of the Arabic name ''
Yusuf
Yusuf ( ') is a male name meaning " God increases" (in piety, power and influence).From the Hebrew יהוה להוסיף ''YHWH Lhosif'' meaning " YHWH will increase/add". It is the Arabic equivalent of the Hebrew name Yosef and the English na ...
'' and the source of the English name ''
Joseph''.
The name appears 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 ...
.
Joseph is
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 ...
's eleventh son and
Rachel
Rachel () was a Bible, Biblical figure, the favorite of Jacob's two wives, and the mother of Joseph (Genesis), Joseph and Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the tribes of Israel. Rachel's father was Laban (Bible), Laban. Her older siste ...
's first son, and known in the
Jewish Bible as
Yossef ben-
Yaakov.
In Christian culture, the name has the additional significance of being the name of
Saint Joseph
According to the canonical Gospels, Joseph (; ) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus.
Joseph is venerated as Saint Joseph in the Catholic Church, Eastern O ...
, described in the
canonical gospels
Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the second century AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message was reported. In this sen ...
as the husband of
Mary, mother of Jesus
Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...
, and
Jesus
Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...
' legal father.
Given name
*
Yosef ben Matityahu (Flavius Josephus), Jewish general and historian
*
Yossi Avni-Levy (1962–), Israeli writer and diplomat
*
Yossef Bodansky, Israeli-American political scientist
*
(Yosef) Joseph Caro (1488–1575), Spanish-Ottoman
Talmid Chacham and author of the
Shulchan Aruch
The ''Shulhan Arukh'' ( ),, often called "the Code of Jewish Law", is the most widely consulted of the various legal codes in Rabbinic Judaism. It was authored in the city of Safed in what is now Israel by Joseph Karo in 1563 and published in ...
*
(Yossef) Joseph Cedar (1968–), Israeli film director and screenwriter
*
(Yosef) Josy Eisenberg (1933–2017), French television producer
*
Yosef Elboim, Israeli rabbi, founder and head of the Movement for the Establishment of the 3rd Jerusalem Temple
*
Yosef Garfinkel (1956–), Israeli archaeologist
*
Yossef Gutfreund (1932–1972), Israeli wrestling judge
*
Yossef Harmelin (1922–1994), Austrian-Israeli civil servant and ambassador
*
Yosef Yozel Horwitz (1847–1919), "The Alter of Novardok", Belarusian rabbi
*
Yosef Kapach (1917–2000), Yemenite scholar
*
Yosef Karduner (1969–, born Gilad Kardunos), Israeli
Hasidic singer-songwriter
*
(Yossef) Joseph Klausner (1874–1958), Lithuanian-Israeli historian and professor of Hebrew literature
*
(Yosef) Joseph Kossonogi (1908–1981), Hungarian-Israeli painter
*
Yossef "Tommy" Lapid (1931–2008, born Tomislav Lampel), Hungarian-Israeli radio and television presenter, journalist, politician and government minister
*
Yosef Mizrachi (1968–), Israeli-American rabbi
*
Yosef Reinman, American rabbi and author
*
Yossef Romano (1940–1972), Israeli weightlifter, held hostage and killed during the Munich massacre by Palestinian terrorists
*
Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn (1880–1950), Sixth Chabad Rebbe
*
Yosef Tekoah (1925–1991), Israeli diplomat and President of the
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) (, ''Universitat Ben-Guriyon baNegev'') is a public university, public research university in Beersheba, Israel. Named after Israeli List of national founders, national founder David Ben-Gurion, the unive ...
*
Yosef Weitz (1890–1972), Russian-Israeli director of the Land and Afforestation Department of the Jewish National Fund
*
(Yossef) Joseph Zaritsky (1891–1985), Russian-Israeli artist
Surname
*
Elie Yossef, Israeli-British educator and political activist
*
Jwan Yosef (1984–), Syrian-Swedish painter and artist
*
Menasheh ben Yosef ben Yisrael (1604–1657), Portuguese rabbi, kabbalist, writer, diplomat, printer and publisher, founder of the first Hebrew printing press (named Emeth Me'erets Titzmah')
*
Ya'akov Yosef (1946–2013), Israeli rabbi and member of the Knesset
See also
*
Hebrew name
A Hebrew name is a name of Hebrew origin. In a more narrow meaning, it is a name used by Jews only in a religious context and different from an individual's secular name for everyday use.
Names with Hebrew origins, especially those from the ...
*
Joseph (given name)
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 ...
*
Yusuf
Yusuf ( ') is a male name meaning " God increases" (in piety, power and influence).From the Hebrew יהוה להוסיף ''YHWH Lhosif'' meaning " YHWH will increase/add". It is the Arabic equivalent of the Hebrew name Yosef and the English na ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yossef
Hebrew masculine given names
Masculine given names
Hebrew-language surnames