2,682 related texts · 19 related myths · Page 2 of 56
The moment is cinematic. Pharaoh pulls his signet ring from his own finger and slides it onto Joseph's. He drapes him in fine linen. He fastens a collar of gold around his neck. Ta...
Pharaoh's grant of power to Joseph sounds almost absurd when read slowly. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Genesis 41:44) renders it: "without thy word a man shall not lift up his hand t...
The number is almost casual in the text, but the sages could not stop noticing it. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Genesis 41:46) records it: "And Joseph was a son of thirty years when ...
Seven harvests, gathered with deliberate care. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Genesis 41:48) records the logistics Joseph used: "he laid up the produce in the cities; the produce of th...
The Torah says Joseph's brothers arrived in Egypt and bowed before him. Targum Pseudo-Jonathan on (Genesis 42:6) inserts an astonishing middle act: before they bowed, they searched...
When Jacob finally yields, he does not send his sons empty-handed. He sends a basket of the land itself. "Take of the praiseworthy things of the land," he tells them, "and put them...
Joseph has been holding a pose for three chapters. Stern vizier. Egyptian potentate. Accuser, examiner, power. Then he lifts his eyes and sees, standing among his brothers, the boy...
Joseph's counter-offer is designed to look generous. It is in fact the most dangerous trap he has set yet. "Far be it from me to do thus; the man in whose hand the chalice hath bee...
Book of Jubilees turns to Joseph Holds Simeon Hostage and Demands Benjamin. The Book of Jubilees, a text preserved in Ethiopian manuscript tradition and valued by many others for i...
The Book of Jubilees certainly thinks so. It retells familiar biblical narratives, but with a unique perspective, filling in details and offering its own interpretations. to a snip...
That tension, that feeling of unease even amidst blessing, it's woven right into the fabric of the story of Joseph and his brothers. And in the Book of Jubilees, a retelling of Gen...
Book of Jasher turns to Joseph's Legacy of Pharaoh. The story opens with a looming crisis: a famine. "In those days, after the death of Isaac, the Lord commanded and caused a famin...
Remember, this is an ancient Hebrew text, not considered canon, but full of fascinating stories filling in gaps in the biblical narrative. Our story picks up with Jacob and his son...
Joseph, after some theatrics and accusations, has now demanded they bring their youngest brother, Benjamin, back to Egypt as proof of their honesty. But getting Jacob to agree? Tha...
It’s a story filled with twists, turns, and a whole lot of divine intervention. It's the story of Joseph. After Joseph correctly interprets Pharaoh's dreams, foretelling seven year...
This one involves Joseph, yes, that Joseph, the one with the coat of many colors, the dreamer who rose to power in Egypt. But before the famine, before the brothers came begging fo...
Little does Jacob know the drama unfolding there, the accusations, the imprisonment of Simeon, and the demand to bring Benjamin, his youngest and most cherished son, back to Egypt....
The standard Genesis account of Joseph's rise to power in Egypt is dramatic enough. But the ancient Aramaic translation known as Targum Jonathan layers in theological details that ...
The ones that make you think, "Wait, how did that happen?" to a fascinating little corner of the Joseph story, found in Bereshit Rabbah, a compilation of rabbinic interpretations o...
In Bereshit Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Genesis, we find a powerful exploration of Joseph's role during the famine. It all starts with Jacob not...
Take the story of Joseph and his brothers in Egypt. In (Genesis 47:2), we read, "From among his brothers he took five men, and he presented them before Pharaoh." Okay, But the rabb...
This is one of the most searching moments in the Targum. After interpreting the dream, Joseph adds a request. The Aramaic frames it with a quiet rebuke: Joseph, leaving his higher ...
The Targum preserves the exact phrasing of Pharaoh's summons. I have dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter for it; and I have heard of thee, saying, that if thou hear a drea...
The Book of Jubilees, an ancient Jewish text that retells and expands upon stories from the Hebrew Bible, gives us a glimpse into this pivotal moment. Pharaoh wakes up, shaken. He'...
Pharaoh, the most powerful man in the land, is understandably worried. He needs a solution, and fast. The text says, "let Pharaoh appoint overseers in all the land of Egypt, and le...
Jubilees, in its 40th chapter, paints a picture of Joseph that goes beyond the familiar story of the coat of many colors and the dreams. It tells us, "for he walked in uprightness,...
In case you're not familiar, the Book of Jubilees is an ancient Jewish text that retells the stories of Genesis from a slightly different angle, adding details and interpretations ...
That’s kind of what happened after Joseph's incredible rise to power in Egypt. Remember Joseph? Sold into slavery by his brothers, then, through a series of unbelievable events, ri...
It’s a universal sting, and even Joseph, the dreamer of dreams himself, wasn't immune. Book of Jasher and see how this plays out. So, Joseph is still stuck in that Egyptian prison....
Ancient kings did too. And sometimes, they needed a little help deciphering them. Take Pharaoh, for example. He was troubled by dreams, unsettling visions that seemed to hold the f...
It led to one of the most dramatic moments in the Joseph story. Pharaoh, plagued by these intense dreams, had already consulted the wise men of Egypt. But their interpretations jus...
The familiar version gives us the basic story: famine, dreams, interpretation… but there's so much more swirling beneath the surface! It’s a story brimming with divine intervention...
Her story, according to some traditions, starts way before she ever met Joseph. Ginzberg, in his Legends of the Jews, tells us that Asenath actually saved Joseph's life when she wa...
A famine has gripped the land, and the Egyptians are desperate. Where do they turn? First, to their idols. But these "deceitful idols," as Joseph calls them, offer no help. So, the...
Not just a little hunger pang, but the gnawing, desperate emptiness that turns societies upside down. That’s the scene we’re walking into. "The grain that we put aside during the g...
A devastating famine had gripped the land of Canaan, and word reached Joseph, now a high-ranking official in Egypt, that his brothers might be forced to come seeking grain. Remembe...
Legends of the Jews turns to Jacob Suspected His Sons of Lying About Joseph and Simeon. The words Jacob spoke, "Me have ye bereaved of my children," weren’t just a lament. Accordin...
Take Joseph, for instance. You remember Joseph. Sold into slavery in Egypt by his jealous brothers, rises through the ranks, interprets Pharaoh's dreams, becomes a powerful leader....
Can you feel the tension hanging in the air? That's the scene as Joseph, now a powerful figure in Egypt, finally sits down to eat with his brothers – the very ones who sold him int...
Legends of the Jews turns to Benjamin Leaves Egypt. The climax arrives with the discovery of Joseph's silver cup in Benjamin's sack. Joseph had ordered the cup to be placed there, ...
The ancient texts are filled with such moments, none more potent than the confrontation between Judah and Joseph in Egypt. The story unfolds as the brothers, still unaware that the...
Let me tell you a story, one ripped from the pages of Legends of the Jews, that might just give you a taste. Joseph, elevated to power in Egypt, is finally face-to-face with his br...
That’s kind of what happened when Joseph and his brothers finally made peace in Egypt. Remember the story? Joseph, sold into slavery by his jealous brothers, rises to power in Egyp...
When Joseph, after years of hardship, finally rose to power in Egypt, his first thought was for his family. Famine gripped the land, and he knew his brothers and father were strugg...
Legends of the Jews turns to Joseph's Vision of Egyptians. Joseph earned the title "the God-fearing one", an honorific he shared with only a few other luminaries like Abraham, Job,...
It's quite a story, one that goes far beyond the familiar narrative in Genesis. Famine had gripped the land, remember? And the people, desperate for food, first spent all their mon...
Maybe it's because they tap into something deeply human, a shared understanding of fairness, justice, and even… reputation. to a fascinating little tidbit from the vast ocean of Je...
After winning favor with the queen – thanks to a bit of help from her hairdresser, naturally – Joseph finally approached Pharaoh with a request: to honor his solemn oath to his dyi...
