Women in the Bible – Asenath
– Egyptian Wife of Joseph
Genesis
41:45-52 (ESV)
And
Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphenath-paneah. And he gave him in marriage
Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On. So Joseph went out over the
land of Egypt.
Joseph
was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And
Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went through all the land of
Egypt. During the seven plentiful years the earth produced abundantly, and he
gathered up all the food of these seven years, which occurred in the land of
Egypt, and put the food in the cities. He put in every city the food from the
fields around it. And Joseph stored up grain in great abundance, like the sand
of the sea, until he ceased to measure it, for it could not be measured.
Before
the year of famine came, two sons were born to Joseph. Asenath, the daughter of
Potiphera priest of On, bore them to him. Joseph called the name of the
firstborn Manasseh. “For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my hardship and
all my father’s house.” The name of the second he called Ephraim, “For God has
made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”
After being sold into
slavery and taken to Egypt, Joseph found himself in a unique position: in command
of all of Egypt. Pharaoh was so appreciative that he gave Joseph a wife:
Asenath. Asenath was the daughter of an Egyptian priest. I’m sure this made for
an interesting mix of faith in their household.
On was a center for
worshipping the sun god, Ra. The high priest of On was considered “Seer of
Seers” among the Egyptian people. Asenath was a treasure given to Joseph. Her
name is of Egyptian origin and means "gift of the sun-god". She
became a gift to Joseph. She bore two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. There is not
much more mentioned of her in scripture. Her legacy, however, endured.
The two sons born to Asenath
became part of Israel’s history. When the nation of Israel was delivered from
Egypt about 400 years after Joseph God changed some things regarding their
makeup. Until this time they were divided into twelve tribes, the twelve sons
of Jacob (who became Israel). While giving the law the tribe of Levi was chosen
to be a priesthood to serve in temple worship. In order to keep the number of
tribes at twelve God instructed Moses to replace Joseph with two
representatives: Ephraim and Manasseh.
Asenath is never mentioned
again, but there are still those that identify as being from the tribes of
Israel led by her two sons.
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