Portal:Bible/Featured article/December, 2008



Joseph is one of the best-known figures in the Torah and a major figure in the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament). He was Jacob's eleventh son and Rachel's first. Joseph is famous for his coat of many colors and his God-given ability to interpret dreams. Due to jealousy, his brother Judah sold him into slavery for 20 pieces of silver. Eventually he worked under the Egyptian official Potiphar, but was freed and became the chief adviser (vizier) to the Egyptian Pharaoh, allegedly during either the Hyksos Era or, according to Kenneth Kitchen, the Middle Kingdom of Egypt. He lived to the age of one hundred and ten, and saw his great-grandchildren grow up. Before his death, he made the children of Israel take an oath that when they left the land of Egypt they would take his bones with them. His body was embalmed and placed temporarily in a coffin. At the Exodus his bones accompanied Moses, and were finally buried in Shechem. The shrine called Joseph's Tomb in Nablus/Shechem is traditionally considered to be his tomb. (more...)