Joseph (redirected from Josephs)

Joseph, in the Bible

Joseph, one of the heroes of the patriarchal narratives of the Book of Genesis. He is presented as the favored son of Jacob and Rachel, sold as a boy into slavery by his brothers, who were jealous of Joseph's dreams and of his coat of many colors given him by Jacob. In Egypt, Joseph gained a position of authority in the household of his master, Potiphar, and was later imprisoned on the false accusations of Potiphar's wife. He was released after interpreting Pharaoh's dream of the lean and fat cows. Pharaoh renamed him Zaphnath-paaneah and took him into favor. Joseph's recognition of his brothers in the famine years when he was governor over Egypt is a famous scene. His wife was Asenath, an Egyptian, and their sons Manasseh and Ephraim were eponymous ancestors of two of the 12 tribes of Israel. The Joseph saga bridges the era of the patriarchs in Canaan and the Hebrews in Egypt. The mention of Joseph's marriage to Asenath in the Book of Genesis is the subject of Joseph and Asenath, now classified among the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha. The Joseph story is retold in the Qur'an.

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Joseph, Nez Percé chief

Joseph (Chief Joseph), c.1840–1904, chief of a group of Nez Percé. On his father's death in 1871, Joseph became leader of one of the groups that refused to leave the land ceded to the United States by the fraudulently obtained treaty of 1863. Faced with forcible removal (1877), Joseph and the other nontreaty chiefs prepared to leave peacefully for the reservation. Misinformed about the intentions of the Nez Percé, Gen. Oliver Otis Howard ordered an attack, which the Native Americans repulsed. Pursued by the U.S. army, the warriors, with many women and children, began a masterly retreat to Canada of more than 1,000 mi (1,609 km). The Nez Percé won several engagements, notably one at Big Hole, Mont., but 30 mi (48 km) short of the Canadian border they were trapped in a cul-de-sac by troops under Gen. Nelson A. Miles and forced to surrender. His eloquent surrender speech is one of the best-known Native American statements. The whites had assumed that Joseph, spokesman for the tribe in peacetime, was responsible for their outstanding strategy and tactics, which actually had been agreed upon in council by all the chiefs. He became, however, a symbol of the heroic, fighting retreat of the Nez Percés. He was taken to Fort Leavenworth, then spent the remainder of his life on the Colville Indian Reservation in the state of Washington and strove to improve the conditions of his people. In 1903 he made a ceremonial visit to Washington, D.C.

Bibliography

See biographies by O. O. Howard (1881, repr. 1972) and H. A. Howard (1941, repr. 1965); M. D. Beal, I Will Fight No More Forever (1985).

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Joseph, king of Portugal

Joseph, 1714–77, king of Portugal (1750–77), son and successor of John V. Little inclined to rule, his reign was dominated by his minister, the marquês de Pombal. After Lisbon was partially destroyed (1755) by an earthquake and a tsunami, Pombal gained emergency powers and quickly rose in importance. He was supported by Joseph, who allowed Pombal to rule the country in fact if not in title. Joseph was succeeded at his death by his daughter, Maria I, and Peter III.

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Joseph

In the Old Testament, the son of the patriarch Jacob and his wife, Rachel. He was favoured by his father, and his brothers became bitterly jealous when he was given a resplendent “coat of many colors” (literally, coat with flowing sleeves). They sold him into slavery in Egypt, telling Jacob he had been killed by a wild beast. In Egypt Joseph gained favour with the pharaoh and rose to high office, owing to his ability to interpret dreams, and his acquisition of grain supplies enabled Egypt to withstand a famine. When famine forced Jacob to send his sons to Egypt to buy grain, the family was reconciled with Joseph and settled there. The story of Joseph, told in Genesis 37–50, depicts the preservation of Israel and begins the history of the Israelites in Egypt that is continued in Exodus.

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Joseph

1. Old Testament

a. the eleventh son of Jacob and one of the 12 patriarchs of Israel (Genesis 30:2--24)

b. either or both of two tribes descended from his sons Ephraim and Manasseh

2. Saint New Testament the husband of Mary the mother of Jesus (Matthew 1:16--25). Feast day: Mar. 19

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Joseph

resisted the advances of Potiphar’s wife. [O.T.: Gen. 39]

See : Chastity

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Joseph

storied carpenter and foster-father of Jesus. [N.T.: Matthew 1:18–25; Hall, 177]

See : Craftsmanship

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Joseph

predicted famine from Pharaoh’s dreams. [O.T.: Genesis 41:25–36]

See : Prophecy

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Joseph

the name of two emperors in the Holy Roman Empire and the Austrian monarchy of the Hapsburgs.

Joseph I. Born July 26, 1678, in Vienna; died there Apr. 17, 1711. Emperor from 1705 to 1711. The oldest son of Emperor Leopold I.

Joseph I energetically continued the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–14). Within the empire, he renewed the attempt to strengthen the authority of the emperor. In the hereditary Hapsburg lands, he pursued a policy of mercantilism. Prince Eugene of Savoy enjoyed great influence under Joseph I.

Joseph II. Born Mar. 13, 1741, in Vienna; died there Feb. 20, 1790. Emperor from 1765 to 1790. Coruler with his mother Maria Theresa in the Hapsburg hereditary lands from 1765 to 1780; thereafter, he ruled alone.

A representative of so-called enlightened absolutism, Joseph II attempted to change the most antiquated feudal institutions of the Hapsburg monarchy through reforms “from above,” as dictated by the needs of bourgeois development. He followed a policy of protectionism and encouraged manufactures. He abolished the personal serfdom of the peasants (1781–85) and attempted to introduce a single land tax. However, this reform was not put into practice because of the fierce resistance of the nobility, which was also to be subject to the taxation. Joseph II limited the independence of the Catholic Church in the Austrian lands. He abolished many monasteries and partially secularized church property. He promoted the development of the secular school. In 1781 he issued a patent on religious toleration. Within the Hapsburg monarchy, Joseph II, acting with violent bureaucratic methods, attempted to introduce a single, strictly centralized system of administration. German was introduced as the official language throughout the monarchy in 1784–85. This policy provoked an explosion of resistance, especially in the Austrian Netherlands (culminating in the Brabant Revolution of 1789—90) and in Hungary.

In foreign policy (which, along with military affairs, he directed while still coruler), Joseph II was notable for his aggressiveness; in particular, at the Austrian court he was among the most active advocates of Austria’s participation in the first partition of Poland in 1772. He aimed at strengthening and consolidating Austria’s predominant position in the empire. When he met with opposition from an increasingly powerful Prussia, he sought rapprochement with Russia and formed an alliance with Russia in 1781.

REFERENCE

Mitrofanov, P. Politicheskaia deiatel‘nost’ losifa II, ee storonniki i eevragi. St. Petersburg, 1907.

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Joseph

according to ancient Hebrew historical legends preserved in the Old Testament, the favorite son of Jacob, born of Rachel. After Joseph had been sold into slavery by his brothers and suffered many misfortunes, he began virtually to rule Egypt on behalf of the pharaoh. When his brothers, driven by hunger, came to Egypt in search of bread, Joseph proposed that they and Jacob’s whole clan resettle in that country. Soon they did settle there in the province of Goshen. At the time of the exodus of the Jews from Egypt, they took Joseph’s remains with them, in accordance with his testament, and buried them in Canaan.

With a few modifications the story of Joseph entered the Koran. Motifs based on this plot became the theme of many literary works of the Middle Ages (Persian-Tadzhik narrative poems) and of the modern period (Thomas Mann, Nazym Khikmet). The story has also been presented in works of fine art, by artists of the Rembrandt school and others.