Joseph (redirected from Yoseif)

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

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