Smith's Bible Dictionary.pdf - Online Christian Library

Smith's Bible Dictionary
years of famine. Pharaoh at once appointed Joseph not merely governor of Egypt, but second only
to the sovereign, and also gave him to wife Asenath, daughter of Potipherah priest of On
(Hieropolis), and gave him a name or title, Zaphnath-paaneah (preserver of life). Joseph’s first
act was to go throughout all the land of Egypt. During the seven plenteous years there was a very
abundant produce, and he gathered the fifth part and laid it up. When the seven good years had
passed, the famine began. (Genesis 41:54-57) [Famine] After the famine had lasted for a time,
apparently two years, Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and
in the land of Canaan, for the corn which they brought, and brought it into Pharaoh’s house,
(Genesis 47:13,14) and when the money was exhausted, all the cattle, and finally all the land
except that of the priests, and apparently, as a consequence, the Egyptians themselves. He
demanded, however, only a fifth part of the produce as Pharaoh’s right. Now Jacob, who had
suffered also from the effects of the famine, sent Joseph’s brother to Egypt for corn. The whole
story of Joseph’s treatment of his brethren is so graphically told in Genesis42-45 and is so familiar,
that it is unnecessary here to repeat it. On the death of Jacob in Egypt Joseph carried him to Canaan,
and laid him in the cave of Machpelah, the burying-place of his fathers. Joseph lived “a hundred
and ten years,” having been more than ninety in Egypt. Dying, he took an oath of his brethren that
they should carry up his bones to the land of promise: thus showing in his latest action the faith,
(Hebrews 11:22) which had guided his whole life. Like his father he was embalmed, “and he was
put in a coffin in Egypt.” (Genesis 50:26) His trust Moses kept, and laid the bones of Joseph in
his inheritance in Shechem, in the territory of Ephraim his offspring. His tomb is, according to
tradition, about a stone’s throw from Jacob’s well.
•Father of Igal, who represented the tribe of Issachar among the spies. (Numbers 13:7)
•A lay Israelite who had married a foreign wife. (Ezra 10:42) (B.C. 459.)
•A representative of the priestly family of Shebaniah. (Nehemiah 12:14) (B.C. after 536.)
•One of the ancestors of Christ, (Luke 3:30) So of Jonan.
•Another ancestor of Christ, son of Judah. (Luke 3:26) (B.C. between 536-410.)
•Another, son of Mattathias. (Luke 3:24) (B.C. after 400.)
•Son of Heli, and reputed father of Jesus Christ. All that is told us of Joseph in the New Testament
may be summed up in a few words. He was a just man, and of the house and lineage of David. He
lived at Nazareth in Galilee. He espoused Mary, the daughter and heir of his uncle Jacob,a nd
before he took her home as his wife received the angelic communication recorded in (Matthew
1:20) When Jesus was twelve years old Joseph and Mary took him with them to keep the passover
at Jerusalem, and when they returned to Nazareth he continued to acct as a father to the child
Jesus, and was reputed to be so indeed. But here our knowledge of Joseph ends. That he died
before our Lord’s crucifixion is indeed tolerably certain, by what is related (John 19:27) and
perhaps (Mark 6:3) may imply that he was then dead. But where, when or how he died we know
not.
•Joseph of Arimathaea, a rich and pious Israelite, probably a member of the Great Council or
Sanhedrin. He is further characterized as “a good man and a just.” (Luke 23:50) We are expressly
told that he did not “consent to the counsel and deed” of his colleagues in conspiring to bring
about the death of Jesus; but he seems to have lacked the courage to protest against their judgment.
On the very evening of the crucifixion, when the triumph of the chief priests and rulers seemed
complete, Joseph “went in boldly unto Pilate and craved the body of Jesus.” Pilate consented.
Joseph and Nicodemus then, having enfolded the sacred body in the linen shroud which Joseph
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William Smith