reynolds-the-quran-in-its-historical-context-2

432 Joseph Witztumin the story keep on reappearing, and perhaps the desire to create a neat chiasticpattern ofevents. 31 A reading of the Joseph narrative in light of a parallel scene inEsther 6:7-13 most likely contributed to this expansion as well. 32Be that as it may, the Qur'an is akin to the Syriac sources in this scene, but withtwo main differences. 33 In the Qur'an the confession occurs not after Joseph'spublic elevation to office, but rather right before he leaves prison to assumepower. 34 Moreover, whereas the Syriac sources use this scene to establish Joseph's31 See K.. Heal, "Reworking the Biblical text in the dramatic dialogue poems on the Old Testament patriarchJoseph," in B. ter Haar Romeny (ed.), The Peshilla: Its Use in Literature and Lihwgy, Leiden:Brill, 2006, (87-98) 96-97. Compare with the structural explanation for the Qur'anic expansion foundin M. Cuypers, "Structures rhetoriques dans le Coran: Une analyse structurelle de Ia sourate 'Joseph'et de quelques sourates breves," MID EO 22, 1995, (107-95) 177-79. Another possible incentive for areconciliation scene might be found in the tradition that identifies Joseph's Egyptian master with hisfather-in-law, distinct in the Hebrew text (Potiphar and Potiphera), but conflated in later tradition; seethe Second Temple literature and rabbinic sources cited by V. Aptowitzer, "Asenath, the wife ofJoseph: A haggadic literary-historical study," Hebrew Union College Annual 1, 1924, (239-306) 262.If Joseph is to marry the daughter of the man who unjustly threw him in prison, one might expect firsta reconciliation scene. It is not, however, clear whether this conflation occurred in the Syriac traditionas well. PsB refers to Joseph's wife as the daughter ofPotiphar the priest, but this does not necessarilyindicate that he meant to merge the two figures; Weinberg, Geschichte, 34.32 Similarities between the Joseph story and that of Esther have been noted by ancient readers andmodem scholars alike; see Esther Rabbah 7:7, and S.B. Berg, The Book of Esther: MotifS, Themesand Stntcture, Missoula: Scholars Press, 1979, 123-42. These include both thematic parallels andlinguistic correspondences. One striking correspondence is found in the descriptions of the elevationof Joseph (Genesis 41 :41-43) and Mordecai (Esther 6:7-11 ). In both texts the h~ro is robed in specialgarb, rides a royal horse/carriage, and his special status is proclaimed. Indeed in Genesis Joseph isalso given Pharaoh's signet ring, but Mordecai too will receive the king's ring later on in Esther 8:2.As a result of these similarities the two texts were conflated in various ways. Under the influence ofGenesis,. in Judean Antiquities 11.254, Haman suggests that a gold chain (not mentioned in Esther)be placed around Mordecai's neck, while the Septuagint for Esther 6:8 reads "a robe made of linen"instead of "a royal garment"; see C.A. Moore, The Anchor Bible: Esther, Garden City: Doubleday,1971, 65 (but cf. H. Kahana, Esther: Jzc~taposition of the Septuagint Translation with the HebrewText, Leuven: Peeters, 2005, 254-55). In PsN, on the other hand, the confiation goes in the otherdirection. There the fine linen garments of Genesis 41 :42 are described as "garments of kings, finelinens and silks," possibly a reflection of"the royal garments worn by the king" mentioned in Esther6:8. Likewise, PsB mentions "royal garments"; Weinberg, Geschichte, 34. Seeing that the two textswere conflated, it would be quite natural for some readers to import the scene which follows thissemi-coronation in Esther to the Joseph story. In Esther the public coronation causes Mordecai'sarch-enemy Haman to worry about his own future and consult with his wife. This is the same motifwhich appears in Syriac versions of the Joseph story. However, the outcome of this consultation isquite different. While Haman and his wife realize that they are lost, Potiphar and his wife repent andare forgiven by Joseph, forgiveness being a major theme of the Joseph narrative.33 Surprisingly, the Qur'an is not mentioned in the discussion of this motif in Niif,Josef, 73-75. Cf.Speyer, Die biblischen Erziihlungen, 210-11, where the parallels in Ephtem and Ephraem Graecuslead Speyer to consider Christian informants as the source of this tradition. See also Brock, "Josephand Potiphar's wife," 57.34 Although the Qur'an mentions Joseph's ascension to power (Q 12:54-56), it does so in generalterms and does not refer at all to the semi-coronation with all its pomp. Q 12:57, which downplaysthe importance of reward in this world ("Indeed the reward of the world to come is better for thosewho believe and are God-fearing"), suggests that this is an intentional omission.Joseph among the Ishmaelites 433generosity and forgiveness, in the Qur'an it serves to underline his utter innocenceand perhaps also to emphasize the sincere repentance ofPotiphar's wife.One might list and discuss at length other shared expansions, but for the sakeof brevity I leave that for another occasion and tum to two examples of minoradaptations of the Biblical text.The first involves a shared specification of a general term in the Biblical account.In Genesis Jacob is fooled into believing that "a wild animal" had devoured Joseph(Genesis 37:20, 33). We are not told what kind of animal was involved. TheQur'an, however, states several times that this was a wolf. Thus Jacob is reluctantto send Joseph with his brothers for fear that a wolf (al-dhi 'b) or wolves (readingthe word generically) 1devour him (Q 12:13-14), and later, after Joseph has beensold off, the brothers indeed attribute his alleged death to wolves (Q 12: 17). 35The rabbinic sources which specify the wild animal in question usually identifyit with Judah, the lion's whelp (see Genesis 49:9), 36 or Potiphar's wife, the bear, 37and thus give Jacob's words an ironic semi-prophetic meaning. To the best of myknowledge, no rabbinic source mentions a wolf in this context. 38 This is to be35 The identification of the animal as a wolf (as opposed to a larger, more menacing animal) ispossibly related to Joseph's young age in the Qur'an. Whereas Genesis 37:2 states that Joseph was17 years old, Q 12 seems to assume that he was much younger. This explains why he is to "enjoyhimself and play" (v. 12), why Jacob fears for him and thinks he needs to be watched over (vv.I 1-13), his description as a ghuliim (v. 19), a term often used in the Qur' an to denote young children,his owners' plan to adopt him (v. 21, compare Q 28:9 regarding Moses the infant), and thereference later on to his reaching maturity (v. 22). As Patricia Crone pointed out to me, the notionthat Joseph was a mere child at the time of his sale was not unique to the Qur' an; see the ivorycarvings from the so-called Chair of Maximianus (made in Antioch or Alexandria in the first half ·of the sixth century). Figures of these carvings and further references are found in P. Crone,"'Barefoot and naked': What did the Bedouin of the Arab conquests look like?" !Yfuqornas 25,2008, (1-10) 2-3. In the Islamic exegetical tradition both approaches are found: Joseph is either asmall boy or a seventeen-year-old; see, e.g., 'Abd al-l;!aqq b. Ghiilib. b. 'Atiyya, al-!vhtl;zarraral-wajfz, ed. 'Abd al-Saliim 'Abd al-Shafi Mul;lammad, Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-'Ilmiyya, 2001,3:228. The latter opinion (attributed in other sources to al-l;!asan al-Ba~r'i) reflects knowledge ofthe Biblical account. It might have been adopted in order to make sense of the reference in v. 15 toJoseph receiving revelation (wa-awl;zaynii i/ayhi), deemed unfitting for a young child.36 See, e.g., Genesis Rabba 95.2 (this section is a later addition from the Tanl;zuma). For parallels inother rabbinic sources, see M.M. Kasher, Torah Shelema, 6:7, New York: American BiblicalEncyclopedia Society, 1948, 1434.37 See Genesis Rabba 84.7,19; 87.3-4. An interesting explanation for the source of this image isfound in Bernstein, Stories of Joseph, 244. This image is found also in Balai, 88-89; 111-12. Ihope to return to this elsewhere.38 Bernstein, Stories of Joseph, 245, suggests that "Perhaps it was the similarity of the Hebrew wordfor 'bear,' dov, unknown in Middle Eastern climes, with the Arabic for 'wolf,' dhi 'b [ ... ] that gaverise to the Muslim tradition ... " Wolves do occur (describing the Egyptians) in Enoch's seconddream in I Enoch, though this is most probably irrelevant for the Qur'an. In I Enoch Joseph's saleis summarized thus: "When those twelve sheep had grown up, they handed over one o(themselvesto the wild asses, and those wild asses, in turn, handed that sheep over to the wolves, and that sheepgrew up in themidstofthe wolves" (I Enoch 89:13); G.W.E. Nickelsburg, I Enoch I: A Commentaryon the Book of I Enoch, Chapters I-36; 8I-108, Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2001, 365.Interestingly, the Qumran Aramaic fragments of this work seem to read K':J1 which could be interpretedas bears rather than wolves; ibid., 378.