Definition · Webster 1828 · Scriptures · Corruption · Roots · Usage · In the Text · Related
📖 Biblical Definition
Asenath is the Egyptian wife given to Joseph by Pharaoh after his elevation to second-in-command in Egypt: "And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphnathpaaneah; and he gave him to wife Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On" (Gen 41:45). She bore Joseph two sons during the years of plenty before the famine: MANASSEH ("making to forget") and EPHRAIM ("fruitful"), both named by Joseph in remembrance of God's providence in his Egyptian exile (Gen 41:50-52). Asenath was the daughter of an Egyptian priest — most likely a priest of Ra at Heliopolis ("On"). Her name is Egyptian, and there is no indication in Genesis that she converted to Joseph's God explicitly (though the canonical text gives Manasseh and Ephraim covenant standing, and Jacob adopted them as his own sons in Gen 48, suggesting Asenath's children were brought into the covenant). The marriage was politically arranged by Pharaoh, but Joseph's life testifies that God can work in marriages He did not initiate. Asenath's name and ancestry should have been a wedge between Joseph and his covenant identity — yet the result was the two half-tribes that bore the double-portion blessing of Joseph (Ephraim and Manasseh), and the woman who was a pagan priest's daughter became the mother of two tribes of Israel. The Egyptian wife became the grandmother of the northern kingdom.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Egyptian wife of Joseph, daughter of Potipherah priest of On; mother of Manasseh and Ephraim (Gen 41:45, 50-52); the Egyptian woman who became grandmother of two tribes of Israel.
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ASENATH, proper noun. Egyptian (uncertain origin) — "belonging to Neith" or "gift of the sun-god."
The Egyptian wife of Joseph, given to him by Pharaoh; daughter of Potipherah priest of On (Heliopolis); mother of Manasseh and Ephraim (Gen 41:45, 50-52).
📖 Key Scripture
Genesis 41:45 — "And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphnathpaaneah; and he gave him to wife Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On. And Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt."
Genesis 41:50-52 — "And unto Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, which Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On bare unto him. And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh: For God, said he, hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father's house. And the name of the second called he Ephraim: For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction."
Genesis 48:5 — "And now thy two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, which were born unto thee in the land of Egypt before I came unto thee into Egypt, are mine; as Reuben and Simeon, they shall be mine."
Romans 11:25-26 — "For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in: And so all Israel shall be saved."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Asenath is corrupted when her Egyptian pagan-priest background is dismissed (the canonical text preserves it as a real complication that God worked through) or when extra-biblical legend (the Apocryphal "Joseph and Asenath" novel) is treated as canonical narrative.
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Pagan-background dismissal. Some readings smooth over Asenath's pagan background — she's just "Joseph's wife" with no acknowledgment of her ancestry. But the text is explicit: she was "the daughter of Potipherah priest of On." That's an Egyptian pagan priest's daughter married into the covenant line. God worked through this arrangement; the half-tribes Ephraim and Manasseh emerged; but the marriage's pagan-priest dimension is part of the canonical record. To smooth it over is to lose a real picture of how God works in marriages that begin in less-than-ideal religious settings.
Apocryphal-novel canonization. The Apocryphal book "Joseph and Asenath" (probably 2nd century BC or 1st century AD) is a Hellenistic Jewish novel that fills in Asenath's conversion story — she rejects her idols, weeps in repentance, is fed honey by an angel, etc. The novel is interesting historical Jewish literature but is NOT canonical. Some Christian traditions have treated its narrative as Spirit-inspired filling-in; the Reformed tradition rightly holds it as devout speculation, not Scripture. What Scripture actually says about Asenath is brief; we should not say more than Scripture says.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Egyptian (uncertain) — possibly "belonging to Neith" or "gift of the sun-god"; the Egyptian wife of Joseph; mother of Manasseh and Ephraim.
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Egyptian name (uncertain origin) — possibly "belonging to Neith" (Egyptian goddess) or "gift of the sun-god"
Daughter of Potipherah, priest of On (Heliopolis); Egyptian pagan-priest's daughter
Wife of Joseph, given to him by Pharaoh after Joseph's elevation (Gen 41:45)
Mother of Manasseh and Ephraim — the two half-tribes that received Joseph's double-portion blessing
Usage
"Asenath was an Egyptian pagan-priest's daughter married into the covenant line — and became grandmother of two tribes of Israel."
"God worked through a politically-arranged marriage to produce Manasseh and Ephraim, the half-tribes of Joseph."
"Don't confuse the Apocryphal Joseph-and-Asenath novel with the canonical text — what Scripture says is brief but real."
📖 In the Text
Chapters of the reading Bible where this entry is linked.