CFM Week 11 - The Lord Was with Joseph
Lesson Overview
- Week: 11 (March 9-15, 2026)
- Scripture block: Genesis 37-41
- Core theme: God’s presence and purpose operating through betrayal, slavery, false accusation, and imprisonment - Joseph’s story as the canonical Old Testament pattern of covenant faithfulness in adversity.
Key Scriptures
Genesis 37:3-4 - Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours. And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.
Genesis 37:28 - Then there passed by Midianites merchantmen; and his brethren drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmeelites for twenty pieces of silver: and they brought Joseph into Egypt.
Genesis 39:2-3 - And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. And his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand.
Genesis 39:9 - There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?
Genesis 39:21 - But the Lord was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.
Genesis 40:8 - And they said unto him, We have dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter of it. And Joseph said unto them, Do not interpretations belong to God? tell me them, I pray you.
Genesis 41:16 - And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.
Genesis 41:38-40 - And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is? And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art: Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled.
John 14:18 - I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
Romans 8:28 - And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Alma 36:3 - For I do know that whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day.
CFM Discussion Topics & Questions
On recognizing God in trials:
- The phrase “the Lord was with Joseph” appears in 39:2, 39:3, and 39:21 - once when he’s a slave, twice more when he’s in prison. What does it mean for God to be “with” someone in circumstances that look like abandonment?
- Can you recall a time when you recognized God’s hand only in retrospect?
On fleeing temptation:
- Joseph’s response in Gen. 39:12 is physical - he literally fled. What are the modern equivalents of “leaving his garment in her hand”?
- What practical structures or habits help us remove ourselves from situations before temptation escalates?
On divine communication and interpretation:
- Joseph says “interpretations belong to God” (40:8) before claiming any personal gift. How does humility function as a precondition for revelation?
- How do we seek understanding when revelation or promptings are unclear?
On preparation and stewardship:
- Joseph’s grain plan (41:33-36) is proactive, 14-year-horizon thinking. What does faithful stewardship look like when we can’t see the full picture?
- What “seven lean years” might your family or community be preparing for?
Extra-biblical Sources
Book of Mormon - What Joseph Saw
The Brass Plates Preserved a Prophecy the Bible Lost
The Book of Mormon claims that Lehi’s family brought the brass plates from Jerusalem (~600 BCE), which contained a more complete record of Joseph of Egypt than what survived into the Masoretic text. The brass plates included Joseph’s own prophecy about his posterity - a text that does not appear anywhere in Genesis, apparently lost or edited out during the biblical transmission process.
The prophetic content in 2 Nephi 3 is attributed to Joseph of Egypt himself, preserved on the brass plates, then quoted by Lehi on his deathbed to his youngest son Joseph - named explicitly in honor of this lineage. If this prophecy is authentic, it makes Joseph of Egypt not merely a patriarch but an active prophetic voice who knew what his covenant line would produce centuries later.
Lehi’s lineage established: “For behold, thou art the fruit of my loins; and I am a descendant of Joseph who was carried captive into Egypt.” (2 Nephi 3:4)
Alma 10:3 specifies the tribe: “Lehi, who came out of the land of Jerusalem, was a descendant of Manasseh, who was the son of Joseph who was sold into Egypt by the hands of his brethren.” The Nephites are specifically Manassite - not Ephraimite - a lineage distinction with implications for patriarchal blessings and the gathering.
2 Nephi 3 - Joseph of Egypt's Preserved Prophecy
Lehi quotes Joseph’s prophecy directly to his son Joseph (2 Nephi 3:6-21). Key passages:
On seeing the Nephites (v. 5):
“Wherefore, Joseph truly saw our day.”
This single line is theologically explosive: Joseph of Egypt, in Egypt, saw the Lehite family in the Americas 1,400 years after his own death. His visions extended beyond the reunion with his brothers. He was not merely a dreamer of administrative famine cycles - he was a seer with Restoration-spanning prophetic range.
On the choice seer (v. 7):
“Thus saith the Lord unto me: A choice seer will I raise up out of the fruit of thy loins; and he shall be esteemed highly among the fruit of thy loins. And unto him will I give commandment that he shall do a work for the fruit of thy loins, his brethren, which shall be of great worth unto them, even to the bringing of them to the knowledge of the covenants which I have made with thy fathers.”
On the two records growing together (v. 12):
“Wherefore, the fruit of thy loins shall write; and the fruit of the loins of Judah shall write; and that which shall be written by the fruit of thy loins, and also that which shall be written by the fruit of the loins of Judah, shall grow together, unto the confounding of false doctrines and laying down of contentions, and establishing peace among the fruit of thy loins, and bringing them to the knowledge of their fathers in the latter days, and also to the knowledge of my covenants, saith the Lord.”
The stick of Judah (Bible) and stick of Joseph (Book of Mormon) - this is the Book of Mormon’s own claim about itself, placed in the mouth of Joseph of Egypt, rooting the Restoration directly in the Ezekiel 37:15-19 prophecy of the two sticks becoming one.
On weakness made strong (v. 13):
“And out of weakness he shall be made strong, in that day when my work shall commence among all my people, unto the restoring thee, O house of Israel, saith the Lord.”
On the naming (v. 15):
“And his name shall be called after me; and it shall be after the name of his father.”
Joseph of Egypt prophesied that the latter-day seer would be named Joseph, and that his father would also be named Joseph - fulfilled in Joseph Smith and Joseph Smith Sr. This is the naming prophecy Lucy Mack Smith was aware of when she named her son.
Alma 46 - The Remnant of the Coat as Covenant Type
Captain Moroni, rallying the Nephites against the king-men (~73 BCE), tears his coat to make the Title of Liberty and then invokes a tradition about Joseph’s coat that has no parallel in the Bible but closely echoes later Jewish midrashic material:
Alma 46:24 (Moroni quoting Jacob/Israel):
“Yea, let us preserve our liberty as a remnant of Joseph; yea, let us remember the words of Jacob, before his death, for behold, he saw that a part of the remnant of the coat of Joseph was preserved and had not decayed. And he said - Even as this remnant of garment of my son hath been preserved, so shall a remnant of the seed of my son be preserved by the hand of God, and be taken unto himself, while the remainder of the seed of Joseph shall perish, even as the remnant of his garment.”
What this adds beyond Genesis:
- Jacob (Israel) made a deathbed prophecy using the coat as a sign - not recorded anywhere in Genesis
- The coat was not fully destroyed. A remnant was preserved - and that preservation is a covenant type for the preservation of Joseph’s posterity
- The Nephites understand themselves as that preserved remnant; their covenant faithfulness is what keeps the prophecy alive
The apologetic connection: This tradition - that a remnant of Joseph’s coat survived - also appears in medieval Jewish midrash and Islamic tradition (the shirt that healed Jacob). The Book of Mormon’s version predates its 1830 publication and matches traditions that were not in Joseph Smith’s accessible sources. Nibley and others cite this as evidence of authentic ancient content in the brass plates tradition.
Moroni’s act of tearing his own coat echoes this directly: he performs a covenant gesture - deliberately referencing the original torn coat - to call his people to remember whose descendants they are and what covenant they are embodying or breaking.
Don Bradley: The Brass Plates as Joseph's Own Record
Don Bradley is a professional LDS historian (Joseph Smith Papers Project; MA, Utah State University) whose work on the lost 116 pages represents the most detailed scholarly reconstruction of the Book of Lehi to date. His primary source is The Lost 116 Pages (Greg Kofford Books, 2019). The claims below are Bradley’s scholarly hypotheses, not established LDS doctrine.
1. Bradley’s thesis: the brass plates originated with Joseph of Egypt Bradley argues that the brass plates were not a generic Hebrew family record but Joseph of Egypt’s own record, created in Egypt - which explains the otherwise puzzling fact that they were written in Egyptian rather than Hebrew. His reconstruction:
- Joseph of Egypt created a record in Egyptian (the language of his adopted homeland and court position)
- The plates passed through Joseph’s lineage: Joseph → Manasseh line → eventually to Laban’s family in Jerusalem
- Laban held the plates as a family heirloom, which is why Nephi calls them a genealogical record (1 Nephi 3:3) and why Lehi’s Manassite family had a legitimate claim to them
If Bradley is right, Nephi did not retrieve a set of scriptures - he retrieved his ancestor’s own record, originating with the patriarch who originally wrote it.
2. The sword of Laban connection Bradley extends the argument: the sword of Laban was also created by (or associated with) Joseph of Egypt and wielded by Joshua in the Canaanite conquest, then passed down the Manassite line to Laban. This makes the brass plates and the sword a paired set of Josephite covenant objects - scripture and sword together, both originating with Joseph. Nephi taking both from Laban is thus not opportunism but a reclamation of Joseph’s covenant legacy.
Caveat: The sword’s origin argument draws partly from external historical accounts (Francis Gladden Bishop), not from canonized sources. Bradley is careful to distinguish these.
3. The Egyptian language thread Reynolds (“A Backstory for the Brass Plates,” Interpreter, Vol. 53, 2022) complements Bradley: the Manassite scribal tradition maintained an unbroken Egyptian-language chain from Joseph of Egypt all the way to Lehi’s family. This explains 1 Nephi 1:2 - “my father… having been taught in the language of the Egyptians” - not as a curiosity but as a direct inheritance from Joseph. “Reformed Egyptian” (Mormon 9:32) is, on this reading, a survival of this Joseph-originated script tradition, still in use among Manassite families 1,200 years after Joseph.
4. What the lost 116 pages likely contained about Joseph Bradley’s reconstruction of the Book of Lehi (the lost pages) argues they covered the same narrative period as 1 Nephi through Words of Mormon but in much greater detail - including more of the brass plates’ Joseph material:
- The lost pages almost certainly contained more of the Joseph of Egypt prophecy tradition that Genesis abbreviated or lost
- The fact that 2 Nephi 3 (Joseph’s preserved prophecy) survives on the small plates suggests the larger plates developed it even more fully
- Lehi’s genealogy was apparently recorded in the lost pages: Joseph Smith (per Franklin D. Richards’s account) confirmed that Lehi was of Manasseh - a detail that came from the lost manuscript
The surviving small plates (1 Nephi - Omni) are an abridgment of what the large plates said. The lost Book of Lehi was the unabridged version.
5. Implications for reading Genesis 37-41 If Bradley is right, Genesis 37-41 is not the source of Joseph’s story - it is a fragment of it. The brass plates tradition (preserved in the Book of Mormon) may have contained:
- Joseph’s own first-person account of his experience in Egypt
- His full prophecies about Moses, the Restoration, and Joseph Smith - texts the Bible reduced to a brief mention (Gen. 50:24-25) or lost entirely
- Covenant instructions to his posterity that were edited out or lost from the Masoretic text
The coat tradition in Alma 46 - matching midrashic material not available to Joseph Smith in 1830 - supports the antiquity of this brass plates content. Bradley’s framework offers a coherent explanation for why the Book of Mormon preserves traditions that post-biblical Jewish sources also preserve: because both draw on an older, Joseph-originated record.
See 2 Nephi 3 (Gospel Library) | Alma 46 (Gospel Library) | The Lost 116 Pages (Greg Kofford Books) | Reynolds, “A Backstory for the Brass Plates” (Interpreter, 2022) | Don Bradley at Interpreter Foundation | Book of Mormon
Quran - Surah 12 (Yusuf)
Surah 12: Revelation Context - The Year of Sorrow
Surah Yusuf was revealed in the Year of Sorrow (‘Am al-Huzn, ~619 CE), the 10th year of Muhammad’s prophethood. Within weeks of each other, Muhammad had lost his wife of 25 years Khadijah - his emotional anchor - and his uncle Abu Talib - his political protector. Persecution from the Quraysh immediately intensified.
It was into this precise grief that Allah sent not a set of laws or commands, but a story - a single, complete, deeply moving narrative. Classical scholars call this an act of tasliyah (divine consolation): God comforting his prophet by showing him a man who lost everything repeatedly and yet was not abandoned.
The surah is unique in the Quran in two ways: (1) it is the only surah devoted entirely to one prophet’s story as a continuous narrative - all other prophets’ accounts are distributed across multiple surahs; (2) it is said to have been revealed in a single sitting. The implicit message to Muhammad: your suffering has a shape, and that shape leads somewhere.
Surah 12: "The Best of Stories" - Why Islam Calls It Ahsan al-Qasas
The Quran’s own description of itself: “We relate to you the best of stories” (12:3). Classical commentators explain this designation because the surah contains every dimension of human experience simultaneously:
- A prophet, a father, brothers, a foreign king, a scheming woman, a wrongly imprisoned man, a forgiving son
- Episodes of envy, betrayal, slavery, seduction, false accusation, imprisonment, exaltation, and reunion
- Lessons in tawhid (unity of God), dream interpretation, administration, politics, family covenant, and forgiveness
- Three generations of prophets: Ibrahim → Ishaq → Ya’qub → Yusuf, all named in the closing verses (12:38)
Scholars note that unlike Genesis - which tells Joseph’s story in third-person historical prose - the Quran renders it with interior access: we hear Joseph’s prayers, his reasoning, his fears. The Quran is less concerned with what happened than with what it reveals about the human soul and divine purpose.
Surah 12: Key Verses with Text
12:3 - The designation
“We relate to you the best of stories through Our revelation of this Quran, though before this you were totally unaware.”
12:4 - Joseph’s dream
“When Joseph said to his father, ‘O my dear father! Indeed I dreamt of eleven stars, and the sun, and the moon - I saw them prostrating to me!‘”
12:18 - Jacob’s response to the bloodied coat: sabrun jameel
“He said, ‘No! Your souls have tempted you to do something evil. Beautiful patience! Allah is the One Whose help is sought against what you describe.‘”
The phrase sabrun jameel (beautiful/gracious patience) is one of the most quoted phrases in Islamic devotional literature. It does not mean passive resignation - it means active, dignified endurance that does not complain against God.
12:21 - God’s hidden purpose in every descent
“And thus We established Joseph in the land, and We taught him the interpretation of events. Allah has full control over His affairs, but most people do not know.”
12:23-24 - Joseph’s flight from Zuleikha
“And the lady, in whose house he was, tried to seduce him. She locked the doors and said, ‘Come to me!’ He said, ‘God forbid! He is my master, who has treated me well. Indeed, the wrongdoers never succeed.‘” “She was certainly tempted by him, and he would have been tempted by her, had he not seen the sign of his Lord. Thus We kept evil and indecency away from him, for he was truly one of Our chosen servants.”
The phrase “he would have been tempted… had he not seen the sign of his Lord” (12:24) is the Quranic parallel to the Talmudic tradition of Jacob’s face appearing in the window - both traditions assert Joseph’s steadfastness was supernaturally assisted, not purely his own will.
12:31 - The women cut their hands
“When she heard of their gossip, she invited them and prepared a banquet for them. She gave each one of them a knife and said to Joseph, ‘Come out before them.’ When they saw him, they were so awestruck that they cut their hands, and exclaimed, ‘Good God! This is no human being; this is but a noble angel!‘”
This scene has no biblical parallel. Islamic scholars read it as Zuleikha’s vindication of herself - she stages a demonstration to prove to the gossiping women that her reaction to Joseph was not weakness but the only rational response to his presence. The women’s involuntary self-harm becomes collective testimony: even you, when you saw him, lost control. Classical commentators add that these women were also hoping to seduce Joseph themselves.
12:33 - Joseph prays for prison over sin
“Joseph prayed, ‘My Lord! I prefer prison over what they invite me to. And if You do not turn their cunning away from me, I might yield to them and fall into ignorance.‘”
This verse has no biblical equivalent. Joseph does not simply flee - he prays to go to prison. He recognizes his own vulnerability and chooses confinement over freedom under conditions of temptation. This is the Quranic archetype for the Islamic principle of removing oneself from the environment of sin, not merely resisting it in place.
12:53 - The nafs ammara: the soul that incites to evil
“And I do not seek to absolve myself - for indeed the soul persistently incites to evil, except those shown mercy by my Lord. Surely my Lord is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”
The speaker here is debated among classical scholars: some say Zuleikha in her confession, others say Joseph himself speaking from humility even after his vindication. Either reading is theologically significant. If Joseph - the most steadfast of men - cannot claim to have overcome his nafs by his own power, only by God’s mercy, then this verse demolishes all spiritual pride. This verse became foundational for Islamic tazkiyat al-nafs (purification of the soul) - the entire science of Sufi self-discipline traces back to this diagnostic: the soul is always susceptible, always requiring God’s mercy, never fully self-sufficient.
12:64 - Jacob entrusts Benjamin to God
“He said, ‘Should I trust you with him as I trusted you with his brother before? But Allah is the best Guardian, and He is the Most Merciful of the merciful.‘”
12:86 - Jacob refuses to stop grieving, but only complains to God
“He said, ‘I only complain of my suffering and my grief to Allah, and I know from Allah that which you do not know.‘”
Islamic theology draws a sharp line here: complaining to God is worship; complaining against God’s decree is forbidden. Jacob models the difference. He weeps visibly for years - his grief is not suppressed - but it is directed upward, not outward as accusation. This verse is a cornerstone of Islamic pastoral theology on grief.
12:87 - Do not despair of God’s mercy
“O my sons! Go and search diligently for Joseph and his brother, and do not lose hope in the mercy of Allah, for no one loses hope in Allah’s mercy except those with no faith.”
12:92 - Joseph’s forgiveness formula
“He said, ‘No blame will there be upon you today. May Allah forgive you. He is the Most Merciful of the merciful.‘”
Compare to Genesis 50:20 (“God meant it for good”) - Joseph’s Quranic forgiveness is immediate and unconditional, offered before any explanation or reframing. He dismisses the debt entirely and then asks God to forgive them. The theological weight falls on God’s mercy, not on Joseph’s psychological reframing.
12:100-101 - Joseph’s closing prayer
“And he raised his parents to the throne, and they all fell down in prostration before him. He said, ‘O my father! This is the fulfilment of my dream of long ago. My Lord has made it come true.‘” “My Lord! You have surely granted me authority and taught me the interpretation of dreams. O Originator of the heavens and earth! You are my Guardian in this world and the Hereafter. Allow me to die as one who submits to You, and join me with the righteous.”
Joseph’s final prayer asks not for more power, prosperity, or legacy - but to die as a Muslim (one who submits) and to be gathered with the righteous. In Islamic theology, this is the model of tawadu (humility in success): at the peak of his power, Joseph’s prayer is about his end.
How Islam Uniquely Views Joseph
Joseph is a prophet (nabi), not just a patriarch Unlike the biblical account where Joseph is a patriarch and administrator, Islam classifies Yusuf as a full prophet with divine revelation and mission. He is explicitly included in the line of prophetic succession: Ibrahim - Ishaq - Ya’qub - Yusuf (12:38). His interpretive gift is not natural talent but prophetic revelation.
The hadith of half of all beauty The Prophet Muhammad said: “Joseph was given half of all beauty” (Sahih Muslim, also referenced in Sahih al-Bukhari traditions). Classical commentators explain this as half the beauty originally given to Adam at creation. The hadith gives the women’s involuntary reaction at the banquet (12:31) cosmological grounding - their loss of control is not weakness but the rational response to encountering something beyond normal human beauty.
Three Islamic virtues embodied Surah Yusuf is read as the complete Quranic manual for three interlocked virtues:
- Sabr (patience) - modeled in Jacob’s sabrun jameel and Joseph’s years in prison without bitterness
- Tawakkul (trust in God) - “Allah has full control over His affairs” (12:21); Jacob’s “I know from Allah what you do not know” (12:86)
- ‘Iffah (chastity/self-restraint) - Joseph’s flight, his prayer for imprisonment, his refusal even when the entire social environment pressured him
Zuleikha’s theological rehabilitation In Islamic tradition and especially Persian Sufi literature (Jami’s Yusuf and Zuleikha, 15th c.), Zuleikha is not simply a villain. Her obsessive love for Joseph is reinterpreted as a type of the soul’s longing for divine beauty - she loved the reflection of God’s light in Joseph before she knew God directly. By the end of many Islamic tellings, she converts, repents, and is eventually reunited with Joseph in marriage after her husband’s death. Her arc becomes a story of misdirected love finding its true object.
The shirt as a sign The shirt appears three times in Surah 12: (1) torn from the back, proving Joseph’s innocence (12:26-28); (2) dipped in blood, used to deceive Jacob (12:18); (3) sent ahead to heal Jacob’s blindness (12:93-96). Islamic commentators call the shirt the ayah (sign) of Joseph’s story - it bears witness, it deceives, and it heals. Some traditions identify it as the shirt originally brought from Paradise by the angel Jibril - the same garment whose sacred origin gives it the power to restore sight across distance.
No pit dialogue, no extended Potiphar scene The Quran’s account is notably compressed in some places where Midrash and Genesis are expansive (the brothers’ plot, Potiphar’s household), and expanded in places where the Bible is silent (interior prayers, the banquet scene, Jacob’s ongoing prophecy). The Quran is not attempting to narrate history - it is selecting moments that illuminate the soul under pressure, which is why Joseph’s prayers dominate and administrative details are absent.
See Surah 12 - Yusuf (Quran.com) | Joseph in Islam (Wikipedia) | Yusuf Surah - Wikipedia
Testament of Joseph (Pseudepigrapha)
Testament of Joseph: First-Person Chastity Narrative
Part of the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs (likely 2nd c. BCE Jewish core with later Christian interpolations). Joseph narrates his own story to his children on his deathbed.
Distinctive content:
- His defining virtue throughout is ἁγνεία (hagneia) - chastity/purity - not wisdom or forgiveness
- The seduction is extended: seven years of attempts by Potiphar’s wife, not a single episode
- She escalates: when seduction fails, she attempts to poison him and later conspires toward assassination
- She claims to love him to the point of illness; Joseph responds with prayer and fasting
- Deathbed charge to sons: (1) keep chastity, (2) fear the Lord above rulers, (3) love one another, (4) carry my bones to Canaan - these function as covenant obligations
- Messianic prophecy: a lamb from the tribes of Levi and Judah will save the nations - widely read as prefiguring Christ
See Testament of Joseph (Early Jewish Writings) | Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs (Wikipedia) | Pseudepigrapha (Wikipedia)
Book of Jubilees (chs. 34, 39-42)
Jubilees: Chronological Precision and Slave Pricing
Jubilees (2nd c. BCE) retells Genesis with careful attention to dates and legal precision.
- Joseph is sold for 20 pieces of silver - the Mosaic law price for a slave under 20 years old (Lev. 27:5). The detail argues Joseph was still a youth, not 17 as sometimes calculated.
- Provides explicit dating of events in Joseph’s life using the Jubilees calendar, clarifying timeline ambiguities in the MT text
- Jacob mourns as if for a full mourning period, establishing the legitimacy of the brothers’ long deception
See Book of Jubilees (Wikipedia)
Sefer HaYashar (Book of Jasher)
Sefer HaYashar: Psychological Depth and Named Characters
A medieval Hebrew midrashic narrative claiming to be the ancient “Book of Jasher” referenced in Joshua 10:13 and 2 Samuel 1:18. Likely compiled ca. 9th-12th c. CE from earlier sources.
- Zuleikha named and her inner life described in detail - her obsession is portrayed as genuine, consuming lovesickness
- Joseph’s physical beauty is described explicitly as equaling Jacob’s - the most beautiful man of his generation
- Extended dialogue during the seduction scenes; Joseph’s resistance is framed as both theological and relational (loyalty to Potiphar)
- The brothers’ conspiracy is depicted with individual voices - Reuben’s guilt, Judah’s ambivalence, Simeon’s cruelty
See Sefer HaYashar / Book of Jasher (Wikipedia)
Josephus - Antiquities of the Jews (II.2-7)
Josephus: A Rationalist Hellenistic Retelling
Flavius Josephus (1st c. CE) wrote for a Roman audience, rationalizing miraculous elements and emphasizing moral philosophy.
- Notes Joseph tried to flee but was physically caught - Potiphar’s wife grabs him before he escapes
- Portrays her as “genuinely lovesick” - her obsession is sympathetically rendered, not simply villainous
- Pharaoh’s dreams interpreted partly as natural cycles of the Nile and Egyptian agricultural patterns - grounding the miraculous in natural phenomenon for his Roman readers
- Joseph’s wisdom is presented in terms of Greek philosophical virtue (phronesis) as well as divine gift
See Josephus (Wikipedia) | Antiquities of the Jews (Wikipedia)
Midrash & Talmud
Midrashic Traditions on Joseph
On the coat (ketonet passim): Bereshit Rabbah (Genesis Rabbah) identifies ketonet passim not as “multicolored” but as a long-sleeved robe - the garment marking the rights of the firstborn. Jacob was, in effect, transferring Reuben’s birthright authority to Joseph. The brothers’ hatred is thus not mere favoritism-envy but a legal-covenantal grievance.
On resisting Potiphar’s wife: Talmud Sotah 36b - Joseph was about to sin when he saw an image of his father Jacob’s face appear in the window (or wall). This vision stopped him. The tradition is that the righteous see their parents’ image as a check on sin.
On Joseph’s bones: Talmud Sanhedrin - Moses carried Joseph’s bones for 40 years through the wilderness (Ex. 13:19), fulfilling Joseph’s dying charge (Gen. 50:25). Before Moses could retrieve them, he had to find them: Joseph’s coffin had been sunk in the Nile. Moses stood at the river and called: “Joseph, Joseph - the time has come!” The coffin rose.
On Joseph’s righteousness and the Nile: The Nile was said to rise when Joseph stood beside it - a sign that his covenant faithfulness affected the natural world.
On Pharaoh’s investiture: The transfer of Pharaoh’s ring and robe to Joseph (41:42) was understood as a form of adoption into Egyptian royalty - Joseph becomes a son of Pharaoh’s household, not merely a functionary.
See Genesis Rabbah (Wikipedia) | Sotah - Talmud (Wikipedia) | Sanhedrin - Talmud (Wikipedia) | Midrash (Wikipedia)
Egyptian Parallels
Egyptian Literary and Historical Context
“The Story of Two Brothers” (Papyrus d’Orbiney, c. 1200 BCE): An Egyptian literary tale with a near-exact parallel to the Potiphar’s wife motif: a younger man lives with his older brother; the older brother’s wife attempts seduction; when refused, she falsely accuses him to her husband. The tale predates or is contemporary with the Exodus period, raising questions about the direction of influence - or a shared ancient Near Eastern narrative pattern.
Famine Stele (Elephantine Island): A Ptolemaic-era inscription recording a 7-year famine under Pharaoh Djoser resolved by priestly intervention involving the god Khnum. Likely a later composition, but possibly drawing on older traditions - a possible historical echo of the Joseph narrative or a shared memory of a severe Nile famine.
Hyksos Period (c. 1650-1550 BCE): The Hyksos were Semitic rulers who controlled Lower Egypt for roughly a century. This period provides a plausible historical window for a Semitic viceroy in Egypt - an administrator from Canaan reaching the second-highest office would be more conceivable under Hyksos rule than under native Egyptian dynasties.
Professional Dream Interpreters: Egyptian royal courts employed professional dream interpreters (sesh) - royal scribes trained in oneiromancy. The “chief butler and chief baker” (40:2) were indeed high-status court positions in Egyptian records. Joseph’s gift for interpretation enters a real institutional context.
See Hyksos (Wikipedia) | Tale of Two Brothers (Wikipedia)
Dead Sea Scrolls
Joseph in the Dead Sea Scrolls
4Q539 - Apocryphon of Joseph A: Fragmentary text from Cave 4 at Qumran. Contains a first-person speech attributed to Joseph - likely part of a larger testamentary text. Too fragmentary to reconstruct fully but confirms active literary engagement with Joseph traditions at Qumran.
4Q537 - Apocryphon of Jacob: Fragments of a Jacob narrative connected to the Joseph story - includes Jacob’s blessing and death scene. Overlaps thematically with Jubilees and the Testament of Jacob.
See Dead Sea Scrolls (Wikipedia) | Leon Levy DSS Digital Library
Book of Joseph Papyrus (Joseph Smith Papyri)
The Book of Joseph Papyrus: Acquisition, Loss, and Controversy
The 1835 Acquisition: In July 1835, Joseph Smith purchased four Egyptian mummies and a collection of papyrus scrolls from traveling exhibitor Michael Chandler. Among the documents, Joseph Smith identified two distinct texts: what he called the Book of Abraham (published in Times and Seasons, 1842) and a Book of Joseph - a record attributed to Joseph of Egypt. Warren Parrish served as scribe for portions of the translation work. Oliver Cowdery’s letters and Wilford Woodruff’s journal both reference Joseph Smith’s work on translating these papyri, including the Book of Joseph portion.
Why it was never published: The Book of Joseph translation was never completed or canonized. Joseph Smith’s attention shifted, the printing resources of the early Church were strained, and the Nauvoo period brought mounting pressures. The Book of Joseph remains one of the unfinished projects of Joseph Smith’s prophetic career.
The Fate of the Papyri: After Joseph Smith’s death, Emma Smith sold the papyri (along with two of the mummies) to a St. Louis museum. They eventually passed to the Chicago Museum (Wood’s Museum). The prevailing assumption was that most or all of the papyri were destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire of October 1871.
The 1966 Discovery: In 1966, Aziz Atiyah discovered eleven papyrus fragments at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The museum returned them to the LDS Church. Egyptologists identified the surviving fragments as portions of a Book of Breathings Made by Isis (Sensen Papyrus) and other Egyptian funerary texts - documents used to help the deceased navigate the afterlife. These are dated to the first century BCE/CE, belonging to a man named Hor (Horos), a priest of Min at Akhmim.
The Central Dispute: Critics argue these surviving fragments are the source text for the Book of Abraham, and that the translation does not match standard Egyptological readings. LDS apologists (Nibley, John Gee, Brian Hauglid) have argued variously that: (1) the surviving fragments are not the source text - the actual Abraham/Joseph papyri were longer scrolls lost in Chicago; (2) Joseph Smith’s translation was revelatory rather than purely linguistic; (3) the Egyptian Alphabet and Grammar documents represent exploratory work, not a translation method.
The Book of Joseph portion specifically: The Book of Joseph papyrus - if it existed as a distinct scroll - is almost certainly among the documents that did not survive. None of the returned Metropolitan Museum fragments have been identified with a Joseph text. It remains an open question whether Joseph Smith translated any complete portion or only began the work.
Key figures in the scholarly debate:
- Hugh Nibley - The Message of the Joseph Smith Papyri: An Egyptian Endowment (1975, rev. 2005) - argued the Sensen Papyrus encodes ritual/endowment patterns beneath its funerary surface
- John Gee - A Guide to the Joseph Smith Papyri (2000) - argued the source papyri were much longer than what survived
- Michael Rhodes - provided scholarly translation of surviving fragments
- Robert Ritner - leading critic; argues the fragments straightforwardly identify as Book of Breathings with no Abraham connection
See Joseph Smith Papyri (Wikipedia) | Book of Abraham | Book of Joseph | The Message of the Joseph Smith Papyri (Maxwell Institute)
Documentary Hypothesis & Divine Name Patterns
The Documentary Hypothesis and Genesis 37-41
Wellhausen’s 1878 JEDP model assigns Genesis to four sources: Jahwist (J, uses YHWH), Elohist (E, uses Elohim), Deuteronomist (D), and Priestly (P). The Joseph narrative (chs. 37-50) is the primary test case for J/E interweaving because the seams are unusually visible. The consensus DH assignment: J = the Judah/Ishmaelites strand; E = the Reuben/Midianites strand. P is largely absent from the Joseph narrative; D has no presence at all.
The Gen 37 doubled account - the clearest evidence: Two incompatible rescue attempts run simultaneously in 37:18-36:
- Reuben strand (E): Reuben proposes the pit to rescue Joseph later (v. 22); Midianites pass by and pull Joseph out while the brothers are eating (v. 28a); Reuben returns to find Joseph gone and is horrified (vv. 29-30)
- Judah strand (J): Judah proposes selling Joseph to the Ishmaelites (vv. 26-27); brothers sell him for 20 shekels (v. 28b)
The splice is visible in v. 28 itself: “Midianite traders passed by; and they drew Joseph up… and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites” - the subject shifts mid-verse. The seam continues: Gen 37:36 says the Midianites sold Joseph to Potiphar; Gen 39:1 says Potiphar bought him from the Ishmaelites - two different sellers, separated only by the ch. 38 Judah-and-Tamar interlude. That interlude is itself widely assigned to J - the Judah strand taking its own digression before resuming in 39:1 - which explains the chapter structure.
Divine Name Patterns: YHWH in Chapter 39, Elohim in 40-41
The pattern:
- Gen 39 (Potiphar’s house): YHWH appears 5 times (vv. 2, 3, 5, 21, 23) - “the LORD was with Joseph” is the chapter’s refrain. Notably, Joseph uses Elohim in his refusal speech to Potiphar’s wife (v. 9): even within the most YHWH-dense chapter in the Joseph narrative, Joseph switches to the universal name when addressing an Egyptian. This single verse is the clearest argument for the decorum thesis - it is hard to explain by source-assignment, since it falls squarely in the J chapter.
- Gen 40-41 (prison and Pharaoh’s court): Elohim used throughout. Joseph’s key statements: “Do not interpretations belong to God [Elohim]?” (40:8); “It is not in me: God [Elohim] shall give Pharaoh an answer” (41:16); “God [Elohim] hath shewed Pharaoh what he is about to do” (41:25, 28). Pharaoh himself says “Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God [Elohim] is?” (41:38).
Two explanations for the shift:
1. Source-critical (DH): Ch. 39 is J (uses YHWH); chs. 40-41 are E (uses Elohim). The Redactor wove them together. The name shift reflects different authorial origins, not theological intention.
2. Literary/theological reading (Alter, Sarna): The shift is deliberate narrative theology, not source seams:
- YHWH is the covenant name - intimate, personal, Israelite. The narrator uses it when describing God’s providential care over Joseph in an Israelite-authored history.
- Elohim is the generic divine title - universal, appropriate in cross-cultural dialogue. When Joseph speaks to Egyptians about divinely-given interpretation, he uses Elohim: the God who can be acknowledged by any nation.
- Joseph’s code-switching is theologically sophisticated - he knows which name fits which audience. This is not confusion or splicing; it is decorum.
Robert Alter (The Art of Biblical Narrative, 1981) argues the Joseph narrative is the most literarily unified text in the Pentateuch - the apparent doublets are deliberate retardation techniques and character foiling, not source evidence. Nahum Sarna (Understanding Genesis, 1966) similarly reads the name usage as governed by theological context rather than authorship: Elohim marks God’s universal sovereignty; YHWH marks his covenant relationship with Israel’s ancestors.
Responses to the Documentary Hypothesis
Critical responses:
- John Van Seters (Prologue to History, 1992): argued the Joseph story is a unified late composition; the “doublets” are standard ancient literary technique, not evidence of spliced sources
- Robert Alter (The Art of Biblical Narrative, 1981): the Reuben/Judah alternation is character development, not source splitting - both brothers attempt to intercede; the narrative uses both to build dramatic irony and moral contrast
- Umberto Cassuto (The Documentary Hypothesis, 1941/trans. 1961): YHWH/Elohim shifts follow a semantic rule - Elohim when emphasizing God’s universal power or in dialogue with non-Israelites; YHWH when emphasizing covenant relationship. The shifts are not source indicators but intentional theological usage
LDS engagement:
- LDS scholar David Bokovoy (Authoring the Old Testament, Greg Kofford Books, 2014) has engaged the DH seriously, arguing it is compatible with belief in inspired scripture produced through human literary process
- The divine name pattern - YHWH in Gen 39 vs. Elohim in 40-41 - has a plain theological explanation that does not require positing separate sources: Joseph uses the covenant name in an Israelite-narrated domestic scene and switches to the universal name when addressing Egyptians in Pharaoh’s court; his use of Elohim even in 39:9 (within the “YHWH chapter”) supports this reading
LDS Doctrinal Context: The 8th Article of Faith and Biblical Transmission
The foundational LDS stance on the Bible is stated in the 8th Article of Faith:
“We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.”
- Joseph Smith, Articles of Faith 1:8 (1842)
The qualifying clause - “as far as it is translated correctly” - explicitly acknowledges that the Bible as received may contain transmission errors or omissions. This is a materially different posture from Protestant inerrancy and creates more intellectual room for engaging source-critical scholarship. The DH’s claim that the Pentateuch was compiled from earlier sources by later editors is not inherently incompatible with this framework; inspiration can operate through and alongside human literary processes.
The Joseph Smith Translation (JST) runs in the opposite direction from reduction. Joseph Smith’s inspired revisions to Genesis add substantial material - the visions of Moses and Enoch now found in Moses 1-8 (Pearl of Great Price) are presented as content that “was had in the beginning” but “was taken from the world.” If the Masoretic text is a contracted and edited version of an originally fuller record, the JST is consistent with that picture. This is not precisely the DH’s claim, but it is consonant with an LDS expectation that the received biblical text has lost material.
On the divine names specifically: Neither Joseph Smith nor any subsequent LDS prophet has addressed the YHWH/Elohim distribution pattern in source-critical terms. The 8th Article of Faith and the JST together provide the framework within which LDS readers can engage the DH: the Bible is inspired; its transmission was human; restoration can supplement what was lost.
The Come Follow Me lesson for this week (linked below) focuses on Joseph’s faithfulness in adversity, fleeing temptation, and trusting God’s timing - it does not engage source criticism directly. The lesson’s discussion questions are useful for personal and family study regardless of where one stands on the DH.
See Documentary Hypothesis (Wikipedia) | Authoring the Old Testament (Greg Kofford Books) | Bible - Gospel Topics (Church of Jesus Christ) | CFM Week 11 - Genesis 37-41 (Gospel Library)
LDS Scholarly & Apostolic Teachings on Joseph
Hugh Nibley
Nibley: Joseph in Egyptian Context
Hugh Nibley (1910-2005), BYU professor and prolific FARMS scholar, devoted more attention to Joseph’s Egyptian setting than perhaps any other LDS writer. His key works: Abraham in Egypt (1981, rev. 2000), The Message of the Joseph Smith Papyri (1975, rev. 2005), and essays collected in Temple and Cosmos (1992).
On the coat (ketonet passim): Nibley argued the coat was not merely a fashion gift but a priestly or ritual garment - the physical emblem of birthright and priesthood authority. He connected it to Egyptian investiture robes worn by high-status officials and to temple garment traditions. The brothers’ destruction of the coat (dipping it in blood) was thus an assault on Joseph’s priestly standing, not merely sibling jealousy.
On Egyptian investiture (Gen. 41:42): Pharaoh’s transfer of ring, fine linen robe, and gold chain to Joseph parallels Egyptian coronation and adoption ceremonies documented in court records. Nibley identified this as Joseph entering the Egyptian royal household - becoming a “son of Pharaoh” in a ritual-legal sense, not merely a promoted servant. The name Zaphnath-paaneah (Gen. 41:45) he connected to Egyptian naming patterns for royal adoptees or court figures.
On the Joseph narrative as endowment pattern: In Temple and Cosmos and related essays, Nibley read Joseph’s arc - the stripping of his garment, descent into the pit, slavery, imprisonment, false accusation, and ultimate exaltation - as structurally parallel to endowment themes: descent, testing, covenant-keeping under pressure, and eventual investiture. Joseph is not just a historical figure but a ritual type whose story encodes covenant theology.
On the “Story of Two Brothers”: Nibley treated the Egyptian tale not as a source for the Joseph narrative but as evidence of a shared ancient Near Eastern pattern - both draw on a common stock of sacred story that predates either written version. This supports historicity rather than undermining it: Joseph’s story fits authentically into its cultural environment.
On the papyri and the Book of Joseph: Nibley’s The Message of the Joseph Smith Papyri argued the surviving Sensen fragments encode an initiation/endowment ritual beneath their funerary surface - the Egyptian “Book of Breathings” being a later, compressed derivative of older ritual texts. He believed the actual Book of Abraham and Book of Joseph scrolls were among the papyri lost in Chicago.
See Hugh Nibley (Wikipedia) | Abraham in Egypt (Maxwell Institute) | Temple and Cosmos (Maxwell Institute) | Joseph Smith Papyri (Wikipedia)
Bruce R. McConkie
McConkie: Joseph as Messianic Type
Elder Bruce R. McConkie (1915-1985) developed the Messianic typology of Joseph more systematically than any other modern LDS writer, primarily in The Promised Messiah (1978) and A New Witness for the Articles of Faith (1985).
Joseph as a type of Christ - the parallel structure: McConkie laid out the typological correspondences in detail:
- Beloved of his father, sent to his brothers → Christ, the Beloved Son, sent to Israel
- Rejected and conspired against by his brothers → Christ rejected by his own people
- Sold for silver (20 pieces) → Christ sold by Judas for 30 pieces of silver
- Falsely accused → Christ falsely accused before Pilate
- Imprisoned between two men - one butler (saved/restored), one baker (condemned/executed) → Christ crucified between two thieves, one saved, one not
- Raised from humiliation to glory and rulership → the Resurrection and Christ’s exaltation
- Saves his family/people through his own suffering - they come to him in famine; he reveals himself and provides → Atonement: Israel comes to Christ in spiritual famine; he reveals himself and provides salvation
McConkie’s point: these are not coincidences or literary borrowings - they are divinely designed types, woven into history so that those with eyes to see would recognize Christ when he came. Joseph’s life is a prophetic shadow-portrait of the Messiah.
On Joseph’s prophecy (2 Nephi 3): McConkie emphasized that Joseph of Egypt knew about Joseph Smith by name, knew the Book of Mormon would come forth, and knew the Restoration would involve a seer from his own lineage. This places Joseph of Egypt as an active prophetic participant in the Restoration, not merely a historical ancestor.
On the gathering of Israel: In A New Witness for the Articles of Faith, McConkie connected Joseph’s grain administration directly to the latter-day gathering: as Joseph gathered the nations to Egypt for physical salvation, the latter-day work gathers Israel for spiritual salvation. The pattern is the same; the scale is eternal.
See Bruce R. McConkie (Wikipedia) | The Promised Messiah (Deseret Book) | 2 Nephi 3 (Gospel Library)
Bruce D. Porter
Porter: Trials as Divine Schooling
Elder Bruce D. Porter (1952-2015) served in the First Quorum of the Seventy (1995-2015). While he did not write a dedicated Joseph of Egypt study, several of his conference addresses and BYU devotionals drew on Joseph’s narrative as the paradigm case for understanding adversity as purposive rather than punitive.
Core emphasis - trials as curriculum: Porter consistently framed Joseph’s repeated reversals (pit, slavery, prison) not as evidence of God’s absence but as the curriculum by which God educated Joseph for a task no one else could have done. Each descent prepared a capacity needed at the next level: the pit taught him that human loyalty is fragile; Potiphar’s house taught him Egyptian administration; prison taught him to read people and wait on God’s timing. By the time Pharaoh needed him, Joseph had been educated in exactly the school his role required.
On the silence of God: Porter noted the thirteen-year gap between Joseph’s dreams (age 17, Gen. 37) and their fulfillment (age 30, Gen. 41) as a theologically significant silence. God does not reassure Joseph at the pit. He does not appear to Joseph in Potiphar’s prison. The silence is not abandonment - it is the condition under which faith becomes real rather than comfortable. Porter connected this to the Savior’s cry of dereliction (“My God, why hast thou forsaken me?”) as the ultimate version of the same pattern.
On preparation for future hardship: Porter drew out the practical implication: Joseph stored grain in the seven fat years precisely because he could see the lean years coming. The spiritual application is preparedness - building faith, covenant loyalty, and character reserves before the famine arrives. He applied this directly to youth preparing for adult trials they cannot yet see.
Note: Specific talk citations for Porter should be verified in the General Conference archive (1995-2015) and BYU Speeches archive.
See Bruce D. Porter - General Conference talks (Gospel Library) | General Conference (Gospel Library)
Teachings, Laws & Covenants Attributed to Joseph
The Covenant of Bones
Joseph’s dying charge: “God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence” (Gen. 50:25). Moses fulfills this 400 years later (Ex. 13:19). The bones travel through 40 years of wilderness. This is the longest-running kept promise in the Pentateuch - a covenant of faithfulness across generations that outlasts any individual’s lifetime.
Law of Chastity - Typological Foundation
Joseph is the canonical Old Testament type for sexual purity. His flight from Potiphar’s wife (Gen. 39:12) becomes the scriptural pattern - his physical departure is the model, not argument or negotiation. Paul references “flee also youthful lusts” (2 Tim. 2:22) in the same active-flight pattern. In LDS practice, Joseph’s example is the primary Old Testament proof text for the law of chastity.
Stewardship Ethics
Joseph’s grain administration (Gen. 41:47-49, 53-57) is not self-enriching - he collects for Pharaoh, distributes in famine, saves nations. The model is wise stewardship of surplus for future need, held in trust for others. He manages resources he does not own for purposes he was given vision to see.
Forgiveness as Covenant Reframing
“God sent me before you to preserve life” (Gen. 45:5) and “Ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good” (Gen. 50:20). Joseph reframes his brothers’ betrayal not as excused but as providentially overruled. This becomes a covenant formula: forgiveness within covenant families is possible because God’s purposes operate above human malice. The narrative does not minimize the wrong - it relocates the interpretive frame.
Testament of Joseph - Quasi-Covenant Obligations
Per the Testament of Joseph, his deathbed charges to his children function as inherited obligations: (1) maintain chastity, (2) fear God above earthly rulers, (3) love one another across tribal lines, (4) carry his bones to Canaan. These echo the structure of covenant stipulations passed from patriarch to children.
Restoration Connection - The Seer from Joseph’s Loins
2 Nephi 3:15: Joseph of Egypt prophesies “a seer will I raise up out of the fruit of thy loins; and unto him will I give power to bring forth my word… and his name shall be called after me; and it shall be after the name of his father.” Joseph Smith Sr. named his son Joseph - fulfilling the name-pattern. Lucy Mack Smith’s account confirms she was aware of this lineage connection at naming.
Restoration & LDS Context
- Joseph Smith named after Joseph of Egypt - Lucy Mack Smith’s account explicitly connects the naming to the prophecy in 2 Nephi 3. The name carries covenant weight, not just family tradition.
- D&C 113:7-8 - Joseph Smith interprets the “rod out of the stem of Jesse” and the “servant” figure in Isaiah 11 as connected to Joseph’s branch/lineage prophecy. The “keys” belong to one of Joseph’s descendants.
- 2 Nephi 3 - Full text of Joseph of Egypt’s preserved prophecy (not in the Bible) about the latter-day seer, the coming forth of scripture, and the restoration. Worth reading as a unit alongside Gen. 37-41.
- Tribe of Ephraim as gathering tribe - Joseph’s son Ephraim becomes the primary gathering tribe in LDS theology (patriarchal blessings most commonly assign Ephraim lineage). All of this flows from Joseph’s covenant faithfulness - his suffering and fidelity in Egypt preserve the lineage that eventually gathers Israel in the last days.
- Joseph in Facsimile No. 3 (Book of Abraham) - Joseph Smith identifies figures in the Egyptian facsimile as connected to a scene of Joseph before Pharaoh. Contested historically, but part of the Restoration engagement with Joseph’s Egyptian context.
See 2 Nephi 3 (Gospel Library) | D&C 113 (Gospel Library) | Book of Abraham | Tribe of Ephraim (Wikipedia)
Related Notes
- Gen 39 | Gen 40 | Gen 41
- Book of Joseph | Book of Abraham
- Joseph
- Testament of Joseph (Early Jewish Writings)
- Pseudepigrapha (Wikipedia)
- Joseph / Yusuf in Islam (Wikipedia)
- 2 Nephi 3 (Gospel Library)
- Genesis Rabbah (Wikipedia)
- Hugh Nibley - Abraham in Egypt (Maxwell Institute)
- Week 12 - Genesis 42-50