Joseph, the son of the patriarch Jacob, was born in Charan
(Mesopotamia) on the 2nd of Tammuz of the year 2199 from creation (1562 BCE);
he was the first child of Jacob's most beloved wife, Rachel, born after
7 childless years of marriage. When Joseph was six years old, Jacob and his
family returned to the Holy Land, eventually settling in
Hebron. Though younger
than 10 of his 11 brothers, he was his father's favorite, and a great
rivalry existed between him and his brothers, whose animosity toward him increased when he related two
dreams he had forecasting that he is destined to rule over them.
When he was 17, Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers and taken to Egypt; when he refused the advances of his master's wife, she had him placed in prison, where he languished for 12 years. At age 30, he interpreted a pair of mysterious
dreams dreamt by Pharaoh, and was appointed viceroy of Egypt to oversee the
gathering and storage of grain in preparation for the
seven years of famine that
Pharaoh's dreams had predicted. He married Asnat, and had two children,
Menasseh and Ephraim.
The great famine brought his brothers to Egypt to purchase grain;
after subjecting them to a series of trials to test their loyalty to each other
and their remorse over what they had done to him, Joseph revealed his identity
to his brothers, was reconciled with them, and settled his
father and entire
family -- 70 souls in all -- in Egypt.
Joseph passed away in Egypt on his 110th birthday. The first of his brothers
to die, he transmitted to them the divine promised to Jacob that his children
will be taken out of Egypt and restored too their homeland, and made them
promise to take his remains with them when they go.
Link: Joseph and his Brothers
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