“House of Yosef” in Amos 5:6

Question

Amos 5:6: “Seek Hashem and live; lest He break out like fire in the house of Yosef and devour it, and there be none to quench it in Bethel.”

Rabbi , will you explain who the house of Yosef is? Also, were Yosef’s two sons half-Egyptian since Yosef betrothed Pharaoh’s daughter?

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Answers

  1. The Just Ask! - AskTheRabbi.org Team

    The commentaries explain that the Jewish People are being warned that if they do not abandon their wicked ways, they will be destroyed. The reference to the House of Yosef can be either to the people who were living in Samaria and were worshiping idols, or to the split that would take place later on when Hoshea ben Elah – the last king of Israel – opposed the idol that had been established in Bet-El.

    There are two approaches as to who Yosef’s wife was. The first is that Osnat was the daughter of Potifar, and, on marrying Yosef, she converted to Judaism. The second opinion is that Osnat was actually the daughter of Yaakov’s daughter, Dinah, who was raped by Shechem. She was adopted by Potifar and his wife, and they raised her as if she was their biological daughter.

    Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team