Family of Joseph: Three Questions

Question

Asenath was Joseph’s wife and the mother of their sons.

Genesis 41:45
Asenath the daughter of Poti phera, the governor of On
אָֽסְנַ֔ת בַּת־פּ֥וֹטִי פֶ֖רַע כֹּהֵ֥ן אֽוֹן

Genesis 39:1
פּֽוֹטִיפַר֩ סְרִ֨יס פַּרְעֹ֜ה
Potiphar, Pharaoh’s chamberlain

(1) Were Potiphera and Potiphar the same person?
Some commentaries say yes, but it does not make sense to me.

(2) Were Ephraim and Menashe twins?

(3) Why is the traditional blessing for boys
“May you be like Ephraim and Menashe.”
versus “May you be like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

Thanks.

0

Answers

  1. The Just Ask! - AskTheRabbi.org Team

    1. Yes, according to the majority of opinions, Potiphar and Potiphara are one and the same person. The Talmud, Tractate Sotah 13b, explains that originally he was called Potiphar. When he bought Joseph as a slave, he did so because of Joseph’s great beauty and he actually wanted to have sexual relations with him. The Talmud relates that the angel Gabriel came and emasculated him, which is why he is referred to as Potiphara, which alludes to the fact that he was now a eunuch.

    2. There seems to be no definitive proof one way or the other. There is a scholarly work called Seder Hadorot, which writes that Ephraim and Menashe were twins, but there is no mention of that being so in the Talmud or the Midrashic texts.

    3. We bless our sons to be like Ephraim and Menashe in fulfillment of the words of Jacob in Vayechi when he prophesies that the Jewish People will always bless their children in that manner. Jacob chose Ephraim and Menashe to be our role models because they were the first two children to be born in exile – yet they retained their Jewish identity and even grew to great spiritual heights. In addition, Ephraim and Menashe were elevated to the status of “tribes” by Jacob. This implies that they reached the level of their fathers and forged an unbreakable link in the chain of Jewish continuity.

    Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team