This sheet on Genesis 41 was written by Avigdor Shinan for 929 and can also be found here
The Tanakh reports in dry language that Pharaoh gave Joseph "for a wife Asenath daughter of Poti-phera, priest of On” (Genesis 41:45). The Tanakh itself, in Deuteronomy (23: 8-9) forbids the marriage of an Israelite man to an Egyptian woman. But one who wishes to claim that this marriage was before the giving of the Torah would find sufficient justification for this marriage that was made by two tribes in Israel, Ephraim and Menasheh.
Our Sages solved this issue of marriage in a different way, seeing Asenath as the daughter of Dinah, Jacob’s daughter who was raped by Shechem son of Hamor, who had miraculously made it to Egypt and was adopted by a childless couple, Poti-phera and his wife. Thus, Asenath became a proper Israelite woman married to Joseph, her mother's brother (See, for example, the midrash in Pirkei D’Rabbi Eliezer Chapter 37).
But a more fascinating answer to this problem is provided by an ancient book, "Joseph and Asenath," written in Greek by a group of Jews in the first centuries CE, possibly in Alexandria, Egypt. This book tells of a rich Egyptian girl, an idol worshiper, who fell in love with Joseph and was charmed by his personality. She decides to correct her ways, destroy the statues she worshipped, fast and pray, and in that way develop a relationship with the God of Israel and eventually to marry Joseph. The story is full of dramatic turning points and plot twists that cannot be summed up in a few sentences, but it seems that its purpose was to encourage women in the Hellenistic world to develop a relationship with the Jews and the Torah by presenting Asenath as a kind of ancient convert worthy of walking in her path. Thus, Asenath - whom the Torah has little to do with - became a powerful personality, a light unto the nations.
Our Sages solved this issue of marriage in a different way, seeing Asenath as the daughter of Dinah, Jacob’s daughter who was raped by Shechem son of Hamor, who had miraculously made it to Egypt and was adopted by a childless couple, Poti-phera and his wife. Thus, Asenath became a proper Israelite woman married to Joseph, her mother's brother (See, for example, the midrash in Pirkei D’Rabbi Eliezer Chapter 37).
But a more fascinating answer to this problem is provided by an ancient book, "Joseph and Asenath," written in Greek by a group of Jews in the first centuries CE, possibly in Alexandria, Egypt. This book tells of a rich Egyptian girl, an idol worshiper, who fell in love with Joseph and was charmed by his personality. She decides to correct her ways, destroy the statues she worshipped, fast and pray, and in that way develop a relationship with the God of Israel and eventually to marry Joseph. The story is full of dramatic turning points and plot twists that cannot be summed up in a few sentences, but it seems that its purpose was to encourage women in the Hellenistic world to develop a relationship with the Jews and the Torah by presenting Asenath as a kind of ancient convert worthy of walking in her path. Thus, Asenath - whom the Torah has little to do with - became a powerful personality, a light unto the nations.
Prof. Avigdor Shinan is Professor Emeritus in Hebrew Literature at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
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