asenath

And Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphnathpaaneah; and he gave him to wife Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On. And Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt.

And unto Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, which Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On bare unto him.

And unto Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, which Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On bare unto him.

And after Joseph perished, the sons of Jacob took unto themselves wives. The name of Reuben's wife is 'Ada; and the name of Simeon's wife is 'Adlba'a, a Canaanite; and the name of Levi's wife is Melka, of the daughters of Aram, of the seed of the sons of Terah; and the name of Judah's wife, Betasu'el, a Canaanite; and the name of Issachar's wife, Hezaqa: and the name of Zabulon's wife, Ni'iman; and the name of Dan's wife, 'Egla; and the name of Naphtali's wife, Rasu'u, of Mesopotamia; and the name of Gad's wife, Maka; and the name of Asher's wife, 'Ijona; and the name of Joseph's wife, Asenath, the Egyptian; and the name of Benjamin's wife, 'Ijasaka.

And there were born to Joseph in Egypt before his father came into Egypt, those whom Asenath, daughter of Potiphar priest of Heliopolis bare unto him, Manasseh, and Ephraim-three.

And carry ye up Asenath your mother to the Hippodrome, and near Rachel your mother bury her.

And he had a virgin daughter, by name Asenath, of eighteen years, tall and comely, and beautiful to behold exceedingly beyond every virgin upon the earth.

Now Asenath herself bare no likeness to the virgins the daughters of the Egyptians, but was in all things like the daughters of the Hebrews, being tall as Sarah and comely as Rebecca and beautiful as Rachel; and the fame of her beauty spread abroad into all that land and unto the ends of the world, so that by reason of this all the sons of the princes and the satraps desired to woo her, nay, and the sons of the kings also, all young men and mighty, and there was great strife among them because of her, and they essayed to fight against one another.

And Pharaoh's firstborn son also heard about her, and he continued entreating his father to give her to him to wife and saying to him: "Give me, father, Asenath, the daughter of Pentephres, the first man of Heliopolis, to wife."

But Asenath set at naught and scorned every man, being boastful and haughty, and never had a man seen her, inasmuch as Pentephres had in his house a tower adjoining, great and high exceedingly, and above the tower was a loft containing ten chambers.

And within that chamber gods of the Egyptians, whereof was no number, gold and silver, were fixed, and all those Asenath worshipped, and she feared them, and she performed sacrifices to them every day.

And the remaining seven chambers the seven virgins who ministered to Asenath occupied, each one having one chamber, for that they were of the same age, born on the same night with Asenath, and she loved them much; and they were also beautiful exceedingly as the stars of heaven, and never did a man converse with them or a male child.

And the remaining seven chambers the seven virgins who ministered to Asenath occupied, each one having one chamber, for that they were of the same age, born on the same night with Asenath, and she loved them much; and they were also beautiful exceedingly as the stars of heaven, and never did a man converse with them or a male child.

On this bed Asenath alone slept, and never had man or other woman sat thereon.

And, when Asenath heard that her father and mother had come from the possession of their inheritance, she rejoiced greatly and said: "I will go and see my father and mother, because they have come from the possession of our inheritance" (for that it was the harvest-season).

And Asenath hasted into her chamber where her robes lay and put on a fine linen robe made of crimson stuff and interwoven with gold, and girded herself with a golden girdle, and bracelets round her hands; and about her feet she put golden buskins, and round her neck she cast an ornament of great price and precious stones, which were embellished on all sides, having also the names of the gods of the Egyptians everywhere engraved on them, both on the bracelets and the stones; and she put also a tiara on her head and bound a diadem round her temples and covered her head with a mantle.

And Pentephres and his wife rejoiced over their daughter Asenath with exceeding great joy, for that they beheld her adorned and embellished as the bride of God; and they brought forth all the good things which they had brought from the possession of their inheritance and gave them to their daughter; and Asenath rejoiced over all the good things, over the late summer fruit and the grapes and the dates and over the doves, and over the mulberries and the figs, because they were all fair and pleasant to taste.

And Pentephres and his wife rejoiced over their daughter Asenath with exceeding great joy, for that they beheld her adorned and embellished as the bride of God; and they brought forth all the good things which they had brought from the possession of their inheritance and gave them to their daughter; and Asenath rejoiced over all the good things, over the late summer fruit and the grapes and the dates and over the doves, and over the mulberries and the figs, because they were all fair and pleasant to taste.

And Pentephres said to his daughter Asenath: "Child."

And, when Asenath heard these words from her father, a great sweat was poured out upon her over her face, and she waxed wroth with great anger, and she looked askance with her eyes at her father and said: "Wherefore, my lord father, speakest thou these words?

When he heard these things Pentephres was ashamed to speak further to his daughter Asenath about Joseph, for that she answered him with boastfulness and anger.

And when Asenath heard these words she fled from the face of her father and mother and went up into the loft, and she came into her chamber and stood at the great window looking east to see Joseph coming into her father's house.

When, then, Joseph had come into the court and the doors thereof had been shut, and every strange man and woman remained outside the court, for that the guards of the gates drew to and closed the doors, Pentephres came and his wife and all their kindred except their daughter Asenath, and they made obeisance to Joseph upon their faces upon the earth; and Joseph descended from his chariot and greeted them with his hand.

And when Asenath saw Joseph she was sore pricked in the soul and her heart was crushed, and her knees were loosed and her whole body trembled and she feared with great fear, and then she groaned and said in her heart: "Alas me miserable! where now shall I, the wretched one, go away? or where shall I be hidden from his face? or how shall Joseph the son of God see me, for that on my part I have spoken evil things about him?

And Joseph looked up and saw Asenath peeping out, and he saith to Pentephres: "Who is that woman who is standing in the loft by the window?

Then her mother went up into the loft and brought Asenath to Joseph, and Pentephres said to her: "Kiss thy brother, because he also is a virgin even as thou to-day, and hateth every strange woman even as thou hatest every strange man."

And Asenath said to Joseph: "Hail, lord, blessed of God Most High."

Pentephres saith then to his daughter Asenath: "Come and kiss thy brother."

When Asenath then came up to kiss Joseph, Joseph stretched forth his right hand, and laid it on her breast between her two paps (for her paps were already standing forth like lovely apples), and Joseph said: "It is not meet for a man that worshippeth God, who blesseth with his mouth the living God, and eateth the blessed bread of life, and drinketh the blessed cup of immortality, and is anointed with the blessed unction of incorruption, to kiss a strange woman, who blesseth with her mouth dead and deaf idols and eateth from their table the bread of strangling and drinketh from their libation the cup of deceit and is anointed with the unction of destruction; but the man that worshippeth God will kiss his mother and the sister who is born of his mother and the sister who is born of his tribe and the wife who shareth his couch, who bless with their mouth the living God.

And, when Asenath heard these words from Joseph, she was sore distressed and groaned; and, as she was looking steadfastly at Joseph with her eyes open, they were filled with tears.

And Asenath rejoiced over the blessing of Joseph with exceeding great joy.

And, when Joseph had left the house, Pentephres also and all his kindred departed to their inheritance, and Asenath was left alone with the seven virgins, listless and weeping till the sun set; and she neither ate bread nor drank water, but while all slept she herself alone was awake and weeping and frequently beating her breast with her hand.

And after these things Asenath rose from her bed, and went quietly down the stairs from the loft, and on coming to the gateway found the portress sleeping with her children; and she hasted and took down from the door the leathern cover of the curtain and filled it with cinders and carried it up to the loft and laid it on the floor.

But the virgin whom Asenath loved above all the virgins having heard her groaning hasted and came to the door after awaking the other virgins also and found it shut.

And, when she had listened to the groaning and the weeping of Asenath, she said to her, standing without: "What is it, my mistress, and wherefore art thou sad?

And Asenath said to her, being shut inside: "Great and grievous pain hath attacked mine head, and I am resting in my bed, and I am not able to rise and open to you, for that I am infirm over all my limbs.

And, when the virgins had departed, each to her own chamber, Asenath rose and opened the door of her bedroom quietly, and went away into her second chamber where the chests of her adornment were, and she opened her coffer and took a black and sombre tunic which she put on and mourned when her firstborn brother died.

Then, therefore, Asenath put off her royal robe, and put on the mourning tunic, and loosed her golden girdle and girded herself with a rope, and put off the tiara, that is the mitre, from her head, likewise also the diadem, and the chains from her hands and her feet were also all laid upon the floor.

And again Asenath took her royal dinner and the fatlings and the fish and heifer's flesh, and all the sacrifices of her gods, and the vessels of the wine of libation, and cast them all through the window that looked north as food for the dogs.

And, when Asenath arose in the morning and saw, and lo! the cinders were beneath her as clay from her tears, she again fell upon her face upon the cinders till the sun set.

Thus Asenath did for seven days, not tasting aught whatever.

And on the eighth day, when the dawn came and the birds were already chirping and the dogs barking at the passers-by, Asenath lifted up her head a little from the floor and the cinders whereon she was seated, for that she was exceeding weary and had lost the power of her limbs from her great humiliation; for Asenath had waxed weary and faint and her strength was failing, and thereupon she turned toward the wall, sitting under the window that looked east; and her head she laid upon her bosom, twining the fingers of her hands over her right knee; and her mouth was shut, and she opened it not during the seven days and during the seven nights of her humiliation.

And on the eighth day, when the dawn came and the birds were already chirping and the dogs barking at the passers-by, Asenath lifted up her head a little from the floor and the cinders whereon she was seated, for that she was exceeding weary and had lost the power of her limbs from her great humiliation; for Asenath had waxed weary and faint and her strength was failing, and thereupon she turned toward the wall, sitting under the window that looked east; and her head she laid upon her bosom, twining the fingers of her hands over her right knee; and her mouth was shut, and she opened it not during the seven days and during the seven nights of her humiliation.

For my father and my mother said: 'Asenath is not our daughter.'

Then Asenath rose up from the wall where she was sitting, and raised herself upon her knees toward the east, and directed her eyes toward heaven, and opened her mouth and said to God:

Spare me, Lord, spare, for that I committed many sins against thee, I did lawlessness and ungodliness, I have spoken things not to be uttered, and wicked in thy sight; my mouth, Lord, hath been polluted from the sacrifices of the idols of the Egyptians, and from the table of their gods: I sinned, Lord, I sinned in thy sight, both in knowledge and in ignorance I did ungodliness in that I worshipped dead and deaf idols, and I am not worthy to open my mouth unto thee, Lord, I the miserable Asenath daughter of Pentephres the priest, the virgin and queen, who was once proud and haughty and one that prospered in my father's riches above all men, but now an orphan and desolate and abandoned of all men.

Deliver me, Lord, before all these things come upon me; deliver me, Master, the desolate and defenceless, for that my father and my mother have denied me and said, 'Asenath is not our daughter,' because I brake their gods in pieces and made away with them, as having wholly hated them.

And, when Asenath had ceased making confession to the Lord, lo! the morning-star also arose out of the heaven in the east; and Asenath saw it and rejoiced and said: "Hath the Lord God then heard my prayer? for that this star is a messenger and herald of the light of the great day."

And, when Asenath had ceased making confession to the Lord, lo! the morning-star also arose out of the heaven in the east; and Asenath saw it and rejoiced and said: "Hath the Lord God then heard my prayer? for that this star is a messenger and herald of the light of the great day."

And when she saw it Asenath fell upon her face upon the cinders, and straightway there came to her a man from heaven, sending forth rays of light, and stood above her head.

And, as she lay on her face, the divine angel said to her, "Asenath, stand up."

And he called her again a second time, saying, "Asenath, Asenath."

And he called her again a second time, saying, "Asenath, Asenath."

Seeing these things Asenath feared and fell on her face, unable even to stand upon her feet, for she became greatly afraid and all her limbs trembled.

And the man said to her: "Be of good cheer, Asenath, and fear not; but stand up and stand upon thy feet, that I may speak to thee my words."

Then Asenath stood up and stood upon her feet, and the angel said to her: "Go without impediment into thy second chamber and lay aside the black tunic wherein thou art clad, and cast off the sackcloth from thy loins, and shake out the cinders from thine head, and wash thy face and thine hands with pure water and put on a white untouched robe and gird thy loins with the bright girdle of virginity, the double one, and come again to me, and I will speak to thee the words that are sent to thee from the Lord."

Then Asenath hasted and went into her second chamber, wherein were the chests of her adorning, and opened her coffer and took a white, fine, untouched robe and put it on, having first put off the black robe, and ungirded also the rope and the sackcloth from her loins and girded herself in a bright, double girdle of her virginity, one girdle about her loins and another girdle about her breast.

And Asenath took it from her head.

And again the divine angel saith to her: "Be of good cheer, Asenath, the virgin and pure, for lo! the Lord God heard all the words of thy confession and thy prayer, and he hath seen also the humiliation and affliction of the seven days of thine abstinence, for that from thy tears much clay hath been formed before thy face upon these cinders.

Accordingly, be of good cheer, Asenath, the virgin and pure, for lo! thy name hath been written in the book of life and shall not be blotted out for ever; but from this day thou shalt be renewed and refashioned and re-quickened, and thou shalt eat the blessed bread of life and drink a cup filled with immortality and be anointed with the blessed unction of incorruption.

Be of good cheer, Asenath, the virgin and pure, lo! the Lord God hath given thee to-day to Joseph for a bride, and he himself shall be thy bridegroom for ever.

And no more henceforth shalt thou be called Asenath, but thy name shall be 'City of Refuge,' for that in thee many nations shall seek refuge and they shall lodge under thy wings, and many nations shall find shelter by thy means, and upon thy walls they who cleave unto God Most High through penitence shall be kept secure; for that Penitence is daughter of the Most High, and she herself entreateth God Most High for thee every hour and for all that repent, since he is father of Penitence, and she herself is the completion and overseer of all virgins, loving you exceedingly and beseeching the Most High for you every hour, and for all who repent she will provide a place of rest in the heavens, and she reneweth everyone who hath repented.

Accordingly hear me, Asenath, and put on a wedding robe, the ancient and first robe that is yet laid up in thy chamber from of old, and put all thy choice adorning also about thee, and adorn thyself as a good bride and make thyself ready to meet him; for lo! he himself cometh to thee to-day and will see thee and rejoice."

And, when the angel of the Lord in the shape of a man had finished speaking these words to Asenath, she rejoiced with great joy over all the things that were spoken by him, and fell upon her face upon the earth, and made obeisance before his feet and said to him: "Blessed is the Lord thy God who sent thee to deliver me from the darkness and to bring me from the foundations of the abyss itself into the light, and blessed is thy name for ever.

And Asenath hasted and set an empty table before him; and, as she was starting to fetch bread, the divine angel saith to her: "Bring me also an honeycomb."

And Asenath entered her storehouse and found an honeycomb lying upon the table; and the comb was great and white like snow and full of honey, and that honey was as the dew of heaven, and the odour thereof as the odour of life.

Then Asenath wondered and said in herself: "Is this comb from the mouth of this man himself?"

And Asenath took that comb and brought it and set it forth upon the table, and the angel said to her: "Why is it that thou saidst, 'There is no honeycomb in mine house,' and lo! thou hast brought it me?"

Then he calleth her to himself, and, when she came, he stretched out his right hand and took hold of her head, and, when he shook her head with his right hand, Asenath feared the angel's hand greatly, for that sparks proceeded from his hands after the manner of red-hot iron, and accordingly she was all the time gazing with much fear and trembling at the angel's hand.

And he smiled and said: "Blessed art thou, Asenath, because the ineffable mysteries of God have been revealed to thee; and blessed are all who cleave to the Lord God in penitence, because they shall eat of this comb, for that this comb is the spirit of life, and this the bees of the paradise of delight have made from the dew of the roses of life that are in the paradise of God and every flower, and of it eat the angels and all the elect of God and all the sons of the Most High, and whosoever shall eat of it shall not die forever."

Then all those bees encircled Asenath from feet to head, and other great bees like their queens arose from the cells, and they circled round upon her face and upon her lips, and made a comb upon her mouth and upon her lips like the comb that lay before the angel; and all those bees ate from the comb that was upon Asenath's mouth.

Then all the bees rose and flew and departed to heaven; but as many as wished to injure Asenath all fell upon the earth and died.

And the angel saith to Asenath, "Hast thou seen this thing?"

And, when much fragrance had come forth from the burning of the comb and filled the chamber, Asenath said to the divine angel: "Lord, I have seven virgins who were brought up with me from my youth and were born on one night with me, who wait upon me, and I love them all as my sisters.

Then Asenath called the seven virgins and set them before the angel, and the angel said to them: "The Lord God Most High shall bless you, and ye shall be pillars of refuge of seven cities, and all the elect of that city who dwell together shall rest upon you for ever."

And after these things the divine angel saith to Asenath: "Take away this table."

And, when Asenath turned to remove the table, straightway he departed from her eyes, and Asenath saw as it were a chariot with four horses that were going eastward to heaven, and the chariot was as a flame of fire, and the horses as lightning, and the angel was standing above that chariot.

And, when Asenath turned to remove the table, straightway he departed from her eyes, and Asenath saw as it were a chariot with four horses that were going eastward to heaven, and the chariot was as a flame of fire, and the horses as lightning, and the angel was standing above that chariot.

Then Asenath said: "Silly and foolish am I, the lowly one, for that I have spoken as that a man came into my chamber from heaven, and I knew not that God came into it and lo! now he goeth back to heaven to his place."

And, while Asenath was yet speaking these words to herself, lo! a young man, one of the servants of Joseph, saying: "Joseph, the mighty man of God, cometh to you to-day."

And straightway Asenath called the overseer of her house and said to him: "Haste and prepare mine house and make a good dinner ready, for that Joseph, the mighty man of God, cometh to us to-day."

And Asenath remembered the angel's words and his injunctions, and hasted and entered her second chamber, where the chests of her adorning were, and opened her great coffer and brought out her first robe like lightning to behold and put it on; and she girded herself also with a girdle bright and royal that was of gold and precious stones, and on her hands she put golden bracelets, and upon her feet golden buskins, and a precious ornament about her neck, and a golden wreath she put about her head; and on the wreath as upon its front was a great sapphire stone, and round the great stone six stones of great price, and with a very marvellous mantle she veiled her head.

And, when Asenath remembered the words of the overseer of her house, for that he said to her that her face had shrunk, she sorrowed exceedingly, and groaned and said: "Woe is me, the lowly one, since my face is shrunken.

And Asenath, when she saw these things, marvelled in herself at the sight and rejoiced with exceeding great joy and washed not her face, for she said, "Lest I wash off this great and comely beauty."

And, while they were yet speaking these things, a boy came saying to Asenath: "Lo! Joseph standeth before the doors of our court."

Then Asenath hasted and went down the stairs from her loft with the seven virgins to meet Joseph and stood in the porch of her house.

And Asenath came out from the porch to meet Joseph, and when he saw her he marvelled at her beauty, and said to her: "Who art thou, damsel?

And she saith to him: "I, lord, am thine handmaid Asenath; all the idols I have cast away from me and they perished.

And a man came to me to-day from heaven and hath given me bread of life and I ate, and I drank a blessed cup, and he said to me: 'I have given thee for a bride to Joseph, and he himself shall be thy bridegroom for ever; and thy name shall not be called Asenath, but it shall be called "City of Refuge," and the Lord God shall reign over many nations, and through thee shall they seek refuge with God Most High.'

Then Joseph saith to Asenath: "Blessed art thou, woman, of God Most High, and blessed is thy name for ever, for that the Lord God hath laid the foundations of thy walls, and the sons of the living God shall dwell in thy city of refuge, and the Lord God shall reign over them for ever.

Then Joseph stretched out his hands and embraced Asenath, and Asenath Joseph, and they kissed one another for a long time, and both lived again in their spirit.

Then Joseph stretched out his hands and embraced Asenath, and Asenath Joseph, and they kissed one another for a long time, and both lived again in their spirit.

And Joseph kissed Asenath and gave her the spirit of life, then the second time he gave her the spirit of wisdom, and the third time he kissed her tenderly and gave her the spirit of truth.

And, when they had clasped one another round for a long time and intertwined the chains of their hands, Asenath said to Joseph: "Come hither, lord, and enter our house, for that on my part I have prepared our house and a great dinner."

And Asenath said to him: "Nay, lord, for that henceforth thou art my lord and I am thine handmaid.

Then Joseph took hold of her right hand and kissed her tenderly and Asenath kissed his head tenderly, and thereupon he seated her at his right hand.

And after these things they ate and drank; and, all having made cheer, Pentephres said to Joseph: "To-morrow I will call all the princes and satraps of all the land of Egypt, and will make a wedding for you, and thou shalt take my daughter Asenath to wife."

But Joseph said: "I go to-morrow to Pharaoh the king, for that he himself is my father and appointed me ruler over all this land, and I will speak to him concerning Asenath, and he will give her to me to wife."

And Joseph stayed that day with Pentephres, and he went not in to Asenath, for that he was wont to say: "It is not meet for a man who worshippeth God to sleep with his wife before his marriage."

And Joseph rose early and departed to Pharaoh and said to him: "Give me Asenath, daughter of Pentephres, priest of Heliopolis, to wife."