- Joseph
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/joh"zeuhf, -seuhf/, n.1. Jacob's eleventh son, the first of Jacob and his second wife, Rachel: sold into slavery by his brothers. Gen. 30:22-24; 37.2. the husband of Mary who was the mother of Jesus. Matt. 1:16-25.3. (Hinmaton-yalaktit), c1840-1904, leader of the Nez Percé: led 1000-mi. (1600-km) retreat from U.S. forces in an attempt to reach Canada 1877.4. (l.c.) a long coat buttoning in the front, worn esp. by women as part of their riding habit in colonial America.5. a male given name: from a Hebrew word meaning "increaser."
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IHe was favoured by his father, and his brothers became bitterly jealous when he was given a resplendent "coat of many colors" (literally, coat with flowing sleeves). They sold him into slavery in Egypt, telling Jacob he had been killed by a wild beast. In Egypt Joseph gained favour with the pharaoh and rose to high office, owing to his ability to interpret dreams, and his acquisition of grain supplies enabled Egypt to withstand a famine. When famine forced Jacob to send his sons to Egypt to buy grain, the family was reconciled with Joseph and settled there. The story of Joseph, told in Genesis 37–50, depicts the preservation of Israel and begins the history of the Israelites in Egypt that is continued in Exodus.II(as used in expressions)Ferdinand Maximilian JosephAbbott Sir John Joseph CaldwellAddison JosephArrow Kenneth JosephAbba Mari ben Moses ben JosephBanks Sir JosephJoseph the LeviteBelloc Joseph Pierre HilaireBerrigan Daniel Joseph and Philip FrancisBeuys JosephBlanc Jean Joseph Charles LouisBonaparte JosephBramah JosephBrant JosephBrennan William Joseph Jr.Brodsky JosephBrown Joseph RogersButler JosephCaillaux Joseph Marie AugusteCampbell JosephCannon Joseph GurneyChaikin JosephChamberlain Sir Joseph AustenChamberlain Charles JosephChamberlain JosephChrétien Joseph Jacques JeanCohn Edwin JosephConrad JosephCornell JosephRobert Joseph CousyCronin Archibald JosephJacques Joseph AhearnDaley Richard JosephJoseph de Veusterde Gaulle Charles André Marie JosephJoseph Paul DiMaggioDixon JosephRobert Joseph DoleDrexel Anthony JosephDupleix Joseph FrançoisEichendorff Joseph Baron vonJoseph Carey MerrickFlaherty Robert JosephFouché Joseph duke d'OtranteFourier Jean Baptiste Joseph BaronFoyt Anthony Joseph Jr.Gall Franz JosephGalland Adolf Joseph FerdinandGallieni Joseph SimonGalloway JosephMarie Joseph François GarnierGay Lussac Joseph LouisGobineau Joseph Arthur count deGoebbels Paul JosephGoldberg Arthur JosephGreenberg Joseph HaroldHanna William Denby and Barbera Joseph RolandHardee William JosephHaydn Franz JosephHeller JosephHenry JosephHerriman George JosephHooker JosephIgnarro Louis JosephJoseph Jefferson JacksonJackson Michael JosephJacquard Joseph MarieJaurès Auguste Marie Joseph JeanJoachim JosephJoffre Joseph Jacques CésaireJohnston Joseph EgglestonJoseph ChiefJoseph FatherFrançois Joseph le Clerc du TremblayJoseph SaintJoseph Ben MatthiasKaro Joseph ben EphraimKasavubu JosephJoseph Francis Keaton IVKennedy Joseph PatrickKipling Joseph RudyardKirkland Joseph LaneLagrange Joseph LouisLaski Harold JosephJoseph LevitchLicklider Joseph Carl RobnettLister JosephJoseph Louis BarrowMaistre Joseph deMankiewicz Joseph LeoMansfield Michael JosephMaximilian JosephThomas Joseph MboyaMcCarthy Eugene JosephMcCarthy Joseph RaymondMcGraw John JosephMedill JosephJoseph Désiré MobutuMontgolfier Joseph Michel and Montgolfier Jacques ÉtienneMontherlant Henry Marie Joseph Millon deJoseph Leonard MorganMorny Charles Auguste Louis Joseph duke deFerdinand Joseph La MentheWilliam Joseph MosconiMuller Hermann JosephGerald Joseph MulliganJoseph William NamathNeutra Richard JosephNiepce Joseph NicéphoreJoseph OliverOrléans Louis Philippe Joseph duke d'Papineau Louis JosephPapp JosephJoseph PapirofskyPendergast Thomas JosephPerelman Sidney JosephPerrot Jules JosephPershing John JosephPlante Joseph Jacques OmerPleyel Ignace JosephPriestley JosephProudhon Pierre JosephPulitzer JosephRabéarivelo Jean JosephRadetzky Joseph CountRank Joseph Arthur Baron Rank of Sutton ScotneyRavel Joseph MauriceRedouté Pierre JosephReger Johann Baptist Joseph MaximilianRenan Joseph ErnestRichard Joseph Henri MauriceAntoine Joseph SaxScaliger Julius Caesar and Scaliger Joseph JustusSchelling Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph vonSchumpeter Joseph AloisSieyès Emmanuel JosephSimenon Georges Joseph ChristianJoseph Roberts SmallwoodSmith JosephSpringsteen Bruce Frederick JosephStalin JosephSteffens Joseph LincolnStigler George JosephStiglitz Joseph E.Stilwell Joseph WarrenStory JosephSwan Sir Joseph WilsonTalma François JosephTaylor Joseph Hooton Jr.Teilhard de Chardin Marie Joseph PierreThomson Sir Joseph JohnToynbee Arnold JosephLeonard Joseph TristanoJames Joseph TunneyTurner Joseph Mallord WilliamVan Der Zee James Augustus JosephVernet Claude JosephWarren JosephWhitworth Sir JosephJoseph GoreedLafayette Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier marquis deMontcalm de Saint Véran Louis Joseph de Montcalm Grozon marquis deNapoléon François Charles Joseph BonaparteSlim William Joseph 1st Viscount Slim of Yarralumla and Bishopston* * *
▪ biblical figurein the Old Testament, son of the patriarch Jacob and his wife Rachel. As Jacob's name became synonymous with all Israel, so that of Joseph was eventually equated with all the tribes that made up the northern kingdom. According to tradition, his bones were buried at Shechem, oldest of the northern shrines (Joshua 24:32). His story is told in Genesis (37–50).Joseph, most beloved of Jacob's sons, is hated by his envious brothers. Angry and jealous of Jacob's gift to Joseph, a resplendent “coat of many colours,” the brothers seize him and sell him to a party of Ishmaelites, or Midianites, who carry him to Egypt. There Joseph eventually gains the favour of the pharaoh of Egypt by his interpretation of a dream and obtains a high place in the pharaoh's kingdom. His acquisition of grain supplies enables Egypt to withstand a famine. Driven by the same famine, his brothers journey from Canaan to Egypt to obtain food. They prostrate themselves before Joseph but do not recognize him. After Joseph achieves a reconciliation with his brothers, he invites Jacob's whole household to come to Goshen in Egypt, where a settlement is provided for the family and their flocks. His brothers' sale of Joseph into slavery thus proves providential in the end, since it protected the family from famine. The family's descendants grew and multiplied into the Hebrews, who would eventually depart from Egypt for Israel.The story of Joseph, often called a novella, is a carefully wrought piece of literary craftsmanship. Though it features the personality of Joseph, it is introduced (Genesis 37:2) as the “history of the family of Jacob.” Authorities agree that parts of the story show dependence upon the ancient Egyptian “Tale of Two Brothers,” but in characteristically Hebraic fashion, the narrator in Genesis has ignored the mythical and magical motifs in the Egyptian tale, and the focus of the outcome is placed on its meaning for the whole house of Israel.The purpose of the story is to relate the preservation of Israel. Its people survive despite their own foolishness and wickedness, indeed, ironically, in part because of these. The story is told as a testimony to the operation of divine providence: “. . . you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good . . .” (Genesis 50:20) sums up its moral. But while the Lord had turned the provocations of the spoiled son and the jealousy and deceptions of his brothers to good account, he had realized his end through the faithfulness of Joseph, true to Israel's ideals under all circumstances and ever mindful of his obligations to his people. Joseph has served throughout the ages as the model for the “court Jew,” the Israelite in a position of power who acts to rescue and help his people.▪ king of Portugalborn June 6, 1714, Lisbondied Feb. 24, 1777, Lisbonking of Portugal from 1750 to 1777, during whose reign power was exercised by his minister, Sebastião de Carvalho, marquês de Pombal (Pombal, Sebastião de Carvalho, marquês de).Joseph's father, John V, enriched by the gold and diamonds of Brazil, had enjoyed unchallenged authority and gave Joseph no responsibility. Thus, after his accession, Joseph was content to leave decisions to his ministers, devoting himself to his pleasures, the opera and the chase. He appointed Sebastião de Carvalho, who soon gained an ascendancy over him and became all-powerful after the Lisbon earthquake of 1755.Carvalho's regalistic policies were intended to assert the power of the crown and to create a mercantile class; this brought him into conflict with the nobility and the church. In 1758 an attempt on Joseph's life gave Carvalho the opportunity to persecute influential noble families, and in 1759 the Jesuits were expelled. Joseph unquestioningly accepted Carvalho's version of these events.In 1775 the quarter-centenary of the reign was celebrated by the inauguration of the equestrian statue of Joseph, which still adorns the Terreiro do Paço. Carvalho, now the marquês de Pombal, seized the opportunity to advertise the reign's achievements, but when Joseph fell ill in February 1777 it was already evident that his death would end the minister's power. Joseph's daughter, Maria I, at once dismissed him.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
