When Aseneth Met Joseph : A Late Antique Tale of the Biblical Patriarch and His Egyptian Wife, Reconsidered

This is a study of an anonymous ancient work (surviving in shorter and longer versions) conventionally titled Joseph and Aseneth, but here simply designated as Aseneth. Composed in Greek, the text narrates the transformation of the daughter of an Egyptian priest into an acceptable spouse for the biblical Joseph (whose marriage to this woman is given brief notice in Genesis). Relatively unknown outside of scholarly circles, this story is remarkable for its focus on a female character and for its apparent absence of overt misogyny. This unusual tale has traditionally been viewed as a Jewish conversion story composed no later than the second century C.E.Through a detailed examination of the texts, however, Ross Kraemer arrives at conclusions that disagree with previous findings with respect not only to questions of date, provenance, identity, geographic origin, and textual relationships, but also to many matters of interpretation. She argues that the tale is as likely to be Christian as it is to be Jewish. She also contends that it was written at least a quarter of a century later than previously believed. She shows that the tale's account of Aseneth's interactions with an angelic being is heavily influenced by ancient portraits of the magical adjuration of powerful divine beings, including that of the sun god, Helios, and by Neoplatonic ideas about the fate of the souls. Kraemer demonstrates the centrality of ideas about gender in the representation of Aseneth, and goes on to explicate the story's implications, within the context of constructs of and concerns about gender in Late Antiquity. When Aseneth Met Joseph: A Late Antique Tale of the Biblical Patriarch and His Egyptian Wife, Reconsidered......Page 4 Preface......Page 8 Notes......Page 12 Contents......Page 14 Abbreviations......Page 16 When Aseneth Met Joseph......Page 20 1. Introduction......Page 22 Textual Dilemmas......Page 25 Genre......Page 28 Notes......Page 31 PART I: Reinterpreting Aseneth......Page 36 2. Composing Aseneth: The Construction of Aseneth out of Traditional Elements and Techniques......Page 38 Aseneth as Wisdom and/or Her Antithesis, the Strange Woman......Page 41 Aseneth as Daughter of Zion......Page 46 Aseneth as (Daughter) Jerusalem......Page 48 Aseneth as the Female Lover and Divine Bride......Page 49 Biblical and "Parabiblical" Components in the Construction of Aseneth's Encounter with the Heavenly Figure (14.1-17.6)......Page 50 Aseneth's Name Inscribed in the Book of Life (15.2b-3 )......Page 54 Aseneth's Name Change (15.6)......Page 55 The Mystery of the Honeycomb and the Bees (15.14-17.7)......Page 56 Aseneth's Angelic Transfiguration......Page 58 Part Two: The Plot against Aseneth and Joseph in the Seven Lean Years (22-29)......Page 59 Miscellaneous Instances......Page 60 Notes......Page 61 The First Encounter between Joseph and Aseneth (7.2-9.1)......Page 69 Aseneth's Repentance......Page 70 A Spatial Dislocation......Page 71 Aseneth's Confession (12.1-13.12)......Page 72 The Angel Foretells Aseneth's Future: Aseneth's Name Inscribed in the Book of Life (15.2b—3)......Page 78 The Figure of Metanoia (Repentance) in the Shorter and Longer Versions......Page 80 The Mystery of the Figure's Name (Longer Text Only) 15.11-12x......Page 81 The Angel and the Honeycomb......Page 83 The Drama of the Bees......Page 85 The Blessing of the Seven Virgins 17.4-17.5......Page 87 Aseneth's Final Physical Transformation......Page 88 Joseph and Aseneth Are "Reunited" (19.1-20.4)......Page 92 Pentephres Offers to Make the Wedding......Page 95 Shorter and Longer Readings in the Second Part......Page 97 Notes......Page 99 4. Aseneth and the Adjuration of Angels......Page 108 Aseneth's Adjuration and Encounter with the Angel......Page 113 Preparation/Separation......Page 114 Abstinence from Food and Drink......Page 115 Abstinence from Sexual Behavior......Page 116 Transformation of the Place into an Acceptable Dwelling (Temple) for the Divine......Page 117 Prayer as Adjuration......Page 118 Descent of the Divine (the Angelic Being)......Page 119 Encounter between the Human and the Heavenly Being......Page 120 Ascent of the Divine: Separation of the Human and the Divine......Page 123 Notes......Page 124 5. Aseneth and Mystical Transformation in the Hekhalot Traditions......Page 129 Aseneth and the Enoch Traditions......Page 130 Paradigms of Mystical Transformation......Page 133 Contrasting Aseneth with (Jewish) Mystical Paradigms......Page 154 Notes......Page 157 6. Aseneth and Late Antique Religious Sensibilities......Page 174 Helios......Page 175 Helios, Joseph, and Aseneth......Page 182 The Bees: A Mystical Perspective......Page 186 Conclusions......Page 192 Notes......Page 198 7. Why Is Aseneth a Woman? The Use and Significance of Gender in the Aseneth Stories......Page 210 Gender and Aseneth's Transformation from Dangerous Foreign Woman to Theosebēs Gynē......Page 212 Veiling and Unveiling......Page 215 Aseneth as Potential Medium of Exchange between Men......Page 217 Aseneth, Gender, and the Construction of Marriage......Page 218 Female Characters as the "Stand-ins" for Male Readers Engaged in Debates about Masculine Identity......Page 221 The Uses of Gender in the Longer Version......Page 225 Gender and Angelic Transformation......Page 229 Constructions of Gender in Both Versions of Aseneth......Page 230 Aseneth and Ancient Social Reality......Page 232 The Gender of the Author(s) and Audiences......Page 234 Notes......Page 235 PART II: Relocating Aseneth......Page 242 8. The Dating of Aseneth Reconsidered......Page 244 The Import of Rabbinic Traditions for the Dating of Aseneth......Page 250 Aseneth in Early Christian Traditions, Including Early Byzantine Hagiography......Page 254 Conclusion: Dating......Page 256 Notes......Page 258 9. The Authorial Identity of Aseneth Reconsidered......Page 264 Is Aseneth Jewish?......Page 266 Is Aseneth Christian?......Page 272 A Third Alternative: That Aseneth Was Composed by a "God-Fearer" (Theosebēs)......Page 291 Conclusion......Page 292 Notes......Page 293 Egypt......Page 305 Asia Minor......Page 307 Syria......Page 309 Conclusion......Page 310 Notes......Page 311 Review......Page 313 Implications......Page 315 Notes......Page 325 The Individual Traditions......Page 326 Aseneth in Midrashic Traditions: A Tentative Trajectory......Page 332 Reconstructing the Probable Development of Aseneth Traditions, Rabbinic and Otherwise......Page 336 Notes......Page 337 Bibliography......Page 342 Aseneth......Page 358 Ancient Texts......Page 361 Inscriptions......Page 369 Index of Modem Authors......Page 370 Index of Subjects......Page 376 Back Cover......Page 385 This is the study of an anonymous ancient work, usually called Joseph and Aseneth , which narrates the transformation of the daughter of an Egyptian priest into an acceptable spouse for the biblical Joseph, whose marriage to Aseneth is given brief notice in Genesis. Kraemer takes issue with the scholarly consensus that the tale is a Jewish conversion story composed no later than the early second century C.E. Instead, she dates it to the third or fourth century C.E., and argues that, although no definitive answer is presently possible, it may well be a Christian account. This critique also raises larger issues about the dating and identification of many similar writings, known as pseudepigrapha. Kraemer reads its account of Aseneth's interactions with an angelic double of Joseph in the context of ancient accounts of encounters with powerful divine beings, including the sun god Helios, and of Neoplatonic ideas about the fate of souls. When Aseneth Met Joseph demonstrates the centrality of ideas about gender in the representation of Aseneth and, by extension, offers implications for broader concerns about gender in Late Antiquity. "This is a study of an anonymous ancient work (surviving in shorter and longer versions) conventionally titled Joseph and Aseneth, but here simply designated as Aseneth. Composed in Greek, the text narates the transformation of the daughter of an Egyptian priest into an acceptable spouse for the biblical Joseph (whose marriage to this woman is given brief notice in Genesis). Relatively unknown outside of scholarly circles, this story is remarkable for its focus on a female character and for its apparent absence of overt misogyny. This unusual tale has traditionally been viewed as a Jewish conversion story composed no later than the early second century C.E." "Through a detailed examination of the texts, however, Ross Kraemer arrives at conclusions that disagree with previous findings with respect not only to questions of date, provenance, identity, geographic origin, and textual relationships, but also to many matters of interpretation."--BOOK JACKET