Potifar

Joseph and the wife of Potiphar, engraving after a painting by Carlo Cignani

Potifar ( Hebrew פּוֹטִיפַר, also Potiphar ) is the name of a high official of an ancient Egyptian pharaoh in the biblical Joseph story . The Bible mentions Potifar in Genesis 37.36  EU and Chapter 39 EU .

Biblical representation

According to the biblical account, Potiphar was a court official of the Pharaoh as the chief of the bodyguard. He bought Joseph as a slave from Midianite traders . First of all, Joseph acquires the benevolence and trust of his master and becomes his administrator, but falls into disgrace after Potiphar's wife accuses him of attempted rape out of spurned love . Potifar then has Josef thrown into prison.

Rembrandt - Joseph and Potiphar's Wife , around 1634

Historical mentions

This article or the following section is not adequately provided with supporting documents ( e.g. individual evidence ). Information without sufficient evidence could be removed soon. Please help Wikipedia by researching the information and including good evidence.

See disk: When does the Joseph story "take place"? And where is this connection proven?

The biblical figure “Joseph” has not yet been found in ancient Egyptian texts. The name "Potifar" (probably corresponds to Padipare - p3-dj-p3-rˁ , the one given by Ra ) did not yet exist in the Ramesside period . Names of the padi + god type did not emerge until the 21st dynasty (beginning around 1070 BC) and the actual name was not even documented until the late period (664–332 BC). Thus the name of Potiphar does not fit into the time in which the Joseph story takes place.

Potiphar in Jewish-Hellenistic literature

In the Book of Jubilees Potifar is "Pharaoh's eunuch, chief cook and priest of the city of Heliopolis" (Jub 34:11).

Parallels

• Egyptian tale of two brothers (before 1200 BC)

The popular Potifar theme is also found in Greek mythology and literature:

• Anteia (also called Stheneboia after Homer ), wife of Proitos von Tiryns , and Bellerophon
• Hippolyte (according to other sources her name was Astydameia ), wife of Akastus (son of Pelias) , and Peleus
• Phaidra , wife of Theseus , and her son-in-law Hippolytus
• Manto and Abrokomes in the novel Abrokomes and Anthia of Xenophon of Ephesus

reception

• Joseph and the wife of Potiphar ; Painting by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo
• Joseph and Potiphar's wife ; Painting by Rembrandt van Rijn

literature

• Wolfgang Helck , Eberhard Otto : Small Lexicon of Egyptology . Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1999, ISBN 3-447-04027-0 .
• Vera Bayer, Friederike Weis, Heinrich Schulze Altcappenberg (eds.): Joseph and Zulaika. Relationship stories between India, Persia and Europe . Edition Minerva, Berlin 2014, ISBN 978-3-943964-10-3 (catalog of the subject-historical image representation of the story of Josef and Potiphar's wife in the Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin) .

Web links

Commons : Joseph and the wife of Potifar  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

• Thomas Breuer: "This is once again a ruse by you women ..." - Joseph and Potiphar's wife in Judeo-Christian and Islamic tradition. (htm) In: THEOPHIL-online. May 22, 2003. Retrieved March 29, 2009 . 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Wolfgang Helck, Eberhard Otto: Small Lexicon of Egyptology. Wiesbaden 1999, p. 137.
2. ↑ Consuelo Ruiz-Montero: Xenophon of Ephesus: An overview. In: Hildegard Temporini (ed.): The rise and fall of the Roman world . Volume 34/2. Subband. De Gruyter, Berlin 1993, pp. 1088–1139, here: p. 1102 with note 76 (accessed via De Gruyter Online).