50 Fun Facts About Joseph (Bible)

What did Jacob make for Joseph that showed everyone which of his sons he loved the most?

A coat of many colors set Joseph apart, and his brothers hated him so much they could not speak kindly to him. Some Bibles translate the Hebrew as a long robe with sleeves.

How many pieces of silver did traders pay for Joseph, ten fewer than Judas got for betraying Jesus?

20 pieces of silver bought Joseph, and the traders carried him off to Egypt to sell again. His brothers had first planned to kill him, so the sale saved his life.

In Joseph's second dream, what bowed down to him together with eleven stars?

The sun and moon joined the stars in bowing, and Jacob scolded Joseph for it. He asked whether the boy's own father and mother were really going to bow to the ground before him.

Which animals filled the dream Joseph explained for Pharaoh, seven fat ones eaten by seven thin?

Cows climbed out of the river in Pharaoh's first dream, and the thin ones looked no fatter after their meal. Joseph said they stood for seven good years followed by seven hungry ones.

Where did Joseph's brothers throw him after stripping off his robe, before deciding to sell him?

Into a dry pit went Joseph, a deep hole with no water in it. His brothers then sat down to eat while he was trapped below.

Which animal's blood did Joseph's brothers use to stain his robe and fool their father Jacob?

A goat was killed for the trick, and Jacob took the stained robe as proof that a wild beast had eaten his son. Years before, Jacob had fooled his own father with goatskins.

What did Joseph's steward secretly put in the youngest brother's sack before the family left Egypt?

His drinking cup, made of silver, was found in the youngest brother's sack, and Joseph threatened to keep the boy. It was a test of whether the older brothers would desert him too.

Which grandfather of Jacob, and so great-grandfather of Joseph, set out from Ur for Canaan?

Abraham is honored in Judaism as the founding father of the covenant with God. Joseph's dying words name him, promising the family would return to the country God swore to give him.

Which holy book tells Joseph's story under the name Yusuf, in a chapter named after him?

The Quran gives Joseph its twelfth chapter, the only place in the book where his life is told, in full and in order. Other prophets' stories are spread across many chapters.

Which wife of Jacob, the one he loved best, was the mother of Joseph and his youngest brother?

Rachel waited years for a child before Joseph arrived, which helps explain why Jacob doted on him. She died giving birth to her second son on the road to Bethlehem.

Which book of the Bible closes with the story of Joseph, having opened with Adam and Eve?

Genesis ends with Joseph's death in Egypt, and the very next book opens with a new king who has never heard of him.

Which youngest brother of Joseph did Jacob keep safely at home when the other ten went to buy grain?

Benjamin was Joseph's only full brother, and Jacob feared losing him as well. At their reunion meal in Egypt, Joseph gave him five times as much food as the others.

What did Joseph accuse his brothers of being when they first bowed before him in Egypt?

Spies was the charge, though Joseph knew exactly who they were. His brothers did not recognize the Egyptian governor as the boy they had sold years earlier.

What did Joseph's brothers tell Pharaoh they were by trade, a job Egyptians looked down on?

Shepherds they were, and Joseph coached them to say so plainly. Since Egyptians kept away from herdsmen, the family could settle apart with its flocks.

Joseph and his brothers, the sons of Jacob, became the founding fathers of which groups in Israel?

The Twelve Tribes each took a brother's name, with one twist. Joseph's share was split between his two sons, so many lists name them in place of Joseph himself.

Which father of Jacob, and grandfather of Joseph, was almost sacrificed by his own father?

Isaac was spared at the last moment when a ram was offered in his place. He later gave his blessing to Jacob, who had dressed up as his older brother to get it.

Which captain of Pharaoh's guard bought Joseph from the traders and put him in charge of his house?

Potiphar trusted Joseph so completely that he stopped keeping track of anything except his own meals. Everything in the house prospered under the young Hebrew's care.

Which animals carried the spices and balm of the traders who took Joseph down to Egypt?

Camels carried the caravan's load of spices, balm and myrrh from Gilead. The same kinds of goods later went to Egypt as Jacob's gift for the governor, who was Joseph himself.

Which eldest brother of Joseph talked the others out of murder, hoping to rescue him later?

Reuben meant to return Joseph to their father, but he was away when the sale took place. He came back to find the boy gone and asked in despair where he could turn now.

Which brother of Joseph proposed the sale, then years later offered himself in the youngest's place?

Judah argued that there was no profit in killing their own flesh and blood. His later plea to spare their aged father more grief is what finally made Joseph break down and reveal himself.

Which brother did Joseph hold in Egypt as a hostage until the others returned with the youngest?

Simeon was bound in front of his brothers and stayed behind while they carried food home. Their father Jacob, sure he had now lost two sons, at first refused to risk a third.

Which daughter of an Egyptian priest of On did Pharaoh give Joseph as his wife?

Asenath bore Joseph two sons before the hungry years began. Their boys were later counted among Jacob's own heirs, on a level with his eldest sons.

Which firstborn son did Joseph name to mark how God had made him forget his troubles?

Manasseh came along during Egypt's good years, while food was still plentiful. Yet when the aged Jacob came to bless his two grandsons, he put the younger brother ahead of him.

Which servant of Pharaoh, freed from prison as Joseph foretold, then forgot him for two whole years?

The cupbearer only spoke up when Pharaoh's own dreams baffled the whole court. He then admitted his fault and described the young Hebrew who had read his dream in prison.

Joseph told a fellow prisoner that each of the branches on the vine in his dream stood for what?

A day for each of the vine's three branches meant the man would soon be back at work serving Pharaoh. Hearing that happy reading, a second prisoner shared his own dream and got far worse news.

What did Joseph's fellow prisoner dream he was carrying on his head while birds ate from it?

Baskets of bread, three of them, sat on the baker's head with treats meant for Pharaoh on top. Joseph warned him the dream meant he had only a short time left to live.

What did Pharaoh place around Joseph's neck when he put him in charge of all Egypt?

A gold chain came with fine linen robes and the signet ring from Pharaoh's own hand. Joseph had walked in as a prisoner fresh from the dungeon.

In what did Joseph ride through Egypt while criers ahead of him ordered people to bow?

A chariot, Pharaoh's second, carried Joseph out as ruler of the country. He was thirty years old and answered to no one but the king.

What were Joseph and his brothers binding in his first dream when theirs bowed down to his?

Sheaves bowing to Joseph's own told his brothers exactly what he thought of himself. They asked whether he really meant to rule over them, and hated him all the more.

What did Joseph do when his master's wife caught him by his garment in the empty house?

Ran outside is what he did, leaving the garment behind in her grip. She showed it to her husband as proof of an attack, and Joseph ended up in the king's prison.

What did Joseph do so loudly, on revealing himself to his brothers, that Pharaoh's household heard?

Wept is the word, and not for the first time. Twice during his brothers' visits Joseph had slipped away to cry in private before he finally told them who he was.

What did Joseph's brothers fear he would do to them once their father Jacob had died?

Take revenge is what they expected, but Joseph reassured them instead. He said that although they had meant to harm him, God had turned it to good and saved many lives.

What did Joseph advise Pharaoh to do during the seven good years his dreams foretold?

Save a fifth of each harvest, Joseph urged, and put a wise man in charge of it. Pharaoh decided on the spot that the wise man should be Joseph himself.

Why, according to the Bible, did Jacob love Joseph best, though Joseph was not his youngest son?

Born in his old age, Joseph was also the first child of the wife Jacob loved most. That double favor turned his ten older brothers against him.

What did the dying Joseph make his family promise to carry out of Egypt when they finally left?

His bones left Egypt generations later, when Moses took them along at the Exodus. They were finally buried at Shechem, on ground Jacob had once bought.

What happened to Joseph's people in Egypt after a new king arose who had never known him?

They were enslaved and set to building store cities for the crown. Their escape under Moses is the story the Bible's second book tells.

What was failing the aged Jacob by the time Joseph brought his two sons to be blessed?

His sight had dimmed over the years, yet Jacob knowingly laid his right hand on the younger boy to give him the greater blessing. Joseph tried to move his father's hand and was refused.

In which region of Egypt did Joseph settle his family when they came to escape the famine?

Goshen kept the family close to Joseph and gave their flocks room to graze. Pharaoh called it the best part of the country when he approved the plan.

Which sweet food did Jacob send with nuts and spices to Egypt's governor, his lost son Joseph?

Honey went into the brothers' bags with balm, myrrh and almonds, the best that hungry Canaan could still offer. Jacob hoped the present would soften the stern Egyptian's heart.

To what does the Bible compare the grain Joseph stored, so plentiful he stopped counting?

The sand of the sea is the picture used for Joseph's heaped storehouses. When the hungry years came, people from every country traveled to Egypt to buy from him.

Which half-sister of Joseph is the only daughter of Jacob that the Bible mentions by name?

Dinah was the daughter of Leah, which made her a full sister to six of Joseph's older brothers. The Bible speaks of Jacob's daughters in the plural but names no other.

Which Lion King lyricist wrote the words to Andrew Lloyd Webber's stage musical about Joseph?

Tim Rice and his composer partner first staged it in 1968 as a 15-minute piece for a London school choir. It grew into a full musical that reached the West End and then Broadway.

What in Egypt, linking the Nile to the Faiyum Oasis, is named Bahr Yussef after Joseph?

A canal it is, and its Arabic name means the waterway of Joseph. It began as a natural branch of the Nile that the pharaohs enlarged, and it still carries water today.

On what occasion did Pharaoh hold a feast, free one prisoner and hang another, as Joseph foretold?

His birthday feast proved both of Joseph's dream readings right at a stroke. It should have been Joseph's ticket out, but the freed man promptly forgot all about him.

When Pharaoh promoted Joseph, in which one respect did he say he would still outrank him?

The throne alone stayed out of Joseph's reach. In everything else, Pharaoh said, no one in Egypt would lift a hand or foot without the former prisoner's say-so.

At which town did Jacob stop to offer sacrifices and hear God's voice on his way to join Joseph?

Beersheba is where God told Jacob in a night vision not to fear the move to Egypt. The promise came with a tender detail, that Joseph's own hand would close his eyes.

In the second dream Joseph explained for Pharaoh, what had ruined the seven thin heads of grain?

The east wind had blasted them, yet they swallowed seven fat heads growing on a single stalk. Joseph said both dreams carried one message, repeated because God had settled the matter.

After their money and livestock ran out, what did hungry Egyptians sell to Joseph for food?

Their land passed to Pharaoh, all except the estates of the priests. Joseph then handed out seed so the people could go on farming it for the crown.

What did Jacob do to his own clothes in grief when he was shown Joseph's bloodstained robe?

Tore them he did, then put on rough sackcloth and refused every attempt to comfort him. Joseph's eldest brother had done the same on finding the boy gone.

What did Pharaoh send from Egypt to carry Jacob and the family's wives and children to Joseph?

Wagons rolling into Canaan were what finally convinced Jacob that Joseph was alive. Until he saw them, the old man had refused to believe his sons' report.