Editing Asenath (section)

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{{short description|Biblical figure}}
{{Infobox saint|name=Aseneth|image=Asenath.jpg|caption=Asenath from [[Guillaume Rouillé]]'s ''[[Promptuarium Iconum Insigniorum]]''|titles=the Fair|feast_day=[[Sunday of the Holy Forefathers]] (Eastern Orthodox)<br>13 December<ref name=":4">{{cite web|title=Asenet (Asenat)|url=https://deon.pl/imiona-swietych/asenet-asenat,854|access-date=2021-12-12|website=DEON.pl|language=pl}}</ref> (Roman Catholic) |honored_in=[[Eastern Orthodox Church]]<br>[[Roman Catholic Church]]<ref name=":4" />}}
[[File:Joseph and Asenath.JPG|thumb|200px|Joseph and Asenath]]
[[File:Joseph meets Asenath (Asenath throws the Idols out of the Tower))-Bode museum- Berlin.jpg|thumb|Joseph meets Asenath (1490s painting).<ref name=":1" />]]
'''Asenath''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|æ|s|ᵻ|n|æ|θ
}}, {{Hebrew Name|אָסְנַת|ʾŎsnát|ʾĀsnaṯ}};<ref>{{Cite book |last=Khan |first=Geoffrey |title=The Tiberian Pronunciation Tradition of Biblical Hebrew, Volume 1. |publisher=Open Book Publishers |year=2020 |isbn=978-1783746767}}</ref> [[Koine Greek]]: Ἀσενέθ, ''Asenéth'') is a minor figure in the [[Book of Genesis]]. Asenath was a high-born, aristocratic Egyptian woman.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=The Egyptian woman Asenath in the Bible|url=https://www.womeninthebible.net/women-bible-old-new-testaments/asenath/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160831091235/http://www.womeninthebible.net:80/women-bible-old-new-testaments/asenath/ |archive-date=2016-08-31 |access-date=18 November 2020|website=}}</ref> She was the wife of [[Joseph (Genesis)|Joseph]] and the mother of his sons, [[Manasseh (tribal patriarch)|Manasseh]] and [[Ephraim]].

There are two [[Rabbinic literature|Rabbinic]] approaches to Asenath. One holds that she was an [[Egyptians|Egyptian woman]] who converted to marry Joseph. This view has her accepting [[God in Judaism|God]] before marriage and then raising her two sons in the tenets of Judaism. This presents her as a positive example of [[conversion to Judaism]] and places her among the devout women converts. The other approach argues she was not Egyptian by descent but was from the family of [[Jacob]]. Traditions that trace her to the family of Jacob relate that she was born as the daughter of [[Dinah]].<ref>{{Jewish Encyclopedia |inline=1 |title=1905-asenath}}</ref> Dinah was raped by [[Shechem (biblical figure)|Shechem]] and gave birth to Asenath, whom Jacob left on the wall of Egypt, where she was later found by [[Potiphar]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2024}} She was then raised by Potiphar's wife and eventually married Joseph. However, in ''[[Genesis Rabbah]]'' 80:11<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Genesis.34.26?lang=bi&aliyot=0&p2=Radak_on_Genesis.34.26.1&lang2=bi&p3=Bereshit_Rabbah.80.11&lang3=en&w3=all&lang4=en|title=Genesis 34:26|website=www.sefaria.org|accessdate=July 15, 2024}}</ref> she is not stated to be Dinah's daughter; rather, Dinah's rape resulted in her giving birth to Shaul, the son of Simeon.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Genesis.34.26?lang=bi&with=Commentary&lang2=en&p3=Bereshit_Rabbah.80.11&lang3=en&w3=all&lang4=en|title=Genesis 34:26|website=www.sefaria.org|accessdate=July 15, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sefaria.org/Genesis.34.26?lang=bi&aliyot=0&p2=Radak_on_Genesis.34.26.1&lang2=bi&w2=all&lang3=en|title=Genesis 34:26|website=www.sefaria.org|accessdate=July 15, 2024}}</ref>

Asenath's importance is related to the birth of her two sons, who later become forefathers of two of the [[Twelve Tribes of Israel]].<ref name=":0" />