Question: It is said in the Scriptures that the Egyptian wife of Joseph with whom he fathered two boys was the daughter of a priest of On. “And Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphenath-Paneah; and he gave him a wife Asenath the daughter of Poti-phera priest of On.” Are these two boys considered descendants of Jacob, although the mother was an Egyptian? What’s your understanding and explanation on this?

Answer: There are two possibilities our sages have given for Asenath. One is that she was simply the woman given to Joseph by Pharaoh and Joseph converted her, and 2) that she was the daughter Joseph’s sister Dena, conceived after being raped by Shechem, and that G-d arranged this marriage via this circuitous route.

Regards,
Eliahu Levenson