Joseph Story in Bible and Quran - Essay Example

Joseph (Yusuf in Arabic) serves as one of the most important and respectable Biblical figures, who is equally revered by the Jews, Christians, and Muslims without discrimination.

Hebrew Bible and the Holy Qur’an declare him as the son of the third patriarch Jacob, from his wife Rachel and real brother of Benjamin. The accounts depict him not only as exceptionally handsome but also as carrying spiritual powers including his command over the perception and interpretation of dreams. The jealousy of Joseph’s half brothers was an outcome of the former’s dream, in which he had found the sun, the moon, and eleven stars prostrating before him (Genesis 37: 5-9; Qur’an, 12:4).

Although, his father Jacob had warned him not to disclose his dream to his step-brothers (Genesis, 37:12-20; Qur’an, 12:7-9), the details of the dream reached the brothers, which multiplied their abhorrence of Joseph, turning them strictly against him subsequently. Since they were already against him because of being Jacob’s favorite son, they started devising plans to get rid of him permanently without delay. Hebrew Bible narrates the tale of the treachery of his half-brothers, who first threw him into a pit (Genesis, 29-33) and later sold him for a very trivial amount of money at the hands of Ishmaelite traders (Genesis 37:18-20), while the Holy Qur’an also describes almost the same that his half-brothers, at the suggestion made by Judah, threw him into the dark well (12:17) and the Arab traders, passing by the well, found the little boy and took him to Egypt to sell him for a large amount, because of his God-gifted extreme beauty and attractiveness.

Both the Bible and Qur’an agree on the point that they presented Joseph’s shirt as evidence to Jacob with the false claim that some wolf had devoured the little child. Since he was Jacob’s heart-favorite child, Jacob could not refrain himself from crying, mourning, and shedding tears while remembering his lost child, as he had a strong belief in mind that Joseph was alive and his half-brothers were just telling a false story about his fate. The Scriptures give a detailed account of Joseph’s departure to Egypt as a slave, where he stayed at the house of Potiphar (Egypt Aziz/ minister/ruler), as a slave and household in-charge, where Joseph was seduced by his wife, though he strictly refused her advancements (Genesis 38:7-19; Quran 12:23-25).

Out of sheer disappointment, she blamed him for attempting to rape her (Genesis 39:1-20; Quran 12:26-29). Both Bible and Quran agree that although his husband came to the point that Joseph’s cloak tore from behind, he did not want the humiliation and defamation of his wife. As a result, Joseph was sent to jail, where he spent many years as a prisoner. Both the Scriptures narrate the story of the interpretation of the dreams of the baker and butler by Joseph, where the former was informed about his execution, while the latter would be restored to his former position of the Pharaoh’s cupbearer.

(Genesis 40:1-23: Quran 12:36-42). The Scriptures later describe about Pharaoh’s dream that seven thin cows had devoured seven fat cows and Joseph’s accurate and philosophic interpretation of the same, leading to his release from the prison (Genesis 40:1-13; 41:14-32; Quran 12:43-49). The verses also narrate the admittance made by the Potiphar’s wife that it was she to seduce Joseph for her desires (Genesis 41:33-38; Quran 12:50-55). The Scriptures also agree on the point that Joseph became the King’s advisor and minister and became his successor in the wake of the King’s abdication.

The Scriptures also mention the horrible famine in Canaan and Egypt and visits made by Joseph’s brothers to seek grains and food from the King. Both the Scriptures narrate how Joseph ordered his steward to secretly put a silver cup (a scale for grains measurement) in Benjamin’s sack so that Joseph’s real brother Benjamin could stay in Egypt with him. The Holy Books then agree on the point that Reuben’s touching Joseph’s cloak with Jacob’s eyes recovered his sight and the entire family proceeded from Canaan to Egypt, where Jacob, his wife, and eleven brothers bowed down before him, which turned Joseph’s old dream into reality.

Thus, both the Scriptures endorse the details of the incident by sharing almost the same details with only little dissimilarity in their texts.