Asenath the Daughter of Dinah
From Jewish Women's Archive
The traditions that trace Asenath to the family of Jacob relate that she was the daughter born to Dinah following her rape by Shechem son of Hamor. Jacob’s sons wanted to kill the infant, lest it be said that there was harlotry in the tents of Jacob. Jacob brought a gold plate and wrote God’s name on it; according to another tradition, he wrote on it the episode with Shechem. Jacob hung the plate around Asenath’s neck and sent her away. God dispatched the angel Michael to bring her to the house of Poti-phera in Egypt; according to yet another tradition, Dinah left Asenath on the wall of Egypt. That day Poti-phera went out for a walk near the wall with his young men, and he heard the infant’s crying. When they brought the baby to him, he saw the plate and the record of the episode. Poti-phera told his servants, “This girl is the daughter of great ones.” He brought her to his home and gave her a wet nurse. Poti-phera’s wife was barren, and she raised Asenath as her own daughter. Consequently, she was called “Asenath daughter of Poti-phera,” for she was raised in the home of Poti-phera and his wife, as if she were their own daughter. This narrative teaches that all is foreseen by God. Each of Jacob’s sons was born together with his future spouse, except for Joseph, who was not born together with his mate, since Asenath daughter of Dinah was fit to be his wife. God directed matters so that Joseph would find a wife when he went down to Egypt, and Asenath was suitable for him (Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer [ed. Higger], chaps. 35, 37; Midrash Aggadah [ed. Buber], Gen. 41:45).
(א) כתיב, וּבָא הַבַּיִת וְסָמַךְ יָדוֹ עַל הַקִּיר וּנְשָׁכוֹ הַנָּחָשׁ (עמוס ה, יט). וכשבא יעקב לארץ אחוזתו שבארץ כנען נשכו הנחש, ואי זה הוא הנחש, זה שכם בן חמור שהיתה בתו של יעקב יושבת אוהלים ולא היתה יוצאה לחוץ מה עשה שכם בן חמור הביא נערות משחקות חוצה לו מתופפות ויצאה דינה לראות בבנות הארץ המשחקות ושללה ושכב עמה והרתה וילדה את אסנת ואמרו בני ישראל להורגה שאמרה עכשו יאמרו בכל הארץ שיש בית זנות באהלי יעקב.
(ב) מה עשה יעקב, הביא שרץ של זהב שם הקדש כתוב בו ותלה על צוארה, ושלחה והלכה, והכל צפוי לפני הב"ה. וירד מיכאל המלאך והורידה למצרים לבית פוטיפרע, שהיתה אסנת ראויה ליוסף לאשה, והיתה אשתו של פוטיפרע עקרה, וגדלה עמה כבת, וכשירד יוסף למצרים לקחה לו לאשה, שנ' ויתן לו את אסנת בת פוטיפרע.
(1) JOSEPH AND HIS BRETHREN
"OR went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, and the serpent bit him" (Amos 5:19). When Jacob went into his house in the land of Canaan the serpent bit him. || And who was the serpent? This was Shechem, the son of Chamor. Because the daughter of Jacob was abiding in the tents, and she did not go into the street; what did Shechem, the son of Chamor, do? He brought dancing girls who were (also) playing on pipes in the streets. Dinah went forth to see those girls who were making merry; and he seized her, and he slept with her, and she conceived and bare Asenath. The sons of Israel said that she should be killed, for they said that now people would say in all the land that there was an immoral daughter in the tents of Jacob.
(2) What did (Jacob) do? He wrote the Holy Name upon a golden plate, and suspended it about her neck and sent her away. She went her way. Everything is revealed before the Holy One, blessed be He, and Michael the angel descended and took her, and brought her down to Egypt to the house of Potiphera; because Asenath was destined to become the wife of Joseph. Now the wife of Potiphera was barren, and (Asenath) grew up with her as a daughter. When Joseph came down to Egypt he married her, as it is said, "And he gave him to wife Asenath the daughter of Potiphera priest of On" (Gen. 41:45).
Asenath the Convert
ועוד יש נשים חסידות גיורות כשרות מן הגוים ואלו הן: אסנת צפורה שפרה פועה בת פרעה רחב רות ויעל. והראיה שלהן…
ועוד יש גיורות מן הגוים,
בהגר נאמר וימצאה מלאך ה’ (בראשית ט”ז) ונאמר וישמע אלהים את קול הנער (שם כ”א),
באסנת אשת יוסף נאמר אשר ילדה לו אסנת (שם מ”ו),
במילדות פועה ושפרה נאמר ותיראן המילדות את האלהים (שמות א’).
Midrash Tadshe
(10th-11th centuries, Ashkenaz)
And there are also righteous convert women from among the gentiles: Asenath, Ziporah, Shifrah, Puah, the daughter of Pharaoh, Rahab, Ruth, and Yael. And their evidence is…
And there are also converts from the gentiles: It is written regarding Hagar ” And the angel of Adonai found her” (Gen 16:7) and it is written ” And God heard the voice of the lad” (Gen 21:17);
It is written regarding Asenath the wife of Joseph “whom Asenath… bore unto him” (Gen 46:20);
It is written regarding the midwives, Shifra and Puah: “But the midwives feared God” (Exod 1:15).
The righteous went there and then they came, e.g., Joseph to Asenat, Joshua to Raḥav, Boaz to Ruth, and Moses to Ḥovav. Rabbi Aḥa said: It is vanity only that the people do not come and sanctify themselves under the wings of the Divine Presence.
Rahab in Joshua 2
Before the Israelites cross the Jordan, Joshua sends men to scout out the land. Arriving in Jericho, they decide to spend the night at the house of the prostitute Rahab. When Jericho’s ruler tries to apprehend them, Rahab hides them and then helps them escape through the window, thus saving their lives. In return, she and her household are spared the destruction of Jericho and become part of the people Israel.
(29) Moses said to Hobab son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, “We are setting out for the place of which יהוה has said, ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us and we will be generous with you; for יהוה has promised to be generous to Israel.” (30) “I will not go,” he replied to him, “but will return to my native land.” (31) He said, “Please do not leave us, inasmuch as you know where we should camp in the wilderness and can be our guide. (32) So if you come with us, we will extend to you the same bounty that יהוה grants us.”
Joseph meets Asenath (Asenath throws the Idols out of the Tower), Brussels 1490-1500, artist unknown. Source: Bodes Museum Berlin, via
What's the connection to the story of Potipher's wife?
(2) What is written above the matter? "And the Midianites sold him to Egypt" [and then it interrupts with the story of Yehuda and Tamar:] "And it was at that time." And the reading (narrative) only required it to [immediately] say "And Yosef was taken down to Egypt" (Genesis 39:1) And because of what was this section made proximate to that? Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Yochanan [answered this]: Rabbi Elazar said, "In order to make one descent proximate to the other descent." Rabbi Yochanan said, "In order to make [one use of the word,] "recognize," proximate to [another use of the word,] "recognize." Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachman said, "In order to make the story of Tamar proximate to the story of Pothiphar's wife; [to tell you that] just as that one (the incident of Tamar) was for the sake of Heaven, so too this one (the incident of Potiphar’s wife) was meant for the sake of Heaven."