Bible Figure
Asenath
Biblical figure, wife of Joseph
Asenath was the Egyptian wife given to Joseph by Pharaoh and the mother of Manasseh and Ephraim.
Biography
Genesis 41 says Pharaoh gave Joseph Asenath, daughter of Potiphera priest of On, as his wife after elevating Joseph over Egypt. Before the famine she bore Joseph two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. Jacob later adopted these two grandsons as his own for purposes of tribal inheritance and blessed them, giving Ephraim precedence over Manasseh. Scripture provides no independent narrative or speech for Asenath.
Biblical Significance
Asenath became mother of Ephraim and Manasseh, whose descendants occupied major places among Israel's tribes. Later stories about her conversion or ancestry are extra-biblical and should not be presented as Scripture.