Who was Joseph in the book of genesis?

Answer 1

Joseph was loved by his father and given a coat of many colors. His eleven brothers, jealous of him, considered killing him but instead decided to sell him as a slave. They stole his coat and covered it with animal blood, then brought it back to their father to show him that Joseph had died. Meanwhile, Joseph was enlisted as a servant to a powerful Egyptian man named Potiphar. Because Joseph was such a good servant, Potiphar favored him and allowed him all that he had. Potiphar's wife, however, repeatedly tried to secretly get Joseph to lay with her, but Joseph firmly refused because, "There is none greater in this house than I, neither hath he kept back anything from me but thee, because thou art his wife; how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?" (Gen. 39:9, KJV). One day, Potiphar's wife grabbed Joseph by the loincloth. Joseph, still determined to obey the Lord's law of chastity, ran away and left the garment behind in her hand. Potiphar's wife lied to Potiphar and said that Joseph had made advances at her and left his garment when he realized he might be in trouble. Potiphar was angry and threw Joseph into prison. Joseph then gained favor with the overseer of the prison. Soon, two fellow prisoners, a butcher and a baker, asked Joseph to interpret their dreams. Joseph said that one would be executed and the other would be set free, and his prophecies were fulfilled. Joseph had the soon-to-be-freed man promise to talk to the Pharoah and have him released, but when the man left prison he forgot to fulfill his promise. One day, however, Pharoah was disturbed by two dreams he had the night before, one featuring cattle and the other featuring ears of corn. The man then remembered Joseph and told the Pharoah that Joseph could interpret dreams. Joseph was released from prison and prophesied that there would be seven years of plenty and seven years of famine. Joseph was then put in charge of Egypt's food supply program and was set second only to Pharoah himself. Under his supervision, Egypt stored much food during the years of plenty so that there would be no problems during the famine. When the famine came, many people from other regions came to Egypt for help. Among these were Joseph's brothers, who now did not recognize him. Joseph's younger brother, Benjamin, was not there, however, so Joseph imprisoned his brother Simeon and asked that Benjamin be brought. His father Jacob was reluctant, but eventually sent Benjamin back with the other brothers. Joseph ate with his brothers, still unaware of he who was, and gave them food. He also had a silver cup hidden in Benjamin's bag. The group was stopped and Benjamin was accused of stealing. Because Jacob had still never recovered from the loss of Joseph and he could not bear to lose Benjamin as well, Judah, another brother, offered himself up to bear Benjamin's punishment. Joseph, moved by Judah's compassion and seeing that his brothers had changed and were penitent, revealed his identity and verbally forgave his brothers, soon returning with them to reunite with his father. Because of his love for Joseph, Pharoah promised that the people of Israel, Jacob's alternate name, would be able to use the best land of Egypt. Before death, Jacob blessed his children and grandchildren, in the process giving Ephraim, Joseph's younger son, the birthright over Manasseh.

Answer 2

Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, then Joseph. Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers to Egypt but that was God's plan. Jacobs sons which included Joseph, became the 12 tribes of Israel.