The Joseph Story (Genesis 37–50) from an Egyptological Perspective: Multilayered Story or Exilic Novella?

Most scholars today regard the Joseph story as an exilic novella written in Egypt during the Persian or Hellenistic periods in order to encourage the exiles and demonstrate the possibility of prospering under foreign rule. The present study seeks to critically evaluate and refute this argument by reexamining the Egyptian features in the light of recently published findings. Analysis of these elements—more prevalent in the Joseph story than in any other biblical text—shows that it began its life in the mid- or late second millennium BCE as an oral story about a Semite who rose to prominence in Egypt. Written down at the beginning of the first millennium BCE by a northern Israelite writer, it then underwent a protracted editorial process during which Egyptian terms and motifs were added to it, the latest of which belong to the Hellenistic period.