Meaning of the Name Joseph
From the Hebrew name Yosef, meaning 'may he add, may he increase'. Genesis 30:24 explains the name directly: Rachel names her son with the words 'May the LORD add another son to me'.
Origin
The name Joseph is of Hebrew origin.
Who is Joseph in the Bible?
Two famous Josephs appear in the Bible: the Joseph of Genesis, sold by his brothers, raised to prominence in Egypt and finally forgiving his family, and in the New Testament the carpenter Joseph, betrothed to Mary, who took on the raising of Jesus. The name stands out in both testaments.
The story of Joseph in the Bible
The Bible remembers two unforgettable men named Joseph. The first is the son of Jacob: after years of waiting, Rachel names her newborn with the prayer that the LORD would add her another son. His father's favorite, Joseph is sold into Egypt as a slave by his jealous brothers; he lands unjustly in prison, yet his gift for interpreting dreams brings him before Pharaoh, and he rises to become second-in-command of the land. When famine drives his brothers to him, he chooses forgiveness over revenge, reading everything that happened as God's way of keeping his family alive. The second Joseph stands at the very opening of the New Testament: the righteous man engaged to Mary, who trusts what the angel tells him in a dream, takes Mary as his wife, and gives the child the name Jesus. One lives in Egypt's palace, the other in a carpenter's home in Nazareth — yet both Josephs meet on the same line: faithful, dependable men who protected their families.
Is Joseph mentioned in the Quran?
The name Joseph (Yusuf) also appears in the Quran, where his story is told in detail and he is honored as a prophet. In the Bible, the name belongs both to Joseph in Genesis and to Joseph the husband of Mary in the Gospels.
Verses where Joseph appears
- Genesis 30:24 —
She named him Joseph, saying, “May Yahweh add another son to me.”
- Genesis 45:4-8 —
Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” They came near. “He said, I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. Now don’t be grieved, nor angry with yourselves, that you sold me here, for God…
- Matthew 1:18-25 —
Now the birth of Jesus Christ was like this; for after his mother, Mary, was engaged to Joseph, before they came together, she was found pregnant by the Holy Spirit. Joseph, her husband, being a righteous man, and not…