Library/Old Testament pseudepigrapha
Joseph and Aseneth
Aseneth the idol-priest’s daughter meets a heavenly man who looks like Joseph, eats a honeycomb from the bees of paradise, and becomes a city of refuge. A romance that is also an initiation.
- Status
- Pseudepigrapha
- Date
- 1st century BCE – 2nd century CE
- Languages
- Greek
- Setting
- Egypt; the conversion of Joseph’s wife
What it contains
- Aseneth’s pride
- The angel and the honeycomb
- Marriage
- Plot of Pharaoh’s son
Why it sits outside most canons
Novel, not law. Too sweet for the canon, too theological for mere fiction.
Themes
- Conversion
- Angels
- Honeycomb of paradise
- Intermarriage
Passages
Jos. Asen. 16
The angels of God eat of this honeycomb, and whoever eats of it will not die for ever.