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אָסְנַת

𐤀𐤎𐤍𐤕

Asenat

H621 noun

SILEX Entry

Root uncertain uncertain; (as a proper noun, denotes a specific individual by name)

Definition

Proper noun; a personal name referring specifically to Asenath, an Egyptian woman given in marriage to Joseph in Egypt, mother of Manasseh and Ephraim. As a name, its precise lexical meaning in Hebrew is unclear, as it is of Egyptian origin and not native to the Hebrew language.

Semantic Range

Asenath (proper name); used only as the name of Joseph's Egyptian wife in Genesis

Root / Etymology

Egyptian origin; root uncertain. The name is often understood as Egyptian 'Ns-n.t', likely meaning "she who belongs to (the goddess) Neith" or "gift of Neith," with Neith being an important goddess in the Egyptian pantheon. In the Hebrew Bible, the name appears as a borrowed foreign name without a derivable Hebrew root or direct semantic content in Hebrew.

Historical & Contextual Notes

אָסְנַת appears exclusively as the personal name of Joseph's wife, daughter of Potiphera, priest of On (Heliopolis), in Genesis 41:45, 41:50, and 46:20. The name is consistently used as a proper noun without reference to ethnicity or religious status other than her Egyptian origin. In the biblical narrative, Asenath's marriage to Joseph and her bearing of his sons signify an intersection of Israelite and Egyptian social spheres in the Joseph story. English translations often simply transliterate the name (Asenath) without attempting a translation. Later tradition and translation may associate her with the "wife of Joseph" or, anachronistically, as the mother of Ephraim and Manasseh, but the Hebrew text uses the Egyptian form typical for foreign names. Unlike some biblical names, אָסְנַת carries no direct theological or lexical value in Hebrew itself and is not reused elsewhere as a common noun or verb.

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

of Egyptian derivation; Asenath, the wife of Joseph; Asenath.

Bantu Hebrew

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Root Family

uncertain (uncertain (Egyptian origin)) — uncertain; personal name of foreign origin

Strong's Lemma SIBI-P1
H1085 בִּלְדַּד Bildad
H1095 בֵּלְטְשַׁאצַּר Belteshatsar
H1114 בִּלְשָׁן Bilshan
H1150 בִּנְעָא Bin'a
H116 אֱדַיִן and then

Word Forms

1 distinct form

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 Occurrences
H621-01 אָֽסְנַ֗ת asenat HNp Asenath Asenath 3

Occurrences in Scripture

3 total occurrences

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1
H621-01 Genesis 41:45 אָֽסְנַ֗ת asenat HNp Asenath Asenath
H621-01 Genesis 41:50 אָֽסְנַ֔ת asenat HNp Asenath Asenath
H621-01 Genesis 46:20 אָֽסְנַ֔ת asenat HNp Asenath Asenath
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