He is the favourite son of the patriarch Jacob, and his envious brothers sell him into slavery in Biblical Egypt, where he eventually ends up incarcerated.

Jacob's family travels to Egypt to escape the famine, and it is through him that they are given leave to settle in the Land of Goshen (the eastern part of the Nile Delta).

Scholars hold different opinions about the historical background of the Joseph story, as well as the date and development of its composition.

[6] Some scholars suggest that the biblical story of Joseph (Gen 37-50) was a multigenerational work with both early and late components.

[7] Others hold that the original Joseph story was a Persian period diaspora novella from the perspective of Judeans living in Egypt.

[10] The Bible offers two explanations of the name Yosēf: first, it is compared to the triliteral א־ס־ף (ʾ-s-p), meaning "to gather, remove, take away":[11] "And she conceived, and bore a son; and said, God hath taken away my reproach" (Genesis 30:23);[12] Yosēf is then identified with the similar root יסף (y-s-p), meaning "to add":[13] "And she called his name Joseph; and said, The LORD shall add to me another son."

[14][15] Joseph, son of Jacob and Rachel, lived in the land of Canaan with ten half-brothers, one full brother, and at least one half-sister.

Following the prediction, Joseph became Vizier, under the name of Zaphnath-Paaneah (Hebrew: צָפְנַת פַּעְנֵחַ Ṣāp̄naṯ Paʿnēaḥ),[f][18] and was given Asenath, the daughter of Potipherah, priest of On,[g] to be his wife.

As a last resort, all of the inhabitants of Egypt, less the Egyptian priestly class, sold their properties and later themselves (as slaves) to Joseph for seed; wherefore Joseph set a mandate that, because the people would be sowing and harvesting seed on government property, a fifth of the produce should go to the Pharaoh.

After they mentioned a younger brother at home, the Vizier (Joseph) demanded that he be brought to Egypt as a demonstration of their veracity.

Jacob became greatly distressed, feeling deprived of successive sons: Joseph, Simeon, and (prospectively) Benjamin.

With Reuben and Judah's persistence, they persuaded their father to let Benjamin join them for fear of Egyptian retribution (Genesis 42:29–43:15).

Then he commanded them to go and bring their father and his entire household into Egypt to live in the province of Goshen, because there were five more years of famine left.

So Joseph supplied them Egyptian transport wagons, new garments, silver money, and twenty additional donkeys carrying provisions for the journey.

(Genesis 45:1–28) Thus, Jacob (also known as Israel) and his entire house of seventy[21] gathered up with all their livestock and began their journey to Egypt.

The Pharaoh honored their stay and even proposed that if there were any qualified men in their house, then they may elect a chief herdsman to oversee Egyptian livestock.

The house of Israel acquired many possessions and multiplied exceedingly during the course of seventeen years, even through the worst of the seven-year famine.

Then he prepared a great ceremonial journey to Canaan leading the servants of the Pharaoh, and the elders of the houses Israel and Egypt beyond the Jordan River.

(Genesis 50:22–26) The children of Israel remembered their oath, and when they left Egypt during the Exodus, Moses took Joseph's bones with him.

[24] By the early 1990s, a majority of modern scholars agreed that the Joseph story was a Wisdom novella constructed by a single author and that it reached its current form in the 5th century BCE at the earliest—with Soggin suggesting the possibility of a first or early second century BCE date.

[29][30] The plot begins by showing Joseph as a dreamer; this leads him into trouble as, out of envy, his brothers sell him into slavery.

[32] Maimonides comments that even the villager in Shechem, about whom Joseph inquired his brother's whereabouts, was a "divine messenger" working behind the scene.

(Genesis Rabbah 84:22) Joseph had good reasons not to have an affair with Potiphar's wife: he did not want to abuse his master's trust; he believed in the sanctity of marriage; and it went against his ethical, moral and religious principles taught to him by his father Jacob.

[35] Jewish tradition holds that Joseph had his steward plant his personal silver cup in Benjamin's sack to test his brothers.

[37] In one Talmudic story, Joseph was buried in the Nile river, as there was some dispute as to which province should be honored by having his tomb within its boundaries.

Moses, led there by an ancient holy woman named Serach, was able by a miracle to raise the sarcophagus and to take it with him at the time of the Exodus.

In addition to honoring him, there was a strong tendency in the patristic period to view his life as a typological precursor to Christ.

[38] This tendency is represented in John Chrysostom who said that Joseph's suffering was "a type of things to come",[39] Caesarius of Arles who interpreted Joseph's famous coat as representative of the diverse nations who would follow Christ,[40] Ambrose of Milan who interpreted the standing sheaf as prefiguring the resurrection of Christ,[41] and others.

Even John Calvin, sometimes hailed as the father of modern grammatico-historical exegesis,[42] writes "in the person of Joseph, a lively image of Christ is presented.

Bahá'í commentaries have described these as metaphors with the garment implying the recognition of a manifestation of God.