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Joseph
In the Old Testament, the son of the patriarch Jacob and his wife, Rachel. He was favored by his father, and his brothers became bitterly jealous when he was given a resplendent coat of many colors. They sold him into slavery in Egypt, telling Jacob he had been killed by a wild beast. In Egypt Joseph gained favor with the pharaoh and rose to high office, owing to his ability to interpret dreams, and his acquisition of grain supplies enabled Egypt to withstand a famine. When Jacob and his sons were driven out of Canaan in search of grain, they were reconciled with Joseph and settled in Egypt. The story of Joseph, told in Genesis 37-50, depicts the preservation of Israel and begins the history of the Israelites in Egypt that is continued in Exodus.


-->Joseph II

Holy Roman emperor (1765-90). He succeeded his father, Francis I, and initially coruled with his mother, Maria Theresa (1765-80). After her death he tried to continue her work of reform. An advocate of enlightened despotism, he abolished serfdom, established religious equality before the law, granted freedom of the press, and emancipated the Jews. He came into conflict with the Roman Catholic Church by attempting to impose state controls over it, and traditional countries such as the Austrian Netherlands and Hungary resisted his far-reaching reforms. His foreign policies were generally failures; he tried to exchange the Austrian Netherlands for Bavaria but was stopped by Prussia. An alliance with Catherine II of Russia engaged Austrian troops in a war with Turkey, but Joseph had to return home to head off revolutionary unrest in Hungary and the Austrian Netherlands.


Josephus
Jewish priest, scholar, and historian. Born of a priestly family in Jerusalem, Josephus joined the Pharisees. While on a diplomatic mission he was impressed by the culture and sophistication of Rome, and in the Jewish revolt of AD 66-70 he eventually attached himself to the Roman cause. Favored in the courts of emperors Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian, he wrote valuable historical works. His History of the Jewish War (79) is the principal source on the revolt and includes much on Roman tactics and strategy. The Antiquities of the Jews (93), his greatest work, traces Judaism from creation up to the revolt. Against Apion defends Judaism against Hellenism.

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