A work of scholarship written in fiction format, this volume engages theological concepts and challenges the reader to think about equity and accountable leadership.
Asenath, an Egyptian woman who is the daughter of the priest of On, marries a powerful Israelite Governor named, Joseph. Years later she meets her brother in law Benjamin and discusses the tragedies inflicted upon Joseph by his brothers. While she empathizes with Joseph, she also begins to make observations about his current leadership choices and questions whether Joseph is engaged in responsible leadership. Asenath in her conversations with Benjamin explores ideas about empire, assimilation, slavery, and Israel’s covenant with God. This is a work of scholarship written in fiction format that engages theological concepts and challenges the reader to think about equity and accountable leadership.
Excerpt
Joseph’s downward journey somehow helped him spiral upward in character and prepared him for his ascent to the palace.
“You see, land is of importance to our people,” Benjamin began. “Land is not a mere location. We are a covenant people who live in a covenant land.”
Asenath’s prominence made no difference to Joseph’s Hebrew family, as an Egyptian family, they made her feel inferior. Her spirituality with all her deities disgraced them. Further, her skin color did not meet their standard of beauty.
Asenath, for the first time, realized there was something myopic about Benjamin. He only cared about the injustice inflicted upon the members of his family, and didn’t take into consideration the tragedies that came upon hers.
“Because even in Canaan we sojourn,” Benjamin explained. “God is not tied to a place but accompanies us wherever we go. Land is not a promised place of covenant. We received land as a gift; a promise never to be presumed upon. The land we were given is not a physical space alone, but it identifies the nature of our relationship with God. It is not the land in itself because that would be idolatry–a place to store up possessions.
“We are supposed to be in this place, but we are not supposed to be at home here. This is not our land of promise. We have made a shift from being sojourners to dwellers.”
“We are moving from being sojourners with a sole dependence on God’s promise, to dwellers in need of security, as we look to the empire for sustenance,” Benjamin admitted. “We are trading the promise given us for fragments of wheat and protection from the empire.”
“The Egyptians have become slaves to Pharaoh and are treated like foreigners on their own land, while outsiders enjoy the best of the land and food, without being slaves,” Asenath said as they stepped inside the tomb.
“Benjamin, mark my words, one day a new Pharaoh is gong to come into power and he’s not going to recognize Joseph and his family, and there will be no preferential treatment for the Israelites. The very system of slavery your brother imposed on my people will be the snare that will entrap your people!”
“Let’s talk about love,” Asenath said in defeat. “I gave Joseph my life, he took my children. I gave him my soul, he gave his to his God. I gave him my body, he gave his bones to Israel.”
Asenath’s greatest contributions to Israel were her sons. Manasseh and Ephraim were included in the twelve tribes of Israel.
Professional Reviews
Conversations With Asenath Book Review by Heather Froeschl
Even today, unfortunately, cultures sometimes clash. Marriages are made and discoveries of incompatible traditions and beliefs must be worked through. What if such a marriage were highly public and important? In “Conversations with Asenath” by Sisi Theo, readers see the contrast between Egyptian and Israelite as wife and husband.
Asenath is a religious Egyptian woman who follows her upbringing’s beliefs. She is the daughter of a priest of On, and marries an important man whom her own father had a hand in helping in an interesting way. Joseph goes from slavery to prison to the palace, earning respect. A marriage is arranged by the Pharaoh, as Asenath desires. Asenath and Joseph have two sons, but Joseph gives them Hebrew names and this makes Asenath wonder. She meets her brother in law, Benjamin, and the two, over the years, have discussions regarding the betrayal of Joseph by his brothers, the naming of his sons, the raising of their sons away from Asenath, and the customs of both cultures, as seen from their quite different perspectives.
What comes out in these conversations is each side’s point of view, if there must be sides, and the personal joys and ramifications of beliefs and traditions. It is a wonderful study in sociology. Theology comes in and the question of free will is examined closely. This book is captivating in its descriptions of life in Egypt, its easy to read style, and the intimate look at one woman’s self examination. In the recent trend of retelling of Bible stories, this is a more personable attempt and makes for an enjoyable read.
The Many Choices We Make by Emory Daniels
As a history enthusiast I've recently taken an interest in historical fiction, an interest partly responsible for me finding and reading Conversations With Asenath by Sisi Theo. The book is a fictional account, based on historical and biblical research, of discussions between Joseph's Egyptian wife Asenath and Joseph's younger brother, Benjamin.
This is the Joseph from the Bible story who had dreams, was given a colorful coat by his father, which made his brothers angry and prompted them to sell him into slavery. Joseph ends up a servant in Potipher's house, turns down the sexual advances of Potipher's wife who then trumps up a case against Joseph for which he is thrown in prison. Joseph then is pulled out of prison to interpret dreams for Pharaoh, becomes second in command, and after a family reunion saves Egypt and his family from famine. Besides being a favorite Bible story for children this account also is the basis for Andrew Lloyd Weber's Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat musical.
Asenath is an Egyptian woman who marries a powerful Israelite Governor named Joseph. She meets her brother-in-law Benjamin and engages in conversations about empire, assimilation, slavery and Israel's covenant with God. This is a work of scholarship written in fiction that challenges the reader to think about accountable leadership.
The emphasis of the book is about choices. Joseph makes choices about assimilation, agreeing to wear Egyptian clothes and jewelry, marrying an Egyptian, and blending into the Egyptian culture. When his family travels to Egypt to reunite with Joseph they make a choice to dwell in Egypt as herdsmen, rather than to sojourn and return to the land of their covenant. Instead, they surrender freedom for food.
The book also is about two people from different backgrounds discussing important issues from different perspectives. Those discussions prompt a lot of questions worthy of exploration. America is an affluent empire living in a time of plenty, much like Egypt. How do we deal with those countries going through famine? As a people living an empire-like existence, have we enslaved others by relying on child labor in other countries for material things we desire? And, even though Joseph strayed away from God's plan good still resulted in the end. God can, and will, redeem our mistakes.
Christians and Jews alike, with knowledge of the story of Joseph as told in the scriptures, would be fascinated by Conversations With Asenath and the issues raised by Theo throughout the book. Theo is a Canadian who wrote the book as part of her graduate work in theological studies. The footnotes at the end of the book show how well she researched her topics.Like any historical fiction novel, she does not pull details out of her hat but relies on her research to fill out the story.
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