n.
In the Old Testament , the son of the patriarch Jacob and his wife, Rachel .
He was favoured by his father, and his brothers became bitterly jealous when he was given a resplendent "coat of many colors" (literally, coat with flowing sleeves). They sold him into slavery in Egypt, telling Jacob he had been killed by a wild beast. In Egypt Joseph gained favour 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 famine forced Jacob to send his sons to Egypt to buy grain, the family was reconciled with Joseph and settled there. The story of Joseph, told in Genesis 3750, depicts the preservation of Israel and begins the history of the Israelites in Egypt that is continued in Exodus .