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ASENATH.—Daughter of Poti-phera, priest of On, wife of Joseph and mother of Ephraim and Manasseh (Gen_41:45; Gen_41:50; Gen_46:20). The name, like the other Egyptian names in the story of Joseph, is of a well-known late type, prevalent from about b.c. 950; it should probably be vocalized Asneit or Esneit, meaning ‘belonging to Neit.’ Neit was the goddess of Sais, and her name was especially popular in names from the 26th (Saite) Dyn., c [Note: circa, about.] . b.c. 664, and onwards for some two centuries.
Asenath is the heroine of a remarkable Jewish and Christian romance, in which she renounces her false gods before her marriage with Joseph; it can be traced back to the 5th cent. a.d., and is probably a good deal earlier.
F. Ll. Griffith.