Research source

When she washed her face, she caught sight of it in the water, and saw it to be of such beauty as never before,…

Date of account: Modern scholarly compilation of much earlier traditions, published 1909
Source: The Legends of the Jews — Volume 2
Reference: The Legends of the Jews — Volume 2 · selected passage 49
Rights: public_domain
Language: English translation and synthesis from rabbinic sources
Translation: Henrietta Szold; compiled by Louis Ginzberg
Record updated: 2026-08-24

Record summary

When she washed her face, she caught sight of it in the water, and saw it to be of such beauty as never before, so great had been the transformation wrought by the angel

Published source text

Read the available text below. Archive transcriptions may contain OCR errors; later context is labelled separately. A recorded claim is not a finding that it happened.

Source passage

Source text · mention only

When she washed her face, she caught sight of it in the water, and saw it to be of such beauty as never before, so great had been the transformation wrought by the angel. When Joseph came, he did not recognize her. He asked her who she was, whereto she replied, "I am thy maid-servant Asenath! I have cast away my idols, and this day a visitant came to me from heaven. He gave me to eat of the bread of life and to drink of the blessed cup, and he spake these words unto me, 'I give thee unto Joseph as his affianced wife, that he may be thy affianced husband forever.' And furthermore he said, 'Thy name shall not any more be called Asenath, but thy name shall be City of Refuge, whither the nations shall flee for safety.' And he added, 'I go to Joseph, to tell him all these things that have reference to thee.' Now, my lord, thou knowest whether the man was with thee and spoke to thee in my behalf."

Historical context

Contextual commentary · mention only

This is a passage from a historical religious or interpretive text. Its genre, manuscript history, translation and place within its own tradition are part of the evidence and must remain visible.

Modern context

Contextual commentary · mention only

Lattice can compare the passage's descriptive features with later reports, but resemblance does not turn a vision, angel, mythic creature or sacred narrative into a modern incident report.

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