The Joseph Coins

It is written:

“But he sent a man named Joseph to go ahead of them. Joseph was sold like a slave. 18  They tied a rope around his feet and put an iron ring around his neck. 19  Joseph was a slave until what he said had really happened. The LORD’S message proved that Joseph was right. 20  So the king of Egypt set him free. That nation’s leader let him out of jail. 21  He put Joseph in charge of his house. Joseph took care of everything the king owned. 22  Joseph gave instructions to the other leaders. He taught the older men.” (Psalm 105:17-22)

The study of archaeology is continually confirming the credibility of the Bible. One example of this seen in the son of Jacob known as Joseph.

For years, skeptics of the Bible have declared that the Bible character Joseph never existed. That criticism, however, has been soundly rejected by the discovery of the Joseph coins.

“Recent research conducted on previously overlooked Egyptian coins confirms the biblical story of Joseph and his role in government service in ancient Egypt. In 2009, archaeological authorities from the Egyptian National Museum announced that a cache of ancient coins had been “rediscovered.” Initially discovered almost a century earlier, the coins had been in storage. They were uncovered in the vast storage vaults of the national museum and the Antiquities Authority. Cairo’s Al Ahram newspaper reported that the coins bear the name and image of the biblical Joseph.21 The cache of more than five hundred coins had been set aside decades earlier in the belief that they were miscellaneous objects of worship and likely of no significance. However, scientists re-examined the coins using recently developed technology and discovered that a number of them dated to the time of ancient Egypt. Most of the coins were engraved with the year they were minted and their monetary value and the effigies or images of the pharaohs ruling Egypt when the coins were minted. Researchers concluded that the “Joseph coins” originated in the period when Joseph served as Pharaoh’s treasurer—during the seven years of plenty and seven years of famine (see Genesis 41:41–45). Biblical history suggests a date for Joseph’s high position in the Egyptian government that coincides with the date of the minting of the coins in the cache (approximately 2000 B.C.). Amazingly, some of the coins bear both Joseph’s name and image.” (Grant R. Jeffrey, The Signature Of God: Conclusive Proof That Every Teaching, Every Command, Every Promise In The Bible Is True, 69-70 (Kindle Edition); Waterbrook Press)

We would be wise indeed to build our lives on the inspired Word of God.