Joseph, the name of seven Israelites
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Ioseph is the Greek form of Joseph, a name shared by several New Testament figures. Matthew and Luke use it for Mary's husband, a righteous man from David's line who receives angelic instruction and shelters the child Jesus.
Reader summary
Full entry for Ἰωσήφ (G2501) · Open the biblical lexicon
Ioseph is the Greek form of Joseph, a name shared by several New Testament figures. Matthew and Luke use it for Mary's husband, a righteous man from David's line who receives angelic instruction and shelters the child Jesus.
The BSB source-word alignment has 36 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include Joseph (21), of Joseph (9), to Joseph (3), [his] (1), Joseph’s (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 1:16. Its strongest book concentrations include Matthew (11), Luke (9), Acts (7), John (4).
Ioseph is the Greek form of Joseph, a name shared by several New Testament figures. Matthew and Luke use it for Mary's husband, a righteous man from David's line who receives angelic instruction and shelters the child Jesus. The Gospels also use the name for Joseph of Arimathea, who takes responsibility for Jesus' burial. Acts names Joseph called Barnabas, and Stephen retells the story of patriarchal Joseph, whom God preserved through rejection and exile.
The name itself does not make these figures interchangeable. Each referent must be identified by context. Pastorally, Ioseph helps teachers show quiet obedience, faithful stewardship, and God's providence through ordinary named servants, while refusing to merge distinct Josephs into one character lesson.
Ioseph names several Joseph figures, so its canonical value comes through referent control and through scenes where God works through faithful, often quiet, servants.
But after he had pondered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to embrace Mary as your wife, for the One conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
The angel addresses Joseph son of David and tells him not to fear taking Mary as his wife.
So Joseph also went up from Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, since he was from the house and line of David.
Joseph goes to Bethlehem because he belongs to the house and line of David, placing the birth narrative in Davidic setting.
Jesus Himself was about thirty years old when He began His ministry. He was regarded as the son of Joseph, the son of Heli,
Jesus is regarded as the son of Joseph in Luke's genealogy, requiring careful distinction between public regard and the birth narrative.
So He came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.
John mentions Jacob's plot given to Joseph, reaching back into Israel's patriarchal memory.
They were asking, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How then can He say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”
The crowd calls Jesus the son of Joseph as they stumble over His claim to have come down from heaven.
Afterward, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus (but secretly for fear of the Jews), asked Pilate to let him remove the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission, so he came and removed His body.
Joseph of Arimathea asks Pilate for Jesus' body, moving from secret discipleship to public burial service.
Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (meaning Son of Encouragement),
Joseph, called Barnabas by the apostles, is introduced as a Levite from Cyprus and an encourager in the church.
Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him
Stephen names patriarchal Joseph as rejected by jealous brothers while God was with him.
By faith Joseph, when his end was near, spoke about the exodus of the Israelites and gave instructions about his bones.
By faith Joseph speaks about the exodus and gives instructions about his bones.
From the tribe of Zebulun 12,000, from the tribe of Joseph 12,000, and from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.
Joseph appears in the tribal listing of the sealed servants, showing the name's place in Israel's symbolic tribal memory.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Greek word. Joseph, the name of seven Israelites
:--Joseph.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 35 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Joseph
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Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 5 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 1 selected witness from 35 lexical occurrence verses.
Hebrew roots and equivalents that share conceptual or etymological ground with this Greek word.
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
The core insight of Ioseph is that the same biblical name can carry several distinct stories of faithfulness. Joseph husband of Mary obeys God's word in a costly family situation and stands within Davidic expectation. Joseph of Arimathea honors Jesus' body when public association carries risk. Joseph called Barnabas becomes known by encouragement. Patriarchal Joseph bears witness to God's providence through rejection and to future exodus hope.
These lines can harmonize only when each referent stays distinct. Preaching the name well means showing how God uses particular people in particular moments rather than turning a shared name into a single moral template.
Matthew.1.20
Ioseph is a proper noun. Context, apposition, family links, and narrative setting determine whether the name refers to Mary's husband, Joseph of Arimathea, Barnabas, patriarchal Joseph, or another Joseph.
The Old Testament Joseph story shapes Stephen's speech and Hebrews' faith account, while the Gospel Josephs stand within the fulfillment of God's promises in the coming, death, and burial of Christ.