ABSTRACT
The myth of the Jewish pope, and the prototype of its chief character, a Jewish boy who rises to supreme power, derives ultimately from the biblical story of Joseph, the longest single narrative in Genesis. This story, the earliest record of dualism in Jewish identity, is—like so many other narratives in the Bible—shot through with lacunae, disruptions and ambivalences that the earliest rabbinical commentators were at pains to reconcile with the received teachings of Judaism. Several of these establishing narrative elements are transposed directly into the pope myth, notably Joseph's capacity for learning and leadership, his shrewdness, and the sense that he is an agent of God's purposes, however mysterious. Such overt sexuality is frightening to a religious value system that valorizes chastity. Hence the rabbinical exegetes take pains to stress that Joseph achieves rapid advancement and great favour in Potiphar's house because God is with him.
