Endnote 1 – Why Did Joseph Shave?
For discussions of the sources and composition history of the Joseph story, see the commentaries. For studies of its Egyptian background, see, in addition to the commentaries, D.B. Redford, A Study of the Biblical Story of Joseph (Genesis 37–50) Vetus Testamentum Supplements 20 (Leiden: Brill, 1970), pp. 189–243; J. Vergote, Joseph en Égypt (Louvain, 1959); idem. “‘Joseph en Egypte’: 25 Ans Apres,” in S. Israelit-Groll, ed., Pharaonic Egypt: The Bible and Christianity (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1985), pp. 289–306; W. Dietrich, “Die Josephserzählung als Novelle und Geschichts-schribung: Zugleich ein Beitrag zur Pentateuchfrage,” Biblisch-Theologische Studien 14 (Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag, 1989), pp. 60–69. None of these works mention the Egyptian background of Joseph’s shaving.