# Saint Joseph the Bishop

Source: https://coptic-lore-forge.lovable.app/wiki/saint-joseph-the-bishop — Coptic Orthodox Wiki (updated 2026-10-03)

Saint Joseph the Bishop is a saint listed in The Coptic Encyclopedia under the alternative name Anba Yusab, with a feast day of 17 Baramhat. The encyclopedia’s calendar also records Anba Yusab the Bishop on that day, but these notices do not identify his diocese or lifetime.

## Overview

**Saint Joseph the Bishop**, also called **Anba Yusab**, is identified in *The Coptic Encyclopedia* as a bishop whose feast day is **17 Baramhat**. The encyclopedia’s calendar independently includes “Anba Yusab the Bishop” among the commemorations listed for the seventeenth day.[^1][^2]

The direct notices are brief: they establish his name, episcopal designation, and commemoration, but do not supply a diocese, dates of birth or death, or an account of his ministry. They therefore support a short reference entry rather than a reconstructed biography.[^1][^2][^3]

## Names and documentary record

The identification of **Joseph** with **Yusab** is explicit rather than inferred. The encyclopedia’s list gives “Joseph the Bishop, or Anba Yusab,” while its index states, “Anba Yusab. See Joseph the Bishop, Saint.” Read together, these entries establish that the two names refer to the same saint within the encyclopedia’s reference system.[^1][^3]

The supplied notices preserve the forms *Anba* and *Yusab* in Latin characters; they do not provide an original Coptic, Arabic, or Greek spelling for this particular entry. “The Bishop” is the identifying designation used both in the English name and in the calendar notice.[^1][^2][^3]

## Feast day and calendar context

Joseph’s feast day is given explicitly as **17 Baramhat** in the encyclopedia’s list of saints. The calendar places Anba Yusab the Bishop on a line with George the Ascetic and Belasius the Martyr under day seventeen, confirming the day recorded in the shorter notice.[^1][^2]

Other commemorations under the same calendar date include Lazarus, described as the friend of the Lord; Anba Basilios, archbishop of Jerusalem; and the martyrdom of Sidhom Bishay in Damietta. Their appearance under a shared date establishes a calendar grouping, but the passage gives no biographical relationship between Joseph and these figures.[^2]

The calendar evidence documents Joseph’s commemoration without supplying a particular hymn, prayer, service rubric, or account of the origins of his feast.[^1][^2]

## Distinguishing similarly named figures

The supplied encyclopedia material contains several other notices using the name Joseph or Yusab. These require care in identification: the direct entry for Joseph the Bishop gives no geographical epithet with which to connect them securely.[^1]

- **Joseph of Bishwaw** has a separate entry describing him as a monk who lived with Saint Elias of Bishwaw, with a feast day of **5 Hatur**. His entry is distinct from that of Joseph the Bishop.[^4]
- **Anba Yusab, bishop of Jirja, known as al-Abahh**, appears in another calendar extract alongside **Saints Maximus and Domitius**. That notice supplies a see and an epithet absent from the entry for Joseph the Bishop; the passages do not explicitly identify the two.[^5][^1]
- **Anba Yusab (Joseph), bishop of Isfaht**, appears in the account of Constantine of Asyut. That passage describes him as entering monastic life with Constantine and Rufus, the future bishop of Shutb, but does not connect him with the feast of 17 Baramhat.[^6][^1]

These comparisons leave Joseph’s diocese and historical setting unresolved: the secure identification in the supplied material remains **Joseph the Bishop / Anba Yusab, commemorated on 17 Baramhat**.[^1][^3]

## Frequently asked questions

**Who was Saint Joseph the Bishop?**
The Coptic Encyclopedia identifies him as a bishop also known as Anba Yusab. The supplied notices do not give his diocese, dates, or a narrative of his life.

**When is Saint Joseph the Bishop’s feast day?**
His feast day is 17 Baramhat. The supplied calendar includes Anba Yusab the Bishop among the commemorations for that day.

**Is Anba Yusab another name for Saint Joseph the Bishop?**
Yes: the encyclopedia explicitly gives “Joseph the Bishop, or Anba Yusab,” and its index directs readers from Anba Yusab to Joseph the Bishop, Saint. Other supplied passages also mention people named Yusab, so the name alone does not establish that every occurrence refers to this saint.

## Sources
[^1]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 7, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 128)
[^2]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 7, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 366)
[^3]: The Coptic Encyclopedia — Index, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 22)
[^4]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 7, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 128)
[^5]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 7, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 363)
[^6]: The Coptic Encyclopedia, Volume 2, Aziz S. Atiya (Editor in Chief) (p. 672)