Joseph of Bishwaw

Overview

Joseph of Bishwaw was a saint and monk from Qift whose monastic life was closely associated with Saint Elias of Bishwaw. His biography presents him as a young man who responded to the call of Jesus Christ by abandoning worldly life, giving away his inheritance, and undertaking rigorous ascetic practice under Elias’s guidance. His feast day is 5 Hatur.¹⁷²

The geographical designation “of Bishwaw” connects him with the southern part of the mountain of Tsenti, west of Qift. The Coptic Encyclopedia identifies this area as al-Bishwaw, glossed as “the Persea,” and states that Joseph lived and died there. It expressly distinguishes him from another saint, Joseph of Tsenti, whose life is separately recorded.³

History and origins

Family and the loss of his parents

Joseph came from a family described as important in his village. His father had already died when his mother summoned him to her deathbed. The account preserves an exchange in which Joseph asked, “Why are you forsaking me?” His mother replied, “I am entrusting you to Jesus Christ, my Lord. He will not forsake you, and will never be far from you.” According to the Synaxarion, Joseph had several brothers, and the eldest subsequently received him into his home and cared for him.⁴

This exchange introduces a theme that continues through the biography: Joseph’s life is presented as being directed and sustained by Christ. His mother’s assurance that Christ would not abandon him is followed by the description of God as his “first tutor,” guiding him toward the place where he would encounter Elias.⁴⁵

The first encounter with Elias

The narrative relates that God prompted Joseph to cross the river and withdraw into the cave of Saint Elias of Bishwaw. There he found what the account calls “the book of the prophet Elias” and began to read aloud. His voice was described as very sweet, prompting Elias to say, “May this young man remain here and spend the feast of Easter with us, that we may hear him read!”⁵

Joseph’s first connection with Elias was therefore established through reading rather than through an immediately narrated admission to monastic life. The invitation to remain for Easter shows that Elias welcomed his presence and valued his reading. The passage does not provide a more precise identification of the book beyond its designation as the book of the prophet Elias.⁵

Joseph then returned to the town. Afterward, Anba Elias experienced a vision in which he received a palm bearing fruit in the place where he was. The biography places this vision immediately before Joseph’s response to Christ’s call and his decision to embrace monastic life, although it does not explicitly interpret the vision.⁶

Renunciation and the inheritance

Joseph asked his brothers to give him his share of the family inheritance. They provided approximately 120 gold denarii, apart from the furniture of the house. Concerned about what he would do with this property, they urged him not to squander it and suggested that he leave it with them for safekeeping.⁷

Joseph answered, “You do not need it,” and distributed his inheritance to the poor and needy, widows, and orphans. In the account, his renunciation of worldly life thus takes the concrete form of transferring family wealth to people in need. The specified amount and the brothers’ objections give particular substance to what might otherwise have remained a general statement that he abandoned the world.⁷

Benhadab and life with Elias

After crossing the Nile, Joseph became a monk in the mountain of Benhadab. When he fell sick, he resolved, “If I recover and regain my health, I will live with Saint Elias.” The account states that this resolution was fulfilled and that he thereafter remained with Elias until death.⁸

The sequence distinguishes Joseph’s initial entry into monastic life at Benhadab from his subsequent settled association with Elias. Illness becomes the occasion for the decision to live with the master whose cave he had already visited. The separate notice concerning Joseph of Tsenti locates Joseph of Bishwaw’s life and death more precisely in al-Bishwaw, the southern part of the mountain of Tsenti west of Qift.⁸³

Theology and meaning

Discipleship and imitation

The biography explains Joseph’s relationship with Elias through a saying from Matthew 10:25: “It is enough for the disciple to be as his master, and the servant as his lord.” Joseph is said to have applied this saying to himself. His attachment to Elias is therefore presented not merely as residence with another monk, but as a relationship of discipleship expressed through imitation.⁹

The account brings together two dimensions of Joseph’s vocation: a personal response to Jesus Christ and a sustained relationship with a monastic master. Christ calls him to abandon the world, while the Gospel saying supplies the language through which he understands his life alongside Elias.⁷⁹

Charity and ascetic renunciation

Joseph’s renunciation is described in both material and bodily terms. He first gives away his inheritance to vulnerable people, then adopts severe restrictions in food and devotes much of the night to prayer. These actions are presented as successive expressions of his commitment to monastic life, rather than as unrelated episodes.⁷¹⁰

His diet excluded both bread and olives; he contented himself with berries and practiced strict fasting. His nighttime prayer was so prolonged that he became ill and began spitting blood. The account thus records the physical consequences of his austerity as well as the practices themselves.¹⁰

Illness and healing

The biography recounts that one night, while the brethren surrounded Joseph, Jesus came and healed him. Joseph subsequently resumed his asceticism. The healing is presented as an intervention of Christ within the story of his monastic struggles, continuing the earlier emphasis on divine care expressed by his mother at her deathbed.¹¹⁴

These practices belong to the account of Joseph’s particular life: the passage describes what he ate, how he prayed, and the illness that followed. Its explicit explanation of his conduct is his commitment to discipleship and imitation, expressed through Matthew 10:25.⁹¹⁰

Commemoration and religious practice

Joseph’s feast day is 5 Hatur, as stated in the Coptic Encyclopedia’s listing of saints. That entry identifies him succinctly as a monk who lived with Saint Elias of Bishwaw. The biographical article likewise associates 5 Hatur with Elias, while the discussion of Joseph of Tsenti explains that Joseph of Bishwaw appears in the Synaxarion within the notice devoted to his master.²¹¹⁵

His commemorative identity is consequently closely connected with Elias in both the short saints’ listing and the account of the Synaxarion’s organization. These sources preserve the same defining relationship: Joseph is remembered as the disciple and companion of Elias of Bishwaw.²¹⁵

Easter appears in the narrative of Joseph’s first visit to Elias’s cave. Elias wished him to remain for the feast so that those present could hear him read. This episode provides a specific setting for Joseph’s reading, but the passage does not describe a service order or identify the reading as a prescribed liturgical text.⁵

Texts, names, and terminology

Joseph and Yusab

The Synaxarion writes Joseph’s name as Yusab. The Coptic Encyclopedia reports that H. E. Winlock and W. E. Crum demonstrated that this is a transliteration of the Coptic way of writing Joseph. Within the discussion of this saint, “Yusab” is therefore an alternative written form of his name, not evidence for a separate individual.¹²

The relevant entry cites Winlock and Crum’s two-volume The Monastery of Epiphanius at Thebes, published in New York in 1926 and reprinted in 1973. This bibliographical reference accompanies the clarification of the saint’s identity and name.¹⁴

Bishwaw and the mountain of Tsenti

“Bishwaw” distinguishes Joseph by the particular locality associated with his life. The source places al-Bishwaw in the southern part of the mountain of Tsenti and supplies the gloss “the Persea.” The more precise locality matters because another saint bears the name Joseph of Tsenti, making a general association with the mountain insufficient to distinguish the two.³

Distinction from Joseph of Tsenti

The Coptic Encyclopedia explicitly warns against confusing Joseph of Bishwaw with Joseph of Tsenti. The latter was a native of Faw and an only son who grew up with a neighbor’s child named Patasius. The two later sought admission to the monastery of Tsenti founded by Saint Pachomius of Tabennese; Joseph of Tsenti subsequently became a recluse in the mountain of Tsenti, also called al-Asas, in the nome of Qift.¹³

Those details differ from the biography of Joseph of Bishwaw, who came from Qift, had several brothers, and became a disciple of Elias. The distinct family histories and monastic relationships support the source’s explicit separation of the two saints despite their shared regional associations.⁴⁸¹³

There is also an overlap in commemoration: Joseph of Tsenti’s life is summarized under 5 Hatur in the Upper Egyptian recension of the Synaxarion, while the saints’ listing assigns the same feast day to Joseph of Bishwaw. The shared date is therefore not sufficient to identify them as one person. The source differentiates their textual treatment as well: Joseph of Tsenti has his life summarized under that date, whereas Joseph of Bishwaw is mentioned within the notice of Elias.¹³²¹⁵