batch.motif.islamic-koran-sale-gutenberg-l20236-l20305
---
record_id: batch.motif.islamic-koran-sale-gutenberg-l20236-l20305
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
passage_locator:
label: CHAPTER XI. / IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD. / CHAPTER XII. / IN THE
NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.; lines 20236-20305
start: '20236'
end: '20305'
translation: The Koran (Al-Qur'an)
notes: Generated from OpenAI Batch run motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority;
human review required.
canonical_text:
quote: ''
summary: Commentarial notes recount Joseph's brothers abusing him, lowering and
dropping him into a well, removing his garment to deceive Jacob with blood, Gabriel's
revelation and paradisal garment in the well, a caravan drawing Joseph up, disputes
over who concealed or sold him, his sale for a small price, and his placement
in the household of the Egyptian Kitfr/Potiphar and his wife Zoleikha.
language: English
quote_policy: summarized
literal_observations:
- id: obs:1
text: Joseph's brothers take him into the field, abuse and beat him, and would have
killed him if Judah had not reminded them of their promise not to kill him.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: obs:2
text: The brothers bind Joseph, remove his inner garment, and intend to stain it
with blood to deceive their father.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- id: obs:3
text: Joseph asks for his garment to be returned, but his brothers refuse and mock
him by referring to the eleven stars, the sun, and the moon.
category: speech
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: obs:4
text: Joseph is let down halfway into the well and then dropped to the bottom; he
stands on a stone above the water and weeps.
category: sequence
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:5
text: Gabriel comes to Joseph in the well with a revelation.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- id: obs:6
text: A commentarial note says Joseph was seventeen years old and compares his early
divine communication to that of John the Baptist and Jesus.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: obs:7
text: Commentators say Gabriel clothed Joseph in the well with a silk garment of
paradise that had previously been brought to Abraham when he was thrown into fire
by Nimrod, then passed to Jacob and was kept in an amulet around Joseph's neck.
category: object
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: obs:8
text: Jacob suspects deception because the returned garment is bloody but not torn.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:7
- id: obs:9
text: A caravan traveling from Midian to Egypt rests near the well three days after
Joseph was thrown into it.
category: setting
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: obs:10
text: A man drawing water lets down a cord, and Joseph takes hold of it and is drawn
up.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: obs:11
text: Expositors disagree whether Joseph was concealed by the water-drawers from
the caravan or reclaimed and sold by his brothers as a slave.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: obs:12
text: Joseph is sold for a small and unfairly counted price, described as twenty
or twenty-two dirhems of deficient weight.
category: action
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- id: obs:13
text: The Egyptian purchaser is named Kitfr or Itfr, identified as a corruption
of Potiphar and superintendent of the royal treasury.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
- id: obs:14
text: Kitfr has no children and is said to judge Joseph favorably by his countenance
and perceived prudence.
category: relationship
evidence_refs:
- ev:13
- id: obs:15
text: The wife of Kitfr is identified by some as Ral, but more commonly as Zoleikha.
category: attribute
evidence_refs:
- ev:14
figures:
- id: fig:1
name_or_label: Joseph
description: Jacob's son, beaten by his brothers, cast into the well, visited by
Gabriel, drawn up by a water-drawer, sold, and later placed in Kitfr's service.
role_refs:
- role:1
- role:2
- role:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- ev:5
- ev:9
- ev:11
- ev:12
- id: fig:2
name_or_label: Joseph's brothers
description: The brothers who abuse Joseph, remove his garment, deceive Jacob, and
in one interpretation claim and sell Joseph as their slave.
role_refs:
- role:4
- role:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- ev:3
- ev:10
- id: fig:3
name_or_label: Judah
description: Joseph's brother who prevents the others from killing Joseph by invoking
their promise.
role_refs:
- role:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:10
- id: fig:4
name_or_label: Jacob
description: Joseph's father, intended target of the bloodied-garment deception
and later suspicious because the garment is bloody but not torn.
role_refs:
- role:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:7
- id: fig:5
name_or_label: Gabriel
description: Angel who comes to Joseph in the well with revelation and, according
to commentators, clothes him with a garment of paradise.
role_refs:
- role:8
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:6
- id: fig:6
name_or_label: Abraham
description: Earlier recipient of the paradisal garment when thrown into fire by
Nimrod, according to the commentators.
role_refs:
- role:9
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:7
name_or_label: Nimrod
description: Figure who threw Abraham into fire in the commentarial account.
role_refs:
- role:10
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: fig:8
name_or_label: Caravan from Midian to Egypt
description: Traveling company that rests near the well after Joseph is thrown into
it.
role_refs:
- role:11
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:10
- id: fig:9
name_or_label: Malec Ebn Dhr / water-drawer
description: Named by commentators as the man who draws Joseph up from the well.
role_refs:
- role:12
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: fig:10
name_or_label: Kitfr / Itfr / Potiphar
description: Egyptian of great consideration, superintendent of the royal treasury,
and Joseph's master.
role_refs:
- role:13
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
- ev:13
- id: fig:11
name_or_label: Zoleikha / Ral
description: Wife of Kitfr, named in the note as Ral by some and best known as Zoleikha.
role_refs:
- role:14
evidence_refs:
- ev:14
- id: fig:12
name_or_label: John the Baptist
description: Named as a figure who, like Joseph, was favored with divine communication
early.
role_refs:
- role:15
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
- id: fig:13
name_or_label: Jesus
description: Named as a figure who, like Joseph, was favored with divine communication
early.
role_refs:
- role:15
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
roles:
- id: role:1
label: persecuted brother
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Joseph is abused and beaten by his brothers and cast into the well.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- id: role:2
label: recipient of divine communication
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Gabriel comes to Joseph in the well with a revelation, and the note says
Joseph was favored with divine communication early.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
- id: role:3
label: sold youth in Egyptian service
assigned_to:
- fig:1
basis: Joseph is sold for a small price and comes into the service of Kitfr/Potiphar.
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
- ev:12
- id: role:4
label: violent deceivers
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: The brothers beat Joseph, remove his garment, and plan to stain it with blood
to deceive Jacob.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: role:5
label: possible sellers
assigned_to:
- fig:2
basis: One interpretation says the brothers claimed Joseph as their slave and agreed
to sell him to the caravan.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- id: role:6
label: intervening brother
assigned_to:
- fig:3
basis: Judah insists on the promise not to kill Joseph.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- id: role:7
label: deceived father
assigned_to:
- fig:4
basis: Jacob is to be deceived by the bloodied garment but suspects because it is
not torn.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:7
- id: role:8
label: divine messenger and helper
assigned_to:
- fig:5
basis: Gabriel brings revelation and is said to provide Joseph with a paradisal
garment.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:6
- id: role:9
label: earlier garment recipient
assigned_to:
- fig:6
basis: Abraham is said to have been clothed by Gabriel with the same garment when
thrown into fire.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:10
label: persecutor of Abraham
assigned_to:
- fig:7
basis: Nimrod is identified as the one who threw Abraham into the fire.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: role:11
label: traveling company near the well
assigned_to:
- fig:8
basis: The caravan travels from Midian to Egypt and rests near the well.
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- id: role:12
label: rescuer by water-drawing
assigned_to:
- fig:9
basis: The water-drawer lowers a cord by which Joseph is drawn up.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: role:13
label: Egyptian master and official
assigned_to:
- fig:10
basis: Kitfr/Potiphar is described as superintendent of the royal treasury and Joseph's
master.
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
- ev:13
- id: role:14
label: wife of Egyptian master
assigned_to:
- fig:11
basis: The note identifies the wife of Kitfr as Ral or Zoleikha.
evidence_refs:
- ev:14
- id: role:15
label: comparative early recipient of divine communication
assigned_to:
- fig:12
- fig:13
basis: The note says John the Baptist and Jesus also received divine communication
very early.
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
symbols:
- id: sym:1
label: well with water
literal_form: well containing water, with Joseph at the bottom standing on a stone
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:5
- fig:8
- fig:9
taxonomy_refs:
- water
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: sym:2
label: removed and bloodied garment
literal_form: Joseph's inner garment removed and intended to be stained with blood;
later bloody but not torn
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:7
- id: sym:3
label: eleven stars, sun, and moon
literal_form: astral figures invoked mockingly by Joseph's brothers as clothing
and company
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- id: sym:4
label: garment of silk of paradise
literal_form: silk garment of paradise carried by Gabriel, associated with Abraham,
Jacob, and Joseph
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:4
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:5
label: fire of Abraham
literal_form: fire into which Abraham was thrown by Nimrod
associated_figures:
- fig:6
- fig:7
- fig:5
taxonomy_refs:
- fire
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
- id: sym:6
label: cord
literal_form: cord lowered by the water-drawer and grasped by Joseph
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:9
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
- id: sym:7
label: small silver price
literal_form: twenty or twenty-two deficient dirhems, partly counted unfairly
associated_figures:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:8
taxonomy_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:11
scenes:
- id: scene:1
label: Brothers assault Joseph and prepare deception
summary: Joseph's brothers beat him, Judah prevents his killing, they bind him,
remove his garment, and plan to stain it with blood to deceive Jacob.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:3
- fig:4
symbol_refs:
- sym:2
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:2
- id: scene:2
label: Joseph lowered into the well
summary: The brothers mock Joseph with his astral dream imagery, drop him into the
well, and Joseph stands weeping on a stone above the water.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:3
evidence_refs:
- ev:3
- ev:4
- id: scene:3
label: Gabriel's revelation and garment in the well
summary: Gabriel comes to Joseph in the well with revelation; commentators add that
Gabriel clothes him with a paradisal garment connected to Abraham and Jacob.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:4
- fig:5
- fig:6
- fig:7
symbol_refs:
- sym:4
- sym:5
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:6
- id: scene:4
label: Caravan draws Joseph up
summary: A caravan traveling from Midian to Egypt rests near the well, and the water-drawer
draws Joseph up by a cord.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:8
- fig:9
symbol_refs:
- sym:1
- sym:6
evidence_refs:
- ev:8
- ev:9
- id: scene:5
label: Joseph concealed or sold
summary: 'The commentators report alternative explanations: water-drawers conceal
Joseph from the caravan, or Joseph''s brothers claim him as a slave and sell him;
the price is described as small and unfair.'
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:2
- fig:8
symbol_refs:
- sym:7
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:11
- id: scene:6
label: Joseph enters Kitfr's household
summary: Joseph is purchased by the Egyptian Kitfr/Potiphar, a royal treasury official,
and gains his master's good opinion; the wife is identified as Zoleikha or Ral.
figure_refs:
- fig:1
- fig:10
- fig:11
symbol_refs: []
evidence_refs:
- ev:12
- ev:13
- ev:14
candidate_motifs:
- id: motif:1
label: persecuted brother cast into a well and rescued
taxonomy_refs:
- hero_descent
basis: Joseph is beaten by his brothers, cast down into a well, then drawn up by
a water-drawer.
evidence_refs:
- ev:1
- ev:4
- ev:9
confidence: medium
cautions: The taxonomy label 'hero_descent' is used only for the literal downward
casting and subsequent emergence; the passage does not frame it as an underworld
descent.
- id: motif:2
label: bloodied garment as deception of a parent
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: The brothers remove Joseph's garment to stain it with blood and deceive Jacob;
Jacob suspects because it is bloody but not torn.
evidence_refs:
- ev:2
- ev:7
confidence: high
cautions: No available taxonomy reference directly matches this motif.
- id: motif:3
label: divine communication to endangered youth
taxonomy_refs:
- wisdom
basis: Gabriel comes to Joseph in the well with revelation, and the passage stresses
Joseph's early age in receiving divine communication.
evidence_refs:
- ev:4
- ev:5
confidence: medium
cautions: The 'wisdom' taxonomy is broad; the passage specifically concerns revelation
or divine communication rather than a named wisdom quest.
- id: motif:4
label: heavenly garment transmitted across patriarchs
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: Commentators describe a silk garment of paradise brought by Gabriel to Abraham,
descending to Jacob, kept in an amulet, and drawn out for Joseph.
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
confidence: high
cautions: This is explicitly presented as commentarial tradition in the passage.
- id: motif:5
label: sale of a favored youth for a low price
taxonomy_refs:
- departure
basis: Joseph is sold for twenty or twenty-two deficient dirhems after being removed
from the well and taken toward Egypt.
evidence_refs:
- ev:10
- ev:11
confidence: medium
cautions: The taxonomy label 'departure' is broad; the departure is coerced sale
rather than voluntary leaving.
- id: motif:6
label: water-drawing rescue from a well
taxonomy_refs: []
basis: A water-drawer lowers a cord, Joseph grasps it, and he is drawn up from the
well.
evidence_refs:
- ev:9
confidence: high
cautions: No available motif-family reference directly matches the rescue mechanism.
comparison_claims:
- id: claim:1
claim: The note explicitly compares Joseph with John the Baptist and Jesus as figures
favored with divine communication at an early age.
claim_level: same_function
target: early divine communication to Joseph, John the Baptist, and Jesus
evidence_refs:
- ev:5
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: high
limitations: The comparison is limited to the stated feature of early divine communication
and does not imply broader narrative equivalence.
- id: claim:2
claim: The garment of paradise is linked across Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph as the
same sacred object transmitted between patriarchal figures.
claim_level: same_motif
target: transmitted sacred garment associated with Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph
evidence_refs:
- ev:6
counter_evidence_refs: []
confidence: medium
limitations: The passage attributes this to commentators and does not provide the
full surrounding traditions for comparison.
evidence:
- id: ev:1
type: summary
locator: lines 20238-20243
quote_or_summary: Commentators say Joseph's brothers abused and beat him in the
field and would have killed him if Judah had not invoked their promise not to
kill him but to cast him into the well.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:2
type: summary
locator: lines 20243-20246
quote_or_summary: The brothers bind Joseph, remove his inner garment, and plan to
stain it with blood to deceive their father.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:3
type: quote
locator: lines 20246-20249
quote_or_summary: Joseph's brothers say that “the eleven stars and the sun and the
moon might clothe him and keep him company.”
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; short excerpt quoted from supplied passage.
- id: ev:4
type: summary
locator: lines 20249-20253
quote_or_summary: The brothers let Joseph fall to the bottom of the well; there
is water, Joseph stands on a stone weeping, and Gabriel comes with the mentioned
revelation.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:5
type: summary
locator: lines 20254-20257
quote_or_summary: Al Beidwi notes that Joseph, then seventeen, resembled John the
Baptist and Jesus in being favored with divine communication very early.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:6
type: summary
locator: lines 20257-20264
quote_or_summary: Commentators say Gabriel clothed Joseph in the well with a silk
garment of paradise; the garment had been brought to Abraham when Nimrod threw
him into fire, then descended to Jacob, who placed it in an amulet around Joseph's
neck.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:7
type: summary
locator: lines 20268-20270
quote_or_summary: Jacob suspects the report because the garment brought to him is
bloody but not torn.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:8
type: summary
locator: lines 20270-20272
quote_or_summary: A caravan or company traveling from Midian to Egypt rests near
the well three days after Joseph had been thrown into it.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:9
type: summary
locator: lines 20273-20277
quote_or_summary: The water-drawer, named by commentators as Malec Ebn Dhr, lowers
a cord; Joseph takes hold of it and is drawn up.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:10
type: summary
locator: lines 20280-20291
quote_or_summary: Expositors disagree whether the water-drawers concealed Joseph
from the caravan or whether Judah and the brothers found him gone, claimed him
as their slave, and sold him to the caravan.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:11
type: summary
locator: lines 20292-20295
quote_or_summary: The price is described as twenty or twenty-two dirhems, not of
full weight, with unfair counting after one ounce of silver was weighed.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:12
type: summary
locator: lines 20296-20299
quote_or_summary: The Egyptian's name is given as Kitfr or Itfr, a corruption of
Potiphar; he is a man of great consideration and superintendent of the royal treasury.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:13
type: summary
locator: lines 20299-20305
quote_or_summary: Commentators say Joseph entered Kitfr's service at seventeen;
Kitfr had no children and formed a good opinion of Joseph from his countenance,
prudence, and other qualities.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
- id: ev:14
type: summary
locator: lines 20303-20304
quote_or_summary: Kitfr's wife is called Ral by some, but is best known as Zoleikha.
source_text_path: texts/public-domain/islamic/project-gutenberg/koran-sale.md
rights_note: Public domain source; summary generated from supplied passage.
confidence:
extraction: high
motif_candidates: medium
comparison_claims: medium
notes: The passage is largely commentarial notes, with some variant interpretations
explicitly marked. Motif taxonomy matches are cautious where available labels
are broad.
reviewer_status:
status: needs_review
reviewer: ''
reviewed_at: ''
notes: Machine-generated draft from OpenAI Batch; not human-reviewed.
extracted_by: openai_batch:gpt-5.5
extracted_at: '2026-04-28'
notes: |-
Only the supplied passage and metadata were used. Variant commentarial opinions are represented as uncertain or alternative accounts where the passage presents them that way.
batch_run_id=motif-extraction-2026-04-28-high-priority
custom_id=motif_extract:islamic-koran-sale-gutenberg__l20236-l20305
passage_sha256=464b21b2c370bd1d949cbcf70cbd3d8b336f9a8934488b107e6e00d3db5eefe2