יוֹסֵף“Joseph”יוֹסֵף (yoseph) is the ordinary spelling of the name Joseph and the form used almost everywhere in the Hebrew Bible: for the son Rachel bore to Jacob, for four lesser men who share the name, and later for the whole northern branch of Israel descended from him. The name is built on the verb meaning "to add," so it reads as a prayer or a promise, "may he add" or "he adds." One line of the Psalms spells the very same name יְהוֹסֵף (yehoseph), a longer form that tucks a short form of God's own name into the front of it. That longer spelling names the same figure and carries the same sense, so yoseph is the form this study follows.