Genesis 41:45 - Exposition

And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphnath-paaneah ;—an Egyptian word, of which the most accredited interpretations are χονθομφανήχ ( LXX ); Salvator Mundi (Vulgate); "the Salvation of the World," answering to the Coptic P -sote-m-ph-eneh— P the article, sots salvation, m the sign of the genitive, ph the article, and eneh the world (Furst, Jablonsky, Rosellini, and others); "the Rescuer of the World" (Gesenius); "the Prince of the Life of the World" (Brugsch); "the Food of Life," or "the Food of the Living" (Canon Cook in 'Speaker's Commentary')— and he gave him to wife —cf. the act of Rhampsinitus, who gave his daughter in marriage to the son of an architect on account of his cleverness (Herod; 2.121)— Asenath —another Egyptian term, rendered Ἁσενέθ ( LXX .), and explained by Egyptologers to mean, "She who is of Neith, i.e. the Minerva of the Egyptians" (Gesenius, Furst), "the Worshipper of Neith" (Jablousky), "the Favorite of Neith" (Canon Cook in 'Speaker's Commentary'), though by some authorities regarded as Hebrew (Pools in Smith's ' Dictionary,' art. Joseph)— the daughter of Potipherah —Potipherah ("devoted to the sun")—Potiphar ( vide Genesis 39:1 ). The name is very common on Egyptian monuments— priest —or prince (Onkelos.), as in 2 Samuel 8:18 , where the word כֹּהֵן , as explained by 1 Chronicles 18:17 , means a principal minister of State, though the probability is that Poti-pherah belonged to the priestly caste in Egypt— of On —or Heliopolis, Ἡλιούπολις ( LXX .), the name on the monuments being ta-Ra or pa-Ra, house of the sun. "The site of Heliopolis is still marked by the massive walls that surround it, and by a granite obelisk bearing the name of Osirtasen I ; of the twelfth dynasty, dating about 3900 years ago". The priests attached to the temple of the sun at Heliopolis enjoyed the reputation of being the most intelligent and cultured historians in Egypt (Herod; 2.3). That a priest's daughter should have married with a foreign shepherd may, have been distasteful to the prejudices of an intolerant priesthood (Bohlen), but in the case of Asenath and Joseph it was recommended by sundry powerful considerations.

1. Though a foreign shepherd, Joseph was a descendant of Abraham, whom a former Pharaoh had recognized and honored as a prince, and ' The Story of Saneha,' a hieratic papyrus belonging to the twelfth dynasty, shows that Eastern foreigners might even become sons-in-law to the most powerful potentates under the ancient empire.

2. Though a foreign shepherd, Joseph was at this time grand vizier of the realm, with absolute control of the lives and fortunes of its people ( vide verse 44).

3. Though a foreign shepherd, he was obviously a favorite of Pharaoh, who, besides being monarch of the realm, was the recognized head of the priestly caste, over whom, therefore, he exercised more than a merely external authority.

4. Though a foreign shepherd Joseph had become a naturalized Egyptian, as may be gathered from Genesis 43:32 . And,

5. Though a foreign shepherd, he was circumcised, which, if this rite was already observed in Egypt, and did not originate with Joseph, would certainly not prove a bar to the contemplated alliance. As to the probability of Joseph consenting to become son-in-law to a heathen priest, it may suffice to remember that though marriage with idolaters was expressly forbidden by patriarchal commandment ( Genesis 24:3 ; Genesis 28:1 ), and afterwards by Mosaic statute ( Genesis 34:16 ; Deuteronomy 7:3 ), it was sometimes contracted for what seemed a perfectly adequate reason, viz; the furtherance of the Divine purposes concerning Israel, and apparently too with the Divine sanction (cf. the cases of Moses, Exodus 2:21 , and Esther, Genesis 2:16 ); that Joseph may have deemed the religion of Egypt, especially in its early symbolical forms, as perfectly compatible with a pure monotheistic worship, or, if he judged it idolatrous, he may both have secured for himself complete toleration and have felt himself strong enough to resist its seductions; that Asenath may have adopted her husband's faith, though on this, of course, nothing can be affirmed; and lastly, that the narrator of this history pronounces no judgment on the moral quality of Joseph's conduct in consenting to this alliance, which, though overruled for good, may have been, considered in itself, a sin. And Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt in the discharge of his vice-regal duties.