Genesis 14:18

14:18 Melchizedek king of Salem ¹  brought out bread and wine. (Now he was the priest of the Most High God.) ² 

Genesis 41:50

41:50 Two sons were born to Joseph before the famine came. ³  Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, was their mother. ⁴ 

Genesis 46:20

46:20 Manasseh and Ephraim were born to Joseph in the land of Egypt. Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, ⁵  bore them to him.

Genesis 41:45

41:45 Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-Paneah. ⁶  He also gave him Asenath ⁷  daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, ⁸  to be his wife. So Joseph took charge of ⁹  all the land of Egypt.

¹ sn Salem is traditionally identified as the Jebusite stronghold of old Jerusalem. Accordingly, there has been much speculation about its king. Though some have identified him with the preincarnate Christ or with Noah’s son Shem, it is far more likely that Melchizedek was a Canaanite royal priest whom God used to renew the promise of the blessing to Abram, perhaps because Abram considered Melchizedek his spiritual superior. But Melchizedek remains an enigma. In a book filled with genealogical records he appears on the scene without a genealogy and then disappears from the narrative. In Psalm 110 the Lord declares that the Davidic king is a royal priest after the pattern of Melchizedek.

² tn The parenthetical disjunctive clause significantly identifies Melchizedek as a priest as well as a king.

³ tn Heb “before the year of the famine came.”

⁴ tn Heb “gave birth for him.”

⁵ sn On is another name for the city of Heliopolis.

⁷ sn The meaning of Joseph’s Egyptian name, Zaphenath-Paneah, is uncertain. Many recent commentators have followed the proposal of G. Steindorff that it means “the god has said, ‘he will live’” (“Der Name Josephs Saphenat-Pa‘neach,” ZÄS 31 [1889]: 41-42); others have suggested “the god speaks and lives” (see BDB 861 s.v. צָפְנָת פַּעְנֵחַ); “the man he knows” (J. Vergote, Joseph en Égypte, 145); or “Joseph [who is called] áIp-àankh” (K. A. Kitchen, NBD³ 1262).

⁸ sn The name Asenath may mean “she belongs to the goddess Neit” (see HALOT 74 s.v. אָֽסְנַת). A novel was written at the beginning of the first century entitled Joseph and Asenath, which included a legendary account of the conversion of Asenath to Joseph’s faith in Yahweh. However, all that can be determined from this chapter is that their children received Hebrew names. See also V. Aptowitzer, “Asenath, the Wife of Joseph – a Haggadic Literary-Historical Study,” HUCA 1 (1924): 239-306.

⁹ sn On (also in v. 50) is another name for the city of Heliopolis.

¹⁰ tn Heb “and he passed through.”