Genesis 41:45-49

41:45 Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-Paneah. ¹  He also gave him Asenath ²  daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, ³  to be his wife. So Joseph took charge of ⁴  all the land of Egypt.

41:46 Now Joseph was 30 years old ⁵  when he began serving ⁶  Pharaoh king of Egypt. Joseph was commissioned by ⁷  Pharaoh and was in charge of ⁸  all the land of Egypt. 41:47 During the seven years of abundance the land produced large, bountiful harvests. ⁹  41:48 Joseph ¹⁰  collected all the excess food ¹¹  in the land of Egypt during the seven years and stored it in the cities. ¹²  In every city he put the food gathered from the fields around it. 41:49 Joseph stored up a vast amount of grain, like the sand of the sea, ¹³  until he stopped measuring it because it was impossible to measure.

[41:45]  ¹ 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).

[41:45]  ² 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.

[41:45]  ³ sn On (also in v. 50) is another name for the city of Heliopolis.

[41:45]  ⁴ tn Heb “and he passed through.”

[41:46]  ⁵ tn Heb “a son of thirty years.”

[41:46]  ⁶ tn Heb “when he stood before.”

[41:46]  ⁷ tn Heb “went out from before.”

[41:46]  ⁸ tn Heb “and he passed through all the land of Egypt”; this phrase is interpreted by JPS to mean that Joseph “emerged in charge of the whole land.”

[41:47]  ⁹ tn Heb “brought forth by handfuls.”

[41:48]  ¹³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[41:48]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “all the food.”

[41:48]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt and placed food in the cities.”

[41:49]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and Joseph gathered grain like the sand of the sea, multiplying much.” To emphasize the vast amount of grain he stored up, the Hebrew text modifies the verb “gathered” with an infinitive absolute and an adverb.