Kejadian 41:41-45

41:41 “See here,” Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I place ¹  you in authority over all the land of Egypt.” ²  41:42 Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his own hand and put it on Joseph’s. He clothed him with fine linen ³  clothes and put a gold chain around his neck. 41:43 Pharaoh ⁴  had him ride in the chariot used by his second-in-command, ⁵  and they cried out before him, “Kneel down!” ⁶  So he placed him over all the land of Egypt. 41:44 Pharaoh also said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, but without your permission ⁷  no one ⁸  will move his hand or his foot ⁹  in all the land of Egypt.” 41:45 Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-Paneah. ¹⁰  He also gave him Asenath ¹¹  daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, ¹²  to be his wife. So Joseph took charge of ¹³  all the land of Egypt.

[41:41]  ¹ tn The translation assumes that the perfect verbal form is descriptive of a present action. Another option is to understand it as rhetorical, in which case Pharaoh describes a still future action as if it had already occurred in order to emphasize its certainty. In this case one could translate “I have placed” or “I will place.” The verb נָתַן (natan) is translated here as “to place in authority [over].”

[41:41]  ² sn Joseph became the grand vizier of the land of Egypt. See W. A. Ward, “The Egyptian Office of Joseph,” JSS 5 (1960): 144-50; and R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 129-31.

[41:42]  ³ tn The Hebrew word שֵׁשׁ (shesh) is an Egyptian loanword that describes the fine linen robes that Egyptian royalty wore. The clothing signified Joseph’s rank.

[41:43]  ⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Pharaoh) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[41:43]  ⁵ tn Heb “and he caused him to ride in the second chariot which was his.”

[41:43]  ⁶ tn The verb form appears to be a causative imperative from a verbal root meaning “to kneel.” It is a homonym of the word “bless” (identical in root letters but not related etymologically).

[41:44]  ⁷ tn Heb “apart from you.”

[41:44]  ⁸ tn Heb “no man,” but here “man” is generic, referring to people in general.

[41:44]  ⁹ tn The idiom “lift up hand or foot” means “take any action” here.

[41:45]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² sn On (also in v. 50) is another name for the city of Heliopolis.

[41:45]  ¹³ tn Heb “and he passed through.”