Gen 41:45 | KD | STEP | But in order that Joseph might be perfectly naturalized, the king gave him an Egyptian name, Zaphnath-Paaneah , and married him to Asenath , the daughter of Potipherah , the priest at On . The name Zaphnath-Paaneah (a form adapted to the Hebrew, for Ψονθομφανήχ lxx; according to a Greek scholium, σωτὴρ κόσμον, “ salvator mundi ” ( Jerome ), answers to the Coptic P-sote-m-ph-eneh , - P the article, sote salvation, m the sign of the genitive, ph the article, and eneh the world (lit., aetas , seculum ); or perhaps more correctly, according to Rosellini and more recent Egyptologists, to the Coptic P-sont-em-ph-anh , i.e., sustentator vitae , support or sustainer of life, with reference to the call entrusted to him by God. Asenath , Ἀσενέθ (lxx), possibly connected with the name Neith , the Egyptian Pallas . Poti-Phera , Πετεφρῆ (lxx), a Coptic name signifying ille qui solis est , consecrated to the sun (φρη with the aspirated article signifies the sun in Memphitic). On was the popular name for Heliopolis (Ἡλιούπολις, lxx), and according to Cyrill. Alex . and Hos 5:8 signifies the sun ; whilst the name upon the monuments is ta-Râ or pa-Râ , house of the sun ( Brugsch , Reisebericht , p. 50). From a very early date there was a celebrated temple of the sun here, with a learned priesthood, which held the first place among the priests’ colleges of Egypt ( Herod . 2, 3; Hengst . pp. 32ff.). This promotion of Joseph, from the position of a Hebrew slave pining in prison to the highest post of honour in the Egyptian kingdom, is perfectly conceivable, on the one hand, from the great importance attached in ancient times to the interpretation of dreams and to all occult science, especially among the Egyptians, and on the other hand, from the despotic form of government in the East; but the miraculous power of God is to be seen in the fact, that God endowed Joseph with the gift of infallible interpretation, and so ordered the circumstances that this gift opened the way for him to occupy that position in which he became the preserver, not of Egypt alone, but of his own family also. And the same hand of God, by which he had been so highly exalted after deep degradation, preserved him in his lofty post of honour from sinking into the heathenism of Egypt; although, by his alliance with the daughter of a priest of the sun, the most distinguished caste in the land, he had fully entered into the national associations and customs of the land.

‏ Genesis 41:45

But in order that Joseph might be perfectly naturalized, the king gave him an Egyptian name, Zaphnath-Paaneah, and married him to Asenath, the daughter of Potipherah, the priest at On. The name Zaphnath-Paaneah (a form adapted to the Hebrew, for Ψονθομφανήχ lxx; according to a Greek scholium, σωτὴρ κόσμον, “salvator mundi” (Jerome), answers to the Coptic P-sote-m-ph-eneh, - P the article, sote salvation, m the sign of the genitive, ph the article, and eneh the world (lit., aetas, seculum); or perhaps more correctly, according to Rosellini and more recent Egyptologists, to the Coptic P-sont-em-ph-anh, i.e., sustentator vitae, support or sustainer of life, with reference to the call entrusted to him by God. ^{▼▼Luther in his version, “privy councillor,” follows the rabbinical explanation, which was already to be found in Josephus (Ant. ii. 6, 1): κρυπτῶν εὑρετής, from צפנת = צפנות occulta, and פענח revelator.}Asenath, Ἀσενέθ (lxx), possibly connected with the name Neith, the Egyptian Pallas. Poti-Phera, Πετεφρῆ (lxx), a Coptic name signifying ille qui solis est, consecrated to the sun (φρη with the aspirated article signifies the sun in Memphitic). On was the popular name for Heliopolis (Ἡλιούπολις, lxx), and according to Cyrill. Alex. and Hos 5:8 signifies the sun; whilst the name upon the monuments is ta-Râ or pa-Râ, house of the sun (Brugsch, Reisebericht, p. 50). From a very early date there was a celebrated temple of the sun here, with a learned priesthood, which held the first place among the priests’ colleges of Egypt (Herod. 2, 3; Hengst. pp. 32ff.). This promotion of Joseph, from the position of a Hebrew slave pining in prison to the highest post of honour in the Egyptian kingdom, is perfectly conceivable, on the one hand, from the great importance attached in ancient times to the interpretation of dreams and to all occult science, especially among the Egyptians, and on the other hand, from the despotic form of government in the East; but the miraculous power of God is to be seen in the fact, that God endowed Joseph with the gift of infallible interpretation, and so ordered the circumstances that this gift opened the way for him to occupy that position in which he became the preserver, not of Egypt alone, but of his own family also. And the same hand of God, by which he had been so highly exalted after deep degradation, preserved him in his lofty post of honour from sinking into the heathenism of Egypt; although, by his alliance with the daughter of a priest of the sun, the most distinguished caste in the land, he had fully entered into the national associations and customs of the land.