The Expositor's Bible: The Book of GenesisDods, Marcus
Religion
The Expositor's Bible: The Book of Genesis
Dods, Marcus
Bible. Genesis -- Commentaries
At length, then, Joseph saw the fulfilment of his dreams within his
reach. The coat of many colours with which his father had paid a
tribute to the princely person and ways of the boy, was now replaced by
the robe of state and the heavy gold necklace which marked him out as
second to Pharaoh. Whatever nerve and self-command and humble dependence
on God his varied experience had wrought in him were all needed when
Pharaoh took his hand and placed his own ring on it, thus transferring
all his authority to him, and when turning from the king he received the
acclamations of the court and the people, bowed to by his old masters,
and acknowledged the superior of all the dignitaries and potentates of
Egypt. Only once besides, so far as the Egyptian inscriptions have yet
been deciphered, does it appear that any subject was raised to be Regent
or Viceroy with similar powers. Joseph is, as far as possible,
naturalised as an Egyptian. He receives a name easier of pronunciation
than his own, at least to Egyptian tongues--Zaphnath-Paaneah, which,
however, was perhaps only an official title meaning "Governor of the
district of the place of life," the name by which one of the Egyptian
counties or states was known. The king crowned his liberality and
completed the process of naturalisation by providing him with a wife,
Asenath, the daughter of Potipherah, priest of On. This city was not far
from Avaris or Haouar, where Joseph's Pharaoh, Ra-apepi II., at this
time resided. The worship of the sun-god, Ra, had its centre at On (or
Heliopolis, as it was called by the Greeks), and the priests of On took
precedence of all Egyptian priests. Joseph was thus connected with one
of the most influential families in the land, and if he had any scruples
about marrying into an idolatrous family, they were too insignificant to
influence his conduct, or leave any trace in the narrative.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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