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1. Who were the priests of On?
Question: "Who were the priests of On? Was Joseph wrong to marry the daughter of a pagan priest (Genesis 41)?"
Answer: In Genesis 41, we read that Joseph married the daughter of the priest of On. Verse 45 says, “Pharaoh . . . gave [Joseph] Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, to be his wife.” This seems to go against the Old Testament directive not to intermarry with pagans (Nehemiah 13:27). Was Joseph sinfully embracing Egyptian culture? Or is there more to the story?
First, it is clear that Joseph was “given” a wife by Pharaoh. Joseph had just come from prison to interpret a prophetic dream for Pharaoh. When the dream was interpreted, the king honored Joseph with a high-ranking office in Egypt and placed him in charge of preparing for a future famine. Joseph’s rewards included a new position, a new Egyptian name (“Zaphenath-Paneah”), and an Egyptian wife. Joseph was not given a choice regarding whether to take Asenath as his wife.
Second, God permitted Joseph to take this wife. Through Asenath, Joseph had two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, who became two tribes in Israel. The two tribes from Joseph meant that the Levites could serve as priests and spiritual leaders and not be given a tribal land. Thus, there were still only 12 portions of inherited land in Israel.
Third, God used this marriage to strengthen Joseph’s new position as a national leader. The city of On was also known as Heliopolis, “The City of the Sun.” It was the center of worship of the sun god, Ra, and was located 10 miles northeast of modern Cairo. The high priest in On held the title of “Greatest of Seers.” When Joseph married into this family, he joined a social class befitting a national leader. Also implied in the marriage arrangement was Pharaoh’s confidence that Joseph, too, was a “seer,” or prophet, of the highest caliber.
Certainly, the Bible teaches separation from the world and that Christians are to marry a believing spouse (1 Corinthians 7). However, Joseph’s situation did not allow for this choice. Instead, God used this situation to accomplish His will in ways Joseph could not understand at the time.
When a Christian today is married to an unbelieving spouse, the New Testament encourages him or her to remain in the marriage unless the spouse leaves (or, if they do divorce, to stay unmarried): “To the married I give this charge (not I, but the Lord): the wife should not separate from her husband (but if she does, she should remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband), and the husband should not divorce his wife” (1 Corinthians 7:10-11). The Bible speaks elsewhere regarding the issue of adultery or sexual immorality as grounds for divorce (Matthew 5:32). The death of a spouse also allows the opportunity for remarriage to another believer (1 Corinthians 7:39).
Joseph did not sin by taking Asenath as his wife. He was given no choice in the matter. Further, the Old Testament Law had not been given, and the New Testament teachings regarding marriage did not yet exist. In addition, God worked through Joseph’s marriage to serve as a blessing to many and to become an important part of the history of God’s people.
Recommended Resource: Genesis - NIV Application Commentary by John Walton
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Related Topics:
Who was Joseph in the Bible?
Why did Jacob give Joseph a coat of many colors?
Why did Pharaoh give Joseph so much power?
What are the twelve tribes of Israel?
Why did God command Abraham to sacrifice Isaac?
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2. Zaphnathpaaneah-사브낫바네아?
Zaphnath-Paaneah
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This article is about the biblical phrase. For the supercommentary to Ibn Ezra, see Joseph ben Eliezer Bonfils.
Joseph interpreting the dreams of the baker and the cupbearer, by Benjamin Cuyp, c. 1630
Zaphnath-Paaneah (Hebrew צָפְנַת פַּעְנֵחַ Ṣāfnaṯ Paʿnēaḫ, LXX Ψονθομφανήχ Psonthomphanḗch) is the name given by Pharaoh to Joseph in the Genesis narrative (Genesis 41:45). The name may be "Egyptian", but there is no straightforward etymology; some Egyptologists accept that the second element of the name may contain the word ˁnḫ "life".
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Interpretations[edit]
*(ḏd pꜣ-nṯr jw.f ꜥnḫ)"God speaks and he lives"in hieroglyphs
Targum Onkelos (1st century AD) gives the meaning of the name as "the man to whom mysteries are revealed"; Targum Pseudo-Jonathan, "one who reveals mysteries"; Josephus[1] (c. AD 94), "a finder of mysteries". The Jewish interpretation is received in early Protestant translations: the Geneva Bible (1599) glosses "The expounder of secrets",[2] while the Authorised Version of 1611 has in the margin: "Which in the Coptic signifies, 'A revealer of secrets', or 'The man to whom secrets are revealed.'"
In his work on Genesis, Jerome gives as the Latin translation salvator mundi "saviour of the world".[3] This Christian interpretation (reinforcing the ancient concept of Joseph as a prefiguration of Christ) is influenced by the Greek form of the name, Ψονθομφανήχ Psonthom-phanêkh and Ψομθομφανήχ Psomthom-phanêkh in the Septuagint and the Hexaplaric version, respectively. This, at least, is the suggestion made by Wilhelm Gesenius in his Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon.[4] Early Egyptologists have interpreted the name as equivalent to Coptic ⲡⲥⲟⲧⲙ ⲫⲉⲛⲉϩ, psotm peneh meaning "salvation of the age"[5]
After the decipherment of hieroglyphics, Egyptologists have interpreted the final element of the name (-ʿnêaḫ, -anêkh) as containing the Egyptian word ꜥnḫ "life"; notably, Georg Steindorff in 1889 offered a full reconstruction of ḏd pꜣ nṯr iw.f ꜥnḫ "the god speaks [and] he lives" (Middle Egyptian pronunciation: ṣa pīr nata yuVf[n 1] anaḫ).[6] This interpretation is philologically plausible and has since become somewhat popular.[citation needed] Egyptologist Patrick Clarke, however, has pointed out this interpretation's shortcomings; namely, this name-type is unattested prior to the 11th century BC (Joseph lived much earlier), and, this name type "always mentioned a specific deity, never ‘the god’".[7]
References[edit]
- ^ Antiquities ii.6.1
- ^ .mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:linear-gradient(transparent,transparent),url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:linear-gradient(transparent,transparent),url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:linear-gradient(transparent,transparent),url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:linear-gradient(transparent,transparent),url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit} "Genesis 41:45 GNV - And Pharaoh called Joseph's name". Bible Gateway. Retrieved 2015-08-30.
- ^ Jerome, Liber Hebraicarum Quaestionum in Genesim, LXI:45. (Migne, J. P. (ed.) Sancti Eusebii Hieronymi Stridonensis presbyteri Opera omnia, Patrologia Latini vol. 23, Paris: 1845, pp. 998.)
- ^ "The genuine Egyptian form of the word appears to be more accurately given by the LXX."[1]
- ^ where ⲡ is the article, ⲥⲟⲧ is "salvation" (loaned from Greek soter) and ⲫⲉⲛⲉϩ is "aion, age" (Gesenius). This interpretation goes back to the Glossarium Aegyptiacum by Jablonski (published 1809). The Asiatic Journal. Parbury, Allen, and Company. 1837-01-01."Coptic Dictionary Online". corpling.uis.georgetown.edu. Retrieved 2017-03-16.
- ^ "Zeitschrift für Ägyptische Sprache," xxvii. 42, modifying Krall's etymology in "Trans. 7th Orientalist. Congr." p. 110
- ^ "One very popular idea that Joseph was some kind of ‘revealer of godly secrets’ (Dje(d)-Pa-Nute(r)-(‘e)f-ankh) was first postulated by Steindorff over a century ago. This name-type has been attested by scholarship as occurring between the 11th–6th centuries BC but not during the time of Joseph, which in both the conventional and the biblical chronology was considerably earlier. What Steindorff did not know at that time was that his Ḏdp3nṯrfanḫ ???????? always mentioned a specific deity, never ‘the god’."Patrick Clarke (2013-12-01). "Joseph's Zaphenath Paaneah—a chronological key" (PDF). Creation Ministries International.
사브낫바네아라는 이름은 이집트 언어이다. 파라오가 요셉에게 준 이름으로서, 창조자 즉, 생명이 구원자를 의미한다.
도는 비밀의 계시자, 비밀이 드러나는 사람 등으로 해석한다.
특히 국제표준성경백과에서는 생명의 영양을 제공하는 자 등으로 해석하고 있다.