Genesis 41:37-57
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
37 This advice pleased Pharaoh and all his servants.(A) 38 “Could we find another like him,” Pharaoh asked his servants, “a man so endowed with the spirit of God?” 39 So Pharaoh said to Joseph: “Since God has made all this known to you, there is no one as discerning and wise as you are. 40 You shall be in charge of my household, and all my people will obey your command. Only in respect to the throne will I outrank you.”(B) 41 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Look, I put you in charge of the whole land of Egypt.” 42 With that, Pharaoh took off his signet ring[a] and put it on Joseph’s finger. He dressed him in robes of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. 43 He then had him ride in his second chariot, and they shouted “Abrek!”[b] before him.
Thus was Joseph installed over the whole land of Egypt. 44 “I am Pharaoh,” he told Joseph, “but without your approval no one shall lift hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.” 45 Pharaoh also bestowed the name of Zaphenath-paneah[c] on Joseph, and he gave him in marriage Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of Heliopolis. And Joseph went out over the land of Egypt. 46 Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.
After Joseph left Pharaoh, he went throughout the land of Egypt. 47 During the seven years of plenty, when the land produced abundant crops, 48 he collected all the food of these years of plenty that the land of Egypt was enjoying and stored it in the cities, placing in each city the crops of the fields around it. 49 Joseph collected grain like the sands of the sea, so much that at last he stopped measuring it, for it was beyond measure.
50 Before the famine years set in, Joseph became the father of two sons, borne to him by Asenath, daughter of Potiphera, priest of Heliopolis.(C) 51 Joseph named his firstborn Manasseh,[d] meaning, “God has made me forget entirely my troubles and my father’s house”; 52 and the second he named Ephraim,[e] meaning, “God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”
53 When the seven years of abundance enjoyed by the land of Egypt came to an end, 54 the seven years of famine set in, just as Joseph had said. Although there was famine in all the other countries, food was available throughout the land of Egypt.(D) 55 When all the land of Egypt became hungry and the people cried to Pharaoh for food, Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians: “Go to Joseph and do whatever he tells you.” 56 When the famine had spread throughout the land, Joseph opened all the cities that had grain and rationed it to the Egyptians, since the famine had gripped the land of Egypt. 57 Indeed, the whole world came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, for famine had gripped the whole world.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 41:42 Signet ring: a finger ring in which was set a stamp seal, different from the cylinder seal such as Judah wore; see note on 38:18. By receiving Pharaoh’s signet ring, Joseph was made vizier of Egypt (v. 43); the vizier was known as “seal-bearer of the king of Lower Egypt.” The gold chain was a symbol of high office in ancient Egypt.
- 41:43 Abrek: apparently a cry of homage, though the word’s derivation and actual meaning are uncertain.
- 41:45 Zaphenath-paneah: a Hebrew transcription of an Egyptian name meaning “the god speaks and he (the newborn child) lives.” Asenath: means “belonging to (the Egyptian goddess) Neith.” Potiphera: means “he whom Ra (the Egyptian god) gave”; a shorter form of the same name was borne by Joseph’s master (37:36). Heliopolis: in Hebrew, On, a city seven miles northeast of modern Cairo, site of the chief temple of the sun god; it is mentioned also in v. 50; 46:20; Ez 30:17.
- 41:51 Manasseh: an allusion to this name is in the Hebrew expression, nishshani, “he made me forget.”
- 41:52 Ephraim: related to the Hebrew expression hiphrani, “(God) has made me fruitful.” The name originally meant something like “fertile land.”
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.