EXPLORE IT - Genesis 41:41-57

What’s in a name?  In our passage this week, Genesis 41:41-57, we read about several names.  After Joseph is elevated to second in command over all of Egypt, Pharaoh gives him a new name, Zaphenath-paneah.  This meaning behind this Egyptian name is debated.  Some believe it should translate “God speaks and he lives” while other believe “The god has said: he will live” is a better translation.  Other possibilities include, “the man who knows things,” “the sustainer of life,” “sustenance of the land is the living,” or “(Joseph) who is called Ip-apyanekh.”[1]  The narrator of our story does not give a translation, so we are left wondering.  We do recognize this new Egyptian name gives Joseph a sense of authentic authority in the land of Egypt.

Joseph is given an Egyptian wife, Asenath, “belonging to (the goddess) Neith” or “may she belong to Neith.”[2]  After attempting to “Egypt-ify” Joseph, when it is time to name his own sons, he chooses Hebrew names.  In naming his first son Mannasseh, “God has made me forget,” encourages us to believe that Joseph has put all of the oppression and unhappiness behind him.  We are to believe that the old has gone and a new era has begun.  The name Ephraim, his second son, means fruitfulness.  This fruitfulness is not just in reference to the blessing of a son, we are to also see this fruitfulness include the opportunity to be a part of the survival of Egypt.[3]

Through the naming of Mannasseh and Ephraim, we see God’s faithfulness in not only being with us as we go through the storms of life, we are also able to see the blessings and fruitfulness God places in our lives as we let go of past storms.  God is with us, He goes through struggles and trials with us, and He helps us to grow stronger as we come out on the other side.

“The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their cry; the face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” (Psalm 34:15-18)

Blessings,
Pastor Amy

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[1] Hamilton, Victor P. The New International Commentary on the Old Testament. Vols. The Book of Genesis Chapters 18-50. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1995. 508. 

[2] Ibid. 508.

[3] Ibid. 512.