Today’s Bible Translation

Bible translation used in today’s episode: Ch. 40-41 NIV, Ch. 42-43 ERV

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Thoughts

I’ve read these chapters many times, but never gave a lot of thought to a certain part of the gifts that Pharaoh gave to Joseph when Joseph interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams. Can you guess what part I’m talking about?

I never thought about the fact that Pharaoh gave Joseph a wife. But this woman was not just any woman. Her name was Asenath (AS-un-nath), and she was the daughter of Potiphera (puh-TI-fuh-ruh), priest of On. 

So let’s look at this. What was On? On was a city located about ten miles northeast of what is today the city of Cairo. On was also known as Helipolis (HEE-lee-AHP-uh-lis), or “The City of the Sun”. It was the capital of the worship of the sun god, Ra. 

Joseph’s new father-in-law, Potiphera, was the high priest of On, and his title was “Greatest of Seers”. 

So Joseph married into a very important family, befitting his new position in Pharaoh’s kingdom. And Pharaoh chose this family for a second reason. In making Joseph part of this family, he was showing that he believed that Joseph was also a “seer”, or prophet equal to, or even greater than On’s priest.

You might question the marriage between one of God’s people and someone with a foreign background, especially one with a false God. 

Remember that Joseph had no choice in the matter. He was, in fact, still a subject of Pharaoh. The fact that God did not hold this against Joseph, I believe, is shown in that the two sons borne of the marriage, Manasseh and Ephraim, became two of the tribes of Israel. 

So I hope you found this as interesting as I did as I did the research.