CHAPTER XLI.

_Joseph becomes Viceroy of Egypt_ (Jehovist, Priestly-Code).

Two years after the events of chapter 40, the king of Egypt has a wonderful double dream, which none of his magicians is able to interpret (¹⁻⁸). The chief butler is naturally reminded of his own experience, and mentions Joseph, who is forthwith summoned into the royal presence (⁹⁻¹⁴). Having interpreted the dreams as a prophecy of a great famine (¹⁵⁻³²), Joseph adds some sage advice on the right way to cope with the emergency (³³⁻³⁶); and Pharaoh is so impressed by his sagacity that he entrusts him with the execution of the scheme, and makes him absolute ruler of Egypt (³⁷⁻⁴⁶). In pursuance of the policy he had foreshadowed, Joseph stores the surplus of seven years of plenty, and sells it during the subsequent famine (⁴⁷⁻⁵).

_Analysis._――The connexion of this chapter with the preceding appears from ¹ᵃ and ⁹⁻¹³: note שר המשקים‎, ש׳ האפים‎, ש׳ הטבחים‎, משמר‎, ‎ קצף‎ (40²); Joseph the servant of the ש׳ הט׳‎; the officers confined in his ‘house’; Joseph ‘with them’ (¹⁰, compare 40³ᐧ ⁴); and compare ¹¹ with 40⁵. In the first half of the chapter there is no sufficient reason to suspect a second source except in ¹⁴ᵇ (Yahwist); the repetitions and slight variations are not greater than can be readily explained by a desire for variety in the elaboration of detail. The whole of this section (¹⁻²⁸) may therefore be safely assigned to Elohist (compare ואין־פותר אותם‎, ‎ ⁸, ופתר אין אתו‎, ¹⁵ with 40⁸ᵃ; ¹⁶ with 40⁸ᵇ).――In the second half, however, there are slight diversities of expression and representation which show that a parallel narrative (Yahwist) has been freely utilised. Thus, in ³³ Joseph recommends the appointment of a single dictator, in ³⁴ the appointment of ‘overseers’; in ³⁴ a _fifth part_ is to be stored, in ³⁵ᐧ ⁴⁸ _all_ the corn of the good years; in ³⁵ᵇ{α} the collection is to be centralised under the royal authority, in ᵇ{β} localised in the different cities; צבד בר‎ alternates with קבץ אכל‎ (³⁵ᵇ{α}ᐧ ⁴⁹ ‎ ∥ ³⁵ᵃᐧ ⁴⁸). Further, ³⁸ seems ∥ ³⁹; ⁴¹ ∥ ⁴⁴; and ⁴⁵ᵇ ∥ ⁴⁶ᵇ; ⁴⁵ᵃ פוטי ‎ פרע‎ = פוטיפר‎ can hardly be from Elohist, who has employed the name for another person (37³⁶). Some of these differences may, no doubt, prove to be illusory; but taken cumulatively they suffice to prove that the passage is composite, although a satisfactory analysis cannot be given. For details, see the notes below; and consult Holzinger 234; Gunkel 380 f.; Procksch 43 f.――⁴⁶ᵃ is from Priestly-Code, and ⁵⁰ᵇ is a gloss.

=1‒8. Pharaoh’s dreams.=――=2.= _from the Nile_ (_v.i._)] the source of Egypt’s fertility (Erman, _Life in Ancient Egypt_, 425 ff.), worshipped as ‘the father of the gods,’ and at times identified with Osiris or Amon-re (Erman, _A Handbook of Egyptian Religion_, 14 f., 80 ff.).――_seven cows, etc._] “According to Diodorus Siculus i. 51, the male ox is the symbol of the Nile, and sacred to Osiris, the inventor of agriculture (_ib._ i. 21).... The Osiris-steer often appears accompanied by _seven cows_, e.g. on the vignettes of the old and new Book of the Dead” (_Das Alte Testament im Lichte des alten Orients_², 389).――=4.= The devouring of one set of cows by the other is a fantastic but suggestive feature of the dream; the symbolism is almost transparent.――=5‒7.= The second dream is, if possible, more fantastic and at the same time more explicit.――=6.= _blasted with the east-wind_ (LXX ἀνεμόφθοροι)] the dreaded sirocco or, _Ḥamsīn_, which blows from the South-east from February to June, destroying vegetation, and even killing the seed-corn in the clods (Ebers, 340; Erman, _Life in Ancient Egypt_, 9; Smith, _Historical Geography of the Holy Land_, 67 ff.).――=8.= _all the magicians and wise men of Egypt_] The possessors of occult knowledge of all sorts, including the interpretation of dreams (see page 461); compare Tacitus, _Histories_ iv. 83: “Ptolemæus ... sacerdotibus Ægyptiorum, quibus mos talia intellegere, nocturnos visus aperit”; see Ebers, 341‒349. The motive――the confutation of heathen magic by a representative of the true religion――is repeated in the histories of Moses (Exodus 7‒9) and Daniel (chapters 2. 5); compare Isaiah 47¹² etc.

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‎ =1.= ופרעה חלם‎] Participial clause as apodosis; see Driver _A Treatise on the use of the Tenses in Hebrew_ § 78 (3).――היאר‎] An Egyptian loan-word (_’iotr_, _’io’r_ = ‘stream’), used in Old Testament of the Nile and its canals (except Isaiah 33²¹, Job 28¹⁰, Daniel 12⁵ ᶠᶠᐧ); found also in Assyrian in the form _ya’aru_. See Ebers, 337 f.; Steindorff, _BA_, i. 612 (compare ‎ 171).――=2.= אחו‎ (41¹⁸, Job 8¹¹†)] ‘Nile-grass’ = Egyptian _aḥu_, from _aḥa_, ‘be green’ (Ebers, 338). LXX ἄχει occurs also verses ³ᐧ ¹⁹, Isaiah 19⁷, Sirach 40¹⁶.――=3.= ודקות‎] _The Samaritan Recension of the Pentateuch_ ורקות‎ (so verse ⁴). It is naturally difficult to decide which is right; but Ball pertinently points to the alliterations as determining the choice: read therefore ‎ ר׳‎ in ³ᐧ ⁴ᐧ ¹⁹ᐧ ²⁰ᐧ ²⁷, but דּ׳‎ in ⁶ᐧ ²³,――in other words, ר׳‎ always of the cows and דּ׳‎ always of the ears.――אצל‎] LXX omits, thus making all the 14 cows stand together.――=4.= ותאכלנה‎] LXX + שֶׁבַע‎; so ⁷ᐧ ²⁰ᐧ ²⁴. LXX has many similar variations (which need not be noted), revealing a tendency to introduce uniformity into the description.――=8.= ותפעם‎] ‘was perturbed’; as Daniel 2³ (2¹ Hithpael), Psalms 77⁵.――חרטמים‎] Only in this chapter, in Exodus 7‒9 (Priestly-Code), and (by imitation) in Daniel 2². The word is thus practically confined to Egyptian magicians, though no Egyptian etymology has been found; and it may be plausibly derived from Hebrew חֶרֶט‎, _stylus_.――אתם‎] Read with LXX אֹתוֹ‎, after ‎ חלמוֹ‎; the dream is ‘one’ (verses ²⁵ᐧ ²⁶).

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=9‒14. Joseph summoned to interpret the dreams.=――=9.= The butler’s ungrateful memory is stimulated by the opportunity of ingratiating himself with his royal master, though this requires him to _make mention of_ his old offence.――=12.= _according to each man’s dream he interpreted_] Note the order of ideas as contrasted with verse ¹¹ (40⁵): there is a pre-established harmony between the interpretation and the dream, and the office of the interpreter is to penetrate the imagery of the dream and reach the truth it was sent to convey.――=13.= _I was restored ... he was hanged_] Literally ‘Me one restored,’ etc., according to Gesenius-Kautzsch § 144 _d_, _e_. To suppose the omission of _Pharaoh_, or to make Joseph the subject, is barely admissible.――=14.= _and they brought him hastily from the dungeon_] is a clause inserted from Yahwist.――_shaved himself_] his head and beard,――a custom which seems to have been peculiar to the priests under the New Empire (Erman, _Life in Ancient Egypt_, 219; compare Herodotus, ii. 37).

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‎ =9.= את־פרעה‎] _The Samaritan Recension of the Pentateuch_ better ‎ אל פ׳‎.――חטאַי‎] LXX חטאִי‎ (singular). The resemblance of the clause (⁹ᵇ) to 40¹ does not prove it to be from Yahwist (Gunkel).――=10.= אתי‎] _The Samaritan Recension of the Pentateuch_ אתם‎, LXX אתנו‎.――=11.= ‎ ונחלמה‎] Gesenius-Kautzsch § 49 _e_.――=12.= ויפתר――פתר‎] LXX καὶ συνέκρινεν ἡμῖν.

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=15‒24. Pharaoh’s recital of his dreams.=――=15.= _thou canst hear a dream to interpret it_] _i.e._, ‘thou canst interpret a dream when thou hearest it’: Hebrew subordinates the emphatic clause where we would subordinate the condition.――=16.= Compare 40⁸.――The answer (on the form, _v.i._) exhibits a fine combination of religious sincerity and courtly deference.――=17‒21.= The first dream.――The king gives a vivid subjective colouring to the recital by expressing the feelings which the dream excited. This is natural, and creates no presumption that a parallel narrative is drawn upon. Similarly, the slight differences in phraseology (תאר‎ for מראה‎, דַּלּוֹת‎, etc.) are due to the literary instinct for variety.――=22‒24.= The second dream.

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‎ =15.= תשמע‎] _Oratio obliqua_ after לֵאמֹר‎ (without כי‎), Gesenius-Kautzsch § 157 _a_; Davidson § 146, _R._ 1.――=16.= ‎ בִּלְעָדַי‎] literally ‘Apart from me’ (Targumᴼⁿᵏᵉˡᵒˢ לא מן חוכמתי‎), used as 14²⁴. _The Samaritan Recension of the Pentateuch_, LXX read ‎ בִּלְעֲדֵי אלהים לא יֵעָנָה‎ = ‘Apart from God, one will not be answered,’ etc.; compare Peshiṭtå (‡ Syriac phrase)" (‘Dost thou expect that apart from God one will answer?’ etc.). Vulgate _Absque me Deus respondebit_, shifting the accent. There seems a _double entendre_ in the use of יענה‎: ‘answer’ and ‘correspond’: ‘God will give an answer corresponding to the welfare,’ etc.――=19.= ‎ דלות‎] ‘flaccid’; LXX omitted.――=21.= קרבֶנָה‎] On the suffix compare Gesenius-Kautzsch § 91 _f_.――מראיהן‎] Singular (_ib._ § 93 _ss_).――=23.= צנמות‎] Aramaic = ‘dried,’ ‘hardened.’ The word is ἅπαξ λεγόμενον in Old Testament, and is omitted by LXX, Vulgate, Peshiṭtå.――אחריהם‎] MSS and _The Samaritan Recension of the Pentateuch_ הֶן‎――. The irregular gender of Massoretic Text only here in this chapter.

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=25‒32. The interpretation.=――=25‒27a.= The general outline of the interpretation: the dream is one; it is a presage of what is to happen; the number seven refers to years. The methodical exposition is meant to be impressive.――=27b= brings the climax: _There shall be seven years of famine_ (so Procksch _v.i._).――=28.= It is uncertain whether הוּא‎ refers back to ²⁵ᵇ (‘This is what [I meant when] I said to Pharaoh’), or to ²⁷ᵇ (‘This is the announcement I [now] make to Pharaoh’). In any case =29= looks like a new commencement, and may introduce a variant from Yahwist (_v.i._).――=31.= ולא יִוָּדַע‎ goes back to the ולא נוֹדַע‎ of ²¹.――=32.= If the dream is one, why was it twice repeated? Because, says Joseph, the crisis is certain and urgent. So he rounds off his finished and masterly explanation of the dreams.

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‎ =26.= פרת‎] Omission of article may be justified on the ground that the numeral is equivalent to a determinant (Gesenius-Kautzsch § 126 _x_); but _The Samaritan Recension of the Pentateuch_ הפרות‎ is much to be preferred.――=27.= הרֵקוֹת‎] ‘empty.’ The pointing is suggested partly by the contrast to ‎ מלאֹת‎ (²² etc.), partly by the fact that (in Massoretic Text) רַק‎ has not been used of the ears. We ought undoubtedly to read הַדַּקּוֹת‎ (_The Samaritan Recension of the Pentateuch_, Peshiṭtå).――יהיו וגו׳‎] The translation above is not free from difficulty; it omits a prediction of unusual plenty preceding the famine, which is, nevertheless, presupposed by what follows. But the ordinary rendering is also weak: why should the seven thin ears alone be fully interpreted? Besides, שִׁבֳּלִים‎ is feminine.――=28‒32.= The critical difficulties of the chapter commence in this section. Procksch assigns ²⁹⁻³¹ to Yahwist (∥ ²⁷ ᶠᐧ _The Samaritan Recension of the Pentateuch_), instancing כִּלִּה‎ (compare 18³³ 24¹⁵ᐧ ¹⁹ 27³⁰ 43² 44¹²), and כָּבֵד‎ (12¹⁰ 43¹ 47⁴ᐧ ¹³) as characteristic of Yahwist; but they are not decisive. Gunkel limits Yahwist to ²⁹ᐧ ³⁰ᵃᐧ ³²ᵇ{β} (∥ ²⁷ ᶠᐧ ³⁰ᵇᐧ ³¹ᐧ ³²ᵃᵇ{α} Elohist). This is on the whole more satisfying, since ונשכח‎ and ולא יִוָדַע‎ appear to be doublets (Dillmann); but a positive conclusion will hardly be reached.

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=33‒36. Joseph’s advice to Pharaoh.=――Here Joseph proves himself to be no mere expert in reading dreams, but a man with a large reserve of practical wisdom and statesmanship.――=33‒35.= There is an apparent discrepancy between the appointment of a single official (³³ᵃ) and that of a commission of ‘overseers’ (³⁴ᵃ); and again between the fifth part (³⁴ᵇ) and the whole (³⁵ᵃ); we note also the transition from singular (וחמש‎) to plural (ויקבצו‎, etc.). For attempts at division of sources, see below.――=34.= The taxing of a fifth part of the crop seems to have been a permanent Egyptian institution (see on 47²⁴), whose origin the Hebrews traced to the administration of Joseph.――=35.= _under the hand_ (_i.e._ the authority) _of Pharaoh_] compare Exodus 18¹⁰, 2 Kings 13⁵, Isaiah 3⁶.

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=33‒36.= The passage is certainly composite, and can be resolved into two nearly complete sequences as follows: Elohist = ³³ᐧ ³⁴ᵇᐧ ³⁵ᵇ{α} (to פרעה‎) ³⁶ᵃ{βγ}; Yahwist = ³⁴ᵃᐧ ³⁵ᵃᵇ{β} (from ‎ אֹכֶל‎)ᐧ ³⁶ᵃ{α} ᵇ. Characteristic of Elohist are איש בר‎, ארץ מצרים‎, צבר‎, against Yahwist’s פקידים‎ (with פִּקָּדוֹן‎), הארץ‎, קבץ אכל‎; and the only necessary change is יצברו‎ to יצבר‎. The result corresponds pretty closely with Gunkel’s analysis; that of Procksch differs widely.――=33.= יֵרֶ֫א‎] see Baer-Delitzsch page 78; Gesenius-Kautzsch § 75 _p_. Strack, however, holds the true reading to be ‎ יֵ֫רֶא‎.――=34.= יעשה‎] _The Samaritan Recension of the Pentateuch_ ‎ ויעש‎. To the peculiar idiom, Delitzsch compares the Latin _fac scribas_; יעשה‎ may, however, mean ‘take action,’ as 1 Kings ‎ 8³².――וחמש‎] LXX plural.――=35.= אכל בערים ושמרו‎] Ball prefixes וְיִתְּנוּ‎ (as verse ⁴⁸); some such expedient is necessary to make sense of the last word.――For ושמרו‎, _The Samaritan Recension of the Pentateuch_, Peshiṭtå have ישמרו‎; LXX συναχθήτω (יצברו‎?).――=36.= ‎ פִּקָּדוֹן‎] Leviticus 5²¹ᐧ ²³†; obviously suggested here by פקדים‎ in verse ³⁴.

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=37‒46. Joseph’s elevation.=――=37, 39= (Elohist) ∥ =38= (Yahwist).――The _thing_ that _was pleasing to Pharaoh, etc._, is not the interpretation of the dreams, but the practical suggestion with which it was followed up, though it was the former which proved that Joseph was truly inspired. The statement that the policy commended itself comes from Elohist; in Yahwist, Pharaoh improves upon it by entrusting the supervision to Joseph himself instead of to the ‘overseers’ he had proposed.――=38.= _the spirit of God_] here first mentioned in Genesis as the source of inward illumination and intellectual power. The idea that eminent mental gifts proceed from the indwelling of the divine spirit, which is implied in Pharaoh’s exclamation, was probably ancient in Israel, although the proofs of it are comparatively late (compare Exodus 31³, Numbers 27¹⁸; see Stade, _Biblische Theologie des Alten Testaments_ § 43. 1).――=40.= _over my house_] The dignity may be compared to that of “Mayor of the palace” under the Merovingian kings; compare 1 Kings 4⁶ 16⁹, Isaiah 22¹⁵ etc.――=41.= _over all the land of Egypt_] The most coveted civic office in Egypt was that of the _T’ate_, the chief of the whole administration, “the second after the king in the court of the palace” (see Erman, _Life in Ancient Egypt_, 87 ff., 69). The elevation of Syrian slaves to such dignities is likewise attested for the age of the New Empire (_ib._ 106, 517 f.).――=42.= The form of investiture is specifically Egyptian.――_his signet-ring_] used in sealing documents (Esther 3¹² 8⁸), and given as a token of authority (Esther 3¹⁰ 8², 1 Maccabees 6¹⁵ etc.).――_fine linen_] the weaving of which was carried to extreme perfection in Egypt; Erman, 448 ff.――_the golden collar_] There is probably an allusion to ‘the reward of the gold,’ a decoration (including necklets of gold) often conferred in recognition of eminent service to the crown (Erman, 118 ff.: see the engraving, 208¹).――=43.= _the second-best chariot_] Horses and carriages first appear on monuments of the 18th dynasty, and must have been introduced “during the dark period between the Middle and the New Empire” (Erman, 490).――_they cried before him ’Abrēk_] A very obscure word; for conjectures, _v.i._――=44.= An almost exact parallel (Yahwist) to ⁴¹ (Elohist).――=45a.= Joseph’s marriage.――The conferring of a new name naturally accompanied promotions like that of Joseph (Erman, 144).――_the high priest of ’Ôn_] was an important personage in the religion and politics of the New Empire (see Erman, _Life in Ancient Egypt_, 76, 83, 89, and _passim_), and the priestly college there was reputed the greatest in the country for learning (Herodotus, ii. 3; Strabo, XVII. i. 29). _’Ôn_ (Egyptian _Anu_) is Heliopolis, 7 miles North-east of Cairo, an ancient seat of the worship of the sun-god Ra.――On the other names in the verse, _v.i._――=45b= and =46b= are doublets.――=46a= (Priestly-Code). The chronology is altogether inconsistent with the assumptions of Jehovist regarding the relative ages of Joseph and Benjamin (see Bennett 360).――_stood before Pharaoh_] compare 47⁷ (Priestly-Code).

¹ Compare Heyes, _Bibel und Ägypten: Abraham und seine Nachkommen in Ägypten_ 248 ff.

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=37‒46.= _Analysis._――To Elohist we may pretty confidently assign ³⁷ᐧ ³⁹ (נבון וחכם‎ as ³³) ⁴⁰; to Yahwist ³⁸ᐧ ⁴⁴ᐧ ⁴⁵. Whether Yahwist’s parallel to ⁴⁰ commences with ⁴¹ (Procksch), or is delayed to ⁴⁴ (Gunkel), it is hard to decide. ⁴¹ᵇ reads like a formula of investiture accompanying the action of ⁴²ᵃ, of which ⁴³ᵇ would be the explication. ⁴⁶ᵇ{β} would be a natural sequel to ⁴³ᵃ (ויעבר‎). Hence, if a division must be attempted, that of Procksch may be followed, viz., Elohist = ⁴⁰ᐧ ⁴²ᵇᐧ ⁴³ᵃᐧ ⁴⁶ᵇ{β}; Yahwist = ⁴¹ᐧ ⁴²ᵃᐧ ⁴³ᵇᐧ ⁴⁴ᐧ ⁴⁵.――=38.= הנמצא‎] 1st plural imperfect Qal.――=40.= ועל־פיך ישק‎] LXX ἐπὶ τῷ στόματί σου ὑπακούσεται. The meaning ‘kiss’ being obviously unsuitable, Tuch, Delitzsch, Dillmann render ‘arrange themselves’ (from Arabic _nasaḳa_); others point יָשֹׁק‎, ‘run’; but no explanation is quite satisfactory. ‎ על־פיך‎ may, of course, mean ‘at thy command’ (45²¹, Exodus 17¹ etc.).――רק הכסא‎] ‘only as regards the throne’; Gesenius-Kautzsch § 118 _h_.――=41.= אתך‎] LXX + σήμερον.――=42.= שֵׁשׁ‎] Apparently an Egyptian word (Coptic _šens_), replaced in post-Exilic Hebrew by בּוּץ‎. It is disputed whether it means cotton alone, or linen alone, or both; see Dillmann’s exhaustive note on Exodus 25⁴, and _Encyclopædia Biblica_, 2800 f.――הזהב‎] _The Samaritan Recension of the Pentateuch_ זהב‎.――=43.= בְּמִרכבת‎] Gesenius-Kautzsch § 85 _h_.――ויקראו‎] _The Samaritan Recension of the Pentateuch_, LXX, Peshiṭtå ויקרא‎.――אַבְרֵךְ‎] The word remains an enigma. The resemblance to Hebrew ברך‎ has misled no ancient Version except Aquila (γονατίζειν) and Vulgate (_ut genuflecterent_). Peshiṭtå renders (‡ Syriac phrase); Targumᴼⁿᵏᵉˡᵒˢ דין אבא למלכא‎; Targumᴶᵒⁿᵃᵗʰᵃⁿ דין אבא למלכא רב בחכמתא ורכיך בשנייא‎; LXX has κῆρυξ as subject of verb (Vulgate also has _clamante præcone_). The speculations of Egyptologists are too numerous to mention: see Brown-Driver-Briggs, _s.v._, or Heyes, 254 ff. The best is that of Spiegelberg (_Orientalische Litteraturzeitung_ vi. 317 ff.), who considers that it is a call to ‘Attention!’ (Egyptian _’b r-k_; literally, ‘Thy heart to thee!’). Friedrich Delitzsch (_Wo lag das Paradies?_ 225) suggested a connexion with Assyrian _abarakku_ (the title of a high official), which his father declared to be a “neckischer Zufall”! Radical emendations of the text have been proposed by Ball ([ל]אמר כ׳ נין‎) and Cheyne (אַבִּר כינאתן‎ = ‘Mighty one of Chuenaten’ [Amenophis IV.]: _Orientalische Litteraturzeitung_ iii. 151 f.); these are wholly unsatisfying, and the latter has not survived the criticisms of Müller (_ib._ 325 f.): see _Traditions and Beliefs of Ancient Israel_, ‎ 467.――ונתון‎] ‘thus placing.’ As continuation of ויתן‎ in ⁴²ᵃ, the infinitive absolute is grammatically correct (Gesenius-Kautzsch § 113 _z_); and though the idiom is infrequent, there is no reason to suspect the text. ――=45.= צָֽפְנַת פַּעְנֵחַ‎] LXX Ψονθομφανήχ (transposing צ‎ and פ‎? [see Nestle, _Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft_, xxv. 209 ff.]). The old interpretations follow two lines: (1) ‘Revealer of secrets’ (Josephus _Antiquities of the Jews_ ii. 91; Peshiṭtå, Targumᴼⁿᵏᵉˡᵒˢ⁻ᴶᵒⁿᵃᵗʰᵃⁿ, Patr.), connecting with Hebrew צפן‎; and (2) ‘Saviour of the world’ (Coptic _p-sot-om-ph-eneḫ_, Delitzsch, Holzinger); so Vulgate, Jerome _Quæstiones sive Traditiones hebraicæ in Genesim_. Of modern Egyptological theories the one most in favour seems to be that propounded by Steindorff in _Zeitschrift für ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde_ xxvii. 41 f.: that it represents Egyptian _De- pnute-ef‛-onḫ_, and means ‘The god speaks and he lives.’ It is said (_ib._ 42) that personal names of this type (though with the _proper_ name of a deity) are common from the beginning of the 22nd dynasty. See the discussion in Heyes, _op. cit._ 258 ff., who prefers the interpretation of Lieblein (_Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archæology_, 1898, 202 ff.): _defenti_ [or _defenta_]_-pa-anḫ_ = “celui qui donne la nourriture de la vie.”――אָֽסְנַת‎] Explained, with some hesitation, as ‘belonging to (the goddess) Neith’ (Steindorff, Spiegelberg, al.).――פוטי פרע‎] (LXX Πετεφρῆ, etc.) is a fuller form of פוטיפר‎; see on 39¹.――It is worthy of remark that, except in the case of Asenath, the suggested Egyptian analogues of these names do not occur, save sporadically, earlier than the 22nd dynasty (that of Shishak).――=45b.= LXX omits.――=46.= פרעה מלך מצרים‎ is an amplification in the style of Priestly-Code (Exodus 6¹¹ᐧ ¹³ᐧ ²⁷ᐧ ²⁹ 14⁸).

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=47‒57. Joseph’s measures for relief of the famine.=――=47, 49= (Elohist) ∥ =48= (Yahwist). He stores corn during the seven years of plenty.――=50‒52= (Elohist?). Joseph’s two sons.――_Mĕnaššeh_] interpreted quite grammatically as ‘causing to forget.’ The etymology is not to be taken too literally, as if the narrator meant that Joseph had actually forgotten his father’s house (compare Psalms 45¹¹).――=52.= _made me fruitful_] The name of the tribe is generally thought to contain the idea of fruitfulness, from the fertility of the region in central Palestine which it occupied.――=54‒57.= The beginning of the famine.――=54, 55= contain a slight discrepancy. According to ⁵⁴ᵇ the Egyptians had no lack of bread, and consequently no need to apply to Joseph, though they were indebted to his forethought. In ⁵⁵ they are famishing, and have to buy their food from Joseph: this view is connected with 47¹³ ᶠᶠᐧ.――=56.= _opened all that was in them_] Read with LXX ‘all the granaries,’ though the Hebrew text cannot be certainly restored (_v.i._)――=57.= prepares for the next scene of the drama (chapter 42).

State granaries, for the sustenance of the army, the officials and the serfs, were a standing feature of Egyptian administration (Erman, _Life in Ancient Egypt_, 107 f.; compare 433 f.), and were naturally drawn upon for the relief of the populace in times of scarcity (_ib._ 126). The ‘superintendent of the granaries’ was a high officer of state, distinct, as a rule, from the vizier or _T’ate_ (page 469); but a union of the two dignities was just as easy under exceptional circumstances as the combination of the Premiership with the Chancellorship of the Exchequer would be with us (see Erman, 89). We can readily understand that such a wise and comprehensive provision impressed the imagination of the Israelites, and was attributed by them to a divine inspiration of which one of their ancestors was the medium (compare Gunkel 384).――Besides these general illustrations of the writer’s acquaintance with Egyptian conditions, two special parallels to this aspect of Joseph’s career are cited from the monuments: (1) Ameny, a monarch under Usertsen I. (12th dynasty), records on his grave at Beni-Hasan that when years of famine came he ploughed all the fields of his district, nourished the subjects of his sovereign and gave them food, so that there was none hungry among them. (2) Similarly, on a grave of the 17th dynasty at El-Kab: “When a famine arose, lasting many years, I distributed corn to the city in each year of the famine” (see _Das Alte Testament im Lichte des alten Orients_², 390; Driver 346 f.). For the sale of grain to foreigners, we have the case of Yanḫamu, governor of Yarimutu, in the Amarna letters (see below on 47¹³ ᶠᶠᐧ).――It is impossible to desire a fuller demonstration of the Egyptian background of the Joseph-stories than chapter 41 affords. The attempt to minimise the coincidences, and show that “in a more original and shorter form the story of Joseph had a North Arabian and not a Palestinian and Egyptian background, and consequently that ‘Pharaoh, king of Egypt,’ should be ‘Pir’u, king of Miṣrim’” (_Traditions and Beliefs of Ancient Israel_, 454‒473), tends to discredit rather than confirm the seductive Muṣri-theory, which is pushed to such an extravagant length.

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=47‒57.= _Analysis._――Starting from the presumption that the storing of food in the cities and the direct appeal of the famishing people to Pharaoh are not from the same source, the best division seems the following: Elohist = ⁴⁷ᐧ ⁴⁹ᐧ ⁵⁴ᵃᐧ ⁵⁵ᐧ ⁵⁶ᵇ; Yahwist = ⁴⁸ᐧ ⁵³ᐧ ⁵⁴ᵇᐧ ⁵⁶ᵃᐧ ⁵⁷ (compare Gunkel and Procksch). ⁵⁰⁻⁵² are universally assigned to Elohist (on account of אלהים‎) in spite of the fact that the children are named by the father. Priestly-Code’s authorship is perhaps excluded by the explicit etymologies, to which there are no real analogies in that document. The verses in any case interrupt the context of Jehovist, and may be a supplementary notice inserted by a late hand at what seemed the most suitable place.――=47.= לקמצים‎] The √ is elsewhere peculiar to Priestly-Code (Leviticus 2² 5¹² 6⁸, Numbers 5²⁶†); and Ball assigns ⁴⁶⁻⁴⁸ to that source. But the sense ‘by handfuls’ is doubtful, and is represented by none of the old versions except the clumsy paraphrases of Vulgate and Targumᴶᵒⁿᵃᵗʰᵃⁿ; so that the text is probably at fault. LXX has δράγματα; Peshiṭtå and Targumᴼⁿᵏᵉˡᵒˢ (‡ Syriac word) and לאוצרין‎ [with (‡ Syriac word) and וכנשר‎ for זתעש‎]――=48.= שנים אשר היו‎] Read with _The Samaritan Recension of the Pentateuch_, LXX השנים אשר היה ‎ הַשָּׂבָע‎.――=50.= שְׁנַת‎] LXX τὰ ἑπτὰ ἔτη.――=51.= נַשּׁני‎] Piel only here; both the form and the irregular vocalisation (Gesenius-Kautzsch § 52 _m_) are chosen for the sake of assonance with מְנַשֵּׂה‎.――=54.= ‎ היה‎] LXX οὐκ ἦσαν; so Peshiṭtå――a natural misunderstanding.――=56.= ‎ אשר בהם‎] _The Samaritan Recension of the Pentateuch_ אשר בהם בר‎. The context imperatively demands a noun [LXX σιτοβολῶνας, Peshiṭtå (‡ Syriac word)]. Lagarde (_Symmicta_ i. 57) suggested a Hebrew equivalent of Talmud. אישבורא‎; Wellhausen some derivative of שבר‎; Delitzsch, Ball, and Kittel (combining _The Samaritan Recension of the Pentateuch_ and Peshiṭtå) אוצרות הַבָּר‎.――וישבר‎] Pointed וַיַּשְׁבֵּר‎ (Hiphil); compare 42⁶.――ויחזק וגו׳‎] LXX omits.――=57.= הארץ‎¹] Better ‎ הארצות‎ as LXX (compare ⁵⁴).

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