Commentaries:
Adam Clarke
Zaphnath-paaneah - The meaning of this title is as little known as that of abrech in the preceding verse. Some translate it, The revealer of secrets; others, The treasury of glorious comfort. St. Jerome translates the whole verse in the most arbitrary manner. Vertitque nomen ejus, et vocavit eum, lingua Aegyptiaca, Salvatorem mundi . "And he changed his name, and called him in the Egyptian language, The savior of the world." None of the Asiatic versions acknowledge this extraordinary gloss, and it is certainly worthy of no regard. The Anglo-Saxon nearly copies the Vulgate: And named him in Egyptian, The healer of the world. All the etymologies hitherto given of this word are, to say the least of them, doubtful. I believe it also to be an Egyptian epithet, designating the office to which he was now raised; and similar to our compound terms, Prime-Minister, Lord Chancellor, High-Treasurer, Chief Justice, etc.
Asenath the daughter of Poti-pherah - There is no likelihood that the Poti-pherah mentioned here is the same as the Potiphar who had purchased Joseph, and, on the false accusations of his wife, cast him into prison. 1. The Scripture gives no intimation that they were one and the same person. 2. Poti-pherah had children, and Potiphar was an eunuch; See Clarke on Genesis 37:36 (note); for though eunuchs often kept women, there is no proof that they had any issue by them.
Priest of On - For the signification of the word cohen or priest, See Clarke on Genesis 14:18 (note). On is rendered Heliopolis (the city of the sun) by the Septuagint and Anglo-Saxon; and it is very likely that this Poti-pherah was intendant of that nome or province, under Pharaoh.
Joseph went out over all the land - No doubt for the building of granaries, and appointing proper officers to receive the corn in every place, as Dr. Dodd has very properly conjectured.
Other Adam Clarke entries containing Genesis 41:45:
2 Kings 23:34
Acts 7:10
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