'And Pharaoh said unto his servants, Can we find such a
one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is? And
Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath shewed
thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou
art: Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy
word shall all my people be ruled: only in the throne
will I be greater than thou. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph,
See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt. And
Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon
Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen,
and put a gold chain about his neck; And he made him to
ride in the second chariot which he had; and they cried
before him, Bow the knee: and he made him ruler over all
the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I am
Pharaoh, and without thee shall no man lift up his hand
or foot in all the land of Egypt. And Pharaoh called
Joseph's name Zaphnath-paaneah; and he gave him to wife
Asenath the daughter of Poti-pherah priest of On. And
Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt. And Joseph
was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king
of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of
Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt. And
in the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth by
handfuls. And he gathered up all the food of the seven
years, which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the
food in the cities: the food of the field, which was
round about every city, laid he up in the same.'
GENESIS xli. 38-48.
At seventeen years of age Joseph was sold for a slave; at thirty he was
prime minister of Egypt (Gen. xxxvii, 2; xli. 46). How long his prison
life lasted is uncertain; but it was long enough for the promises
contained in his early dreams to 'try him' (Ps. cv. 19) whether his
faith would stand apparent disappointment and weary delay. Like all the
Scripture narratives, this history of Joseph has little to say about
feelings, and prefers facts. But we can read between the lines, and be
tolerably sure that the thirteen years of trial were well endured, and
that the inward life had grown so as to fit him for his advancement. We
have here a full-length portrait of the prime minister, or vizier,
which brings out three points--his elevation, his naturalisation, and
his administration.
Joseph had not only interpreted Pharaoh's dream, but had suggested a
policy in preparation for the coming famine. He had recommended the
appointment of 'a wise and discreet man,' with supreme authority over
the land. Pharaoh first consulted 'his servants,' and, with their
consent, possibly not very hearty, appointed the proposer of the plan
as its carrier-out, quoting to him his own words, 'wise and discreet.'
The sudden installing of an unknown prisoner in high office has often
been thought hard to believe, and has been pointed to as proof of the
legendary character of the story. But the ground on which Pharaoh put
it goes far to explain it. He and his servants had come to believe that
'God' spoke through this man, that 'the Spirit of God' was in him. So
here was a divinely sent messenger, whom it would be impiety and
madness to reject. Observe that Pharaoh and Joseph both speak in this
chapter of 'God.' There was a common ground of recognition of a divine
Being on which they met. The local colour of the story indicates a
period before the fuller revelation, which drew so broad a line of
demarcation between Israel and the other nations.
Joseph's sudden promotion is made the more intelligible by the
probability which the study of Egyptian history has given, that the
Pharaoh who made him his second in command was one of the Hyksos
conquerors who dominated Egypt for a long period. They would have no
prejudices against Joseph on account of his being a foreigner. A
dynasty of alien conquerors has generally an open door for talent, and
cares little who a man's father is, or where he comes from, if he can
do his work. And Joseph, by not being an Egyptian born, would be all
the fitter an instrument for carrying out the policy which he had
suggested.
His ceremonial investiture with the insignia of office is true to
Egyptian manners. The signet ring, as the emblem of full authority; the
chain, as a mark of dignity; the robe of 'fine linen' (or rather of
cotton), which was a priestly dress--all are illustrated by the
monuments. The proclamation made before him as he rode in the second
chariot has been very variously interpreted. It has been taken for a
Hebraised Egyptian word, meaning 'Cast thyself down'; and this
interpretation was deemed the most probable, until Assyrian discovery
brought to light 'that _abarakku_ is the Assyrian name of the grand
vizier' (Fr. Delitzsch, _Hebrew Language Viewed in the Light of
Assyrian Research_, p. 26). Sayce proposes another explanation, also
from the cuneiform tablets: 'There was a word _abrik_ in the Sumerian
language, which signified a seer, and was borrowed by the Semitic
Babylonians under the varying forms of _abrikku_ and _abarakku_. It is
_abrikku_ which we have in Genesis, and the title applied by the people
to the "seer" Joseph proves to be the one we should most naturally
expect.' The Tel el-Amarna tablets show that the knowledge of cuneiform
writing was common in Egypt (Sayce, _Higher Criticism and the
Monuments_, p. 214). This explanation is tempting, but it is perhaps
scarcely probable that the proclamation should have been in any other
language than Egyptian, or should have had reference to anything but
Joseph's new office. It was not as seer that he was to be obeyed, but
as Pharaoh's representative, even though he had become the latter
because he had proved himself the former.
But in any case, the whole context is accurately and strongly Egyptian.
Was there any point in the history of Israel, down to an impossibly
late date, except the time of Moses, at which Jewish writers were so
familiar with Egypt as to have been capable of producing so true a
picture?
The lessons of this incident are plain. First stands out, clear and
full, the witness it bears to God's faithfulness, and to His sovereign
sway over all events. What are all the persons concerned in the
narrative but unconscious instruments of His? The fierce brothers, the
unconcerned slave-dealers, Potiphar, his wife, the prisoners, Pharaoh,
are so many links in a chain; but they are also men, and therefore free
to act, and guilty if acting wrongly. Men execute God's purposes, even
when unconscious or rebellious, but are responsible, and often
punished, for the acts which He uses to effect His designs.
Joseph's thirteen years of trial, crowned with sudden prosperity, may
read all of us, and especially young men and women, a lesson of
patience. Many of us have to fight our way through analogous
difficulties at the outset of our career; and we are apt to lose heart
and get restive when success seems slow to come, and one hindrance
after another blocks our road. But hindrances are helps. If one of
Joseph's misfortunes had been omitted, his good fortune would never
have come. If his brethren had not hated him, if he had not been sold,
if he had not been imprisoned, he would never have ruled Egypt. Not one
thread in the tapestry could have been withdrawn without spoiling the
pattern. We cannot afford to lose one of our sorrows or trials. There
would be no summer unless winter had gone before. There is a bud or a
fruit for every snowflake, and a bird's song for every howl of the
storm.
Plainly, too, does the story read the lesson of quiet doing of the work
and accepting the circumstances of the moment. Joseph was being
prepared for the administration of a kingdom by his oversight of
Potiphar's house and of the prison. His character was matured by his
trials, as iron is consolidated by heavy hammers. To resist temptation,
to do modestly and sedulously whatever work comes to our hands, to be
content to look after a jail even though we have dreamed of sun and
moon bowing down to us, is the best apprenticeship for whatever
elevation circumstances--or, to speak more devoutly, God--intends for
us. Young men thrown into city life far away from their homes, and
whispered to by many seducing voices, have often to suffer for keeping
themselves unspotted; but they are being strengthened by rough
discipline, and will get such promotion, in due time, as is good for
them. But outward success is not God's best gift. It was better to be
the Joseph who deserved his high place, than to have the place. The
character which he had grown into was more than the trappings which
Pharaoh put on him. And such a character is always the reward of such
patience, faith, and self-control, whether chains and chariots are
added or not.
Little need be said about the other points of the story. Joseph's
naturalisation as an Egyptian was complete. His name was changed, in
token that he had completely become a subject of Pharaoh's. The meaning
of the formidable-looking polysyllable, which Egyptian lips found
easier than 'Joseph,' is uncertain. 'At present the origin of the first
syllable is still doubtful, and though the latter part of the name is
certainly the Egyptian _n-ti-pa-ankh_ ("of the life"), it is difficult
to say in which of its different senses the expression _pa-ankh_ ("the
life") is employed' (Sayce, _ut supra_, p. 213). The prevailing opinion
of Egyptian experts is that it means 'Support of life.'
The naturalising was completed by his marriage to Asenath (supposed to
mean 'One belonging to the goddess Neith'), a daughter of a high
officer of state, Poti-phera (meaning, like its shortened form,
Potiphar, 'The gift of Ra' the sun-god). Such an alliance placed him at
once in the very innermost circle of Egyptian aristocracy. It may have
been a bitter pill for the priest to swallow, to give his daughter to a
man of yesterday, and an alien; but, just as probably, he too looked to
Joseph with some kind of awe, and was not unwilling to wed Asenath to
the first man in the empire, wherever he had started up from.
But should not Joseph's religion have barred such a marriage? The
narrator gives no judgment on the fact, and we have to form our own
estimate. But it is not to be estimated as if it had occurred five or
six centuries later. The family of Jacob was not so fenced off, nor was
its treasure of revelation so complete, as afterwards. We may be fairly
sure that Joseph felt no inconsistency between his ancestral faith,
which had become his own in his trials, and this union. He was risking
a great deal; that is certain. Whether the venture ended well or ill,
we know not. Only we may be very sure that a marriage in which a common
faith is not a strong bond of union lacks its highest sanctity, and is
perilously apt to find that difference in religious convictions is a
strong separator.
Joseph's administration opens up questions as to Egyptian land tenure,
and the like, which cannot be dealt with here. 'In the earlier days of
the monarchy the country was in the hands of great feudal lords; ...
the land belonged to them absolutely.... But after the convulsion
caused by the Hyksos conquest and the war of independence, this older
system of land tenure was completely changed.... The Pharaoh is the
fountain head, not only of honour, but of property as well.... The
people ceased to have any rights of their own' (Sayce, _ut supra_, p.
216).
We may note Joseph's immediate entrance upon office and his
characteristic energy in it. He 'went out from the presence of Pharaoh,
and went throughout all the land of Egypt.' No grass grew under this
man's feet. He was ubiquitous, personally overseeing everything for
seven long years. Wasteful consumption of the abundant crops had to be
restrained, storehouses to be built, careful records of the contents to
be made, after Egyptian fashion. The people, who could not look so far
as seven years ahead, and wanted to enjoy, or make money out of, the
good harvests, had to be looked after, and an army of officials to be
kept in order. Dignity meant work for him. Like all true men, he
thought more of his duty than of his honours. Depend on it, he did not
wear his fine clothes or ride in the second chariot, when he was
hurrying about the country at his task.
He had come 'out of prison to reign,' and, as we all find, if we are
God's servants, to reign means to serve, and the higher the place the
harder the task. The long years of waiting had nourished powers which
the seven years of busy toil tested. We must make ourselves, by God's
help, ready, in obscurity, and especially in youth, for whatever may be
laid on us in after days. And if we understand what life here means, we
shall be more covetous of spheres of diligent service than of places of
shining dignity. Whatever our task, let us do it, as Joseph did his,
with strenuous concentration, knowing, as he did, that the years in
which it is possible are but few at the longest.