Josephs decision not to sleep with Potiphars wife is traditionally held up by Christian and Jewish faith communities as a model of piety. Pa-di-Para), "Whom P'Ra (sun-god) has given," and most authorities would consider Potiphar as an abbreviated form in Heb. Yet both the biblical text and the way the text is transmitted in traditional Judaism may suggest otherwise. Perhaps this is a cautionary tale for those of us whose names were shortened, whose appearance is adjusted, and whose lifestyles are tailored to fit into a perceived American ideal. 77 years old when he fled to Haran 84 years old when he married 90 years old when Joseph was sold into slavery 130 years old when he moved to Egypt 147 years old when he died Was buried in the cave of Macpelah n Two major deceptions of Jacob: 1. May 11 2016 Continue with Recommended Cookies. phar) [from Egyptian, a shortened form of Potiphera]. It does not store any personal data. There remain Potiphar and Potiphera. What would be some verses from the Bible to save a marriage? She promised to kill her husband, so that she could marry Joseph. [3], Joseph and Potiphar's Wife by Ludovico Cigoli, Guercino, Joseph and Potiphar's Wife, 1649, Joseph and Potiphar's Wife by Bartolom Esteban Perez Murillo, Joseph and Potiphar's Wife by Jean-Baptiste Nattier, Joseph and Potiphar's Wife, by Guido Reni 1631, Joseph and Potiphar's Wife by Rembrandt, 1634. Why did Herod like to listen to John the Baptist, who criticized Herods lifestyle? Persian miniatures often illustrate Yusuf and Zulaikha in Jami's Haft Awrang ("Seven thrones"). Share Potiphar definition, the Egyptian officer whose wife tried to seduce Joseph. Which Teeth Are Normally Considered Anodontia. Rabbi Aaron D. Panken, Ph.D., serves as president of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Potiphar&oldid=1142124452, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles containing Ancient Egyptian-language text, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, In art the subject is one of the most commonly shown in the, This page was last edited on 28 February 2023, at 17:07. All answers are REVIEWED and MODERATED. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.Morbi adipiscing gravdio, sit amet suscipit risus ultrices eu.Fusce viverra neque at purus laoreet consequa.Vivamus vulputate posuere nisl quis consequat. (biblical) An Egyptian and captain of the guard under Pharaoh. And the commentators who interpreted that this is the sacred tongue [Hebrew], it is a wonder how Pharaoh could have called [him] by a name in the sacred tongue! Why did Herod like to listen to John the Baptist, who criticized Herods lifestyle? He was Joseph's master for a time and, it appears, was a man of wealth. . There is no further information about Potiphar or his wife. 30 Do you have to use flux when brazing aluminum? All rights reserved. Josephus, Philo and many rabbinical passages concur that the two men were distinct. Who is potiphera in the In the Book of Jubilees, she is said to be given to Joseph to marry by Pharaoh, a daughter of Potiphar, a high priest of Heliopolis, with no clarification as to whether or not this Potiphar is the same Potiphar whose wife falsely accused Joseph of attempting to rape her. If so, both the captain of the guard and the high priest of Heliopolis bore the same name, but would not be the same person. Heliopolis is Biblical On and was an Ainu shrine. Was he the same Ben Hur mentioned in the Bible? 39 Now Joseph was taken down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites wh . The medieval Sefer HaYashar, a commentary on the Torah, gives Potiphars wifes name as Zuleikha, as do many Islamic traditions thus the Persian poem called Yusuf and Zulaikha from Jami s Haft Awrang (Seven thrones). http://www.allsaintsorthodox.org/pastor/bio.php. Potiphar's wife, of course, is not to be confused with Potipherah's wife, one of the incorrect answers given. It's a site that collects all the most frequently asked questions and answers, so you don't have to spend hours on searching anywhere else. Potiphar seems to be entitled 'chief cook' (EV [Note: English Version.] How is Zygospore different from the Sporangiophore in fungi? If we look at Egypt in this time, there was complete disarray in th. Report. His name means he whom Ra has given. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". Potiphar is the captain of Pharaoh's guard who is said to have purchased Joseph as a slave and, impressed by his intelligence, makes him the master of his household. Please ensure your answer MEETS all our guidelines. "Poti-phera" is the Hebrew rendering of the Egyptian "P'-di-p'-R'" = "He whom Ra [e., the sun-god] gave." This name has not . What would be some verses from the Bible to save a marriage? Things are certainly starting to look up. Genesis 39:1-23, a high Egyptian official in the story of Joseph.The name is perhaps a deformation of Potiphera (wh. Preside Pangaea, Rodinia, Columbia, and Kenorland, Bible and Archaeology by Frederic G. Kenyon. TimesMojo is a social question-and-answer website where you can get all the answers to your questions. Who were the priests of On? As you write, some are of the opinion that they are one and the same person. 2 o The L ord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master. There should be no special quality attached to any name including Potiphar. . Joseph and Potiphar's Wife! In this reading, Joseph is nothing but . A good answer provides new insight and perspective. Josephs father Jacob (also called Israel) favored him and gave Joseph the coat as a gift; as a result, he was envied by his brothers, who saw the special coat as an indication that Joseph would assume family leadership. Is he the same Mark in Acts 15? Following the custom of his Horite forefathers, Abraham had two wives. A modern interpretation might say, "He is God's gift.". One of the atheist commentators was arguing that Scripture commands and advocates the subjugation of women to men, and treating them as objects. Another tradition identifies Keturah with Hagar, and thus Abraham married only twice. Citing the story of the Levite who allowed his concubine to be raped and then murdered her, this passage was one of her proof texts. A final question remains, however: why in the world, given their relationship thus far, would Pharaoh want Joseph to marry Potiphar's (if it is Potiphar!) There were two men in the tale with similar names Potiphar and Potiphera. All answers are REVIEWED and MODERATED. Potiphar. There are several remarkable features to this verse, creating a veritable field day for commentators and authors willing to take up the cudgel. She is the subject of many verbs and they are unusual ones for a female biblical character. The names Potiphar and Potiphera are very similar. Why Cant You Mount A Horse From The Right Side? of Potiphera. Potiphar being a high ranking official of the Pharaoh, owned his own field as well as his house . What is the story of Joseph and his brothers. Modern scholars have searched, without substantial agreement, for Egyptian words that would shed light on this name, the closest one thus far being the tongue-twisterDjed-pa-netjer-iw-f-ankh, or "The God speaks and he [the bearer of the name] lives," (see "Zaphenath-Paneah" in the Anchor Bible Dictionary, vol. "the written Torah."The Bible; the Pentateuch; Tanakh (the Pentateuch, Prophets and Hagiographia) Torah as "the daughter of Poti-phera" (Gen. 41:45), who was married to Joseph in Egypt. She was Potiphera's daughter. Here are guidelines to help facilitate a meaningful learning experience for everyone. Do Men Still Wear Button Holes At Weddings? The Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to POTIPHAR, chief of the slaughterers. Clara Brown. Unfortunately, Potiphars wife, who was known for her infidelities, took a liking to Joseph, and attempted to seduce him. Joseph and Potiphar: The Named, the Neutered, and the Neutralized, Dr. Panken's excellent commentary on the naming, neutering, and neutralizing of Joseph's father-in-law Potiphar opens the door for us to ask, what becomes of Joseph with. Midrashic sources identify Potiphera as none other than Potiphar, Joseph's previous master.4. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. How do you give a first aid to a drowning person? Why did Jesus associate with disreputable people? Potiphera's wife is powerful in terms of class and ethnic status, less so as a married woman, but she is dependent on male complicity in the transgressive sex act. She accuses Joseph of an attempt to dishonour her. The Torah in which the story appears (see also the Bible and the Quran), was the earliest written of the three: c. 600 BC during the Babylonian Exile. - 100 Bible Stories Pronunciation of potiphar with 3 audio pronunciations, 1 meaning, 10 translations and more for potiphar. 31 When should weight be measured? it is clear that Potiphar was a powerful person . They take this story out of context and use it as propaganda. What was Potiphars wifes name in medieval times? The Gospel of Luke says Mary is a virgin betrothed to Joseph, while the Gospel of Matthew says Jesuss virginal conception happens before Mary lives with Joseph in his house, because, in a Jewish wedding, by being betrothed to a man, the woman is already his wife, yet she does not start living in his house until the . Vote Up If Potiphar and Poti-phera were the same person, then either (a) the same man was both captain of the guard for Paro and a priest, or (b) he was one and then became the other later. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. The higher the vote, the further up an answer is. In another early text, The History of Joseph the Carpenter, which was composed in Egypt between the 6th and 7th centuries, Christ himself tells the story of his step-father, claiming Joseph was 90 years old when he married Mary and died at 111. 3 When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did . Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. . Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. The 13 New Testament books written by Paul (the epistles) make no reference to him at all, nor does the Gospel of Mark, the first of the Gospels. Rashi, along the lines of earlier translators and commentators, draws on the Hebrew root tzadi-fei-nun, meaning "hidden," to explain that Joseph's Egyptian name means "one who explains the hidden," but he also readily admits that there is "nothing similar to 'paneah' in the Bible." Is the devil was man, and if so will he be saved? Also, Potiphere is a corruption of Ap-Ophis-Ra! Joseph and Potiphar's Wife - Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. Does the devil have power to make us sick? By now, you have no doubt thought to yourself that Potiphera sounds a lot like Potiphar. new name, family, and occupation? (deceased) family tree on Geni, with over 230 million profiles of ancestors and living relatives. At various stages of his life, Joseph was a slave, a prisoner, and a national leader. Our experts have done a research to get . Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. The universally acceptable interpretation of Potiphera is that it is from the Egyptian Pa-di-Pre, "the gift of the (god) Re," a well-known type of name (Pa-di-DEITY), and in fact attested just once on a stela in Cairo Museum, attributed to the 21st Dynasty (=ca. Share Does God gives us political leaders or do we vote them by choice? [2] The false accusation by Potiphar's wife plays an important role in Joseph's narrative, because had he not been imprisoned, he would not have met the fellow prisoner who introduced him to Pharaoh. The story became a very common subject in Western art during the Renaissance and Baroque periods, usually depicting the moment when Joseph tears himself away from the bed containing a more-or-less naked figure of Potiphar's wife. The African wife of Potiphar is very active for a woman who appears only in a chapter of the book of Genesis. Potiphera was Joseph's father-in-law and a priest of the Temple in Heliopolis. Did Joseph marry Potiphar's daughter? There is no definitive answer to your question! Our team has collected thousands of questions that people keep asking in forums, blogs and in Google questions. Clarify Asenath was the daughter of POTI PHERA, the governor of On. /p/potiphar.htm - 8k. The sefer here in his discussion of the name Potiphera says that there is a dispute amongst the Rabbis whether Potiphar (Bereishis/Genesis 39,1), the chief executioner of Pharaoh, and Potiphera are the same person or not.. Rashi: Potiphera - This is Potiphar, and he is called Potiphera because he was castrated, since he bought Joseph to sleep with him. He spent When Joseph refused her advances, and ran off, leaving his outer vestment in her hands, she retaliated by falsely accusing him of trying to rape her, and Potiphar had Joseph imprisoned. Potiphar's wife, who was known for her infidelities, took a liking to Joseph, and attempted to seduce him. Is Potiphar and potiphera the same person? Heliopolis is Biblical On and was an Ainu shrine. And he gave him in marriage Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On. Josephs Egyptian wife. Joseph's experience in the house of Potiphar was both rewarding and disappointing. How can Jesus be both God and man at the same time? Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh's officials, the captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there. Was John the Baptist conceived via an immaculate conception? Second, God calls His people to live . What is the difference between discernment and judgment? The original name for the Nile River was *Ar*, meaning "venerable". Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team, AskTheRabbi.org is a service ofthe Gateways Organization [year] appears in the Judaeo-Christian Old Testament and in the Koran. In the Bible, Pharaoh honors Joseph by giving him as a wife Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest from the city of On (LXX: Heliopolis; Gen 41:45). 10 weeks in the hospital. Some scholars think this could be the same person as Potiphar. Asenath is mentioned in the Torah she-bi-khetav: Lit. Sounds intriguing. I read one commentary, which says yes, (including Rashi) and another, which says no. Zaphnath-Paaneah (Biblical Hebrew: fna Pana, LXX: Psonthomphanch) is the name given by Pharaoh to Joseph in the Genesis narrative (Genesis 41:45). 5 Where was Potiphar located in the Book of Abraham? This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Dr. Panken's excellent commentary on the naming, neutering, and neutralizing of Joseph's father-in-law Potiphar opens the door for us to ask, what becomes of Joseph withhisnew name, family, and occupation? In Biblical Names the meaning of the name Asenath is: Peril, misfortune. The positions of the two men were different and held different positions in the court of Pharaoh plus their names were spelt differently. And he gave him in marriage Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On. When Joseph's sister Dinah was captured and raped, only two men are named as the abductors. What does it mean if a person is counter revolutionary? Vote Up Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License; The supreme ruler of ancient Egypt; a formal address for the sovereign seat of power as personified by the 'king' in an institutional role of Horus son of Osiris; often used by metonymy for Ancient Egyptian sovereignty. . On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Dream a Little Dream, and Then Interpret It, Israel in Egypt: From Valued Subjects to Persecuted Minority, On the Other Hand: Ten Minutes of Torah: The Meaning of Our Miracle - Parashat Mikeitz, Association of Reform Zionists of America (ARZA). So Joseph went out over the land of Egypt. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". an apologist for the Anglican Way of Christianity. 20 Where do the batek tribe live? Share There remain Potiphar and Potiphera. After appointing Joseph as viceroy, Pharaoh gave him as a wife Asenath, daughter of Potiphera, priest of On. Potiphar seems to be entitled chief cook (EV [Note: English Version.] Hebrew: . The majority opinion follows Rashi, and there are several sources in the Midrashic texts that seem to back up Rashis opinion. (Mark 6:20). After Joseph correctly interpreted Pharaoh's dreams, one of the ways in which Pharaoh rewarded Joseph was by giving him Potiphera's daughter Asenath as his wife, as noted in Genesis 41:45. Meaning: a priest of On / Potiphar is a shortened form of "Potiphera" in Hebrew. The rent in his garment testifies Joseph's innocence. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent. 3 His master saw that the L ord was with him and that the L . The Eastern Orthodox Church, which names Josephs first wife as Salome, holds that Joseph was a widower and betrothed to Mary, and that references to Jesus brothers were children of Joseph from a previous marriage. Potipherah /ptfr/ was a priest of the ancient Egyptian town of On, mentioned in the Genesis 41:45 and 41:50. As for Jesus, he was probably somewhere between 12 and 19 years old when Joseph of Nazareth died. I was suspecting that the name Potiphera must be more of a title, like "Pharoah", than an actual name, and that there was nothing necessarily inconsistent about someone functioning at one instance as an officer of Pharoah (a eunuch? Supporter. Potiphar is the captain of Pharaoh's guard who is said to have purchased Joseph as a slave and, impressed by his intelligence, makes him the master of his household. Are cryptocurrencies, bitcoin, and bitpay the begining of one world government in the book of Revelation? What happens to atoms during chemical reaction? How did Jesus sit on the donkey and her offspring on one time in Matthew 21:5-8? That said, rabbinic interpretation is not authoritative for Christians.The standard interpretation is that Potiphe-re is a corruption of Ap-Ophis-Ra. Wherever Joseph was, God was at work in his life in ways Joseph could not have understood at the time. Potiphar is the only Egyptian of status who would harbor a grudge against Joseph, given their prior history. Welcome to Sharing Culture! . The medieval Sefer HaYashar, a commentary on the Torah, gives Potiphar's wife's name as Zuleikha, as do many Islamic traditions - thus the Persian poem called Yusuf and Zulaikha from Jami's Haft Awrang "Seven thrones". Whats The Difference Between Dutch And French Braids? For Joseph to refuse Potiphar's wife was for him to honour his owner Potipharand to dishonour God, his true master. He was Joseph's master for a time and, it appears, was a man of wealth. Dr. Alice C. Linsley Taken together, the biblical data indicat Asenath or Asnat combines two ancient Egyptian words: The Kushites are the Nilo-Saharan peoples who contributed their binary worldview to the ancient Afro-Asiatic world . Genesis 39:1-20. The story of Zuleika, wife of Potiphar (q.v. Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet. Are Pharaoh and Potiphar the same person? Potiphar . The Lord is still with Joseph, and the prison's commander puts him in charge. He was responsible for the personal protection of the Egyptian King, his family and court; as well as presiding over the Royal Prison. Playing on the similarity between ufeir'o ("mutilated him") and the last two syllables of Potiphera, the Talmud crafts a bizarre tale that serves two narrative purposes: first, it portrays Potiphar as a sexual predator, thus recasting the entire interaction between Potiphar's wife and Joseph in Genesis 39. In the Old Testament she is described simply as Potiphar's wife, her name being given only in the Koran. 'On' was another name for Heliopolis, which was the religious centre of Ra, the god representing the sun. Please ensure your answer MEETS all our guidelines. Rashi subscribes to that opinion, and he explains why the name is slightly different in verse 45. Who was the first person to have a migraine? Potiphar is possibly the same name as Potiphera (Hebrew: ) from Late Egyptian p-dj-p-r "he whom Ra has given." Potiphar is the captain of Pharaoh's guard who is said to have purchased Joseph as a slave and, impressed by his intelligence, makes him the master of his household. The word came to be used metonymically for the Egyptian king under the New Kingdom (starting in the 18th dynasty, 15391292 bce), and by the 22nd dynasty (c. Egypt was continually governed, at least in part, by native pharaohs for approximately 2500 years, until it was conquered by the Kingdom of Kush in the late 8th century BC, whose rulers adopted the traditional pharaonic titulature for themselves. If Potiphar's daughter is now marrying Joseph, Potiphar will be forced to support him. POTIPHAR. With the Torah's focus on family dynamics, it is rather odd that we learn, then, of Joseph's marriage in one short and strange verse (Genesis 41:45): Pharaoh called Joseph Zaphenath-paneah and gave him Asenath daughter of Potiphera priest of On, as a wife; thus Joseph came to be in charge of the land of Egypt. Joseph was one of Jacobs 12 sons. Potiphera . 2 The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. In Gen 39 the seductress is the wife of Potiphar. Asenath was the daughter of POTI PHERA, the governor of On. How did the spirit of God move upon the face of the waters in Genesis 1:2? . What can we learn from the account of Potiphars wife? Who is Potiphar? He is the maternal grandfather of the Israelite patriarchs Manasseh and Ephraim. . to Potiphar's wife, it is possible to argue for a reading that suggests that Joseph's sin is not that he contemplated sleeping with Potiphar's wife, but that he refused to do so. One can almost imagine Pharaoh seeing Joseph as a critical economic minister he needs to keep happy to ensure his country's continuity. First is that the time of Joseph is between 1900 and 1950 BC. In 2Kg 20:18 and Is 38:7, the word is translated as "eunuch"; and it . . His name in Hebrew is a shortened version of Potiphera, which means "he whom Ra gave.". The higher the vote, the further up an answer is. Not the best moment in his life, one must imagine. What is the story of Joseph and Potiphar? How many children did Mary and Joseph have? Everything we know about Saint Joseph, the husband of Mary and the foster father of Jesus, comes from the Bible, and mentions of him are underwhelming. In this quotation, al-abari understands the word al-Azz as the king, which gives the same impression of a mighty person, . Copyright 2002-2023 Got Questions Ministries. What is the difference between divination and prophesy? eyeli Todays free book is The Bible and Archaeology by Frederic G. Kenyon, Answer (1 of 11): No. The names Potiphar and Potiphera are very similar. Further support for my reading of the narrative of Joseph and Potiphar's wife comes when we set this story alongside the narrative that precedes it that of Judah . (Mark 2:15). Joseph is not the only one of our ancestors to engage in an exogamous marriage; indeed, this kind of union can be a successful way to bring people into our group. The names Potiphar and Potiphera can be viewed as being one and the same, as Egyptian writing does not always indicate vowels. However, there is nothing in the Hebrew which suggests that Potiphar was the same person as Potiphera. These Genesis stories were written, not by Moses, but by the Patriarchs pre-dating Moses. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Potiphar, Pot'i-phar. As Jacobs name became synonymous with all Israel, so that of Joseph was eventually equated with all the tribes that made up the northern kingdom. It is certainly a functional name that does describe well a key role Joseph fulfills. The story of the encounter between Joseph and the Wife of Potiphar can be read in full in Genesis 39:6-20.