The importance of names

 Mikketz

Gen. 41:1-44:17

Précis: At the end (mikketz) of two years of Joseph’s imprisonment, Pharaoh dreams of cows and ears of corn. The butler who had shared Joseph’s cell now remembers him and calls him from prison. Joseph predicts seven years of plenty, followed by seven years of famine. Pharaoh is so impressed that he appoints Joseph as his chief vizier and Joseph goes about storing grain during the times of plenty.

            Joseph marries Asenath and they have two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. When the famine comes, Jacob sends his sons to Egypt to purchase food. Joseph has them brought in while he remains in cognito. He accuses the brothers of spying, and sends them home after they leave one brother hostage and promise to return with their youngest brother, Benjamin. Upon their return, the brothers (including Benjamin) meet the still-unrevealed Joseph. Joseph has their bags filled not only with grain but also with the money used to purchase the grain and has a gold cup hidden in Benjamin’s belongings. When they are “caught” by Joseph’s men, they learn that whoever stole the cup would become Joseph’s slave, while the others would return to their homeland. On this cliffhanger, the parasha ends.

 

Genesis 41:45 “Pharaoh then gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-paneah; and he gave him for a wife Asenath daughter of Poti-phera, priest of On.”

            Joseph has become second only to Pharaoh in the Land of Egypt, and as so often happens in Torah narrative, his name is changed when his status changes.

            If this is a Hebrew name, it may mean (as suggested by Nachum Sarna) “revealer of hidden things.”  On the other hand, if the name is Egyptian, its meaning is more like “God speaks, he lives” as is used by JPS.

            Pharaoh gives Joseph an Egyptian name, perhaps to make him more acceptable to the Egyptians Joseph now rules. But Joseph keeps his Jewish lineage alive, giving his sons Hebrew names, the same names by which we bless our sons, Menashe and Ephraim.

            The Jewish family of Jacob is on the verge of transformation into the Jewish People, living in the Diaspora but retaining their cultural identity. Those of us who dwell outside of Israel share in its future. Am Yisrael Chai!