What Does Genesis 41:45 Mean?

Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphenath-paneah. And he gave him in marriage Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On. So Joseph went out over the land of Egypt. The Egyptian name Zaphenath-paneah (the exact meaning is debated: possibly "the God speaks and lives" or "treasury of the glorious rest") is Joseph's formal Egyptian identity. The name-giving is a standard ancient Near Eastern administrative act: the high official is given a name appropriate to his position and nation. Joseph the Hebrew becomes Zaphenath-paneah the Egyptian minister: his identity as a court personage is inscribed in Egyptian linguistic form.

The marriage to Asenath, daughter of Potiphera priest of On, is the social integration that accompanies political integration. Pharaoh arranges the marriage: not as a punishment or a constraint on Joseph but as an additional honor: marriage into a priestly family of the major religious center of On (Heliopolis, the city of Ra). The priestly family of On was among the most prestigious in Egypt. By marrying Joseph into this family, Pharaoh is inserting Joseph into a social network that will reinforce his standing among Egypt's elite institutions. The marriage is the social counterpart to the signet ring: where the ring made Joseph politically integrated, the marriage makes him socially integrated.

"So Joseph went out over the land of Egypt": the final phrase of verse 45 is Joseph's first act as prime minister: he goes out. After years of going down (pit, Egypt, prison), Joseph now goes out over the land. The "out" is both directional and metaphorical: he exits the throne room and begins his administration over the land. The man who was brought down is now going out over. The reversal of direction is the reversal of fortune, and the first exercise of the fully-invested authority is simply to begin.