To Joseph were born two sons before the year of famine came, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, bore to him.
Parallel Translations
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To Joseph were born two sons before the year of famine came, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, bore to him.
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And unto Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, which Asenath the daughter of Poti-pherah priest of On bare unto him.
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And unto Joseph were born two sons before the year of famine came, whom Asenath the daughter of Poti-phera priest of On bore unto him.
Cross-references (4)
Passages linked to Genesis 41:50 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Genesis 46:20 To Joseph in the land of Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, bore to him.
- Genesis 48:5 Now your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you into Egypt, are mine; Ephraim and Manasseh, even as Reuben and Simeon, will be mine.
- Genesis 41:45 Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphenath-Paneah. He gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On as a wife. Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.
- 2 Samuel 8:18 Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and David’s sons were chief ministers.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (11 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 50. And unto Joseph were born two sons. Although…
50. And unto Joseph were born two sons. Although the names which Joseph gave his sons in consequence of the issue of his affairs, breathe somewhat of piety, because in them he celebrates the kindness of God: yet the oblivion of his father’s house, which, he says, had been brought upon him, can scarcely be altogether excused. It was a pious and holy motive to gratitude, that God had caused him to “forget” all his former miseries; but no honor ought to have been so highly valued, as to displace from his mind the desire and the remembrance of his father’s house. Granted that he is Viceroy of Egypt, yet his condition is unhappy, as long as he is an exile from the Church. Some, in order to exculpate the holy man, explain the passage as meaning that he so rejoiced in the present favor of God, as to make him afterwards forgetful of the injuries inflicted upon him by his brethren; but this (in my judgment) is far too forced. And truly, we must not anxiously labor to excuse the sin of Joseph; but rather, I think, we are admonished how greatly we ought to be on our guard against the attractions of the world, lest our minds should be unduly gratified by them. Behold Joseph, although he purely worships God, is yet so captivated by the sweetness of honor, and has his mind so clouded, that he becomes indifferent to his father’s house, and pleases himself in Egypt. But this was almost to wander from the fold of God. It was, indeed, a becoming modesty, that from a desire of proclaiming the Divine goodness towards him, he was not ashamed to perpetuate a memorial of his depressed condition in the names of his sons. They who are raised on high, from an obscure and ignoble position, desire to extinguish the knowledge of their origin, because they deem it disgraceful to themselves. Joseph, however, regarded the commendation of Divine grace more highly than an ostentatious future nobility.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Gen 41:50 And unto Joseph were born two sons…
Gen 41:50 And unto Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, which Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On bare unto him.
Ver. 50. Asenath the daughter of Potipherah.] This was not Potiphar, Joseph’s master. Joseph would not marry the daughter of such a housewife. Partus fere siquitur ventrem. Ingenlum ipsum atque indoles (veluti conclusio sequitur inferiorem partem) plerumque matrissat.
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But what a jest is that of Jonathan the Chaldee Paraphrast, Asenath quam pepererat Dina Sichemo, &c. Asenath was Sichem’s daughter by Dinah, but adopted and bred up by the wife of Potiphar! Audi hoc et ride, saith Drusius.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And when all the land of Egypt was famished,....…
And when all the land of Egypt was famished,.... Their old stock and store eaten up, and the inhabitants ready to starve with hunger:
the people cried to Pharaoh for bread; as their common father, and knowing that he had stores of provision laid up in all cities against this time:
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and Pharaoh said to the Egyptians, go unto Joseph; whom he had appointed over this business of providing and laying up corn against this time, and of distributing it:
what he saith to you, do; give the price for the corn he fixes or requires; for this was the principal thing they had to do with him, to get corn for their money.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Two sons - In the names he gave them,…
Two sons - In the names he gave them, he owned the divine Providence giving this happy turn to his affairs. He was made to forget his misery, but could he be so unnatural as to forget all his father's house? And he was made fruitful in the land of his affliction. It had been the land of his affliction, and, in some sense, it was still so, for his distance from his father was still his affliction. Ephraim signifies fruitfulness, and Manasseh forgetfulness.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 50. Two sons] Whom he called by names…
Verse 50. Two sons] Whom he called by names expressive of God's particular and bountiful providence towards him. MANASSEH, מנשה menashsheh, signifies forgetfulness, from נשה nashah, to forget; and EPHRAIM, אפרים ephrayim, fruitfulness, from פרה parah, to be fruitful; and he called his sons by these names, because God had enabled him to forget all his toil, disgrace, and affliction, and had made him fruitful in the very land in which he had suffered the greatest misfortune and indignities.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Gen 41:50. Two sons — In the names he…
Gen 41:50. Two sons — In the names he gave them, he owned the divine providence giving this happy turn to his affairs. He was made to forget his misery, but could he be so unnatural as to forget all his father’s house? And he was made fruitful in the land of his affliction. It had been the land of his affliction, and, in some sense, it was still so, for his distance from his father was still his affliction. Ephraim signifies fruitfulness, and Manasseh, forgetfulness.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain unto Joseph were born two sons--These domestic events, which…
unto Joseph were born two sons--These domestic events, which increased his temporal happiness, develop the piety of his character in the names conferred upon his children.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Vers. 50, 51. And unto Joseph wore born two…
Vers. 50, 51. And unto Joseph wore born two sons before the years of famine came, (literally, before the coming of the gears of famine), which Asenath the daughter of Poti-pherah priest of On bare unto him. And Joseph called, the name of the firstborn Manasseh ("Forgetting," from nashah, to forget): For God (Elohim; Joseph not at the moment thinking of his son"s birth in its relations to the theocratic kingdom, but simply in its connection with the overruling providence of God which had been so signally illustrated in his elevation, from a position of obscurity in Canaan to such conspicuous honor in the land of the Pharaohs), said he, hath made me forget all my toil, and all my father"s house. Not absolutely (Calvin, who censures Joseph on this account, vix tamen in totem potest excusari oblivio paternae domus), as events subsequently proved, but relatively, the pressure of his former affliction being relieved by his present happiness, and the loss of his father"s house in some degree compensated by the building of a house for himself.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
F. W. Grant 1903 · Public Domain Section 4. (Gen 41:50-57; Gen 42:1-38; Gen 43:1-34; Gen…
Section 4. (Gen 41:50-57; Gen 42:1-38; Gen 43:1-34; Gen 44:1-34; Gen 45:1-28; Gen 46:1-34; Gen 47:1-26.)
The Days of Famine.
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Now comes the time of famine; and when God’s judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world shall learn righteousness. Not in the plenteous times of Christianity will the world as a whole turn to God; and therefore come drought and famine from the same hand which, unknown, bestowed the blessing. The present dispensation closed by the removal of the Church to be with her Lord, the times of the Gentiles will close, as the Lord Himself predicts (Luk 21:25-27): "And there shall be signs in the sun and in the moon, and upon the earth distress of nations with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth; for the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: and then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud, with power and great glory."
Before He appears, and amid all the trial of a time such as the world has never seen, Israel will be preparing to recognize and receive her rejected Lord. And this is what we find typified in the chapters to which we have now come. The way in which it is expounded here shows surely the divine interest in their recovery, full of touching pathos as they are known to be.
The famine in all lands reaches Canaan also, and Joseph’s ten brethren come down to buy corn in Egypt. We are all familiar with what follows, and how their hearts and consciences are probed by one who knows and loves them well, but whom they know not. They obtain, indeed, a temporary supply for their necessities, but leave Simeon in prison, and are bidden not to appear again except they bring Benjamin with them. Famine again forces them to come down; and this time, Judah having undertaken for Benjamin with his father, they bring him also. They are feasted by Joseph, still unknown; are sent away with the cup in Benjamin’s sack; pursued, and brought back under the charge of theft; Benjamin is to remain as Joseph’s slave, but Judah, his heart fully reached, offers himself in his stead: then Joseph’s love bursts out; he makes himself known to them; they own their sin, are reconciled and comforted with his love.
In all this, it is plain how all turns upon Benjamin and their state toward him. This is made the test of their condition. The power for their deliverance lies in Joseph’s hand alone, however, and their exercises as to Benjamin all tend to awakening conscience and heart as to their sin against Joseph. The key of the typical interpretation is to be found in this: —
Joseph is Christ as we know Him, once rejected and suffering, now exalted: this is He whom Israel does not know. A Christ triumphant simply, and reigning upon the earth, is the Benjamin who is found among them, whether in the days of the Lord’s rejection or the latter days. The Conqueror they were prepared for; the Sufferer who must go before Him -not knowing their own deep need, -they have refused. Yet the two are really one, and for them the Conqueror cannot be till they receive the Sufferer: not the faith of a Sufferer merely, but the One who has been this. Power lies with Joseph, not with Benjamin.
But Joseph’s heart longs after Benjamin, -that is, Christ longs to display this character of power for them; but for this they must be brought to repentance, and He uses their ideal, prophetical Messiah to bring their hearts back to Himself the true one.
Amid the sorrows of the last days, this will be accomplished for them. He who, unknown, is seeking them will make them realize their Benjamin as Benoni -"the son of my sorrow," and that as the fruit of their own sin. (Gen 44:16.) Benjamin is taken from them: they have lost their part in Messiah as having rejected Him. All the depths of Judah’s heart are stirred; and in his agony for Benjamin, he is met and overwhelmed by the revelation of Joseph. They look upon Him whom they have pierced, and mourn for Him as one mourneth for his only son, and a fountain for sin and for uncleanness is opened to them. But this brings the whole nation into blessing under Christ.
After this, we read of the reduction of Egypt itself under the immediate authority of the throne. The people, bankrupt through the famine, receive back their lands from the bounty of the king, returning him one fifth of the produce as the token of their indebtedness to the grace from which they have received. It is thus that the world, under Christ, will find its place in true blessing before God. In the one fifth rendered, we are reminded once more of the Abrahamic 5, -the impotence of the creature and the omnipotence of God, -the one part a recognition of divine sovereignty. If we take it as two tenths, it may remind us of the double claim of God upon us -by creation and by redemption. This the world will acknowledge in the day to come.
F. W. Grant, The Numerical Bible (4th ed., 1903) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 before the years of famine came
before the years of famine came
This speaks about years as if they are something that travels and comes to a place. AT: "before the seven years of the famine began" (See: Metaphor)
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Asenath
a woman's name. See how you translated this in Genesis 41:45. (See: How to Translate Names)
daughter of Potiphera
"Potiphera" is the father of Asenath. See how you translated this in Genesis 41:45. (See: How to Translate Names)
priest of On
On is a city, also called Heliopolis, which was "the City of the Sun" and the center of worship of the sun god Ra. See how you translated this in Genesis 41:45. (See: How to Translate Names)
Manasseh
Translators may also add a footnote that says, "The name 'Manasseh' means 'to cause to forget.'"
father's household
This refers to Joseph's father Jacob and his family.
Ephraim
Translators may also add a footnote that says, "The name 'Ephraim' means 'to be fruitful' or 'to have children.'"
made me fruitful
Here "fruitful" means to prosper or to have children. (See: Idiom)
in the land of my affliction
The abstract noun "affliction" can be stated as "I have suffered." AT: "in this land where I have suffered" (See: Abstract Nouns)
translationWords
Joseph (OT)
son
famine
priest
name
firstborn
Manasseh
God
ancestor
household
Ephraim
fruit
afflicted
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 41:50-52 In spite of his position and authority, Joseph…
41:50-52 In spite of his position and authority, Joseph never abandoned his heritage; he gave Hebrew names to his two sons. • Manasseh: Joseph’s prosperity and success made him “forget” the misery of separation from his family. • Ephraim: In so naming him, Joseph proclaimed his gratitude to God for making him “fruitful” in Egypt.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.