Genesis 41:45

The giving of names is a mark of lordship, or ownership. So Adam at the beginning gave names to the animals. Pharaoh gave a name to Joseph, Nebuchadnezzar to Daniel, and so on (Gen. 2:20; Gen. 41:45; Dan. 1:7).

This is the name Pharaoh gave to Joseph. Learned Jews translate it as a Hebrew name, "Revealer of secrets," as the margin of the Authorized Version does. But it is an Egyptian name, and read that way it has been interpreted "Prince of the life of the world" … and "The saviour of the world." These last two meanings suit Joseph well, since he is a picture of Christ.

Some say that Zaphnath-paaneah has a meaning whether you read it as Hebrew or as Egyptian. As Hebrew it would mean "Revealer of secrets." As Egyptian it would mean "Saviour of the world." We may gladly accept both. In this double meaning we see a further picture of the One whom we adore. In Him both revelation and redemption reach their high point and full completion, and we are blessed forever.

"He left Judea." He left His own people, to whom He had come, and in heart they had rejected Him. He goes out in the fullness of grace to defiled Samaria… There He proves Himself the true "Revealer of secrets" — the One who told the sinful woman all that she ever did. He forgets His toil. He forgets the long weary journey of that day through the burning heat… He forgets His father's house too, and in the land of His affliction He is fruitful.

But Pharaoh did not only give Joseph a full and glorious name — he gave him a wife as well, "Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On." This Gentile wife was given to Joseph while he was separated from his brothers. She is a most beautiful and unmistakable picture of the Church, given to Christ to be His bride while He is lost to His brothers according to the flesh — the Jewish nation.

But what about Joseph's family, and his brothers who had sold him? When Asenath was given to Joseph, they knew nothing about his exaltation. As far as they were concerned, he was still a slave, sold to the Gentiles. Again, this is a beautiful picture: the Lord received His bride while His earthly people still rejected Him.

Joseph's path to Egypt, where he obtained his wife, was a path of suffering. Asenath suffered nothing at all. For her, being joined to Joseph meant joy and glory only. In the same way, the church has no share in the sufferings that led to her being joined to Christ.

On, or the city of the sun, Heliopolis, was the great seat of learning in Egypt and the place of its first college. In earlier days Potiphera lived there, the prince-priest of the sun and the father of Joseph's wife. Students there studied astronomy and every branch of science… On, as its name shows, was devoted to the sun, and so to the worship of it.