Corruption in a monarchy is problematic. The monarch can’t be everywhere at once to ensure everything is done according to his will, nor could he keep his trusted servants from taking advantage of their positions and exploit the wealth of their individual charges for their own advantage. As long as the crown received the lion’s share of the wealth, who would be the wiser, if part of the wealth was kept back by the king’s subordinate rulers, who were appointed by him? Moreover, especially in years of plenty, the amount unlawfully held back by fraud could be used as an indicator of the king’s servants’ corrupt character, as well as the magnitude of their lust for wealth.
We shouldn’t discount the idea that both Joseph and Pharaoh knew that this was true, even in the greatest of kingdoms. Therefore, it became extremely expedient that a trusted man, who was aware of the significance of the need to preserve a good portion of the good harvests to prepare for the bad seasons and save lives. No doubt, gesturing toward the king’s advisors and servants, who were with Pharaoh, when Joseph interpreted the dream (cp. Genesis 41:37), Joseph advised Pharaoh to choose a wise and discerning man among them, and place him over all of Egypt. Having done this, let that man appoint supervisors over smaller portions of the land, who would collect twenty percent of the bountiful crops over the next seven years within the communities of their charge (Genesis 41:33-34).
Afterward, have those supervisors take that fifth part of the harvests during the first seven years and store it in the cities, placing the store under guard (Genesis 41:35). No doubt, the 20 % was the minimum that would be collected for storage. The king would also buy up a significant portion of the grain at the cheap prices, when the supply was greater than the demand, and later sell the grain for a profit, when the demand is greater than the supply. Thus, Pharaoh would not only grow in wealth, but also save the lives of his people, when the years of famine arrived (Genesis 41:35-36).
After Joseph finished speaking, Pharaoh was pleased with his advice, as were all of the king’s advisors. Why wouldn’t they be, considering in all probability one of them would be set up over the entire kingdom of Egypt! Each one looked to Pharaoh in hope that he would be the man Pharaoh chose. Nevertheless, Pharaoh chose Joseph, saying there was no one in his kingdom as wise as he, and who in his kingdom was like Joseph, in whom the Spirit of God resided (Genesis 41:37-38)! So, since God revealed this thing to Joseph, it was as much as guaranteed there would be no other man in the kingdom of Egypt who was as wise or as discerning as he (Genesis 41:39).
Therefore, Joseph was made second only to Pharaoh in the kingdom of Egypt. No one but Pharaoh, was greater in authority than Joseph (Genesis 41:40-41)! So, Joseph was given royal clothing and gold jewelry to wear, including Pharaoh’s signet ring. Moreover, probably as a matter of ceremony to establish the matter in the eyes of the whole of Egypt, Pharaoh had Joseph ride in the chariot provided for his second-in-command, while servants went before him, shouting “Bow the knee!” Thus, Pharaoh made Joseph ruler over all Egypt, saying no one in all of Egypt would do anything without Joseph’s permission (Genesis 41:42-44).
Finally, Pharaoh renamed Joseph, Zaphnathpaaneah, which means in Hebrew revealer of a secret, but it was an Egyptian name, and the Coptic meaning is the preserver of the age. Then, to fit his exalted position, Pharaoh took for Joseph a wife from the priests, whose name was Asenath, the daughter of Potipherah,[1] priest of On (Heliopolis).
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[1] The name of the priest, Potipherah, means “devoted to Ra” or perhaps “devoted to the house of Ra” (the sun god). The similar name, Potiphar, means “devoted to Par,” (the royal) house or the palace.
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