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Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

POTIPHERA

Priest of On whose daughter, Asenath, was given to Joseph as his wife by Pharaoh (Gn 41:45, 50; 46:20). On (or Heliopolis) was the center of the sun-god cult, and Potiphera was likely a high-ranking priest in the cult. His name, which means “he whom Re [the son god] has given,” does not appear in Egyptian records until the tenth century BC, a fact employed by those who prefer a late date for the book of Genesis. Yet the name is known from the 15th century (the time of Moses), and its full form may be a modernization of a name common in Joseph’s era (20th century BC).