Genesis 41:45

פוטי פרע — POTIPHERAH — he is identical with Potiphar. And he is called Potipherah (pherah meaning, disturbed or cut) as he became naturally castrated, since he desired Yosef for male intercourse (Sotah 13b).

And Pharoh called the name of Joseph, The man who revealeth mysteries. And he gave him Asenath, whom Dinah had borne to Shekem, and the wife of Potiphera prince (Rabba) of Tanis had brought up, to be his wife. And Joseph went forth ruler over the land of Mizraim.

‘TZAPHNATH PA’NEI’ACH.’ Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra said, “If this is an Egyptian word, we do not know its meaning, and if it is a translated one [from Yoseiph, the Hebrew name for Joseph], then we do not know the meaning of the name Yoseiph, [that is, the aspect of the name which has this translation].
But according to the opinion of earlier scholars, who say that it means “explainer of secrets” and is a Hebrew expression, it is possible that Pharaoh called him by this honorable name in accordance with the language of Joseph’s country after he asked him,.” or the king may have known the language of Canaan, which was adjacent to Egypt, and its purport is that “he reveals concealed matters.” So also did Pharaoh’s daughter name Moses our teacher in the language of his people, for out of the water ‘m’shithihu’ (I pulled him).
Now do not wonder why Egyptian writers called Moses, “Munyos,” for they changed the names into the language they understood or used, as the Targum Onkelos does in some cases, as for example, Between Kadesh and Shur, which he translated as “between Rekem and Chigra,” and similarly with many names. And in some places Onkelos does not change them at all, just as in the case of Sichon king of Cheshbon and Og king of Bashan, and many others like them. This is because in his times they were called thus in Aramaic.

צפנת פענח, as translated by Onkelos, someone who reveals hidden things. It is a name taken from the Egyptian language. It was a common practice to link the name of a newly appointed official to his office in some manner. Moses changed the name of Joshua when he became selected to be one of the twelve spies. (Numbers 13,16) Similarly, Daniel, when appointed to high office by the king was renamed בל טשצר, (Daniel 1,6 and Daniel 4,5).

פוטיפרע, this is not the Potiphar who had acquired Joseph as a slave.

כהן און, a minister in the city of that name, as we know from Samuel II 8,18 ובני דוד כהנים היו, “the sons of David were priests.” [seeing that they belonged to the tribe of Yehudah, how could they have been priests (who were descended from Levi)? The meaning of כהן therefore, both in Samuel and in our verse, must be that they were in exalted positions.

ויצא יוסף על ארץ מצרים, he walked away from the interview in a manner which indicated that he was now the ruler over the whole nation

צפנת פענח, an Egyptian expression, similar to Nevuchadnezzar giving Daniel and his companions Chaldaic names when he appointed them to high office. (Daniel 1,7) Other commentators (Rashi, Ibn Ezra, Ram’ban) explain the name צפנת פענח as being Hebrew.

ויצא יוסף, he now proceeded to take the reins of government into his hands

צפנת פענח, this name is an acronym, describing a person who is steadfast in the presence of strong urges to satisfy his libido through sleeping with partners legally forbidden to him. Potiphar had had no reason to believe that Joseph could not withstand such temptation. [Pharaoh wanted the world to know that Joseph had been completely innocent of any accusation. Ed.]

ויתן לו את אסנת, “he (Pharaoh) gave him Ossnat (as a wife) If you were to ask why Joseph who was Royalty would marry the daughter of a commoner, remember that Joseph had previously been a slave in the household of Potiphar. He therefore reasoned that if he were to refuse to marry Ossnat, the daughter of his former master, the latter would spread the word that Joseph was really a slave and that he had no business to have risen to such an exalted position. On the other hand, if he would agree and marry this woman, his former master would honour him henceforth, being proud that through this marriage he himself now had connections to the highest social circles in Egypt. There is an additional reason why he agreed to marry this woman, as she was actually a descendant of Yaakov, as Rashi has explained on Genesis, portion Vayishlach, quoting Pirke de rabbi Eliezer, chapter 38, according to which she was the daughter of Dinah from her rape by Sh’chem. According to that chapter, the angel Michael had transported that infant to Egypt where she had been adopted by Potiphar. This is why the Torah calls her the daughter of Potiphar. We find that Moses similarly was adopted by the daughter of Pharaoh, and that in Chronicles I 4,18 Calev is reported as marrying (also) Bityah-the daughter of Pharaoh, who had at the time adopted Moses. When Joseph was paraded throughout Egypt (Genesis 49,23,) and according to the Torah, all the young ladies threw flowers or jewelry at him, when Ossnat, did not have anything to throw, she threw her amulet, which she had worn around her neck at all times, at him. When Joseph looked at the inscription on it, he realised that the girl wearing it was descended from Yaakov, and he went ahead and married her.