Genesis 41:42

And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph's hand,.... Which, as it was expressive of the interest he had in his royal favour, so was a token of that high office and great

And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck; No JFB commentary on this verse.

His ring was both a token of highest dignity, and an instrument of greatest power, by which he had authority to make and sign what decrees he thought fit in the king’ s name. See 8:2. With fine linen the greatest potentates were arrayed. See ,24 Ezekiel 16:10 . A gold chain was another badge of great honour. See ,16,29.

Genesis 41:42 And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph’ s hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck;Ver. 42. And Pharaoh took off his ring.] Pliny therefore is mistaken, who thinks the use of rings came not up before the Trojan war. How happy had he been, that was so great a book devourer, had he lit upon the Bible. He was insighted in all the secrets of nature, as appears by his works, which is non minus varium quam ipsa return natura, saith Erasmus: he never read anything but he excerpted it; neither in his library only, but in his couch: and while he was on horseback, he either wrote or dictated somewhat to be written. When he saw his nephew walk out some hours without studying, he said to him, Poteras has horas non perdere. He lived in the days of Vespasian, and was a great dealer under him. What pity it was that neither by Jews nor Christians he came to the knowledge of the Scriptures, where he might have met with many antiquities, as this of the use of the ring, an ornament of honour, not elsewhere to be read of. But God had "hid these things from the wise and prudent, because it so seemed good in his sight." And put a gold chain about his neck.] Behold, saith a learned interpreter, one hour hath changed his fetters into a chain of gold, his rags into robes, his stocks into a chariot, his jail into a palace; Potiphar’ s captive to his master’ s lord; the noise of his chains into Abrech. God commonly exalts his people to the contrary good to that evil he had cast them into; as Joseph here, of a slave to be a ruler; Christ judged, to be Judge of all. So Gaius, so soon as he came to the empire, the first thing he did was to prefer Agrippa, who had suffered imprisonment for wishing him emperor: he made him king of Judea (this was that Herod that was eaten with worms, Acts 12:23), and gave him a chain of gold, as heavy as the chain of iron that was upon him in prison. Helluo librorum. Nihil unquam legit, quin excerperet: nec in Bibliotheca tantum, sed in lectica; sed equitans quoque vel scribebat vel scribendum aliquod dictabat. - Textor Officina. D. Hall.

(42) His ring.—Heb., his signet ring. As decrees became law when stamped with the royal signet, it was naturally the symbol of authority; and so with us, at the formation of a ministry the great seal is formally delivered into the hands of the highest legal personage in the realm, who is thus invested with power. Vestures of fine linen.—The word used here is Egyptian, shesh, and signifies a kind of flax from which linen of great fineness and whiteness was made. Much of the dress of the Levitical priests was to be made of this flax, called in Hebrew byssus (Exodus 39:28, &c.), In the East it is usual on all occasions of showing the royal favour, to give changes of raiment: but there is here the further signification, that as this fine white linen was the special dress of the king and the priests, the bestowal of it indicated Joseph’s admission into the ruling classes of Egypt. Probably, as he married a priest’s daughter, he was himself also previously enrolled among the ranks of the priesthood. A gold chain.—This also appears upon the monuments as one of the royal insignia. Ancient necklaces of such exquisite workmanship have been discovered in Egypt, that patterns copied from them are common now at the chief jewellers.

Verse 42. And Pharaoh took off his ring-and put it upon Joseph's hand] In this ring was probably set the king's signet, by which the royal instruments were sealed; and thus Joseph was constituted what we would call Lord Chancellor, or Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal. Vestures of fine linen] שש shesh. Whether this means linen or cotton is not known. It seems to have been a term by which both were denominated; or it may be some other substance or cloth with which we are unacquainted. If the fine linen of Egypt was such as that which invests the bodies of the mummies, and these in general were persons of the first distinction, and consequently were enveloped in cloth of the finest quality, it was only fine comparatively speaking, Egypt being the only place at that time where such cloth was manufactured. I have often examined the cloth about the bodies of the most splendidly ornamented mummies, and found it sackcloth when compared with the fine Irish linens. As this shesh appears to have been a part of the royal clothing, it was probably both scarce and costly. "By comparing," says Parkhurst, "Exodus 25:4, Exodus 26:1, with 2 Chronicles 2:14, and Exodus 26:31, with 2 Chronicles 3:14, it appears that בוץ buts, cotton, is called שש shesh; and by comparing Exodus 28:42, with Exodus 39:28, that בד bad, linen, is also called שש shesh; so that shesh seems a name expressive of either of these, from their cheerful vivid whiteness." Put a gold chain about his neck] This was not merely a badge of office. The chain might be intended to point out the union which should subsist between all parts of the government - the king, his ministers, and the people; as also that necessary dependence which they had reciprocally on each other, as well as the connection which must be preserved between the different members of the body politic, and the laws and institutions by which they were to be governed. Its being of gold might be intended to show the excellence, utility, and permanence of a government constituted on wise, just, and equal laws. We are justified in drawing such inferences as these, because in ancient times, in all nations, every thing was made an emblem or representation of some spiritual or moral subject it is strange that, probably without adverting to the reasons, the chain of gold worn about the neck is in different nations an emblem of civil authority.

42. signet ring] i.e. the official ring with which state documents would be sealed. The king thus symbolically transferred to Joseph absolute authority. Cf. 1Ma 6:15, “gave him his diadem and his robe and his signet ring.” See also the use of the king’s ring in Esther 3:10; Esther 3:12; Esther 8:2; Esther 8:8; Esther 8:10. fine linen] Possibly, as R.V. marg., cotton. The Hebrew shêsh has been identified with the Egyptian schenti, meaning something woven. LXX and Lat. render it by an adjective meaning “made of byssus,” i.e. fine flax. This was probably the material worn by the royal and state officials. Possibly it was the same material as that in which the Egyptian mummies were wound. a gold chain] Presumably Pharaoh invested Joseph with his own golden necklace, a sign of honour which the narrative delights to record. The position to which Joseph is elevated is that of “Grand Vizier” or T’ate, as he was called in the Egyptian dialect.

42. Ring… fine linen… gold chain — “Great importance was attached to the signet ring, which contained the owner’s name, and the impression of which was of the same validity as a written signature is among us.