Genesis 41:42

Hebrew Bible

40 You will oversee my household, and all my people will submit to your commands. Only I, the king, will be greater than you. 41 “See here,” Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I place you in authority over all the land of Egypt.” 42 Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his own hand and put it on Joseph’s. He clothed him with fine linen clothes and put a gold chain around his neck. 43 Pharaoh had him ride in the chariot used by his second-in-command, and they cried out before him, “Kneel down!” So he placed him over all the land of Egypt. 44 Pharaoh also said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, but without your permission no one will move his hand or his foot in all the land of Egypt.”

Esther 8:2

Hebrew Bible

1 On that same day King Ahasuerus gave the estate of Haman, that adversary of the Jews, to Queen Esther. Now Mordecai had come before the king, for Esther had revealed how he was related to her. 2 The king then removed his signet ring (the very one he had taken back from Haman) and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther designated Mordecai to be in charge of Haman’s estate. 3 Then Esther again spoke with the king, falling at his feet. She wept and begged him for mercy that he might nullify the evil of Haman the Agagite and the plot that he had intended against the Jews. 4 When the king extended to Esther the gold scepter, she arose and stood before the king.

 Notes and References

"... The laws of history begin with the principle that the merit of the founders sustains the children to come. The model for the transaction in merit - which underlines and explains the theory of genealogy as the foundation of Israel’s social entity - comes to expression in the life of Joseph. Joseph both derived benefit from the merit of his ancestors and handed on merit to his descendants. No. 2 asks why only Joseph is mentioned as the family of Jacob. The inner polemic is that the merit of Jacob and Joseph would more than suffice to overcome Esau/Rome. Joseph’s life, as much as Abraham’s or Jacob’s, represents the history of Israel and its meaning ... “...and the greatness that they achieved was the same: ‘And Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his hand and put it upon Joseph’s hand’ (Genesis 41:42). ‘And the king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman and gave it to Mordecai’ (Esther 8:2) ..."

Neusner, Jacob The Idea of History in Rabbinic Judaism (pp. 278-279) Brill, 2004

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