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Genesis 41 · a question people ask

Did Joseph want to forget his family?

In the text

He names his firstborn Manasseh, saying, "God has made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house" (41:51), and his second Ephraim, "God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction" (41:52). Genesis doesn't explain further. In the next chapter, when his brothers bow before him, "Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed about them" (42:9).

The verses

“Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh, “For”, he said, “God has made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house.” The name of the second, he called Ephraim: “For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.””
Genesis 41:51-52 · World English Bible
“Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed about them, and said to them, “You are spies! You have come to see the nakedness of the land.””
Genesis 42:9 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of Genesis 41

Genesis 41: From the dungeon to Pharaoh

Two years after the cupbearer forgot him, Joseph was brought from the dungeon to interpret Pharaoh's dreams, saying, "It isn’t in me. God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace." Pharaoh called him "a man in whom is the Spirit of God" and set him over Egypt at thirty. He stored grain for the famine and named his sons Manasseh and Ephraim, forgetting and fruitful.

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions