Chapter Thirty-Nine
Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife
Shortly after Joseph was sold to the Midianites, they sold him to an Egyptian official named Potiphar, referred to as the “captain of the guard,” (see Genesis 37:36). At that point the narrative switched to a concurrent story about Judah and Tamar. In this chapter the narrative now returns to tell the story of Joseph.
Egypt by this time was well established, one might even say it was ancient. Even though it might have been considered civilized, it was built on slavery and motivated by immoral polytheistic worship. While ‘Egyptologists’ often disagree regarding the Pharaoh’s dynastic chronology, it is believed that Joseph came to Egypt during the reign of the Hyksos kings (around 1720 BC), who were later expelled prior to Moses’ birth.
39:1 Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, had bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there. 2 The LORD was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master. 3 His master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD caused all that he did to succeed in his hands. 4 So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had. 5 From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; the blessing of the LORD was on all that he had, in house and field. 6a So he left all that he had in Joseph’s charge, and because of him he had no concern about anything but the food he ate.
The first verse repeats the information already stated in Genesis 37:36, with the exception of the identification of the people in the caravan. Here again we see the term Ishmaelites used interchangeably with the Midianites.[1] The story of Joseph begins with the words, “The LORD was with Joseph,” what more needs to be said? God gave Joseph success wherever he went and for whatever he was doing. As a servant he quickly demonstrated his abilities and moral integrity, seeing that Joseph was an extraordinary servant, Potiphar gave him more responsibilities. We also see that God blessed Potiphar’s house for Joseph’s sake. Soon Potiphar placed Joseph in charge of managing his household affairs apart from the food he ate. It is interesting to note that Potiphar recognized that God was with Joseph (see verse 3), the text does not elaborate as to how the blessings were manifested, however, it appears that Joseph’s success could in no way be considered ordinary.
Potiphar is referred to as an Egyptian three times (see verses 1, 2, and 5), a reference that does not seem to be necessary since they are in Egypt. Many believe that this could infer that the Pharaoh was not Egyptian, as would be the case during the period of Hyksos rule.
39:6b Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. 7 And after a time his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.” 8 But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, because of me my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my charge. 9 He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” 10 And as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her.
We are informed that Joseph was an attractive man, and history has told us that ancient Egypt’s sexuality was essentially without boundaries, often plentiful and very erotic. So it should not surprise anyone that before too long, Potiphar’s wife desired to sleep with Joseph. She continued to pursue him day after day, but he continued to decline every one of her advances. She may have even promised him that no one would know, but that did not matter to Joseph. Why? He knew that doing so would be wrong. He told her that first his master, her husband, trusted him in all matters, sleeping with her would violate that trust (verse nine is a recognition that he has the highest authority in Potiphar’s house, not that he is greater than him). Secondly, and perhaps more important to Joseph, doing so would be a sin against God, although that would not matter to her (other than perhaps infuriate her somewhat). As a result, Joseph made every effort to stay away from Potiphar’s wife.
39:11 But one day, when he went into the house to do his work and none of the men of the house was there in the house, 12 she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house. 13 And as soon as she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled out of the house, 14 she called to the men of her household and said to them, “See, he has brought among us a Hebrew to laugh at us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice. 15 And as soon as he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried out, he left his garment beside me and fled and got out of the house.”
Then one day while no one else was around, Potiphar’s wife caught a portion of Joseph’s clothing when he came into the house to do some work. Again, she asked him to lie with her, but he managed to pull free, leaving a portion of his garment behind. This angered her to the point she was now willing to have him arrested. She took advantage of having the garment to incriminate Joseph. So, she cried out, calling for the other servants to come assist her. She then appealed to their apparent jealousy of Joseph and resentment of Potiphar, by pointing out that it was her husband’s fault for bringing in a Hebrew to work in in their home, someone who could mock them and possibly endanger the women of the household. And now that is exactly what happened, this man, who was promoted over all the other servants, attempted to rape the wife of the master. She said she was only saved because she was able to yell out so loudly that he no other choice than to quickly exit, leaving his garment behind.
39:16 Then she laid up his garment by her until his master came home, 17 and she told him the same story, saying, “The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought among us, came in to me to laugh at me. 18 But as soon as I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment beside me and fled out of the house.” 19 As soon as his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, “This is the way your servant treated me,” his anger was kindled. 20 And Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison.
When Potiphar returned home, his wife relayed the same made-up story to him. On hearing this from his wife, Potiphar’s anger was kindled, so he had Joseph arrested. There is no mention of any attempt by Joseph to defend himself. Some scholars point out that if her story was indeed true, Potiphar could have legitimately retaliated by insisting on capital punishment. But since he did not, and merely put him a prison (the Hebrew phrase translated here as “the prison,” is “běṯ’ hǎ sō’hǎr,”[2] or house confinement, a place typically for political prisoners, not criminals), potentially indicates that Potiphar may have believed Joseph, however, since his wife was the one doing the accusing, this was the only feasible answer without causing more problems. Another point to consider is that since Potiphar oversaw this prison (see Genesis 40:3), and knowing how good Joseph was at managing affairs, this way he could still utilize his skills and of course, any further blessings from God.
39:21 But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. 22 And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. 23 The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph’s charge, because the LORD was with him. And whatever he did, the LORD made it succeed.
God continued to bless Joseph; this was part of God’s plan to prepare Joseph. From our perspective that certainly doesn’t sound fair, as Joseph was unjustly accused and imprisoned. Remember God is the only one who can truly evaluate fairness. Some believe that Joseph was a bit arrogant as a child and needed to find humility before he could be later used by God. But we need to be cautious when we start to speculate as to reasons why God does or does not do something, that is almost the definition of arrogance itself. Regardless of the reason why, Joseph was now in prison and God was still blessing him. The prison keeper quickly recognized his abilities and made him the prison’s manager and God continued to prosper him in everything he did.
Considerations
It is interesting to see how words and phrases can change meanings through the years. For example, the word inflammable, originally from the Latin, meaning to cause or catch on fire, now means the opposite. This change was primarily due to incompatibility between the Latin use of the prefix “in,” which means “to cause to,” (such as inflame, infiltrate, etc.) and the English use of the prefix “in,” referring to the opposite (such as inconsiderate, incapable, incompetent, etc.), so to minimize confusion, the meaning of the term was reversed (you certainly do not want to confuse something that isn’t supposed to burn with something that does).
When we hear today that someone was going “up north” or “down south,” we never give it any thought. According to the Corpus of Historical American English,[3] the English phrase “up north” first showed up in literature in the early 1830’s. Prior to that period the opposite was true, and for some cultures that still applies, referring to going ‘up’ meaning heading south and going ‘down’ meaning heading north. This is also true for the Bible. Many believe that it was originally a reference to the direction of the Nile River, “up river” was south and “down river” was north.
This chapter began with the phrase, “Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt,” At first glance it appears that the ‘down’ is now referring to going south towards Egypt. However, we need to remember that this reference could also be a reference to going down in elevation. But is that what is being conveyed here and elsewhere in the Torah? There is another point of view, one might call it a reference to a “Spiritual height.”
“To go down to Egypt” has the overtone of leaving the promised land to dwell among people outside the covenant. The first time the sons of Jacob went to Egypt to settle, God had to appear and instruct Jacob as to his purpose in directing them to Egypt (Gen 46:2ff.). Then after they gained control of Palestine, “to go down to Egypt” was to forsake God and to seek the help of man which would fail (Isa 30:2; 31:1).[4]
God fearing people, should be the best form of employee. Today some employers, though perhaps themselves being unbelievers, recognize the value of hiring Christians. Since we represent Christ to the people around us this becomes even more important to those who might be employers and to those being employed. In a sense we have a fiduciary responsibility to each other. A fiduciary is typically someone who has a legal or ethical relationship of trust who takes care of someone else’s money, business, or other interest without exploiting any personal benefit (such as an attorney, banker, broker, council member, board member, etc.) However, as Christians, we should consider ourselves a fiduciary to our employer or to our employees as our actions reflect Christ. Any time we go beyond what is expected from the world’s view point we may appear different, and some may ask what makes us different. The apostle Peter said we should always be ready to give a defense of our faith if anyone asks us (see 1 Peter 3:15). So why would they ask? They would ask if they saw something different about you in a positive way!
There are two things to consider when examining this question. The first one is simply, who makes the rules? The issue of fairness can only be addressed by someone who truly knows all there is to know about the situation or the matter at hand. God told Moses something we should all consider, "I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.” (Exodus 33:19b, see also Psalm 115:3) In other words God is the only one qualified to judge what is fair or not. We also know that the Bible strongly teaches against partiality and favoritism (see Leviticus 19:15; Deuteronomy 1:17; 16:9; Proverbs 24:23; Ephesians 6:9; James 2:1-13) as well as pointing out that, “God shows no partiality” (Romans 2:11, ESV).
The second thing to consider is our motivation when we call something unfair. Generally, when something that is supposed to be thoughtfully doled out is considered unequal or when someone is not following the rules, we cry ‘foul!’ and claim that it is unfair. When do we make such as claim? It is generally due to an unfavorable condition for us. Instead of going to God and seeing what He wants us to do or learn, we often just shake our heads and complain.
When we consider people of the Bible such as this story about Joseph (who was sold into slavery by his brothers and then wrongfully imprisoned for 13 years) and Job (who lost his entire family, his possessions, and his health, see Job 1:1-22) and how they both remained faithful to God, we recognize that our situations may pale in comparison. Were those situations fair? From our perspective it would appear not. However, God used both of these men, as well as many men and women in the Bible, to become something greater, taking ordinary people and allowing them to do extraordinary things in His kingdom. Since God is the only one qualified to judge what is fair and what is not, perhaps we should seek Him first.
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[1] See commentary under Genesis 37:23-28.
[2] Strong’s Hebrew 1004 and 5470.
[3] Corpus of Historical American English (COHA). (n.d.). Retrieved from https://corpus.byu.edu/coha/
[4] Harris, R. L., Archer, G. L., Jr., & Waltke, B. K. (Eds.). (1999). Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 401). Chicago: Moody Press.