Genesis 39:21

39:21 But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him kindness.¹ He granted him favor in the sight of the prison warden.²

Genesis 39:1

Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife

39:1 Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt.³ An Egyptian named Potiphar, an official of Pharaoh and the captain of the guard,⁴ purchased him from⁵ the Ishmaelites who had brought him there.

Genesis 8:1

8:1 But God remembered⁶ Noah and all the wild animals and domestic animals that were with him in the ark. God caused a wind to blow over⁷ the earth and the waters receded.

Ezra 7:6

7:6 This Ezra is the one who came up from Babylon. He was a scribe who was skilled in the law of Moses which the Lord God of Israel had given. The king supplied him with everything he requested, for the hand of the Lord his God was on him.

Nehemiah 2:8

2:8 and a letter for Asaph the keeper of the king’s nature preserve,⁸ so that he will give me timber for beams for the gates of the fortress adjacent to the temple and for the city wall⁹ and for the house to which I go.” So the king granted me these requests,¹⁰ for the good hand of my God was on me.

Psalms 106:46

106:46 He caused all their conquerors¹¹

to have pity on them.

Proverbs 16:7

16:7 When a person’s¹² ways are pleasing to the Lord,¹³

he¹⁴ even reconciles his enemies to himself.¹⁵

Daniel 1:9

1:9 Then God made the overseer of the court officials sympathetic to Daniel.¹⁶

Acts 7:10

7:10 and rescued him from all his troubles, and granted him favor and wisdom in the presence of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who made¹⁷ him ruler over Egypt and over all his household.

¹tn Heb “and he extended to him loyal love.”

²tn Or “the chief jailer” (also in the following verses).

³tn The disjunctive clause resumes the earlier narrative pertaining to Joseph by recapitulating the event described in 37:36. The perfect verbal form is given a past perfect translation to restore the sequence of the narrative for the reader.

⁴sn Captain of the guard. See the note on this phrase in Gen 37:36.

⁵tn Heb “from the hand of.”

⁶tn The Hebrew word translated “remembered” often carries the sense of acting in accordance with what is remembered, i.e., fulfilling covenant promises (see B. S. Childs, Memory and Tradition in Israel [SBT], especially p. 34).

⁷tn Heb “to pass over.”

⁸tn Or “forest.” So HALOT 963 s.v. פַּרְדֵּס 2.

⁹tc One medieval Hebrew MS, the Syriac Peshitta, Vulgate, and the Arabic read here the plural וּלְחוֹמוֹת (ulÿkhomot, “walls”) against the singular וּלְחוֹמַת (ulÿkhomat) in the MT. The plural holem vav (וֹ) might have dropped out due to dittography or the plural form might have been written defectively.

¹⁰tn The Hebrew text does not include the expression “these requests,” but it is implied.

¹¹tn Or “captors.”

¹²tn Heb “ways of a man.”

¹³tn The first line uses an infinitive in a temporal clause, followed by its subject in the genitive case: “in the taking pleasure of the Lord” = “when the Lord is pleased with.” So the condition set down for the second colon is a lifestyle that is pleasing to God.

¹⁴tn The referent of the verb in the second colon is unclear. The straightforward answer is that it refers to the person whose ways please the Lord – it is his lifestyle that disarms his enemies. W. McKane comments that the righteous have the power to mend relationships (Proverbs [OTL], 491); see, e.g., 10:13; 14:9; 15:1; 25:21-22). The life that is pleasing to God will be above reproach and find favor with others. Some would interpret this to mean that God makes his enemies to be at peace with him (cf. KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NLT). This is workable, but in this passage it would seem God would do this through the pleasing life of the believer (cf. NCV, TEV, CEV).

¹⁵tn Heb “even his enemies he makes to be at peace with him.”

¹⁶tn Heb “Then God granted Daniel loyal love and compassion before the overseer of the court officials.” The expression “loyal love and compassion” is a hendiadys; the two words combine to express one idea.

¹⁷tn Or “appointed.” See Gen 41:41-43.