Genesis 39:1-23

Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife

39:1 Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt. ¹  An Egyptian named Potiphar, an official of Pharaoh and the captain of the guard, ²  purchased him from ³  the Ishmaelites who had brought him there. 39:2 The Lord was with Joseph. He was successful ⁴  and lived ⁵  in the household of his Egyptian master. 39:3 His master observed that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made everything he was doing successful. ⁶  39:4 So Joseph found favor in his sight and became his personal attendant. ⁷  Potiphar appointed Joseph ⁸  overseer of his household and put him in charge ⁹  of everything he owned. 39:5 From the time ¹⁰  Potiphar ¹¹  appointed him over his household and over all that he owned, the Lord blessed ¹²  the Egyptian’s household for Joseph’s sake. The blessing of the Lord was on everything that he had, both ¹³  in his house and in his fields. ¹⁴  39:6 So Potiphar ¹⁵  left ¹⁶  everything he had in Joseph’s care; ¹⁷  he gave no thought ¹⁸  to anything except the food he ate. ¹⁹ 

Now Joseph was well built and good-looking. ²⁰  39:7 Soon after these things, his master’s wife took notice of ²¹  Joseph and said, “Have sex with me.” ²²  39:8 But he refused, saying ²³  to his master’s wife, “Look, my master does not give any thought ²⁴  to his household with me here, ²⁵  and everything that he owns he has put into my care. ²⁶  39:9 There is no one greater in this household than I am. He has withheld nothing from me except you because you are his wife. So how could I do ²⁷  such a great evil and sin against God?” 39:10 Even though she continued to speak ²⁸  to Joseph day after day, he did not respond ²⁹  to her invitation to have sex with her. ³⁰ 

39:11 One day ³¹  he went into the house to do his work when none of the household servants ³²  were there in the house. 39:12 She grabbed him by his outer garment, saying, “Have sex with me!” But he left his outer garment in her hand and ran ³³  outside. ³⁴  39:13 When she saw that he had left his outer garment in her hand and had run outside, 39:14 she called for her household servants and said to them, “See, my husband brought ³⁵  in a Hebrew man ³⁶  to us to humiliate us. ³⁷  He tried to have sex with me, ³⁸  but I screamed loudly. ³⁹  39:15 When he heard me raise ⁴⁰  my voice and scream, he left his outer garment beside me and ran outside.”

39:16 So she laid his outer garment beside her until his master came home. 39:17 This is what she said to him: ⁴¹  “That Hebrew slave ⁴²  you brought to us tried to humiliate me, ⁴³  39:18 but when I raised my voice and screamed, he left his outer garment and ran outside.”

39:19 When his master heard his wife say, ⁴⁴  “This is the way ⁴⁵  your slave treated me,” ⁴⁶  he became furious. ⁴⁷  39:20 Joseph’s master took him and threw him into the prison, ⁴⁸  the place where the king’s prisoners were confined. So he was there in the prison. ⁴⁹ 

39:21 But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him kindness. ⁵⁰  He granted him favor in the sight of the prison warden. ⁵¹  39:22 The warden put all the prisoners under Joseph’s care. He was in charge of whatever they were doing. ⁵²  39:23 The warden did not concern himself ⁵³  with anything that was in Joseph’s ⁵⁴  care because the Lord was with him and whatever he was doing the Lord was making successful.

Genesis 11:1

The Dispersion of the Nations at Babel

11:1 The whole earth ⁵⁵  had a common language and a common vocabulary. ⁵⁶ 

Exodus 4:11

4:11 The Lord said to him, “Who gave ⁵⁷  a mouth to man, or who makes a person mute or deaf or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? ⁵⁸ 

Psalms 146:8

146:8 The Lord gives sight to the blind.

The Lord lifts up all who are bent over. ⁵⁹ 

The Lord loves the godly.

Isaiah 29:18-19

29:18 At that time ⁶⁰  the deaf will be able to hear words read from a scroll,

and the eyes of the blind will be able to see through deep darkness. ⁶¹ 

29:19 The downtrodden will again rejoice in the Lord;

the poor among humankind will take delight ⁶²  in the Holy One of Israel. ⁶³ 

Isaiah 32:3

32:3 Eyes ⁶⁴  will no longer be blind ⁶⁵ 

and ears ⁶⁶  will be attentive.

Isaiah 35:5

35:5 Then blind eyes will open,

deaf ears will hear.

Isaiah 42:7

42:7 to open blind eyes, ⁶⁷ 

to release prisoners ⁶⁸  from dungeons,

those who live in darkness from prisons.

Isaiah 42:16-18

42:16 I will lead the blind along an unfamiliar way; ⁶⁹ 

I will guide them down paths they have never traveled. ⁷⁰ 

I will turn the darkness in front of them into light,

and level out the rough ground. ⁷¹ 

This is what I will do for them.

I will not abandon them.

42:17 Those who trust in idols

will turn back and be utterly humiliated, ⁷² 

those who say to metal images, ‘You are our gods.’”

The Lord Reasons with His People

42:18 “Listen, you deaf ones!

Take notice, ⁷³  you blind ones!

Isaiah 43:8

The Lord Declares His Sovereignty

43:8 Bring out the people who are blind, even though they have eyes,

those who are deaf, even though they have ears!

Luke 2:32

2:32 a light, ⁷⁴ 

for revelation to the Gentiles,

and for glory ⁷⁵  to your people Israel.”

Acts 26:18

26:18 to open their eyes so that they turn ⁷⁶  from darkness to light and from the power ⁷⁷  of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share ⁷⁸  among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

[39:1]  ¹ tn 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.

[39:1]  ² sn Captain of the guard. See the note on this phrase in Gen 37:36.

[39:1]  ³ tn Heb “from the hand of.”

[39:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “and he was a prosperous man.” This does not mean that Joseph became wealthy, but that he was successful in what he was doing, or making progress in his situation (see 24:21).

[39:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “and he was.”

[39:3]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew text adds “in his hand,” a phrase not included in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[39:4]  ⁷ sn The Hebrew verb translated became his personal attendant refers to higher domestic service, usually along the lines of a personal attendant. Here Joseph is made the household steward, a position well-attested in Egyptian literature.

[39:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[39:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “put into his hand.”

[39:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and it was from then.”

[39:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Potiphar) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[39:5]  ¹² sn The Hebrew word translated blessed carries the idea of enrichment, prosperity, success. It is the way believers describe success at the hand of God. The text illustrates the promise made to Abraham that whoever blesses his descendants will be blessed (Gen 12:1-3).

[39:5]  ¹³ tn Heb “in the house and in the field.” The word “both” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[39:5]  ¹⁴ sn The passage gives us a good picture of Joseph as a young man who was responsible and faithful, both to his master and to his God. This happened within a very short time of his being sold into Egypt. It undermines the view that Joseph was a liar, a tattletale, and an arrogant adolescent.

[39:6]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Potiphar) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[39:6]  ¹⁶ sn The Hebrew verb translated left indicates he relinquished the care of it to Joseph. This is stronger than what was said earlier. Apparently Potiphar had come to trust Joseph so much that he knew it was in better care with Joseph than with anyone else.

[39:6]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “hand.” This is a metonymy for being under the control or care of Joseph.

[39:6]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “did not know.”

[39:6]  ¹⁹ sn The expression except the food he ate probably refers to Potiphar’s private affairs and should not be limited literally to what he ate.

[39:6]  ²⁰ tn Heb “handsome of form and handsome of appearance.” The same Hebrew expressions were used in Gen 29:17 for Rachel.

[39:7]  ²¹ tn Heb “she lifted up her eyes toward,” an expression that emphasizes her deliberate and careful scrutiny of him.

[39:7]  ²² tn Heb “lie with me.” Here the expression “lie with” is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.

[39:8]  ²³ tn Heb “and he said.”

[39:8]  ²⁴ tn Heb “know.”

[39:8]  ²⁵ tn The word “here” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[39:8]  ²⁶ tn Heb “hand.” This is a metonymy for being under the control or care of Joseph.

[39:9]  ²⁷ tn The nuance of potential imperfect fits this context.

[39:10]  ²⁸ tn The verse begins with the temporal indicator, followed by the infinitive construct with the preposition כְּ (kÿ). This clause could therefore be taken as temporal.

[39:10]  ²⁹ tn Heb “listen to.”

[39:10]  ³⁰ tn Heb “to lie beside her to be with her.” Here the expression “to lie beside” is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.

[39:11]  ³¹ tn Heb “and it was about this day.”

[39:11]  ³² tn Heb “the men of the house.”

[39:12]  ³³ tn Heb “he fled and he went out.” The construction emphasizes the point that Joseph got out of there quickly.

[39:12]  ³⁴ sn For discussion of this episode, see A. M. Honeyman, “The Occasion of Joseph’s Temptation,” VT 2 (1952): 85-87.

[39:14]  ³⁵ tn The verb has no expressed subject, and so it could be treated as a passive (“a Hebrew man was brought in”; cf. NIV). But it is clear from the context that her husband brought Joseph into the household, so Potiphar is the apparent referent here. Thus the translation supplies “my husband” as the referent of the unspecified pronominal subject of the verb (cf. NEB, NRSV).

[39:14]  ³⁶ sn A Hebrew man. Potiphar’s wife raises the ethnic issue when talking to her servants about what their boss had done.

[39:14]  ³⁷ tn Heb “to make fun of us.” The verb translated “to humiliate us” here means to hold something up for ridicule, or to toy with something harmfully. Attempted rape would be such an activity, for it would hold the victim in contempt.

[39:14]  ³⁸ tn Heb “he came to me to lie with me.” Here the expression “lie with” is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.

[39:14]  ³⁹ tn Heb “and I cried out with a loud voice.”

[39:15]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “that I raised.”

[39:17]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “and she spoke to him according to these words, saying.”

[39:17]  ⁴² sn That Hebrew slave. Now, when speaking to her husband, Potiphar’s wife refers to Joseph as a Hebrew slave, a very demeaning description.

[39:17]  ⁴³ tn Heb “came to me to make fun of me.” The statement needs no explanation because of the connotations of “came to me” and “to make fun of me.” See the note on the expression “humiliate us” in v. 14.

[39:19]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “and when his master heard the words of his wife which she spoke to him, saying.”

[39:19]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “according to these words.”

[39:19]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “did to me.”

[39:19]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “his anger burned.”

[39:20]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “the house of roundness,” suggesting that the prison might have been a fortress or citadel.

[39:20]  ⁴⁹ sn The story of Joseph is filled with cycles and repetition: He has two dreams (chap. 37), he interprets two dreams in prison (chap. 40) and the two dreams of Pharaoh (chap. 41), his brothers make two trips to see him (chaps. 42-43), and here, for the second time (see 37:24), he is imprisoned for no good reason, with only his coat being used as evidence. For further discussion see H. Jacobsen, “A Legal Note on Potiphar’s Wife,” HTR 69 (1976): 177.

[39:21]  ⁵⁰ tn Heb “and he extended to him loyal love.”

[39:21]  ⁵¹ tn Or “the chief jailer” (also in the following verses).

[39:22]  ⁵² tn Heb “all which they were doing there, he was doing.” This probably means that Joseph was in charge of everything that went on in the prison.

[39:23]  ⁵³ tn Heb “was not looking at anything.”

[39:23]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:1]  ⁵⁵ sn The whole earth. Here “earth” is a metonymy of subject, referring to the people who lived in the earth. Genesis 11 begins with everyone speaking a common language, but chap. 10 has the nations arranged by languages. It is part of the narrative art of Genesis to give the explanation of the event after the narration of the event. On this passage see A. P. Ross, “The Dispersion of the Nations in Genesis 11:1-9,” BSac 138 (1981): 119-38.

[11:1]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “one lip and one [set of] words.” The term “lip” is a metonymy of cause, putting the instrument for the intended effect. They had one language. The term “words” refers to the content of their speech. They had the same vocabulary.

[4:11]  ⁵⁷ tn The verb שִׂים (sim) means “to place, put, set”; the sentence here more precisely says, “Who put a mouth into a man?”

[4:11]  ⁵⁸ sn The final question obviously demands a positive answer. But the clause is worded in such a way as to return to the theme of “I AM.” Isaiah 45:5-7 developed this same idea of God’s control over life. Moses protests that he is not an eloquent speaker, and the Lord replies with reminders about himself and promises, “I will be with your mouth,” an assertion that repeats the verb he used four times in 3:12 and 14 and in promises to Isaac and Jacob (Gen 26:3; 31:3).

[146:8]  ⁵⁹ tn Perhaps “discouraged” (see Ps 57:6).

[29:18]  ⁶⁰ tn Or “In that day” (KJV).

[29:18]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “and out of gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see.”

[29:19]  ⁶² tn Or “will rejoice” (NIV, NCV, NLT).

[29:19]  ⁶³ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[32:3]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “Eyes that see.”

[32:3]  ⁶⁵ tn The Hebrew text as vocalized reads literally “will not gaze,” but this is contradictory to the context. The verb form should be revocalized as תְּשֹׁעֶינָה (tÿsho’enah) from שָׁעַע (sha’a’, “be blinded”); see Isa 6:10; 29:9.

[32:3]  ⁶⁶ tn Heb “ears that hear.”

[42:7]  ⁶⁷ sn This does not refer to literal physical healing of the blind. As the next two lines suggest, this refers metonymically to freeing captives from their dark prisons where their eyes have grown unaccustomed to light.

[42:7]  ⁶⁸ sn This does not refer to hardened, dangerous criminals, who would have been executed for their crimes in ancient Near Eastern society. This verse refers to political prisoners or victims of social injustice.

[42:16]  ⁶⁹ tn Heb “a way they do not know” (so NASB); NRSV “a road they do not know.”

[42:16]  ⁷⁰ tn Heb “in paths they do not know I will make them walk.”

[42:16]  ⁷¹ tn Heb “and the rough ground into a level place.”

[42:17]  ⁷² tn Heb “be ashamed with shame”; ASV, NASB “be utterly put to shame.”

[42:18]  ⁷³ tn Heb “look to see”; NAB, NCV “look and see”; NRSV “look up and see.”

[2:32]  ⁷⁴ tn The syntax of this verse is disputed. Most read “light” and “glory” in parallelism, so Jesus is a light for revelation to the Gentiles and is glory to the people for Israel. Others see “light” (1:78-79) as a summary, while “revelation” and “glory” are parallel, so Jesus is light for all, but is revelation for the Gentiles and glory for Israel. Both readings make good sense and either could be correct, but Luke 1:78-79 and Acts 26:22-23 slightly favor this second option.

[2:32]  ⁷⁵ sn In other words, Jesus is a special cause for praise and honor (“glory”) for the nation.

[26:18]  ⁷⁶ sn To open their eyes so that they turn… Here is Luke’s most comprehensive report of Paul’s divine calling. His role was to call humanity to change their position before God and experience God’s forgiveness as a part of God’s family. The image of turning is a key one in the NT: Luke 1:79; Rom 2:19; 13:12; 2 Cor 4:6; 6:14; Eph 5:8; Col 1:12; 1 Thess 5:5. See also Luke 1:77-79; 3:3; 24:47.

[26:18]  ⁷⁷ tn BDAG 352-53 s.v. ἐξουσία 2 states, “Also of Satan’s power Ac 26:18.” It is also possible to translate this “the domain of Satan” (cf. BDAG 353 s.v. 6)

[26:18]  ⁷⁸ tn Or “and an inheritance.”