Genesis 39:20

39:20 Joseph’s master took him and threw him into the prison, ¹  the place where the king’s prisoners were confined. So he was there in the prison. ² 

Genesis 39:22

39:22 The warden put all the prisoners under Joseph’s care. He was in charge of whatever they were doing. ³ 

Genesis 39:21

39:21 But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him kindness. ⁴  He granted him favor in the sight of the prison warden. ⁵ 

Genesis 39:23

39:23 The warden did not concern himself ⁶  with anything that was in Joseph’s ⁷  care because the Lord was with him and whatever he was doing the Lord was making successful.

Genesis 40:3

40:3 so he imprisoned them in the house of the captain of the guard in the same facility where Joseph was confined.

Genesis 40:5

40:5 Both of them, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison, had a dream ⁸  the same night. ⁹  Each man’s dream had its own meaning. ¹⁰ 

[39:20]  ¹ tn Heb “the house of roundness,” suggesting that the prison might have been a fortress or citadel.

[39:20]  ² 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.

[39:22]  ³ 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.

[39:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “and he extended to him loyal love.”

[39:21]  ⁶ tn Or “the chief jailer” (also in the following verses).

[39:23]  ⁷ tn Heb “was not looking at anything.”

[39:23]  ⁸ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[40:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “dreamed a dream.”

[40:5]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “a man his dream in one night.”

[40:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “a man according to the interpretation of his dream.”