she called to the men of her house, and spoke to them, saying, “Behold, he has brought a Hebrew in to us to mock us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried with a loud voice. When he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment by me, and ran outside.” She laid up his garment by her, until his master came home. She spoke to him according to these words, saying, “The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought to us, came in to me to mock me, and as I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment by me, and ran outside.”
When his master heard the words of his wife, which she spoke to him, saying, “This is what your servant did to me,” his wrath was kindled. Joseph’s master took him, and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were bound, and he was there in custody.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv19–20 19. When his master heard the words of his…
19. When his master heard the words of his wife. Seeing that a color so probable was given to the transaction, there is no wonder that jealousy, the motions of which are exceedingly vehement and ardent, should so far have prevailed with Potiphar, as to cause him to credit the calumnies of his wife. Yet the levity with which he instantly thrust a servant, whom he had found prudent and honest, into prison, without examining the cause, cannot be excused. He ought certainly to have been less under the influence of his wife. And, therefore, he received the just reward of his too easy folly, by cherishing with honor, a harlot in the place of a wife, and by almost performing the office of a pander. This example is useful to all; yet husbands especially are taught that they must use prudence, lest they should be carried rashly hither and thither, at the will of their wives. And, truly, since we everywhere see that they who are too obsequious to their wives are held up to ridicule; let us know that the folly of these men is condemned by the just judgment of God, so that we may learn to pray for the spirit of gravity and moderation. There is no doubt that Moses expressly condemns the rashness of Potiphar, in becoming inflamed against Joseph, as soon as he had heard his wife, and in giving the reins to his indignation, just as if the guilt of Joseph had been proved; for thus all equity is excluded, no just defense is allowed, and finally, the true and accurate investigation of the cause is utterly rejected. But it may be asked, How could the jealousy of Potiphar be excited, since Moses before has said that he was an eunuch? The solution of the question is easy; they were accustomed to be called eunuchs in the East, not only who were so really, but who were satraps and nobles. Wherefore, this name is of the same force as if Moses had said that he was one of the chief men of the court.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv14, 17, 20 Or, to do us villainy and shame.
Or, to do us villainy and shame.
This declareth that where incontinence is, thereunto is joined extreme impudency and craft.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv14–20 Gen 39:14 That she called unto the men of…
Gen 39:14 That she called unto the men of her house, and spake unto them, saying, See, he hath brought in an Hebrew unto us to mock us; he came in unto me to lie with me, and I cried with a loud voice:
Ver. 14. See, he hath brought in an Hebrew.] So she calls him, by way of contempt; as they called our Saviour Nazarene, and his followers Galileans. The Arians called the true Christians Ambrosians Athanasians, Homousians, &c. {a} And at this day, the most honourable name of Christian is in Italy and at Rome a name of reproach; and usually abused, to signify a fool, or a dolt. {b}
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{a} Sir Humphrey Lynde.
{b} W. Fulke, Rhem. Test. on Acts xi., sec. iv.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv14, 17, 18, 20 Unto the men of her house; to such as…
Unto the men of her house; to such as were in other parts of the house, whom she called in as witnesses for her husband’s satisfaction.
He, i.e. my husband, whom she would not name, as it were out of disdain and high displeasure for being the occasion of this horrid affront. Thus the pronouns he and they are oft used by way of contempt, as Luk 4:24; 19:27; Joh 7:11; 8:10.
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An Hebrew; so she calls him, to render him hateful and contemptible to the Egyptians.
To mock us; to abuse me; or to vitiate and defile me; for that word is oft used in an obscene sense. She insinuates, that this was not only an indignity to her, but an injury to all the family, which therefore they were obliged to revenge.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v19 Here is, 1. Joseph wronged by his master. He…
Here is, 1. Joseph wronged by his master. He believed the accusation, and either Joseph durst not make his defence by telling the truth, as it would reflect too much upon his mistress, or his master would not hear it, or would not believe it, and there is no remedy, he is condemned to perpetual imprisonment, Gen 39:19, Gen 39:20. God restrained his wrath, else he had put him to death; and that wrath which imprisoned him God made to turn to his praise, in order to which Providence so disposed that he should be shut up among the king's prisoners, the state-prisoners. Potiphar, it is likely, chose that prison because it was the worst; for there the iron entered into the soul (Psa 105:18), but God designed to pave the way to his enlargement. He was committed to the king's prison, that he might thence be preferred to the king's person. Note, Many an action of false imprisonment will, in the great day, be found to lie against the enemies and persecutors of God's people. Our Lord Jesus, like Joseph here, was bound, and numbered with the transgressors. 2. Joseph owned and righted by his God, who is, and will be, the just and powerful patron of oppressed innocence. Joseph was at a distance from all his friends and relations, had not them with him to comfort him, or to minister to him, or to mediate for him; but the Lord was with Joseph, and showed him mercy, Gen 39:21. Note, (1.) God despises not his prisoners, Psa 69:33. No gates nor bars can shut out his gracious presence from his people; for he has promised that he will never leave them. (2.) Those that have a good conscience in a prison have a good God there. Integrity and uprightness qualify us for the divine favour, wherever we are. Joseph is not long a prisoner before he becomes a little ruler even in the prison, which is to be attributed, under God, [1.] To the keeper's favour. God gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison. Note, God can raise up friends for his people even where they little expect to find them, and can make them to be pitied even of those that carry them captive, Psa 106:46. [2.] To Joseph's fitness for business. The keeper saw that God was with him, and that every thing prospered under his hand; and therefore entrusted him with the management of the affairs of the prison, Gen 39:22, Gen 39:23. Note, Wisdom and virtue will shine in the narrowest spheres. A good man will do good wherever he is, and will be a blessing even in bonds and banishment; for the Spirit of the Lord is not bound nor banished, witness St. Paul, Phi 1:12, Phi 1:13.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv14–20 That she called unto the men of her house,....…
That she called unto the men of her house,.... Of that part of the house which belonged to her; her eunuchs that waited upon her, or that were in another part of the home, at some distance:
and spake unto them; when they came to her:
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saying, see, he hath brought in an Hebrew unto us to mock us: she means her husband, whom through contempt, and in her passion, she names not, having lost all affection for him, as her addresses to Joseph showed; and so the Targum of Jonathan supplies it,"your master hath brought, &c.''and Joseph she calls an Hebrew by way of reproach, and with a view to set her servants against him; who before this might not have any great regard to him through envy at him, for the favours he enjoyed, and the authority he had; and because he prevented their doing wrong things to serve themselves, and hurt their master: and holding up his garment in her hand, which they knew full well, bid them look at it, and observe, that this was the issue of his Being brought into the house by their master; that though it was not with such an intention, which can hardly be thought to be her sense, yet this was the event of it; an attempt to abuse, vitiate, and corrupt her, and so bring contempt upon the whole family, and expose them to the scorn and mockery of men, for their mistress to be abused by a base foreigner: she explains herself more fully by saying:
he came in unto me to lie with me, and I cried with a loud voice; both of them lies; for it was she that solicited him to lie with her, and not he; nor did she cry out at all; and if she did, how came it she was not heard by them, as well as when she called unto them; thus her impure love was turned into hatred, which put her upon framing lies and calumnies; and which has been also done in cases similar to this (s), as Sthenobaea against Bellerophon.
(s) Vid. Juvenal Satyr. 10. Apollodorum de Deorum Origin. l. 2. p. 70.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On v20 Where the king's prisoners were bound - Potiphar, it…
Where the king's prisoners were bound - Potiphar, it is likely, chose that prison because it was the worst; for there the irons entered into the soul, Psalm cv, 18, but God designed it to pave the way to his enlargement. Our Lord Jesus, like Joseph was bound, and numbered with the transgressors.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv14, 20 Verse 14. He hath brought in a Hebrew unto…
Verse 14. He hath brought in a Hebrew unto us] Potiphar's wife affects to throw great blame on her husband, whom we may reasonably suppose she did not greatly love. He hath brought in - he hath raised this person to all his dignity and eminence, to give him the greater opportunity to mock us. לפחק letsachek, here translated to mock, is the same word used in Ge 26:8, relative to Isaac and Rebekah; and is certainly used by Potiphar's wife in Ge 39:17, to signify some kind of familiar intercourse not allowable but between man and wife.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v20 Gen 39:20-21. Where the king’s prisoners were bound —…
Gen 39:20-21. Where the king’s prisoners were bound — Potiphar, it is likely, chose that prison because it was the worst; for there “the irons entered into the soul,” Psa 105:18, but God designed it to pave the way to his enlargement. Our Lord Jesus, like Joseph, was bound, and numbered with transgressors. But the Lord was with Joseph, and showed him mercy. No gates nor bars can shut out his gracious presence from his people. God gave him favour in sight of the keeper of the prison — God can raise up friends for his people, even where they little expect them. The keeper saw that God was with him, and that every thing prospered under his hand, and therefore intrusted him with the management of the affairs of the prison.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv16, 17, 19 A proof of her fidelity, or an argument to…
A proof of her fidelity, or an argument to gain credit, argumentum fidei. (Challoner) --- Love neglected, turns to fury. She wishes to take away Joseph’s life, according to the laws of Egypt against adulterers. Diodorus says Sesostris burnt some women taken in the crime; and we must attribute it to divine Providence, that the enraged husband did not inflict instant death upon his slave. Perhaps he did not altogether believe him guilty. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv14, 20 Then she called unto the men of her house--Disappointed…
Then she called unto the men of her house--Disappointed and affronted, she vowed revenge and accused Joseph, first to the servants of the house, and on his return to her lord.
See, he hath brought in an Hebrew . . . to mock us--an affected and blind aspersion of her husband for keeping in his house an Hebrew, the very abomination of Egyptians.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv14, 20 14. She called unto the men of her house…
14. She called unto the men of her house — To other men-servants, who were under Joseph’s oversight. Like the evil woman of all times and nations, she was quick to ruin the man who would not follow her desires. She seeks first to make the men-servants witnesses in the case, and then waits until her husband’s return to repeat the same abominable falsehood to him. Gen_39:16-18. The story of Potiphar’s wife, whose traditionary name is Zuleekha, is told with much amplification by Josephus, (Ant., book ii, chap. iv,) and in Oriental romance. The Koran relates it in that chapter (12) to which Mohammed appealed as bearing the manifest signs of inspiration.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv14, 16, 20 14. an Hebrew] The designation used by foreigners for…
14. an Hebrew] The designation used by foreigners for “an Israelite” (cf. Gen_41:12, Gen_43:32), and probably for any one who belonged to the group of peoples, Israelite, Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, who invaded and settled down in Palestine and the adjacent territories. The word is an appeal to the racial prejudice against Asiatic strangers.
to mock] Cf. Pro_1:26. The idea is of wanton insult.
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us] As if none of the women in the house would be secure from insult, when the master’s wife had been subjected to such an affront from this young upstart foreigner. She implies that her husband’s confidence in his Hebrew slave meant disregard for the family’s honour.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv16, 19, 20 Vers. 16-18. And she laid up his garment by…
Vers. 16-18. And she laid up his garment by her (literally, by her side), until his lord came home (literally, until the coming of his lord to his house). And she spake unto him according to these words, saying, The Hebrew servant, which thou hast brought unto us (here she charges her husband with being indirectly at least the cause of the alleged affront which had been put upon her), came in unto me to mock me: seemed too modest to speak in plain terms of Joseph"s crime (Lawson)and it came to pass, as I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me and fled out (i.e. went forth into the street, ut supra).
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v19 But the Lord was with Joseph, and showed him…
Gen_39:19-23
But the Lord was with Joseph, and showed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison
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Joseph in prison
A superior man will manifest his superiority in any situation.
In slavery, in prison, in exile, his worth will be disclosed and acknowledged. Joseph was a remarkable example of this. Though a prisoner in name, he soon was the actual warden. I invite attention to some of the lessons taught us by the experience and demeanour of Joseph in prison. Consider--
(1) What it is that gives one special power over men. Not great natural gifts merely, or original superiority of mind. Many people who possess these are without much influence. Neither is it the gifts of rank or fortune. Joseph had neither of these to commend him to favour. The Scriptures point to the true cause of his ascendency: The Lord was with Joseph, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison; and the latter committed to him the prisoners, because the Lord was with him, and that which he did the Lord made it to prosper. Since he was a good man, and obviously enjoyed Gods favour, he had influence and power over men. Right is mightier than wrong. As one clear, sweet voice singing in tune will bring a whole multitude of discordant voices into harmony with it, because it is right and they are wrong, and concord is superior to discord, so one godly man will prevail over many wicked. Men are always impressed by manifestations of a good conscience. They are persuaded that one who has a conscience void of offence toward God, is more likely to have one void of offence toward men also. His fidelity to his religious convictions wins their confidence. They will honour him, even though he vexes them by his scruples. Nicholas Biddle, we have been told, once had for a private secretary a Christian young man, whom he wished to keep at work on the Sabbath. The secretary objected to working on the Lords Day. I shall discharge you, said his employer, if you do not conform to my wishes. The secretary was poor, and had, moreover, a widowed mother dependent upon him; but rather than violate his conscience by doing what he considered wrong, he gave up his place. A day or two after, Mr. Biddle was in the company of some gentlemen who proposed to start a new bank, and the question was, where should they find a suitable man to be its cashier? I know of one, said Mr. Biddle; and he recommended to them his late secretary, saying, He had too much conscience for my work, but none too much for the more responsible office you have. And through his recommendation the place was given to him. In no way can parents do so well for their children, or so certainly insure for them positions of power and influence, as by an early religious training.
(2) Josephs demeanour in prison teaches the duty of patient accommodation to the situation in which God has seemed to place us. Evidently he tried to make the best of his prison life. He does not yield to despair and refuse to see any hope of good. He is cheerful and helpful to all about him, displaying there, in that uncongenial place, the same serenity of mind and the same religious faith as elsewhere. He rested in the Lord, and waited patiently for the manifestation of His will, never fretting over the peculiar hardship of his case, nor complaining because he was the innocent victim of the wicked devices of another. He believed that God would take care of him, and deliver him out of all his troubles. Though he could not see, what we see, that his prison was only a necessary way-station in his path to the lordship of Egypt, yet he knew that God was there, and that where God was it was safe for him to be, and not ill. His faith sustained him.
(3) Josephs life in prison teaches that there is good work to be done everywhere. Joseph discovered new capabilities of service in that dismal office. He shed upon it a humane and softer light. He reformed old abuses and introduced new improvements. He did noble work there, work animated by pity and mercy; such work as we impute to angels in their ministries of compassion among the suffering and wretched. It was work, too, which blessed his soul in the doing of it, and which paved the way to that future greatness to which he was advancing. The same thing may be true of the worst situation in which a man may be placed. He can, if he will, ennoble it by good work; make it bright by deeds of love and mercy; make it a field of great usefulness to others, and tributary to his own subsequent advancement.
(4) Josephs life in prison illustrates how all things work together for good to them that love God. I have done nothing, he said, that they should put me into the dungeon. It seemed a hard case. He was there through the slanderous spite of a bad woman. Falsehood and wickedness seemed to have triumphed over truth and innocence. But it was only that the person in whom they were represented might be the more exalted. Josephs case reveals how God can make everything bend to His purpose. (A. H.Currier.)
Joseph in prison
I. AN EXAMPLE OF THE MYSTERIOUS WAYS OF PROVIDENCE.
II. AN EXAMPLE OF THE STRENGTH OF GODS CONSOLATIONS IS THE WORST TRIALS.
1. He had a present reward (Gen_39:21).
2. His goodness was made manifest. (T. H. Leale.)
Josephs conduct in the dungeon
I. THE TENDERNESS OF HIS SYMPATHY (Gen_39:6-7). Suffering is absolutely necessary to capacitate us for sympathy.
II. THE PROFESSION OF HIS INNOCENCE. Of which notice the calmness and simplicity.
III. THE INTEGRITY OF HIS TRUTHFULNESS. Having undertaken the office of interpreter, he fulfilled it faithfully. (F. W. Robertson, M. A.)
Joseph in prison; or, an epitome of heavens rule over the world
I. THAT GODS RULE OVER THE WORLD SUFFERS THE RIGHTEOUS TO BE GRIEVOUSLY OPPRESSED BY THE WICKED.
1. Joseph was the subject of cruel envy.
2. Joseph was the subject of the vilest calumny.
II. THAT GODS RULE OVER THE WORLD AFFORDS THE RIGHTEOUS AMPLE SUPPORT, EVEN UNDER THE GREATEST TRIALS OF LIFE. Joseph had three things in that dungeon to support him.
1. The approbation of his own conscience.
2. The respect of his circle.
3. The special presence of his God.
III. THAT GODS RULE OVER THE WORLD WORKS OUT THE GOOD OF THE RIGHTEOUS BY EVERY VARIETY OF INSTRUMENTALITY.
1. The evil passions of men.
2. The apparent accidents of life.
3. The mental visions of men.
4. The system of material nature.
Lessons:
1. The shortness of our trials compared with our destiny.
2. The unimportance of worldly condition compared with our moral character.
3. Greatness, however depressed and obscured, must rise one day through all obstructions to its rightful sovereignty. (Homilist.)
Life in a dungeon
I. THE PRISON. Literally, the round-house. Probably at first Joseph was confined in a dark and dismal subterranean inner-prison, where Psa_105:18) he was put in irons. A gloomy condition! But this seemingly overwhelming misfortune is but one of the links by which a mysterious but all-wise Providence is to conduct him into ultimately far higher honours and far more important trusts.
II. JOSEPHS IMPRISONMENT IS WHOLLY WITHOUT CAUSE. He was really suffering for his adherence to the right. He received the reward, which many have done since, of reproach, slander, and every injury, where the highest respect and honour were justly due. Instead of the admiration and lasting gratitude of his master, he was thrust into the prison, and his feet made fast in irons. But in this unwelcome and undeserved experience Joseph was but joining that illustrious company, swelled by subsequent ages to a mighty multitude, who have been made to suffer for well doing, many of whom have had to seal their testimony with their blood. The purest of all was numbered with the transgressors.
III. How JOSEPH DEPORTED HIMSELF IN PRISON. True to his beautiful antecedents, even in this black midnight he was still his noble self.
IV. THE LORD WAS WITH HIM.
1. Let me commend to your prayerful study the beautiful bearing and admirable spirit manifested by this young hero in this trying era in his extraordinary history.
2. Learn from this subject to be faithful under all circumstances, and to endeavour so to deport yourselves as to show forth a blameless and praiseworthy life. (J. Leyburn, D. D.)
Joseph in prison
A strange place, we might say, for a saint of God to be in! And yet a place in which the saints of God have often been found; for the world hath frequently misjudged them, deeming ill of whom it should have thought well, and instead of loving them for the example of purity and goodness which they have afforded, has made them the victims of its suspicion and hate. Thus it has come to pass that the excellent of the earth, the men worthy of thrones and palaces, have been ofttimes thrust into dark and noisome dungeons. State records have their stories of illustrious prisoners; and so also have the annals of the Church--and harrowing ones indeed they are. Samson, Micaiah, Jeremiah, John Baptist, Peter, Paul and Silas. And what shall I more say? For the time would fail me to tell of others who, in apostolic and post-apostolic times, were in prisons oft, and would joyfully have been there oftener, for the blessedness that they realized there from the presence of Him who can make of a prison a palace, and change dungeon darkness into heavenly light. We will now, therefore, return to Joseph, to whose imprisonment our text relates--And he was there in the prison.
I. WHY WAS HE THERE? What crime had he committed? Against whom had he offended? How had he sinned, that he should be found in such a place as this? Listen to the answer, for it is a rare answer. There is not one prisoner of a thousand respecting whom it could be truly given. He had not sinned at all! He had wronged no one l He was guiltless of any crime whatever! Then why was he there? I will give you the answer in a positive form. He was there because he chose to suffer rather than to sin--he preferred shame, and privation, and sorrow, to guilt. He would rather be an inmate of a prison--aye, for life--with a clear conscience, than the dweller in a mansion with an accusing one. Such is the answer to the question, Why was Joseph where we now find him? And it suggests a practical remark of very considerable importance and use, namely, that the highest integrity will not protect a man always from misjudgment and oppression. The very reality of goodness is the pledge that it will be tried, and these sufferings, attendant often--I might say uniformly--on a course of spiritual integrity, are just Gods way of trying it. Bear this in mind, dear friends, and you will not then be overwhelmed if, like Joseph, your fidelity to conscience and to God should bring you into circumstances of deepest humiliation and pain.
II. How DID IT FARE WITH HIM THERE? And this is a question which admits, as you will see, of a twofold answer--a sad and a pleasing one. At first it seems to have gone ill enough with this young servant of God there in the prison. He was made to suffer all the rigours of an Eastern dungeon. We learn from the one-hundred-and-fifth Psalm, that the simple record in Genesis does not tell us all that he underwent; for it is said there that his feet were hurt with fetters, that he was laid in iron. Indeed, it was a most trying lot, and must have been hard to bear, despite the consciousness of innocence to console and sustain the mind. And yet there was a necessity for it; a necessity, I mean, in connection with the wonderful drama which Josephs history was designed to form. Without all this trial and suffering, so undeserved, so apparently mysterious, there would have been wanting what gives the chief interest to the final development, and makes the whole so beautiful a lesson of trust in Providence, and patient waiting for the unfolding of Gods ways. And I would say, my brethren, there may be a corresponding necessity in your case for those circumstances in your lot which are most baffling and painful. It is not sent to you out of mere capriciousness on the part of your Heavenly Father; but because it is essential to the working out of His purposes of mercy in relation to you. Just as it was not only part of Gods plan that Joseph should be unjustly imprisoned, but also that his sufferings in prison should take, at first, a character of special severity; so everything in the circumstances of His people is equally the result of design, pointing to a future, hidden from them now, but hereafter to unfold itself, and to display to their astonished view wonders of Divine wisdom and faithfulness in the very events of their history which they had deemed the most painful and obscure. But I said that the question as to how it fared with Joseph in prison admits of a twofold answer. What I have just spoken to may be called the sad part of the answer. Let us now look at the more pleasing aspect of it. The severity was probably only temporary. At all events, we soon find the young man enjoying a degree of liberty and consideration that mark a wondrous change in his condition. But there is something more than this. That which the spiritual mind fastens upon here with most eagerness and delight is the statement about Gods regard to the suffering prisoner. This it is specially that forms the pleasing part of the answer, as to how it fared with Joseph in prison. Mark what is said at the end of the chapter--But the Lord was with Joseph, etc. You see that the one idea here is the presence of God with His servant; the favour of God, the prospering blessing of God. The mind of the sacred writer seems to have been full of that. It was in his estimation the grand thing, the salient point in the story--all. Joseph found his prison-life eventually not only not sad, but happy, because God was with him. Joseph won consideration and favour from his gaoler because God was with him. Joseph succeeded so well in every business matter entrusted to him because God was with him. Friendless and alone he could not be in that case. Inwardly cast down for long he could not be in that case. Now, the practical truth I wish to press upon you all here is the supreme value to be attached to the presence and favour of God. (C. M. Merry.)
Joseph in prison
I. "GOD WAS WITH JOSEPH--WHERE?
1. God is no respecter of places. Men speak with bated breath of prison-houses.
2. A sample of Gods faithfulness. Potiphar, from very unworthy reasons, had withheld his favour from Joseph. Very likely many in the mansion had secretly rejoiced in Josephs fall. He keepeth covenant for ever.
II. GOD WAS WITH HIM.--IN WHAT MANNER?
1. Gods best gifts are spiritual. There was no miraculous vindication of Joseph. Yet, though unseen, God was there, with hands full of blessing.
Did Joseph retain his hold on God, and often speak to Him in prayer? God nourished that faith. Did Joseph cherish a peaceful assurance, that God would over-rule this disaster for good? Then God was dwelling in him.
2. God gave him mercy, This hardship led Jacob to faithful self-examination.
3. God lightened his burden. The effect of Gods presence was twofold, viz., inward and outward. The real worth of Joseph was patent to the governor of the gaol. It was soon felt by warders and prisoners alike that Joseph was an injured man.
4. God made him useful. In that grim gaol his life was not doomed to inglorious idleness. So in the prison Joseph did his very best; nobly exercised his talents; lived as a king: and prepared himself to be ruler of Egypt. There were lessons to be learnt here which he could not learn elsewhere; a good school this.
III. GOD WAS WITH HIM--WITH WHAT RESULT?
1. There was prosperity. That is, there was order, peacefulness, good discipline.
2. Knowledge was gained. Joseph learnt how little mischief bad men and bad women can do to a good man.
3. It was a stepping-stone to sovereignty. Very likely the advantage in the formation of Josephs character was immense. Excrescences were pruned away. Good principles were better rooted. A generous forgetfulness of self was fostered. He was daily growing into a nobler and purer man. (J. Dickerson Davies, M. A.)
Joseph in prison
I. FAITHFUL JOSEPH SUSTAINED IN PRISON BY A FAITHFUL GOD.
1. By manifestation of personal friendship.
(1) With him, to comfort him in his peculiarly trying position, his character being falsely accused.
(2) With him, to impart strength and skill for the proper discharge of duty.
2. By giving him favour in the eyes of others.
(1) By Gods interposition, he becomes the wardens favourite.
(2) Unbounded trust is, through Gods grace, placed in one whose character has been assailed.
(3) It is Gods prerogative to dispose the hearts of men toward His children (Pro_21:1).
II. THE MYSTERIOUS POWER OF DREAMS USED BY GOD IN BEHALF OF HIS WRONGED CHILD.
1. The tyranny of ancient monarchs.
2. The activity of the mind.
(1) While the body sleeps, the mind continues wakeful and full of thought.
(2) This mental activity during sleep, which we call dreams, God has frequently used in all ages for providential purposes.
III. TO INTERPRET DREAMS A DIVINE PREROGATIVE.
1. A dream from God, like a speech in an unknown tongue, cannot be understood until interpreted by one who knows the language.
2. If a dream is designed to reveal a Divine purpose, that purpose must be distinctly explained by special communication by God.
3. The folly of assuming intelligence enough to interpret dreams without special revelation from God.
Lessons:
1. The advantages of true piety in the practical affairs of life.
2. A lesson for resignation under most trying circumstances. (D. C. Hughes, M. A.)
Joseph in prison
I. If we take our whole impression of his prison-life from the Book of Genesis, our impression cannot be either accurate or complete. For, though the inspired narrative tells us that Joseph was bound; though it records his earnest entreaty that the cup-bearer, when he was released, would do his utmost to deliver him; though it represents him as speaking with a certain bitterness of having done nothing to deserve that he should be thrust into this hole; though, therefore, it implies that Joseph was the victim of a gross injustice, and had a keen sense of the injustice done to him, it nevertheless leaves the impression on our minds that, for a prisoner, his condition was a singularly happy one; that he enjoyed an altogether exceptional freedom, and rose to no small measure of official place and dignity. But, as we learn from a supplementary Scripture, Joseph was by no means of our mind, nor were his circumstances altogether so happy as we have supposed them to be. In Psa_105:17-19, we read: He sent a man before them: Joseph was sold for a slave. They tormented his feet with fetters; his soul came into iron, until the time when his word came; the word of the Lord cleared him. The light shed by these words shines into the dark Egyptian dungeon, and enables us to see the prisoner and his condition more distinctly. Honoured and trusted as he was, he was nevertheless tormented with fetters. He was a prisoner, although a favoured prisoner, and thought more of his captivity than of the favour which softened its rigours. Through long bitter months he bends sad questioning eyes on a heaven no longer flushed wit-h rosy dawns of hope, but dark with the hues of doubt and despair. Yet, as we know, the road to the throne lay through that hole; and but for the hateful fetters which tormented him, he would never have worn the signet from Pharaohs hand, nor the golden chain which Pharaoh flung round his neck. The night in which he sat ushered in a long and brilliant day.
II. Now, the prison experience of Joseph is by no means an exceptional experience. Its value for us lies mainly in the fact that it helps us to understand the common lot of man. It would seem to be a law of the Divine government that in proportion as men are great in capacities for service, they should have their capacities developed by bitter and long-sustained afflictions. We can be patient and hopeful when once we are assured that all our defeats and disappointments, our failures and reverses and broken illusions, are parts of the discipline by which God is training us for the work we long to do, and are qualifying us to enjoy the freedom we crave. If only our character is being moulded and hardened, and its capacities brought out by suffering, then it is not unjust of God to inflict suffering upon us. If we can become perfect only through suffering, shall we not thank Him for the suffering which perfects us? If only as we learn to rule in the prison of deterred opportunities and defeated hopes, we can become fit to rule over the many cities of the heavenly kingdom, shall we shrink from the prison which leads to the throne? If the iron must enter our souls that we may be strong amid the flatteries and the adversities of fortune, shall even the fetters which torment us be unwelcome to us? (S. Cox, D. D.)
Free though bound
Though his body is in fetters, Josephs pure spirit is still free. The one, man may load with irons; the other, God alone can bind in the prisonhouse of torture. With integrity preserved, the prison may be a palace. With Gods favour there may be happiness in a dungeon; without it, wretchedness in a royal court. There may be spiritual liberty while shackles are chafing the weary limbs, there may be the bondage of sin while no visible chains are eating into the quivering flesh. In point of fact, Potiphars wife was the slave--the slave of sin; Joseph the freeman, the emancipated of the Lord. He is a freeman whom the truth makes free, all besides are slaves. Many, alas! though their limbs are unshackled, are yet bound captives, to human appearance hopelessly fettered by iniquity. Who is there so lost to honour that he would not prefer Josephs situation to that of his assailant? purity to impurity? Gods favour in a prison, to Gods displeasure in the decorated halls of wordly grandeur? (J. S. Van Dyke.)
True prosperity
Now, do let us all be thoroughly instructed from this, what it is that constitutes true prosperity. It is said of the soldiers of a certain king, in ancient times, that they lost a great battle by mistaking the shadows for the ,persons of their enemies. They discharged their arrows at the empty resemblance, instead of the living and moving ranks of men. How many make a similar mistake with regard to prosperity I They mistake the shadow for the substance; and thus they take a wrong aim. All their energies and all their efforts are directed to something short of the mark. Outward distinctions and outward blessings, considered in themselves, form only the shadow of prosperity. It does not consist in greatness, or grandeur, or riches, or plenty, or ease. These are all sometimes possessed by the wicked; and sometimes they are possessed by those, who, instead of being prosperous, have actually to groan through the very disquietude of their heart. True prosperity is something different to this, and independent of this. It can flourish without such things as these, and make us happy either with or without them. It consists in what Joseph had--the favour, and presence, and blessing of Almighty God, our heavenly Father. This can make us happy in every place, and in every state. (C. Overton.)
Uses of adversity
It is good for man suffer the adversity of this earthly life, for it brings him back to the sacred retirement of the heart, where only he finds he is an exile from his native home, and ought not to place his trust in any worldly enjoyment. It is good for him also to meet with contradiction and reproach, and to be evil thought of and evil spoken of, even when his intentions are upright and his actions blameless, for this keeps him humble and is a powerful antidote to the poison of vain glory; and then chiefly it is that we have recourse to the witness within us, which is God, when we are outwardly despised, and held in no degree of esteem and favour among men. Our dependence upon God ought to be so entire and absolute that we should never think it necessary, in any kind of distress, to have recourse to human consolation. (De Imitatione Christi.)
Providences of God
We are tried by our disappointments, we are tried by our successes. God heaps mercies upon men, and then takes them all away. He blesses, enriches, and establishes men, and then shuts them up, impoverishes, and subverts them. The whole train of the dealings of God with them in respect of the providential ordering of their affairs is either to break the hold of this earth upon the human soul, through its senses and passions, or else to inspire its religious faculties to take hold upon God and eternity. This is the secret of the whole round of unspeakable and so-called mysterious providences of God towards men; unspeakable and mysterious because God is acting in one way and they are acting in another. (H. W.Beecher.)
A prisoner kindly treated
It is said that when John Bunyan was in Bedford jail, some of his persecutors in London heard that he was often out of the prison; they sent an officer to talk with the gaoler on the subject, and in order to discover the fact he was to get there in the middle of the night. Bunyan was at home with his family, but so restless that he could not sleep; he therefore acquainted his wife that, though the goaler had given him liberty to stay till the morning, yet, from his uneasiness, he must immediately return. He did so, and the gaoler blamed him for coming at such an unseasonable hour. Early in the morning the messenger came, and interrogating the gaoler, said Are all the prisoners safe? Yes. Is John Bunyan safe? Yes. Let me see him. He was called, and appeared, and all was well. After the messenger was gone, the goaler, addressing Mr. Bunyan, said, Well, you may go in and out again just when you think proper, for you know when to return better than I can tell you.
When God commands the life all goes well
In the course of my inspection of the lines that morning, while passing along Culps Hill, I found the men hard at work entrenching, and in such fine spirits as at once to attract attention. One of them finally dropped his work, and approaching me, inquired if the reports first received were true. On asking what he referred to, he replied that twice word had been passed along the line that General McKeller had been assigned to the command of the army, and the second time it was added that he was on the way to the field, and might soon be expected. He continued, The boys are all jubilant over it, for they know that if he takes command, everything will go right. (One Thousand New Illustrations.)
Equanimity of character
The equanimity which a few persons preserve through the diversities of prosperous and adverse life reminds me of certain aquatic plants which spread their tops on the surface of the water, and with wonderful elasticity keep the surface still if the water swells, or if it falls. (J. Foster.)
God with His people in trouble
Think not that the presence of God with His people is limited to palaces or to churches. It has been often manifestly seen that He was with them in prisons, in caves or dens, on gibbets, in fiery furnaces. Ask not, why He does not snatch away His people from such dreary places, if He is present with them? Why should you think yourself wiser than God? You know why Christ, though He was the Son of God, did not come down from the cross, that His enemies might believe in Him. The sufferings of Christ were necessary for our salvation. The sufferings of the saints are necessary for their own salvation, though in another sense. (G. Lawson, D. D.)
Integrity repaid by confidence
Joseph, diligent and trusty, finds friends even in the prison. Integrity invariably secures confidence. The conscientious, the honest, and the truthful commonly find those with whom they deal willing to exhibit the same qualities. On the other hand, the deceitful and the unprincipled are extremely liable to be paid in their own coin. Indeed, so strong is the disposition to judge others by ourselves, that we are tolerably safe in concluding that those who charge the world with want of sympathy are not themselves extremely sympathetic; that those who pronounce mankind unprincipled will bear watching. Since the world is a kind of mirror, we are quite apt to see in others only a reflection of ourselves. Since its polished hardness approaches flintiness, our treatment of the world is liable to be turned back upon ourselves--the force of the rebound as well as its nature being determined by our own conduct. If we love our fellow-men, they will love us; if we hate them, they will hate us; if we aid them, they will aid us; abuse them, and abuse returns, sometimes steeped in the poison of malice. Hence it commonly happens that he who can control himself can usually determine the treatment he is to receive from others. Josephs kindness secured a return of kindness even from the Egyptian jailer; his integrity was repaid in confidence. He who has the love which our Saviour recommends possesses the means of securing kindness from most persons, and respect from all (J. S. Van Dyke.)
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The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v19 Gen_39:22. Keeper of the prison.] An inferior officer who…
CRITICAL NOTES.—
Gen_39:22. Keeper of the prison.] An inferior officer who was charged with the actual discipline of the prison.
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MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Gen_39:19-23
JOSEPH IN PRISON
I. An example of the mysterious ways of Providence. The outward sufferings of Joseph were grievous. He was bound as well as imprisoned. They “hurt” his feet “with fetters.” (Psa_105:18.) But his trouble went deeper than this. “The iron entered his soul.” Though conscious of innocence, yet in the eyes of men he suffered as one guilty. He had to bear shame, and reproach, and punishment on account of his integrity and uprightness. All this time his enemies flourished and triumphed over him. Such is the mystery of Providence in all ages. The prizes of the world seem mostly to fall to the lot of the selfish and the sinful. The just is often made a prey to the sons of violence, and condemned to obscurity and failure, while the ungodly are in great prosperity and are borne to the stars by flatteries and applause. This has been the puzzle of God’s people in all ages. When they have thought upon the dark ways of God’s dealings here it has been a pain and grief to their souls. To all outward appearance, it is not justice, but the blindest and most undiscriminating chance that rules the world.
II. An example of the strength of God’s consolations in the worst trials. Joseph had God’s consolations within him which enabled him to bear up, and hope on, and press forward, even though he could not see his way before him.
1. He had a present reward. “The Lord was with Joseph.” The promise made to Abraham was his. The Lord was in all places and in all circumstances his “exceeding great reward.” (Gen_15:1.) He had the satisfaction of a good conscience, in the thought of duty nobly done. God was with him, and near him, his help and stay. What can be greater than this to a man who can fully realise it? It is true that Joseph was afterwards exalted to greatness and prosperity. But this was not his true reward, which was one altogether spiritual and unseen by the world. In a most sacred and exclusive sense, his reward was with the Most High. God does not pay His people in the coin and honours of this world.
2. His goodness was made manifest. That brought him a further reward in the sight of men, and led the way to his advancement and exaltation. The first effect was to give him influence over others. He rose in favour with the keeper of the prison. (Gen_39:21.) “We observe here the real nature of human influence. It is not the influence of rank, but of character. Make all men equal in rank to-day, and to-morrow there will be found those who have acquired influence over the others. These prisoners were all in the same position, but very soon Joseph’s character gained him influence. Thus, by the influence of Paul, the jailer at Philippi was converted, Felix trembled before him, and Agrippa was almost persuaded to be a Christian. Let such a man be imprisoned, but he will soon have converted Cæsar’s household, for his influence is real.”—(Robertson.)
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Gen_39:19-20. A prison is a place of humiliation and shame. The inmates are the actual or suspected perpetrators of evil, whose name is a reproach, whom society casts out. But within these walls of guilt we find a guiltless man. The blameless Joseph is here immured. Without transgression, he is numbered with transgressors. Joseph in custody, reviled for iniquity which he knew not, foreshadows Jesus, who, without sin, is made sin for us. He for whom the heaven of heavens is no worthy throne, is clothed for us in prison garb, and tastes for us the prison shame. Hence the Spirit records, “He was taken from prison and from judgment.” But Jesus was arrested by the justice of God. But wherefore? He lived the Holy Man Jesus. He died the Holy Sufferer. How then could justice touch Him with a jailor’s grasp? Because, though no shade of sin was in Him, mountains of sin were upon Him. God transfers the sins of the sinful to His sinless Son. Wondrous is the word, but true as wondrous, “The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquities of us all.” [Archdeacon Law: “Christ is All.”]
Gen_39:21-23. No sooner is Joseph a prisoner, than a guardian of the prisoners. Trust and honour accompany him wheresoever he is: in his father’s house, in Potiphar’s, in the jail, in the court; still he hath both favour and rule. So long as God is with him, he cannot but shine in spite of men. The walls of that dungeon cannot hide his virtues, the irons cannot hold them. Pharaoh’s officers are sent to witness his graces, which he may not come forth to shew.—(Bp. Hall.)
A prison keeps not God from His; witness the apostles and martyrs, whose prisons, by God’s presence, became palaces; the fiery furnace, a gallery of pleasure; the stocks, a music school. (Act_16:25.)—(Trapp.)
Observe the religious tone of this account. We read nothing of Joseph’s intellectual superiority, but that “the Lord was with him.” The reason of his influence was the God within him. Just so far as a man is Christlike will he have influence.—(Robertson.)
In Joseph’s condition, nothing is to be seen but death, the loss of his fair fame, and of all his virtues. Now comes Christ with his eyes of grace, and throws light into the grave. “Joseph is to become a Lord, though he had seemingly entered into the prison of hell.”—(Luther). Joseph’s way is now for a time in the darkness, but this is the very way through which God often leads his people.—(Lange.)
Joseph had much yet to do in this world. He was to become “the shepherd and the stone of Israel.” He was to be lord of Pharaoh’s house, according to the dreams which came to him from heaven; he was to become the father of two powerful tribes in Israel. He could not perish while the promises he had received were yet unaccomplished. All the powers of darkness combined would find themselves unable to put one of God’s servants to death whilst any part of his work remained unperformed. What can man do against God? Not only the righteous and the wise, and their works, but the unrighteous, the unwise, and the worst of their works, are in the hands of God.—(Bush.)
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v20 Gen 39:20 - Gen 39:23. - Gen 40:1 -…
Genesis
GOODNESS IN A DUNGEON
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Gen 39:20 - Gen 39:23. - Gen 40:1 - Gen 40:15.
Potiphar was ‘captain of the guard,’ or, as the title literally runs, chief of the executioners. In that capacity he had charge of the prison, which was connected with his house {Gen 40:3}. It is, therefore, quite intelligible that he should have put Joseph in confinement on his own authority, and the distinction drawn between such a prisoner and the ‘king’s prisoners,’ who were there by royal warrant or due process of law, is natural. Such high-handed treatment of a slave was a small matter, and it was merciful as well as arrogant, for death would have been the punishment of the crime of which Joseph was accused. Either Potiphar was singularly lenient, or, as is perhaps more probable, he did not quite believe his wife’s story, and thought it best to hush up a scandal. The transfer of Joseph from the house to the adjoining prison would be quietly managed, and then no more need be said about an ugly business.
So now we see him at the lowest ebb of his fortunes, flung down in a moment by a lie from the height to which he had slowly been climbing, having lost the confidence of his master, and earned the unslumbering hatred of a wicked woman. He had wrecked his career by his goodness. ‘What a fool!’ says the world. ‘How badly managed things are in this life,’ say doubters, ‘that virtue should not be paid by prosperity!’ But the end, even the nearer end in this life, will show whether he was a fool, and whether things are so badly arranged; and the lesson enforced by the picture of Joseph in his dungeon, and which young beginners in life have special need to learn, is that, come what will of it, right is right, and sin is sin, that consequences are never to deter from duty, and that it is better to have a clean conscience and be in prison than do wickedness and sit at a king’s table. A very threadbare lesson, but needing to be often repeated.
‘But the Lord was with Joseph.’ That is one of the eloquent ‘buts’ of Scripture. The prison is light when God is there, and chains do not chafe if He wraps His love round them. Many a prisoner for God since Joseph’s time has had his experience repeated, and received tenderer tokens from Him in a dungeon than ever before. Paul the prisoner, John in Patmos, Bunyan in Bedford jail, George Fox in Lancaster Castle, Rutherford in Aberdeen, and many more, have found the Lord with them, and showing them His kindness. We may all be sure that, if ever faithfulness to conscience involves us in difficulties, the faithfulness and the difficulties will combine to bring to us sweet and strong tokens of God’s approval and presence, the winning of which will make a prison a palace and a gate of heaven.
Joseph’s relations to jailer and fellow-prisoners are beautiful and instructive. The former is called ‘the keeper of the prison,’ and is evidently Potiphar’s deputy, in more immediate charge of the prison. Of course, the great man had an underling to do the work, and probably that underling was not chosen for sweetness of temper or facile leniency to his charges. But he fell under the charm of Joseph’s character-all the more readily, perhaps, because his occupation had not brought many good men to his knowledge. This jewel would flash all the more brightly for the dark background of criminals, and the jailer would wonder at a type of character so unlike what he was accustomed to. Eastern prisons to-day present a curious mixture of cruelty and companionship. The jailers are on intimate terms with prisoners, and yet are ready to torture them. There is no discipline, nor any rules, nor inspection. The jailer does as he likes. So it seems to have been in Egypt, and there would be nothing unnatural in making a prisoner jailer of the rest, and leaving everything in his hands. The ‘keeper of the prison’ was lazy, like most of us, and very glad to shift duties on to any capable shoulders. Such a thing would, of course, be impossible with us, but it is a bit of true local colouring here.
Joseph won hearts because God was with him, as the story is careful to point out. Our religion should recommend us, and therefore itself, to those who have to do with us. It is not enough that we should be severely righteous, as Joseph had been, or ready to meet trouble with stoical resignation, but we are to be gentle and lovable, gracious towards men, because we receive grace from God. We owe it to our Lord and to our fellows, and to ourselves, to be magnets to attract to Jesus, by showing how fair He can make a life. Joseph in prison found work to do, and he did not shirk it. He might have said to himself: ‘This is poor work for me, who had all Potiphar’s house to rule. Shall such a man as I come down to such small tasks as this?’ He might have sulked or desponded in idleness, but he took the kind of work that offered, and did his best by it. Many young people nowadays do nothing, because they think themselves above the small humdrum duties that lie near them. It would do some of us good to remember Joseph in the jail, and his cheerful discharge of what his hands found to do there.
Of course, work done ‘because the Lord was with him,’ in the consciousness of His presence, and in obedience to Him, went well. ‘The Lord made it to prosper,’ as He always will make such work.
‘When thou dost favour any action,
It runs, it flies.’
And even if, sometimes, work done in the fear of the Lord does not outwardly prosper, it does so in deepest truth, if it work in us the peaceable fruit of righteousness. We need to have a more Christian idea of what constitutes prosperity, and then we shall understand that there are no exceptions to the law that, if a man does his work by God and with God and for God, ‘that which he does, the Lord makes it to prosper.’
The help that Joseph gave by interpreting the two high officials’ dreams cannot be considered here in detail, but we note that the names of similar officers, evidently higher in rank than we should suppose, with our notions of bakers and butlers, are found in Egyptian documents, and that these two were ‘king’s prisoners,’ and put in charge of Potiphar, who alleviated their imprisonment by detailing Joseph as their attendant, thus showing that his feeling to the young Hebrew was friendly still. Dreams are the usual method of divine communication in Genesis, and belong to a certain stage in the process of revelation. The friend of God, who is in touch with Him, can interpret these. ‘The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him,’ and it is still true that they who live close by God have insight into His purposes. Joseph showed sympathy with the two dreamers, and his question, ‘Why look ye so sadly?’ unlocked their hearts. He was not so swallowed up in his own trouble as to be blind to the signs of another’s sorrow, or slow to try to comfort. Grief is apt to make us selfish, but it is meant to make us tender of heart and quick of hand to help our fellows in calamity. We win comfort for our own sorrows by trying to soothe those of others. Jesus stooped to suffer that He might succour them that suffer, and we are to tread in His steps.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv16, 19 his master
his master
"Joseph's master." This refers to Potiphar.
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She told him this explanation
"She explained it like this"
brought to us
The word "us" refers to Potiphar, his wife, and includes the rest of the household. (See: Inclusive "We")
came in to mock me
"came in to make a fool of me." Here, the word "mock" is a euphemism for "to seize and to sleep with." AT: "came into where I was and tried to force me to sleep with him" (See: Euphemism)
It came about that
"Then." Potiphar's wife uses this phrase to mark the next event in the account she is telling him about Joseph trying to sleep with her. (See: Introduction of a New Event)
fled outside
"ran quickly out of the house"
translationWords
lord
Hebrew
servant
mock
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv14, 19 39:14 Though Potiphar’s wife was addressing slaves, she appealed…
39:14 Though Potiphar’s wife was addressing slaves, she appealed to them as fellow Egyptians (us) to enlist them as witnesses against the despised Hebrew (see 43:32) who had won Potiphar’s trust.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.