Genesis 39 – Joseph in Potiphar’s House
Picking up from the end of chapter 37, we rejoin the story of Joseph, sold by his brothers and taken to Egypt. When he arrives there he is sold to a wealthy and influential man named Potiphar, who is a ranking official in the army of Egypt’s king. Verse 2 offers something that will be repeated in the coming chapters: “The Lord was with Joseph.” This turns out not only for Joseph’s benefit, but also those whose lives are touched by Joseph. Even Potiphar recognizes the blessing upon Jospeh, and places Joseph as an overseer of his house.
Verses 7-18 describe an ensuing challenge to be faced by Joseph. Being a handsome young man, Joseph draws the attention of Potiphar’s wife, who continuously attempts to lure Joseph into a sexual interlude. He is portrayed in the narrative as being faithful to good character. He acknowledges the trust that he has earned from Potiphar, but ultimately points to God as the reason he chooses integrity (v. 9). Eventually Joseph is caught in a compromising position. Alone in the house with only Potiphar’s wife, she approaches him again, this time even pulling a garment from Joseph as he flees out of the house. She uses the garment as a strategy to then accuse Joseph of violating Potiphar’s trust, an accusation that lands Joseph in prison.
A Hebrew. Twice in the passage we find Joseph being referred to as a “Hebrew” (v. 14,17). The meaning of this word generally means a “son of Israel.” Usage of the word in the Old Testament is infrequent, and mostly clustered in two locations. It is found in Genesis/Exodus, mostly in the Joseph narrative of Genesis and the earlier chapters of Exodus. There are also several instances of the word in the book of 1 Samuel. Other than these two sections of text, the word rarely occurs in the Old Testament. Further, the word seems most often to be used as a term that non-Israelites use to reference Israelites (our text in Genesis 39 being an example). In Genesis/Exodus it is a term used by the Egyptians; in 1 Samuel it is used by other Canaanite groups like the Philistines.
The chapter ends with Joseph being imprisoned. There is an easily-overlooked detail that tells us Joseph was not just sent to some random prison. He was sent to the place where the “king’s prisoners were kept” (v. 20). Potiphar was the “captain of the bodyguard” for Pharaoh (v. 1), which means we can’t be far off base in saying Joseph ended up in Potiphar’s prison. Again we are reminded that the Lord was with Joseph, granting him favor even in his imprisonment. One of the manifestations of that favor came through the trust of the chief jailer, who eventually put Joseph in charge of other prisoners being kept there. Even prison became a better place when Joseph was around.
Chapter 40 – Joseph Interprets Dreams
The plot shifts momentarily to bring new characters into the narrative. We are told that Pharaoh’s chief baker and his cupbearer have offended the king and consequently are thrown into prison. Being “prisoners of the king,” they end up in the same place Joseph is being held. We are not given details regarding why these two are in trouble. The baker’s job is obvious enough. A cupbearer was a highly-trusted official with great responsibility to protect the king. Later in Israel’s history we are told that Nehemiah held this role in the reign of the Persian king Artaxerxes (Nehemiah 1:11; 2:1). With various duties correlating to the king’s life, an occasion may have come where the cupbearer and the baker were coordinating on an event that somehow turned out poorly. This is only speculation, though, as the text gives us no detail.
In their imprisonment, Joseph is charged with caring for them (v. 4). During this time, and apparently on the same night, both men have a dream. The text suggests that the men understood the dreams to carry meaning, which led to despondence for them as neither of the men could discern what the dreams meant. Joseph notices their demeanor and asks for the reason (as if being in prison was not enough reason). They tell Joseph that they have each had dreams, but have no interpretation. In responding to them, Joseph says something interesting (v. 8): “Do not interpretations belong to God?” This is interesting because Joseph does not share theological agreement with the two men. For Joseph, God is Yahweh. For the Egyptians, gods include Khnum, Ra, Horus and Hathor, and several others. In a subtle way we see how through Joseph God begins to reveal himself to the Egyptian people. Centuries later God would work in the same way to the Babylonian king through Daniel (see Daniel chapter 2).
The cupbearer (v. 9) reveals his dream to Joseph. Joseph then gives a favorable interpretation, ultimately pointing to the restoration of the cupbearer to his position. The baker, having heard one favorable interpretation, shares his dream with Joseph. Unfortunately for the baker, Joseph’s interpretation anticipates that the baker will be killed. The consequences for both men, according to Joseph’s interpretation, would happen in three days’ time. As Joseph had spoken, three days later—which happened to be Pharaoh’s birthday—the cupbearer was restored to his position, and the baker was hanged.
Joseph’s one request of the cupbearer (v. 14-15) was to offer a favorable word on his behalf to Pharaoh. While we might anticipate that Joseph will presently be released from prison, we will see at the end of the chapter that the cupbearer quickly forgot the man who helped him in prison.
Chapter 41 – Pharaoh’s Dream
From Joseph’s point of view it might have seemed that God had forgotten him. From the biblical text we can see (admittedly in hindsight) that God had larger plans for Joseph. Chapter 41 begins by telling us about two dreams that came to Pharaoh: the first about cows, and the second about grain. In each dream seven figures of health and strength are consumed by seven figures of emaciation. Unsettled by the dreams, Pharaoh calls upon all the “magicians and wise men” of Egypt (v. 8) to give him an interpretation, but none could.
The cupbearer, whose position is very close to the king, has a helpful word. He tells Pharaoh about his time in prison, about a man there who accurately interpreted his own dream. (Notice in verse 12 that Joseph is referred to as a Hebrew youth.) It is recommended to bring this man so as to give interpretation to Pharaoh’s dream. Pharaoh thus sends for Joseph who, after a good cleaning-up (v. 14) is brought to Pharaoh. As with the conversation with the cupbearer and baker (40:8), Joseph indicates to Pharaoh that the interpretation of his dream would belong to God (41:16).
Pharaoh reveals his dreams to Joseph. The first involved seven healthy cows that come up from the Nile, which are then followed by seven gaunt cows that ate up the healthy cows. Pharaoh adds the detail that the gaunt cows were “such as I had never seen for ugliness in all the land of Egypt” (v. 19). This is clearly an indication of the severity of hardship soon to be revealed. The second dream involved seven healthy ears of grain that came upon a stalk, followed by seven withered ears that consumed the healthy ones. In beginning his interpretation, Joseph says, “God has told Pharaoh what He is about to do” (v. 25). Again, which god? Joseph’s God is not the same as Pharaoh’s gods. While the text does not develop this tension, it is worthy of us to note that these are early seeds of Yahweh revealing Himself to Egyptians.
The interpretation is clear to Joseph. There is a great famine coming to Egypt, which will require great preparation in order to survive. Josephs makes a recommendation to Pharaoh (v. 33) to select someone with wisdom and discernment and set them over the land in order to coordinate the essential preparation for the seven years of famine. Joseph’s recommendation is pleasing to Pharaoh, who thus makes a decision that even a first-time reader of the story could see coming. Joseph, sold by his brothers into slavery and unjustly thrown into an Egyptian prison, now has been appointed the second most powerful person in Egypt’s kingdom.
At this point we can pause long enough to consider how life looked through Joseph’s eyes. We are told in v. 46 that Joseph was thirty years old when Pharaoh established him in authority over Egypt. More than a decade has passed since Joseph was a young man helping to shepherd Jacob’s flocks in Canaan (37:2). Joseph has endured quite the misfortune during those years, enough that he could be wondering if God has somehow forgotten him. He has been cruelly treated by his brothers, sold and taken to a foreign land, wrongly accused of immoral conduct and thrown into prison, and forgotten by one who was simply requested to put in a good word. We are able to see the larger picture, one in which we are reminded that God does not forget His people, that He can still bless them even in adversity, and is often working in the background to turn circumstances into something good for His people.
The Winding Path 