GENESIS
CHAPTER 39
Joseph, prospered by the Lord, becomes ruler of Potiphar’s house—He resists the advances of Potiphar’s wife, is falsely accused, and cast into prison—Keeper of the prison commits its affairs into Joseph’s hands.
1 AND Joseph was brought down to Egypt; [ Why is there no record of Joseph in Egypt other than what we have in the bible? There's been so much excavation and so many monuments discovered and tombs in the pyramids. And oh anyway, all this stuff, but Joseph is not. There's one place in Egypt that is called the Canal of Joseph. That's it. That seems to be the reference that might still exist to Joseph, that he built this canal, this waterway. You'd think that somebody of this stature, who saved Egypt, and many of the surrounding territories from starvation during the famine, would maybe have a monument or some record because there really are a lot of hieroglyphics. And there are records that have been discovered. But no, there's not anything but that canal. And why? Well, because then the people who had originally ruled Egypt came back into power. And it is suspected that they just destroyed all the monuments that Hyksos had built. They tried to eradicate that unfortunate chapter in their history when they were out of power. However, we do have a record of Joseph in the Quran. There are 111 verses in the Quran that are about Joseph. And that tells the same story, that he was sold into slavery and became powerful in Egypt. ] and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmeelites, which had brought him down thither.
2 And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.
3 And his master saw that the LORD was with him, and that the LORD made all that he did to prosper in his hand. [ I suppose that his had a lot to do with his attitude toward God. He did not take the approach that many take - "Well, why should I bother being good? Because my life isn't fair." No, it's because my life isn't fair, and I choose to be good, that the Lord can be with me. And consecrate my affliction for my good, that's the promise. That's the plan. It's not to avoid affliction. And again, not that we should be looking for trouble. Never look for trouble. There will be enough. But as trouble comes, it's like, okay, now what am I going to do? Am I going to cave and just say, "Okay, forget it. I'm going to go out and get a drink." Or am I going to say, "No. No, I'm going to get down on my knees more. I'm going to read, study, pray, ponder. I'm going to reach for that confirming spirit that the Lord is with me, especially when it looks like he isn't." In a way it is like the experiments they have done with biosphere's. It is a protected environment to grow flowers, bushes and trees. It was isolated and protected from external elements, everything that was need for grow was provided. However; after a period of time the trees started to die, the researchers concluded that they died because they were not subject to wind, it was the stress and pressure of the wind that developed the stress on the wood providing flexibility and strengthened the ability for the trees to move required nutrients around more properly. Faith only grows in the dark. And if you can see how it all turns out, there would be no need for faith. But faith is the power by which the worlds were created. So is our beginning faith the same as the faith at the end? Look at Enoch's faith that we talked about a while ago, where it was so great that mountains could be moved and rivers could change course. And the lions roared in the wilderness because of how great his faith was. So is our faith there yet? Well, guess what? It's going to take a little more time in the valley of the shadow. And if we respond correctly, our faith can become that faith by which worlds were created. And that's the journey, to stretch our faith. And that only can happen in the dark. Here we get to see the end of the story in chapter 45, it all works out great, we don't get to see that in our own lives while we are in the midst of the trial. ]
4 And Joseph found grace in his sight, [ Do you suppose that this is because Joseph does not act like a slave, beaten down? No he knows exactly who he is. He knows that he is the son of God, that in and through him the birthright blessing from his father Jacob, and Issac, and Abraham will come forth. Position does not matter when you are in Gods service. Be bears the mantel of Israel. This is obvious to Potiphar and those around. They could see that Joseph was different, that he and those around him were blessed because of him. ] and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand.
5 And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, [ He is not treated as a slave, he is trusted with everything, promoted. ] and over all that he had, that the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; [ Potiphar is beginning to become acquainted with Joseph's God as he see's that Jospeh is blessed of God and as a result he is blessed too. ] and the blessing of the LORD was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field.
6 And he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand; and he knew not ought he had, save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly person, and well favoured. [ hpy harm hpyw rat yepkeh thoar, vipheh mareh, beautiful in his person, and beautiful in his countenance. The same expressions are used relative to Rachel. The beauty of Joseph is celebrated over all the East, and the Persian poets vie with each other in descriptions of his comeliness. Mohammed spends the twelfth chapter of the Koran entirely on Joseph, and represents him as a perfect beauty, and the most accomplished of mortals. From his account, the passion of Zuleekha (for so the Asiatics call Potiphar's wife) being known to the ladles of the court, they cast the severest reflections upon her: in order to excuse herself, she invited forty of them to dine with her, put knives in their hands, and gave them oranges to cut, and caused Joseph to attend. When they saw him they were struck with admiration, and so confounded, that instead of cutting their oranges they cut and hacked their own hands, crying out, hasha lillahi ma hadha bashara in hadha illa malakon kareemon. "O God! this is not a human being, this is none other than a glorious angel!"-Surat xii., verse 32. Two of the finest poems in the Persian language were written by the poets Jamy and Nizamy on the subject of Joseph and his mistress; they are both entitled Yusuf we Zuleekha. These poems represent Joseph as the most beautiful and pious of men; and Zuleekha the most chaste, virtuous, and excellent of women, previous to her having seen Joseph; but they state that when she saw him she was so deeply affected by his beauty that she lost all self-government, and became a slave to her passion. Hafiz expresses this, and apologizes for her conduct in the following elegant couplet:- Men az an husn-i roz afzoon keh Yusuf dasht danistam Keh ishk az pardah-i ismat beroon arad Zaleekhara. "I understand, from the daily increasing beauty which Joseph possessed, How love tore away the veil of chastity from Zuleekha." The Persian poets and eastern historians, however, contrive to carry on a sort of guiltless passion between them till the death of Potiphar, when Zuleekha, grown old, is restored to youth and beauty by the power of God, and becomes the wife of Joseph. What traditions they had beside the Mosaic text for what they say on this subject, are now unknown; but the whole story, with innumerable embellishments, is so generally current in the East that I thought it not amiss to take this notice of it. Adam Clarke. ]
7 ¶ And it came to pass after these things, that his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me.[ Potiphar's wife has also taken note of the previous verse and admires his beautiful countenance that he is something wonderful to look at. See get's to this point because she is looking at him through a carnal lens, not a celestial lens. She knows full well it is adultery to sleep with him, but she has crossed that line, she wants what she wants, the carnal love experience of having Joseph. This mind you probably did not just happen day 1, it took some looking and pondering, thinking about it, lusting after it. Compare with Alma 29 lust of the eye is where it all starts. ]
8 But he refused, and said unto his master’s wife, Behold, my master wotteth not [ Knoweth not, from the old Anglo-Saxon [A.S.], witan, to know; hence [A.S.], wit, intellect, understanding, wisdom, prudence. Now he could have rationalized right here that his master has given him charge of everything that is in his house, well one could argue that it included his wife as well if they were looking for a reason too. IN addition he was out of town and after all his parents would never know what he does here. And as long as Potiphar's wife does not say anything (she has more to loose here than she does one could argue ) no one will ever know here either. He has his bases covered. ] what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand; [ Joseph's response is that he cannot do this thing as not only would it hurt him but other's would be effected as well. ]
9 There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then [ ûyaw veeik, and how? Joseph gives two most powerful reasons for his noncompliance with the wishes of his mistress: 1.Gratitude to his master, to whom he owed all that he had. 2. His fear of God, in whose sight it would be a heinous offense, and who would not fail to punish him for it. With the kindness of his master and the displeasure of God before his eyes, how could he be capable of committing an act of transgression, which would at once have distinguished him as the most ungrateful and the most worthless of men? ] can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God? [ Joseph’s answer to the advances of Potiphar’s wife shows his great personal righteousness. King Benjamin taught the Nephites that “when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God” (Mosiah 2:17). If that principle were to be stated negatively, it would read, “When ye are exploiting or sinning against your fellow beings, you are only sinning against God.” Joseph understood this principle perfectly and answered Potiphar’s wife by pointing out that it would be a terrible thing to take advantage of his master in this way. He took the next logical step when he added, “How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:9). ]
10 And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, [ This is not just a one time occurance. She continues to approach him day after day. He has to maintain his strength every day, tougher than you might think here. So this is constantly brought to Joseph's attention. He also has examples of what his brother's have done as they have chosen the lesser road and sleep with prostitutes. They had not put the covenant first in their lives. ] that he hearkened [ Hebrew "Shema" is translated here as hearkened which means "listened to" and "obeyed". ] not unto her, to lie by her, [ She even softens the call to Joseph, to just come lie by me not with me. First it was lie with me, now just by me. How often do we flirt with sin, do we see how close we can get without crossing the line. ] or to be with her.
11 And it came to pass about this time, that Joseph went into the house to do his business; and there was none of the men of the house there within.
[ She waits until they are alone. Joseph is most likely saying what is all this with my coat, someone is always taking it from me. ]
12 And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me: [ "When the woman had said thus, and even with tears in her eyes, neither did pity dissuade Joseph from his chastity, nor did fear compel him to a compliance with her; but he opposed her solicitations, and did not yield to her threatenings, and was afraid to do an ill thing, and chose to undergo the sharpest punishment rather than to enjoy his present advantages, by doing what his own conscience knew would justly deserve that he should die for it. He also put her in mind that she was a married woman, and that she ought to cohabit with her husband only; and desired her to suffer these considerations to have more weight with her than the short pleasure of lustful dalliance, which would bring her to repentance afterwards, would cause trouble to her, and yet would not amend what had been done amiss. He also suggested to her the fear she would be in lest they should be caught; and that the advantage of concealment was uncertain, and that only while the wickedness was not known [would there be any quiet for them]; but that she might have the enjoyment of her husband's company without any danger. And he told her, that in the company of her husband she might have great boldness from a good conscience, both before God and before men. Nay, that she would act better like his mistress, and make use of her authority over him better while she persisted in her chastity, than when they were both ashamed for what wickedness they had been guilty of; and that it is much better to a life, well and known to have been so, than upon the hopes of the concealment of evil practices." Flavius Josephus Antiquities of the Jews Book 2 Chapter 4. Josephus goes on to explain that she promised Joseph that he would have even greater rewards if he would lie with her, and if he did not that she would say the he attacked her and make his life miserable. So Joseph could have said well I am going to get blamed for this anyway I might as well do it, but he does not. What character he has. ] and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out. [ To know when to fight and when to fly are of great importance in the Christian life. some temptations must be manfully met, resisted, and thus overcome; from others we must fly. He who stands to contend or reason, especially in such a case as that mentioned here, is infallibly ruined. Principiis obsta, "resist the first overtures of sin," is a good maxim. After-remedies come too late. ]
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; [ First it is to mock us as a couple. see vers 17; 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. qjpl letsachek, here translated to mock, is the same word used in chap. xxvi. 8, relative to Isaac and Rebekah; and is certainly used by Potiphar's wife in ver. 17, to signify some kind of familiar intercourse not allowable but between man and wife. Note the tinge of racism in her voice: "he [her husband] hath brought in an Hebrew ( a foreigner, someone who had no business living here) unto us to mock us (lit. to attempt the greatest outrage against us)." Who says the Bible isn't relevant to our lives today? ] he came in unto me to lie with me, and I cried with a loud voice:
15 And it came to pass, when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, [ A woman of the spirit of Potiphar's wife is capable of any species of evil. When she could not get her wicked ends answered, she began to accuse. This is precisely Satan's custom: he first tempts men to sin, and then accuses them as having committed it, even where the temptation has been faithfully and perseveringly resisted! By this means he can trouble a tender conscience, and weaken faith by bringing confusion into the mind. ] that he left his garment with me, and fled, and got him out.
17 And she spake unto him according to these words, saying, The Hebrew servant, which thou hast brought unto us, came in unto me to mock me: [ She makes sure she appeals to every jealouse that she can; first that Joseph mocked their marriage - had not respect for that; and then that Joseph had no respect for her either as a women. Doing whatever she can to make him as mad as possible. After all if Potiphur were to ask Joseph what had happened she needed to make sure that he believed her and not Joseph. ]
18 And it came to pass, as I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled out.
19 And it came to pass, when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spake unto him, saying, After this manner did thy servant to me; that his wrath was kindled.
[ He only hears one side of the story, and yet he jumps to conclusions. Nothing else Joseph has done would suggest that this is the way or what he would do. That is kind of sensational evidence at best. ]
20 And Joseph’s master took him, and put him into the prison, [ rhs tyb beith sohar, literally the round house; in such a form the prison was probably built. Why do you suppose that he did not just kill him? I suppose that we do not have the entirity of the story, But we do know that God was with Joseph and protected him - but others have been killed when doing the Lord's work. Maybe the Potiphur was not so stupid as to not know that if Joseph was really this good looking then every woman was in awe of him that his wife may have not been immune as well, and the whole story is that he might have been suspect - just a thought. some Jewish scholars seem to think that this implies that Potiphar had some doubts about Joseph's guilt. In the world today what are some of the ways that people are punished for being good or virtuous? How or what can we do as parents to help or kids this this kind of pressure? CS Lewis is saying. The hardness of the Lord is better than the softness of men because we would let ourselves off the hook. If we never ask our children to do hard things, is that really love or is that betrayal? If we try to wrap them in bubble wrap? Yeah. What are we preparing them for? They're not going to be powerful. They're not going to be antifragile. They're going to become more fragile. So trials are a part of this journey. "All that is unfair about life can be made right through the atonement of Jesus Christ." That is a terrific summary statement. It will be made right because God is fair. He allows this injustice to be a trial for us, to be a spiritual weight room where we can become as powerful as we choose to become through Jesus Christ. ] a place where the king’s prisoners were bound: and he was there in the prison.
[ A harse sentence for one who is innocent, however; it is a very light sentence for raping his wife of which he was accussed. So has Potiphur been influenced some how? He give Joseph some benefit of doubt. ]
21 ¶ But the LORD was with Joseph, [ What does this suggest about Joseph? That he was probably not complaining or murmuring or blaming God, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.
What can we learn from Joseph's attitude when things go bad? Let's just make sure that we understand the connections here, because it's not because God disliked Joseph better. God doesn't do that. And he is so clear about that. "I am no respecter of persons. I love all my children, but I am no respecter of persons." So why is the Lord with Joseph? And the only answer is that it's because Joseph was with the Lord. Joseph chose the Lord again and again. He chose to be obedient in the face, as we were just talking about, of all this affliction. All this injustice. God was still chosen by Joseph. He keeps choosing God. He uses his agency every time. It does not matter where one who is true to the Lords's command is place whether it be the potiphar's prison; or liberty jail. He will still be true to God's command. Again, incredible injustice. "What did I do? I'm the good guy. I did the right thing." And as we have heard, no good deed goes unpunished, sometimes. And we feel like, "Here, I'm doing the right thing and I'm getting kicked in the teeth for it." How often does that happen in life? Well, it happens a lot. It happens a lot. We're trying to be good and do the right things. And we still get kicked in the teeth. If you're the honest one, and everybody else cheats on the test, you get the lowest score. So are you going to give up on that, or are you going to keep being honest? Here's the sad thing, is that too many of us waste our suffering because we just put our heads down and hope that it passes quicker rather than slower. And we might miss the opportunity to build some spiritual muscle. What is it that the Lord wants to teach me here? And I'll tell you some things that he's always giving us an opportunity to develop, our faith. We can increase our faith in those times. We reach for that belief that God will fulfill his promises because he has said so. And my faith is going to be set in that way and grow and stretch. I'm stretching my faith. Section 90, verse 24, that says, "Search diligently, pray always, and be believing. And all things shall work together for thy good if ye walk uprightly and remember the covenant." My first response was an incredulous, "All things?" Like, "Really? Like this? And it's going to work together for my good?" I'm hoping to survive it. You're telling me this is going to be for... That's a stretch. And I'm like "Really? Really, all things?" "Either it's the truth, or God's a liar. Choose one." ] and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.
22 And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners that were in the prison; [ So now we have the prison keeper that see's who and what Joseph is and commits everything to Joseph. This is not a one shot deal, other see who Joseph is that he is special. ] and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it.