^39:1Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt.¹ An Egyptian named Potiphar, an official of Pharaoh and the captain of the guard,² purchased him from³ the Ishmaelites who had brought him there. ^39:2The Lord was with Joseph. He was successful⁴ and lived⁵ in the household of his Egyptian master. ^39:3His master observed that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made everything he was doing successful.⁶^39:4So Joseph found favor in his sight and became his personal attendant.⁷ Potiphar appointed Joseph⁸ overseer of his household and put him in charge⁹ of everything he owned. ^39:5From the time¹⁰ Potiphar¹¹ appointed him over his household and over all that he owned, the Lord blessed¹² the Egyptian’s household for Joseph’s sake. The blessing of the Lord was on everything that he had, both¹³ in his house and in his fields.¹⁴^39:6So Potiphar¹⁵ left¹⁶ everything he had in Joseph’s care;¹⁷ he gave no thought¹⁸ to anything except the food he ate.¹⁹

Now Joseph was well built and good-looking.²⁰^39:7Soon after these things, his master’s wife took notice of²¹ Joseph and said, “Have sex with me.”²²^39:8But he refused, saying²³ to his master’s wife, “Look, my master does not give any thought²⁴ to his household with me here,²⁵ and everything that he owns he has put into my care.²⁶^39:9There is no one greater in this household than I am. He has withheld nothing from me except you because you are his wife. So how could I do²⁷ such a great evil and sin against God?” ^39:10Even though she continued to speak²⁸ to Joseph day after day, he did not respond²⁹ to her invitation to have sex with her.³⁰

^39:11One day³¹ he went into the house to do his work when none of the household servants³² were there in the house. ^39:12She grabbed him by his outer garment, saying, “Have sex with me!” But he left his outer garment in her hand and ran³³ outside.³⁴^39:13When she saw that he had left his outer garment in her hand and had run outside, ^39:14she called for her household servants and said to them, “See, my husband brought³⁵ in a Hebrew man³⁶ to us to humiliate us.³⁷ He tried to have sex with me,³⁸ but I screamed loudly.³⁹^39:15When he heard me raise⁴⁰ my voice and scream, he left his outer garment beside me and ran outside.”

^39:16So she laid his outer garment beside her until his master came home. ^39:17This is what she said to him:⁴¹ “That Hebrew slave⁴² you brought to us tried to humiliate me,⁴³^39:18but when I raised my voice and screamed, he left his outer garment and ran outside.”

^39:19When his master heard his wife say,⁴⁴ “This is the way⁴⁵ your slave treated me,”⁴⁶ he became furious.⁴⁷^39:20Joseph’s master took him and threw him into the prison,⁴⁸ the place where the king’s prisoners were confined. So he was there in the prison.⁴⁹

^39:21But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him kindness.⁵⁰ He granted him favor in the sight of the prison warden.⁵¹^39:22The warden put all the prisoners under Joseph’s care. He was in charge of whatever they were doing.⁵²^39:23The warden did not concern himself⁵³ with anything that was in Joseph’s⁵⁴ care because the Lord was with him and whatever he was doing the Lord was making successful.

The Cupbearer and the Baker

^40:1After these things happened, the cupbearer¹ to the king of Egypt and the royal baker² offended³ their master, the king of Egypt. ^40:2Pharaoh was enraged with his two officials,⁴ the cupbearer and the baker, ^40:3so he imprisoned them in the house of the captain of the guard in the same facility where Joseph was confined. ^40:4The captain of the guard appointed Joseph to be their attendant, and he served them.⁵

They spent some time in custody.⁶^40:5Both of them, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison, had a dream⁷ the same night.⁸ Each man’s dream had its own meaning.⁹^40:6When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were looking depressed.¹⁰^40:7So he asked Pharaoh’s officials, who were with him in custody in his master’s house, “Why do you look so sad today?”¹¹^40:8They told him, “We both had dreams,¹² but there is no one to interpret them.” Joseph responded, “Don’t interpretations belong to God? Tell them¹³ to me.”

^40:9So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph:¹⁴ “In my dream, there was a vine in front of me. ^40:10On the vine there were three branches. As it budded, its blossoms opened and its clusters ripened into grapes. ^40:11Now Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, so I took the grapes, squeezed them into his¹⁵ cup, and put the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.”¹⁶

^40:12“This is its meaning,” Joseph said to him. “The three branches represent¹⁷ three days. ^40:13In three more days Pharaoh will reinstate you¹⁸ and restore you to your office. You will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, just as you did before¹⁹ when you were cupbearer. ^40:14But remember me²⁰ when it goes well for you, and show²¹ me kindness.²² Make mention²³ of me to Pharaoh and bring me out of this prison,²⁴^40:15for I really was kidnapped²⁵ from the land of the Hebrews and I have done nothing wrong here for which they should put me in a dungeon.”

^40:16When the chief baker saw that the interpretation of the first dream was favorable,²⁶ he said to Joseph, “I also appeared in my dream and there were three baskets of white bread²⁷ on my head. ^40:17In the top basket there were baked goods of every kind for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating them from the basket that was on my head.”

^40:18Joseph replied, “This is its meaning: The three baskets represent²⁸ three days. ^40:19In three more days Pharaoh will decapitate you²⁹ and impale you on a pole. Then the birds will eat your flesh from you.”

^40:20On the third day it was Pharaoh’s birthday, so he gave a feast for all his servants. He “lifted up”³⁰ the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker in the midst of his servants. ^40:21He restored the chief cupbearer to his former position³¹ so that he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand, ^40:22but the chief baker he impaled, just as Joseph had predicted.³²^40:23But the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph—he forgot him.³³

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Footnotes

1 The disjunctive clause resumes the earlier narrative pertaining to Joseph by recapitulating the event described in 37:36. The perfect verbal form is given a past perfect translation to restore the sequence of the narrative for the reader.
2 Captain of the guard. See the note on this phrase in .
3 Heb “from the hand of.”
4 Heb “and he was a prosperous man.” This does not mean that Joseph became wealthy, but that he was successful in what he was doing, or making progress in his situation (see 24:21).
5 Heb “and he was.”
6 The Hebrew text adds “in his hand,” a phrase not included in the translation for stylistic reasons.
7 The Hebrew verb translated became his personal attendant refers to higher domestic service, usually along the lines of a personal attendant. Here Joseph is made the household steward, a position well-attested in Egyptian literature.
8 Heb “him”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
9 Heb “put into his hand.”
10 Heb “and it was from then.”
11 Heb “he”; the referent (Potiphar) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
12 The Hebrew word translated blessed carries the idea of enrichment, prosperity, success. It is the way believers describe success at the hand of God. The text illustrates the promise made to Abraham that whoever blesses his descendants will be blessed (Gen 12:1–3).
13 Heb “in the house and in the field.” The word “both” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
14 The passage gives us a good picture of Joseph as a young man who was responsible and faithful, both to his master and to his God. This happened within a very short time of his being sold into Egypt. It undermines the view that Joseph was a liar, a tattletale, and an arrogant adolescent.
15 Heb “he”; the referent (Potiphar) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
16 The Hebrew verb translated left indicates he relinquished the care of it to Joseph. This is stronger than what was said earlier. Apparently Potiphar had come to trust Joseph so much that he knew it was in better care with Joseph than with anyone else.
17 Heb “hand.” This is a metonymy for being under the control or care of Joseph.
18 Heb “did not know.”
19 The expression except the food he ate probably refers to Potiphar’s private affairs and should not be limited literally to what he ate.
20 Heb “handsome of form and handsome of appearance.” The same Hebrew expressions were used in Gen 29:17 for Rachel.
21 Heb “she lifted up her eyes toward,” an expression that emphasizes her deliberate and careful scrutiny of him.
22 Heb “lie with me.” Here the expression “lie with” is a euphemism for sexual intercourse. The story of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife has long been connected with the wisdom warnings about the strange woman who tries to seduce the young man with her boldness and directness (see Prov 5–7, especially 7:6–27). This is part of the literary background of the story of Joseph that gives it a wisdom flavor. See G. von Rad, God at Work in Israel, 19–35; and G. W. Coats, “The Joseph Story and Ancient Wisdom: A Reappraisal,” 35 (1973): 285–97.
23 Heb “and he said.”
24 Heb “know.”
25 The word “here” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
26 Heb “hand.” This is a metonymy for being under the control or care of Joseph.
27 The nuance of potential imperfect fits this context.
28 The verse begins with the temporal indicator, followed by the infinitive construct with the preposition ךְּ (ké). This clause could therefore be taken as temporal.
29 Heb “listen to.”
30 Heb “to lie beside her to be with her.” Here the expression “to lie beside” is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.
31 Heb “and it was about this day.”
32 Heb “the men of the house.”
33 Heb “he fled and he went out.” The construction emphasizes the point that Joseph got out of there quickly.
34 For discussion of this episode, see A. M. Honeyman, “The Occasion of Joseph’s Temptation,” 2 (1952): 85–87.
35 The verb has no expressed subject, and so it could be treated as a passive (“a Hebrew man was brought in”; cf. ). But it is clear from the context that her husband brought Joseph into the household, so Potiphar is the apparent referent here. Thus the translation supplies “my husband” as the referent of the unspecified pronominal subject of the verb (cf. , ).
36 A Hebrew man. Potiphar’s wife raises the ethnic issue when talking to her servants about what their boss had done.
37 Heb “to make fun of us.” The verb translated “to humiliate us” here means to hold something up for ridicule, or to toy with something harmfully. Attempted rape would be such an activity, for it would hold the victim in contempt.
38 Heb “he came to me to lie with me.” Here the expression “lie with” is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.
39 Heb “and I cried out with a loud voice.”
40 Heb “that I raised.”
41 Heb “and she spoke to him according to these words, saying.”
42 That Hebrew slave. Now, when speaking to her husband, Potiphar’s wife refers to Joseph as a Hebrew slave, a very demeaning description.
43 Heb “came to me to make fun of me.” The statement needs no explanation because of the connotations of “came to me” and “to make fun of me.” See the note on the expression “humiliate us” in v. .
44 Heb “and when his master heard the words of his wife which she spoke to him, saying.”
45 Heb “according to these words.”
46 Heb “did to me.”
47 Heb “his anger burned.”
48 Heb “the house of roundness,” suggesting that the prison might have been a fortress or citadel.
49 The story of Joseph is filled with cycles and repetition: He has two dreams (chap. 37), he interprets two dreams in prison (chap. 40) and the two dreams of Pharaoh (chap. 41), his brothers make two trips to see him (chaps. 42–43), and here, for the second time (see 37:24), he is imprisoned for no good reason, with only his coat being used as evidence. For further discussion see H. Jacobsen, “A Legal Note on Potiphar’s Wife,” 69 (1976): 177.
50 Heb “and he extended to him loyal love.”
51 Or “the chief jailer” (also in the following verses).
52 Heb “all which they were doing there, he was doing.” This probably means that Joseph was in charge of everything that went on in the prison.
53 Heb “was not looking at anything.”
54 Heb “his”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
1 The Hebrew term cupbearer corresponds to the Egyptian wb’, an official (frequently a foreigner) who often became a confidant of the king and wielded political power (see K. A. Kitchen, NBD3 ). Nehemiah held this post in Persia.
2 The baker may be the Egyptian retehti, the head of the bakers, who had privileges in the royal court.
3 The Hebrew verb translated offended here is the same one translated “sin” in 39:9. Perhaps there is an intended contrast between these officials, who deserve to be imprisoned, and Joseph, who refused to sin against God, but was thrown into prison in spite of his innocence.
4 The Hebrew word סָרִיס (saris), used here of these two men and of Potiphar (see 39:1), normally means “eunuch.” But evidence from Akkadian texts shows that in early times the title was used of a court official in general. Only later did it become more specialized in its use.
5 He served them. This is the same Hebrew verb, meaning “to serve as a personal attendant,” that was translated “became [his] servant” in 39:4.
6 Heb “they were days in custody.”
7 Heb “dreamed a dream.”
8 Heb “a man his dream in one night.”
9 Heb “a man according to the interpretation of his dream.”
10 The verb זָעַף (za’af) only occurs here and Dan 1:10. It means “to be sick, to be emaciated,” probably in this case because of depression.
11 Heb “why are your faces sad today?”
12 Heb “a dream we dreamed.”
13 The word “them” is not in the Hebrew text, but has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
14 The Hebrew text adds “and he said to him.” This has not been translated because it is redundant in English.
15 Heb “the cup of Pharaoh.” The pronoun “his” has been used here in the translation for stylistic reasons.
16 The cupbearer’s dream is dominated by sets of three: three branches, three stages of growth, and three actions of the cupbearer.
17 Heb “the three branches [are].”
18 Heb “Pharaoh will lift up your head.” This Hebrew idiom usually refers to restoring dignity, office, or power. It is comparable to the modern saying “someone can hold his head up high.”
19 Heb “according to the former custom.”
20 Heb “but you have remembered me with you.” The perfect verbal form may be used rhetorically here to emphasize Joseph’s desire to be remembered. He speaks of the action as already being accomplished in order to make it clear that he expects it to be done. The form can be translated as volitional, expressing a plea or a request.
21 This perfect verbal form with the prefixed conjunction (and the two that immediately follow) carry the same force as the preceding perfect.
22 Heb “deal with me [in] kindness.”
23 The verb זָכַר (zakhar) in the Hiphil stem means “to cause to remember, to make mention, to boast.” The implication is that Joseph would be pleased for them to tell his story and give him the credit due him so that Pharaoh would release him. Since Pharaoh had never met Joseph, the simple translation of “cause him to remember me” would mean little.
24 Heb “house.” The word “prison” has been substituted in the translation for clarity.
25 The verb גָּנַב (ganav) means “to steal,” but in the Piel/Pual stem “to steal away.” The idea of “kidnap” would be closer to the sense, meaning he was stolen and carried off. The preceding infinitive absolute underscores the point Joseph is making.
26 Heb “that [the] interpretation [was] good.” The words “the first dream” are supplied in the translation for clarity.
27 Or “three wicker baskets.” The meaning of the Hebrew noun חֹרִי (khori, “white bread, cake”) is uncertain; some have suggested the meaning “wicker” instead. Comparison with texts from Ebla suggests the meaning “pastries made with white flour” (M. Dahood, “Eblaite h̬a-rí and Genesis 40, 16 ḥōrî,” 13 [1980]: 14–16).
28 Heb “the three baskets [are].”
29 Heb “Pharaoh will lift up your head from upon you.” Joseph repeats the same expression from the first interpretation (see v. 13), but with the added words “from upon you,” which allow the statement to have a more literal and ominous meaning—the baker will be decapitated.
30 The translation puts the verb in quotation marks because it is used rhetorically here and has a double meaning. With respect to the cup bearer it means “reinstate” (see v. 13), but with respect to the baker it means “decapitate” (see v. 19).
31 Heb “his cupbearing.”
32 Heb “had interpreted for them.” The dreams were fulfilled exactly as Joseph had predicted, down to the very detail. Here was confirmation that Joseph could interpret dreams and that his own dreams were still valid. It would have been a tremendous encouragement to his faith, but it would also have been a great disappointment to spend two more years in jail.
33 The wayyiqtol verbal form here has a reiterative or emphasizing function.