in Egypt. Although he begins life there as a slave (39:1–6) and later is unjustly imprisoned (39:6–23), he eventually becomes governor of the country second only to Pharaoh (41:39–43). Throughout the patriarchal stories prosperity is closely tied to divine blessing.10 Second, God’s blessing is also associated with fertility. We see this in Genesis 1, where the first reference to God’s blessing the man and the woman is directly followed by the command “Be fruitful and increase in number” (1:28). This