| Joseph in Potiphar's house |
| Joseph in Pharaoh's prison |
| Baker and butler |
| Summary |
We are currently studying the records in Genesis about the generations of Jacob (Israel), the sons of Jacob, and especially the records about the life of Joseph. In this series of studies, you can read an Introduction giving some background information about Jacob and his sons, and then Part 1 which deals with the events in Joseph's childhood and before he arrived in Egypt. When he was 17 years old he had been sent by his father to go and look for his brothers and to see how they were doing. The brothers however, driven by envy and hatred, wanted to use this opportunity to kill him. One of the brothers, Ruben, tried to save the lad's life and suggested to his brethren to throw him in a cistern from where he wanted to later save him and bring him back to their father. But his plan did not come to pass. As the brothers were eating, a company of Midianites and Ishmeelites was passing by and Judah had the idea to sell Joseph to them and thus to avoid bringing their brother's blood upon them. This appeared to them a simple and effective solution to get rid of those dreams which they had heard and the dreamer in one go. They were not moved in the least by all the begging and the visible anguish in the soul of Joseph as they sold him into slavery. Then they went home and showed their father Jacob the long coat which they had torn and dipped in blood so that Jacob would be convinced that Joseph was dead. Jacob could not be comforted by anyone for this great loss of his favorite son.
This part of our study now begins with Jospeh's arrival in Egypt.
Genesis 39:1:
And Joseph was brought down to 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.
Joseph was brought into a city of Egypt where the Pharaoh himself resided. Joseph then was bought by Potiphar, "an Egyptian", and this fact about Potiphar is mentioned three times in this record. This emphatic mention that he was an Egyptian could be an indication that perhaps around this time a new dynasty had risen to power in Egypt which originally perhaps was not Egyptian. Maybe this is the reason that Potiphar is called "an Egyptian" here. Potiphar seemingly had retained his position as officer of Pharaoh and as captain of the guard, Pharaoh's guard. Potiphar bought this young Hebrew lad from the Ishmeelites and brought him to his house.
Now, Joseph's dreams seemed very far from being fulfilled in any way, and he most certainly is not in a position where anyone will bow down before him, rather the opposite is true.
Genesis 39:2:
And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.
This is truly remarkable. Joseph could also have easily ended up somewhere on a field of the Egyptian or some other place perhaps in the farmland along the Nile river, but instead he ended up in the house of this high ranking Egyptian man. This way the Egyptian master became very quickly aware that this young man was someone who seemed to have success in anything he touched. "And the LORD was with Joseph and he was a prosperous man."
Genesis 39:3 and 4:
And his master saw that the LORD was with him, and that the LORD made all that he did to prosper in his hand.
And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: …
At first Joseph was only a servant in Potiphar's house, but now as Potiphar recognized what wonderful a man Joseph was, he made him to be his personal assistant – "and he [Joseph] served him [Potiphar]". Joseph became Potiphar's personal assistant, he now served Potiphar in particular, and he was entrusted with great responsibility.
Genesis 39,4 and 5:
… and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand.
And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the LORD blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; and the blessing of the LORD was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field.
Such wonderful blessing came upon the house of Potiphar because of Joseph's faithfulness and because he did such a good job. This did not just happen automatically, just because Joseph "was a believer" – no. Joseph fulfilled his duties and he was already now at a young age seemingly a very smart and wise man. Of course this in itself was also not the reason as to why such blessing was upon his life, and we are told several times a very important reason – the LORD was with him.
Now that, on first sight and not looking very deep, does not appear to be the case: I mean, he was a salve in a foreign land, in some regards he definitely is not doing well, etc. But even in these trying circumstances, Joseph stays put and continues to believe God and remain true to God. His service for his earthly master he gave as working heartily as unto the LORD in that he served faithfully. remained honest and does what he has to do with a view toward serving God. Joseph also was apparently very good at administrative tasks which most likely can be traced to things he had learned in his father's house. Joseph's character is showing itself now in totally different circumstances as he is the personal servant to Potiphar in his house. He accomplished his task very well and by his work God's blessings are even reaching a heathen's house and all his goods.
Farming in Egypt required quite detailed planning and good coordination of various steps to be taken; it was necessary to pay very close attention so as to be able to also harvest in due time. The fields needed to be watered at the right time, and the Nile only had high water at certain times and only then could water be taken and directed to smaller irrigation channels to distribute the water properly. In such matters as well as in a few other things, Joseph's extraordinary organizational talent became evident. Potiphar quickly noticed that this servant was a had a wonderful and extraordinary man in his house.
Genesis 39:6:
And he left all that he had in Joseph's hand [under his jurisdiction]; and he knew not ought he had, save the bread which he did eat …
Well, Potiphar himself needed to pay attention to what he was eating, because it was not allowed in Egypt that Egyptians eat together with foreigners, thus he had to care for his own food. In this matter, Potiphar kept the proper distance in their relationship, but regarding everything else he had absolute trust in Joseph. For him it could not have come or go any better.
Then follows an interesting interjection in the narrative, almost in preparation to what is to be recorded next in the record in Genesis.
Genesis 39:6:
… And Joseph was a goodly [handsome] person, and well favoured.
This also had been said about his mother (in Genesis 29). Abraham's, Isaac's and also Jacob's wife were all called "beautiful" in the Bible. It is recorded that even at a relatively old age they still were beautiful women. Joseph as well was of a good stature and a good looking, handsome young man.
Genesis 39:7:
And it came to pass after these things, that his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me.
Even in those days such things did happen – this lady seemingly felt attracted by this young handsome man in the house and "cast her eyes upon Joseph". What she is after is very obvious, and her advances are quite a temptation for Joseph.
Genesis 39:8 and 9:
But he refused, and said unto his master's wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand;
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 can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?
Joseph's words and his refusal show that he did not just separate between God and his "secular occupation". He did not live by double moral standards, such as on one day "do as you fool please", and on the next day "participate in a religious service". Joseph had his life directed toward pleasing God in all things. Such a thing as Potiphar's wife suggested was not a small matter to him which could be forgotten shortly afterwards; no, he regarded such an act as a "sin against God"! It is not right before God to start up or get drawn into an affair with the wife of another man. This was absolutely out of the question!
However, the lady didn't give up easily and continued as she hoped he would give in one day after all. What a tremendous temptation Joseph was facing every day! On the one hand, Mr. Potiphar trusted him completely and had made him overseer over all his house – and on the other hand there was Potiphar's wife, who was determined to use this situation for totally different purposes.
Genesis 39:10 and 11:
And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her.
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.
Finally, there was a situation as we know it from many movies – what was going to now happen?
Genesis 39:12:
And she caught him by his garment, …
This time, the lady wasn't just using words, but rather she took hold of Joseph by his garment.
Genesis 39,12:
… saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out.
Joseph remained steadfast; however once again a garment was involved in getting him into a grave situation. The first garment had been the long coat which his father had made for him and which his brothers took away from him when they wanted to get rid of him and when they sold him into Egypt; now this garment remaining behind in the hands of Mrs. Potiphar led to a similarly bad situation for Joseph.
Genesis 39:13–15:
And it came to pass, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and was fled forth,
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:
And it came to pass, when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled, and got him out.
A very typical reaction by such a woman as Mrs. Potiphar was follows now. First she displayed a burning desire for this young man and was trying anything and everything out of "love" to get him, but now the tables had turned completely. Now, the burning heat in her heart was turned into an inferno to try and destroy the object of her "love".
Filled with hatred and evil she called for some other people as "witnesses", when in reality of course these people couldn't even qualify as "witnesses" because they had not really been present. Then she constructed a nice story about all the evil which this terrible and awful Hebrew slave had planned to do to the innocent Mrs. Potiphar. And the garment served as the fateful proof.
Genesis 39:16:
And she laid up his garment by her, until his lord came home.
She definitely was not going to let that nice piece of evidence go!
Genesis 39:17 and 18:
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:
And it came to pass, as I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled out.
She also passed the guilt for the whole dilemma right on to her husband. And with her story she caused some difficulty for her husband: If he doubted the words of his wife, he would make himself and his wife look bad in the eyes of everyone else there. If he believed her, then it meant terrible consequences for Joseph, his very successful and wonderful personal assistant.
Genesis 39:19:
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.
Potiphar became angry, was very unhappy when he heard the words of his wife – and we should note, that the record doesn't quite tell what exactly was the cause of his anger and wrath … was it Joseph, or perhaps his wife?
Genesis 39:20:
And Joseph's master took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king's prisoners were bound: …
Potiphar, as captain of Pharaoh's guard, was also the director or manager of Pharaoh's prison. Potiphar decided on a punishment for Joseph which almost makes it appear that he did not quite trust the words of his wife. He could have had Joseph executed, but Potiphar decided to rather send him to prison instead, and not just into any prison, but to that prison where he himself still exercised some authority.
Genesis 39:20:
… and he was there in the prison.
This time in prison was not a very nice experience for Joseph, as a statement from Psalm 105 tells us.
Psalm 105:17–19:
He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant:
Whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron:
Until the time that his word came: the word of the LORD tried him.
Even though the LORD was with Joseph and everything he touched prospered, we do see and have to acknowledge that from one day to the next, in one blow, here under the influence of the evil doings of Potiphar's wife, Joseph's life took a drastic turn for the worse when he ended up bound in fetters even though he had not done anything to deserve such treatment. This situation now is also quite a contrast to those fancy dreams Joseph had dreamed not too long before this time. Others would bow to him – really? Now he was sitting in prison and nobody was going to bow to him there.
And yet, once again as we look at this and consider the situation from an overall perspective, we can see that God was still at work in this situation . Due to Potiphar's considerations and due to his actions, Joseph was not only not executed, but also he did not end up in just any prison but instead ended up in Pharaoh's prison, where otherwise Pharaoh's prisoners were held. A little while later on some very decisive events take place there. And for the further development of all these things, it was necessary that Joseph would be there at that particular time and not somewhere else.
Genesis 39:21–23:
But the LORD was with Joseph, and showed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.
And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners that were in the prison; and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it.
The keeper of the prison looked not to any thing that was under his hand; because the LORD was with him, and that which he did, the LORD made it to prosper.
Now, Joseph was not God forsaken despite his situation! He even was given opportunity in this way to practice some of his administrative skills. Continually Joseph was given opportunities to develop himself in areas which would later on become very important when it was time for him to take on extraordinary responsibility. Joseph showed himself faithful in little, he was eager, accurate, honest, and blameless. Even though others were doing injustice to him, he did not allow that circumstance to become a snare unto him, and he did not allow the circumstances in prison to get him to forsake his way either. He did not give up, he did not put up walls around him, he did not become bitter and harsh.
If there was even a small opportunity, Joseph used to immediately – he remained true to himself. He did not refuse to help anyone and he offered what he had to offer. And sure enough, this leads once again to a situation where he found grace and mercy with the keeper of the prison and much was given to Joseph to take care of. Finally, Joseph was the doer of everything that happened in that prison. Here it was no different than it had been in Potiphar's house, and all that Joseph seemed to touch prospered, because the LORD made it to prosper.
Genesis 40:1–4:
And it came to pass after these things, that the butler of the king of Egypt and his baker had offended their lord the king of Egypt.
And Pharaoh was wroth against two of his officers, against the chief of the butlers, and against the chief of the bakers.
And he put them in ward in the house of the captain of the guard, into the prison, the place where Joseph was bound.
And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he served them: and they continued a season in ward.
This event, which is now recorded here, most likely happened about eleven years after Joseph first arrived in Egypt. Eleven years passed, and most of that time, as we can safely estimate from the records given, Joseph was in prison. He was in prison without cause, for he had done absolutely nothing which deserved such punishment – he was completely innocent. He could perhaps have quickly started to doubt God, he could have also tried to concentrate all his efforts and thinking on getting out of prison ...
God's plan however was a different one, and great patience was necessary on the part of this young man who now was in his mid twenties. Nothing much happened – for years. And yet, Joseph remained faithful to his God, he fulfilled all his duties diligently and accurately and he seems to have been content with what was available to him! There was nothing else! He dedicated himself to accomplishing that which was for him to do and what he had been given to do. He quite obviously trusted God that somehow in some way at some time a door would open to get him by God's gracious working out of this prison. Why should this not be possible?
Now, here we read of two seemingly very important people who were part of the inner circle of people close to the Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. They somehow "had offended" their lord the king of Egypt, and he had gotten wroth with them. So they ended up in the prison where Pharaoh's prisoners were held.
They had been in prison for a short while, "a season", and the keeper of the prison designated Joseph to be their personal servant, perhaps this happened because of their former rank. That Joseph became this personal helper to these two was of great significance later on.
Genesis 40:5:
And they dreamed a dream both of them, each man his dream in one night, each man according to the interpretation of his dream, the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, which were bound in the prison.
More literally it reads, "And they each dreamed a dream …" Thus it is emphasized that they each had a dream, and it was in each case a remarkable and significant dream, and they both were interesting and important dreams.
Genesis 40:6–8:
And Joseph came in unto them in the morning, and looked upon them, and, behold, they were sad.
And he asked Pharaoh's officers that were with him in the ward of his lord's house, saying, Wherefore look ye so sadly to day?
And they said unto him, We have dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter of it. …
These two dreamers were sad because they could not go to someone who would interpret their dreams for them, obviously a common practice in Egypt where many interpreters of dreams could be found. We today know from many books and other documents as well as archeological findings that they had people in Egypt who were practicing astrology, interpreting dreams and who did other magical tricks. These two were sad because they had dreamed something significant, but being held in prison, they could not go to such an interpreter of dreams. They would have been aware that their dreams were connected with them as well as with an imminent event, but other than that they had no idea what these dreams really meant.
We do well to note that their sadness wasn't just bypassed by Joseph, nor did he leave them sitting in their sadness out of minor selfish reasons. He did not say: "Finally, a few others are now in prison; I've been here in prison for a while – why should I get all excited because these guys are sad this morning?" Instead, he cared for them just as his job was requiring of him, and asking them he found out what the reason they had for their sadness.
Genesis 40:8:
… And Joseph said unto them, Do not interpretations belong to God? tell me them, I pray you.
Joseph started out by pointing to God. He did not set himself up as the important person, but rather he told them flat out that interpreting dreams was not a matter of the interpreters of dreams in Egypt, but rather it was a matter which belonged to God. Then he asked them to please tell him the dreams, obviously because he was intending to then tell them what God would reveal as interpretation.
Genesis 40:9–11:
And the chief butler told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, In my dream, behold, a vine was before me;
And in the vine were three branches: and it was as though it budded, and her blossoms shot forth; and the clusters thereof brought forth ripe grapes:
And Pharaoh's cup was in my hand: and I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand.
This dream in a sense is quite "natural", it has to do with the normal things of the man's life. These things were part of his job. Something special and unusual is perhaps that there are only three branches to this vine, and also that he, even though he is now in prison, he is handing the cup to Pharaoh. The big question is, "What is this dream about?“
Genesis 40:12:
And Joseph said unto him, This is the interpretation of it: …
Just before this Joseph had told the butler that interpreting dreams was God's business; therefore now the butler can be assured that he is actually hearing now God's interpretation.
Genesis 40:12 and 13:
… The three branches are three days:
Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thine head, and restore thee unto thy place: and thou shalt deliver Pharaoh's cup into his hand, after the former manner when thou wast his butler.
As we read this now, it is somewhat easy to say that this is all simple and logical and of course very clear and that it makes sense. But before – who could have said with any amount of certainty what these things meant? No one, except for God!
Then follows a short side remark by Joseph.
Genesis 40:14 and 15:
But think on me when it shall be well with thee, and show kindness, I pray thee, unto me, and make mention of me unto Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house:
For indeed I was stolen away [kidnapped] out of the land of the Hebrews: and here also have I done nothing that they should put me into the dungeon.
Joseph did not ask for any money or other type of payment for his interpretation, he only had a small request, "Think on me – when it is well with you again, then please show kindness toward me." Joseph formulated his request in a very gracious way, and he most likely only had in view to be able to perhaps be released from prison somehow. None of those things which later come to pass are even mentioned here. He most likely wanted to simply get out of the dungeon, be released from this prison, perhaps to then get on his way to Canaan to go home and see his family.
The chief of the bakers, who at first had been rather quiet, was encouraged by this interpretation of the butler's dream.
Genesis 40:16 and 17:
When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said unto Joseph, I also was in my dream, and, behold, I had three white baskets on my head:
And in the uppermost basket there was of all manner of bakemeats for Pharaoh; and the birds did eat them out of the basket upon my head.
The baker also had dreamed about something which related to his normal life and his occupation. It was unusual that he was carrying three baskets at once on his head, and also a bit strange that the birds did eat the bakemeats from out of the baskets.
Genesis 40:18 and 19:
And Joseph answered and said, This is the interpretation thereof: The three baskets are three days:
Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thy head from off thee, and shall hang thee on a tree; and the birds shall eat thy flesh from off thee.
Three branches had been three days, here now three baskets are three days. We can notice that they both had dreamed about the same event and that something was going to happen in three days time.
Joseph spoke in both cases about "Pharaoh will lift up thine head". Perhaps he was referring to the custom that all who appeared before Pharaoh had to bow down, and before anything else could happen they had to be asked to "lift up the head". This event which will happen in three days is going to have two entirely different outcomes for these two. One of them will be reinstated into his office, the other will be executed and hanged on a tree.
Genesis 40:20–22:
And it came to pass the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, that he made a feast unto all his servants: and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants.
And he restored the chief butler unto his butlership again; and he gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand:
But he hanged the chief baker: as Joseph had interpreted to them.
It becomes evident: Joseph's interpretation had been revealed to him by God. It was absolutely correct. After three days, it was Pharaoh's birthday. Perhaps this could have had something to do with the fact that those two men dreamed, but what was going to happen, they of course could not know at all.
Genesis 40:23:
Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgat him.
Now this may be quite natural, but it is definitely disappointing and could be depressing! Why should one of the top officials of Pharaoh remember a Hebrew slave in a prison when he was now reinstituted again into his office and after having had such a wonderful experience? And of course, now he was quite busy and had a lot to do again and needed to think about Pharaoh. With all that the chief butler forgets the man who had told him this wonderful and joyful news already three days in advance.
Well, here had been a small ray of hope to perhaps get out of prison! Joseph could have thought, "In three days the chief butler is going to be released from prison, he will eventually tell Pharaoh what has happened here and then most likely Pharaoh will also release me." But, one thing in this chain of thought did not happen – the wonderful chief butler forgot to mention to Pharaoh what had happened and he did not remember the one little favor Joseph had asked him to do. The third day came, the fourth day arrived, the fifth day passed, and even the sixth day was now there, and nothing happened. A whole year passed – and still nothing happened. The chief butler was with Pharaoh – why did nothing happen about Joseph's situation?
Joseph could have become very nervous easily, but we don't read of such a reaction. Nothing is mentioned about what happened in that prison with Joseph for the next two years. We only know one thing, that Joseph is still in prison and seemingly doing exactly those things which he had been doing before. Also, the LORD was surely still with him.
Behind all the obvious and the visible things happening a greater and far reaching plan is unfolding. After these two years someone else is having a dream, and then it will be of utmost importance that the man who can interpret dreams by God's gracious help is still in the land and not somewhere else.
On the surface, it seems as if the God provided possibility for release from prison is being defeated by the chief butler's forgetfulness, which could have been cause for Joseph to become real excited, enraged and mad. Bitterness and anxiety could have come in and have their way with Joseph, but he did not allow himself to get involved in such thinking and developing such attitudes. Joseph remained in prison for two more years – innocent, without anyone having any charge against him. But after these two years pass, something happens which will make all previous events to be forgotten quickly. Pharaoh has a dream, and Joseph is there to give Pharaoh God's interpretation of his dreams and with God's help to set in motion those steps which lead to Jacob and all his sons coming to Egypt where they, as God's elect people, will be safe from an upcoming famine and where they will in a short time in a secure surrounding grow into a nation or people of a large number.