Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Genesis 39:20
And Joseph’s master took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners [were] bound: and he was there in the prison.
20. into the prison ] Lit. “into the house of roundness,” or “the round house.” Possibly the Heb. expression, “the house of sohar,” may be an attempt to transliterate an Egyptian word, with a similar sound, by means of a familiar Heb. word sohar. LXX , Lat. carcer. It only occurs here, and Gen 39:23, and Gen 40:3; Gen 40:5. On the whole, if Joseph’s master believed the tale that had been told him, the punishment inflicted was less violent than we should have expected in such an age.
the place were bound ] These words are considered by many scholars to be introduced by the Compiler, in order to lead up to the description of the prison scene in the E narrative of ch. 40.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 20. Put him into the prison] beith sohar, literally the round house; in such a form the prison was probably built.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Quest. Why did he not kill him, the crime being capital, and he having so undoubted a power in his hand to do it?
Answ. It is probable he was a little moderated by Josephs apology, which doubtless he made for himself, though it be not here recorded.
2. This is to be ascribed to the good providence of God, which restrains the waves of the sea, and the passions of men, and sets them their bounds which they shall not pass, which watched over Joseph in a peculiar manner.
The kings prisoners; traitors, or great offenders against the king, whose prison doubtless was none of the easiest and therefore it is called a dungeon, Gen 40:15; 41:14; and he endured great hardship in it. See Psa 105:18.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
20. Joseph’s master took him, andput him into the prisonthe roundhouse, from the form of itsconstruction, usually attached to the dwelling of such an officer asPotiphar. It was partly a subterranean dungeon (Ge41:14), though the brick-built walls rose considerably above thesurface of the ground, and were surmounted by a vaulted roof somewhatin the form of an inverted bowl. Into such a dungeon Potiphar, in thefirst ebullition of rage, threw Joseph and ordered him to besubjected further to as great harshness of treatment (Ps105:18) as he dared; for the power of masters over their slaveswas very properly restrained by law, and the murder of a slave was acapital crime.
a place where the king’sprisoners were boundThough prisons seem to have been aninseparable appendage of the palaces, this was not a common jailitwas the receptacle of state criminals; and, therefore, it may bepresumed that more than ordinary strictness and vigilance wereexercised over the prisoners. In general, however, the Egyptian, likeother Oriental prisons, were used solely for the purposes ofdetention. Accused persons were cast into them until the chargesagainst them could be investigated; and though the jailer wasresponsible for the appearance of those placed under his custody,yet, provided they were produced when called, he was neverinterrogated as to the way in which he had kept them.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And Joseph’s master took him, and put him into the prison,…. Which was in or adjoining to his house, Ge 40:3; of himself he had power to do this, as the captain of the guard; and as he was the chief of the executioners, as some take his office to be, it is much he did not in his passion deliver him up into their hands to put him to death at once; but it may be through the great respect he had had for Joseph, which was not wholly extinguished by this impeachment of him; and especially if he heard Joseph’s apology for himself before he committed him, his passion might subside a little, though for the credit of his wife he might take this step; or however things were so overruled by the providence of God, who has the hearts of all men in his hands, that he should do what he did. The word for “prison” has the signification of roundness, and may be rendered the “round house” t, or “round tower”; and some Jewish writers, as Mercer observes, take it to be in this form, that it was made under ground, and at the top of it was an hole which let in light, and at which they went into it. Aben Ezra is at a loss to say whether it is an Hebrew or Egyptian word, and inclines to the latter, because he thinks it is explained in the next clause:
a place where the king’s prisoners [were] bound; such as were guilty of high treason, or however of high crimes and misdemeanours against him; and so was a prison in which men were strictly kept and used hardly, as was Joseph at first, as appears from Ps 105:18:
and he was there in the prison; he continued there, some of the Jewish writers say u ten years, others twelve w; and so long he must be, if he was but one year in Potiphar’s house; for there were thirteen years between his being sold into Egypt, and his appearance before Pharaoh; he was seventeen when he was sold, and he was thirty when he stood before Pharaoh, being took out of prison, see Ge 37:2; but it is more likely that he was a longer time in Potiphar’s house, and a lesser time in prison.
t “rotundam turrim”, Junius Tremellius “domum rotundi carceris”, Piscator: “round house”, Ainsworth; “vox Hebraea significat carcerem rotundum in modum lunae”, Vatablus; so Ben Melech. u Pirke Eliezer, c. 39. w Seder Olam Rabba, c. 2. p. 5. Shalshalet Hakabala, fol. 3. 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
20. And put him into the prison. Though Moses does not state with what degree of severity Joseph was afflicted at the beginning of his imprisonment, yet we readily gather that he was not allowed any liberty, but was thrust into some obscure dungeon. The authority of Potiphar was paramount; he had the keeper of the prison under his power, and at his disposal. What clemency could be hoped for from a man who was jealous and carried away with the vehemence of his anger? There is no doubt that what is related of Joseph in Psa 105:18,
“
His feet were made fast in fetters, and the iron entered into his soul,”
had been handed down by tradition from the fathers. What a reward of innocence! For, according to the flesh, he might ascribe whatever he was suffering to his integrity. Truly, in this temptation he must have mourned in great perplexity and anxiety before God. And though Moses does not record his prayers, yet, since it is certain that he was not crushed beneath the cross, and did not murmur against it, it is also probable that he was reposing on the hope of Divine help. And to flee unto God is the only stay which will support us in our afflictions, the only armor which renders us invincible.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
20. Put him into the prison Or, house of the round tower, “the fortified house where the king’s prisoners were guarded . A very light punishment, considering the severity of the Egyptian laws, apparently showing that it was inflicted rather to save his wife’s reputation than to punish Joseph. (Le Clerc.) There is no evidence that Joseph attempted to vindicate himself. Indeed, it would have been useless. It was one of those fearful trials which shut the righteous man up to a single course, namely, to suffer, and wait in faith.” Newhall.
Gen 39:20. Joseph’s master, &c. Hasty and credulous, Potiphar sent Joseph into the prisons where state-criminals were kept, where he was at first severely treated; ch. Gen 40:15. his feet were hurt with fetters, the iron entered into his soul, Psa 105:18 and there he continued three years; yet the Almighty forsook him not; Psa 105:21. The Lord was still with him, and, by his mysterious Providence, made his lowest disgrace the means of his greatest exaltation.
Gen 39:20 And Joseph’s master took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners [were] bound: and he was there in the prison.
Ver. 20. And Joseph’s master took him.] It was a providence that he had not presently slain him upon that false accusation. The devil is first a liar, and then a murderer; Joh 8:44 but he is limited by God. Joseph is imprisoned in the round tower, where “they hurt his feet with fetters; the iron entered into his soul.” Psa 105:18 , marg. He, meanwhile, either pleads not, or is not heard. Doubtless he denied the fact; but durst not accuse the offender. His innocency might afterwards appear, and thereupon the chief keeper show him favour. Gen 39:21 But his master should have been better advised. If he lived till Joseph was advanced, he had as good cause to fear his power, as ever Joseph’s brethren had. Cardinal Wolsey was first schoolmaster of Magdalen School in Oxford; after that, beneficed by Marquess Dorset, whose children he had there taught; where he had not long been, but one Sir James Paulet, upon some displeasure, set him by the heels: which affront was afterwards neither forgotten nor forgiven. For when the schoolmaster became Lord Chancellor of England, he sent for him; and after a sharp reproof, imprisoned him: a a good precedent for men in authority which work their own wiles without wit; not to punish out of humour, &c. Discite iustitiam moniti, &c. Despise not any man’s lowness; we know not his destiny.
a Negotiations of Card. Wols., p. 2.
Genesis
GOODNESS IN A DUNGEON
Gen 39:20 – Gen 39:23 Potiphar was ‘captain of the guard,’ or, as the title literally runs, chief of the executioners. In that capacity he had charge of the prison, which was connected with his house Gen 40:3. It is, therefore, quite intelligible that he should have put Joseph in confinement on his own authority, and the distinction drawn between such a prisoner and the ‘king’s prisoners,’ who were there by royal warrant or due process of law, is natural. Such high-handed treatment of a slave was a small matter, and it was merciful as well as arrogant, for death would have been the punishment of the crime of which Joseph was accused. Either Potiphar was singularly lenient, or, as is perhaps more probable, he did not quite believe his wife’s story, and thought it best to hush up a scandal. The transfer of Joseph from the house to the adjoining prison would be quietly managed, and then no more need be said about an ugly business.
So now we see him at the lowest ebb of his fortunes, flung down in a moment by a lie from the height to which he had slowly been climbing, having lost the confidence of his master, and earned the unslumbering hatred of a wicked woman. He had wrecked his career by his goodness. ‘What a fool!’ says the world. ‘How badly managed things are in this life,’ say doubters, ‘that virtue should not be paid by prosperity!’ But the end, even the nearer end in this life, will show whether he was a fool, and whether things are so badly arranged; and the lesson enforced by the picture of Joseph in his dungeon, and which young beginners in life have special need to learn, is that, come what will of it, right is right, and sin is sin, that consequences are never to deter from duty, and that it is better to have a clean conscience and be in prison than do wickedness and sit at a king’s table. A very threadbare lesson, but needing to be often repeated.
‘But the Lord was with Joseph.’ That is one of the eloquent ‘buts’ of Scripture. The prison is light when God is there, and chains do not chafe if He wraps His love round them. Many a prisoner for God since Joseph’s time has had his experience repeated, and received tenderer tokens from Him in a dungeon than ever before. Paul the prisoner, John in Patmos, Bunyan in Bedford jail, George Fox in Lancaster Castle, Rutherford in Aberdeen, and many more, have found the Lord with them, and showing them His kindness. We may all be sure that, if ever faithfulness to conscience involves us in difficulties, the faithfulness and the difficulties will combine to bring to us sweet and strong tokens of God’s approval and presence, the winning of which will make a prison a palace and a gate of heaven.
Joseph’s relations to jailer and fellow-prisoners are beautiful and instructive. The former is called ‘the keeper of the prison,’ and is evidently Potiphar’s deputy, in more immediate charge of the prison. Of course, the great man had an underling to do the work, and probably that underling was not chosen for sweetness of temper or facile leniency to his charges. But he fell under the charm of Joseph’s character-all the more readily, perhaps, because his occupation had not brought many good men to his knowledge. This jewel would flash all the more brightly for the dark background of criminals, and the jailer would wonder at a type of character so unlike what he was accustomed to. Eastern prisons to-day present a curious mixture of cruelty and companionship. The jailers are on intimate terms with prisoners, and yet are ready to torture them. There is no discipline, nor any rules, nor inspection. The jailer does as he likes. So it seems to have been in Egypt, and there would be nothing unnatural in making a prisoner jailer of the rest, and leaving everything in his hands. The ‘keeper of the prison’ was lazy, like most of us, and very glad to shift duties on to any capable shoulders. Such a thing would, of course, be impossible with us, but it is a bit of true local colouring here.
Joseph won hearts because God was with him, as the story is careful to point out. Our religion should recommend us, and therefore itself, to those who have to do with us. It is not enough that we should be severely righteous, as Joseph had been, or ready to meet trouble with stoical resignation, but we are to be gentle and lovable, gracious towards men, because we receive grace from God. We owe it to our Lord and to our fellows, and to ourselves, to be magnets to attract to Jesus, by showing how fair He can make a life. Joseph in prison found work to do, and he did not shirk it. He might have said to himself: ‘This is poor work for me, who had all Potiphar’s house to rule. Shall such a man as I come down to such small tasks as this?’ He might have sulked or desponded in idleness, but he took the kind of work that offered, and did his best by it. Many young people nowadays do nothing, because they think themselves above the small humdrum duties that lie near them. It would do some of us good to remember Joseph in the jail, and his cheerful discharge of what his hands found to do there.
Of course, work done ‘because the Lord was with him,’ in the consciousness of His presence, and in obedience to Him, went well. ‘The Lord made it to prosper,’ as He always will make such work.
‘When thou dost favour any action,
It runs, it flies.’
The help that Joseph gave by interpreting the two high officials’ dreams cannot be considered here in detail, but we note that the names of similar officers, evidently higher in rank than we should suppose, with our notions of bakers and butlers, are found in Egyptian documents, and that these two were ‘king’s prisoners,’ and put in charge of Potiphar, who alleviated their imprisonment by detailing Joseph as their attendant, thus showing that his feeling to the young Hebrew was friendly still. Dreams are the usual method of divine communication in Genesis, and belong to a certain stage in the process of revelation. The friend of God, who is in touch with Him, can interpret these. ‘The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him,’ and it is still true that they who live close by God have insight into His purposes. Joseph showed sympathy with the two dreamers, and his question, ‘Why look ye so sadly?’ unlocked their hearts. He was not so swallowed up in his own trouble as to be blind to the signs of another’s sorrow, or slow to try to comfort. Grief is apt to make us selfish, but it is meant to make us tender of heart and quick of hand to help our fellows in calamity. We win comfort for our own sorrows by trying to soothe those of others. Jesus stooped to suffer that He might succour them that suffer, and we are to tread in His steps.
prison = the house of the fortress.
into the prison: Baith hassohar, “the round house,” from the form of the building according to some; or, “the watch or guard house,” from the Arabic sahara, to watch, according to others. Gen 40:15, Gen 41:14, Psa 105:18, Psa 105:19, Isa 53:8, Dan 3:21, Dan 3:22, 2Ti 2:9, 1Pe 2:19
the king’s: Gen 40:1-3, Gen 40:15, Gen 41:9-14, Psa 76:10
Reciprocal: Gen 40:3 – the place Gen 41:10 – Pharaoh Gen 41:12 – servant Jer 37:15 – put Heb 11:36 – bonds
Gen 39:20-21. Where the kings prisoners were bound Potiphar, it is likely, chose that prison because it was the worst; for there the irons entered into the soul, Psa 105:18, but God designed it to pave the way to his enlargement. Our Lord Jesus, like Joseph, was bound, and numbered with transgressors. But the Lord was with Joseph, and showed him mercy. No gates nor bars can shut out his gracious presence from his people. God gave him favour in sight of the keeper of the prison God can raise up friends for his people, even where they little expect them. The keeper saw that God was with him, and that every thing prospered under his hand, and therefore intrusted him with the management of the affairs of the prison.
39:20 And Joseph’s master took him, and put him into the {i} prison, a place where the king’s prisoners [were] bound: and he was there in the prison.
(i) His bad treatment in the prison may be gathered from Psa 105:18.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes