《Expository Notes on the Whole Bible – Genesis》(Thomas Constable) Commentator

39 Chapter 39
Verses 1-6

The clause "the Lord was with Joseph" occurs four times in this chapter (Genesis 39:2-3; Genesis 39:21; Genesis 39:23) and explains the reason for his success. The divine name "LORD," Yahweh, appears seven times in this chapter (Genesis 39:2-3 [twice], 5 [twice], 21, and 23) but only one other time in the Jacob toledot (Genesis 37:2 to Genesis 50:26): in Genesis 49:18. God had previously promised to be with Isaac and Jacob (Genesis 26:3; Genesis 26:24; Genesis 26:28; Genesis 28:15; Genesis 28:20; Genesis 31:3). Yahweh is the name for God used. The covenant-keeping God of the patriarchs was with this son of Jacob far from home. Joseph had a fine physique and a handsome face, features that he seems to have inherited from his mother Rachel (cf. Genesis 29:17). He proved faithful in a little and therefore the Lord placed him in charge of much (cf. Luke 16:10). Note that God blessed Potiphar because of Joseph (cf. Genesis 12:3 a).

"The whole sequence of Genesis 39:2-6 is a particularly apt and clear example of the meaning of blessing in the Old Testament. Assistance and blessing belong together, though they are different. Blessing embraces both people and the rest of creation. The narrator simply presupposes that the blessing can flow over from the one whom Yahweh assists to a foreign people and adherents of a foreign religion precisely because of the one whom Yahweh assists. The power inherent in the blessing is expansive ..." [Note: Westermann, Genesis 36-50, p. 63.]

Verses 7-23

Joseph was evidently in his mid-twenties at this time. He was in a "no win" position with Potiphar's wife. As a slave he had to obey her, but as a trustworthy and moral servant of Potiphar he had to refuse her. The typical male clothing in patriarchal times consisted of mid-calf-length shorts and a tunic that resembled a long T-shirt (cf. Genesis 3:21; Genesis 37:3). [Note: Wenham, Genesis 16-50, p. 376.] Joseph regarded obedience to God as his primary responsibility (Genesis 39:9) and therefore chose as he did (cf. Psalms 51:4).

Note that Potiphar's wife's invitation was for Joseph to lie "beside" (Heb. 'esel) her (Genesis 39:10; cf. Genesis 39:15-16; Genesis 39:18; Genesis 41:3), not to lie "with" her, the more common phrase that describes sexual intercourse (cf. Genesis 34:7; Genesis 39:14). Evidently she invited his physical familiarity, which she hoped would lead to intercourse. Joseph, realizing where this first step might lead, wisely set a boundary for himself and refused even to be alone with her (Genesis 39:10). [Note: Mathews, Genesis 11:27-50:26, p. 735.]

"This story about Joseph reverses a well-known plot in the patriarchal narratives. Whereas before it was the beautiful wife ... of the patriarch who was sought by the foreign ruler, now it was Joseph, the handsome patriarch ... himself who was sought by the wife of the foreign ruler. Whereas in the earlier narratives it was either the Lord (Genesis 12:17; Genesis 20:3) or the moral purity of the foreign ruler (Genesis 26:10) that rescued the wife rather than the patriarch, here it was Joseph's own moral courage that saved the day.... Whereas in the preceding narratives, the focus of the writer had been on God's faithfulness in fulfilling his covenant promises, in the story of Joseph his attention is turned to the human response.

"The Joseph narratives are intended then to give balance to the narratives of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Together the two sections show both God's faithfulness in spite of human failure as well as the necessity of an obedient and faithful response." [Note: Sailhamer, "Genesis," pp. 234, 235.]

Success in temptation depends more on character than on circumstances. Character rests on commitment to the will of God. We can see Joseph's character in his loyalty to Potiphar concerning what his master had entrusted to his care (Genesis 39:9). We also see it in his responsibility to God for what belonged to someone else (Genesis 39:9). It is further obvious in his responsibility to God respecting his special personal calling (Genesis 37:5-9; Genesis 45:5-9). Additionally, we see it in his responsibility to God concerning his sacred vocation as a member of the house of Israel.

"It is too little observed, and especially by young men who have most need to observe it, that in such temptations it is not only the sensual that needs to be guarded against, but also two much deeper-lying tendencies-the craving for loving recognition, and the desire to respond to the feminine love for admiration and devotion . . . a large proportion of misery is due to a kind of uncontrolled and mistaken chivalry." [Note: Dods, p. 344.]

Joseph's punishment was light in view of the charge against him. Joseph's integrity had obviously impressed Potiphar, but he may also have had questions about his wife's chastity (cf. Psalms 105:18). Joseph's slavery in Potiphar's house prefigures Israel's Egyptian bondage.

Because God was still with Joseph (Genesis 39:21; Genesis 39:23), and because his character had not changed, Joseph experienced the same kind of favor at the hand of the chief jailer that he had from Potiphar. The Lord honored Joseph as one who had honored Him (1 Samuel 2:30).

"Yokes borne in youth have at least three results; they prove personal integrity, they promote spiritual maturity, and they prepare for fuller opportunity. In nature and in human life the best things are not the easiest but the hardest to obtain....

"How nobly Joseph comported himself amidst all these trials and hardships! He might have sulked and become embittered; but instead of this his spirit was unconquerable by reason of its trust in God. He steadfastly refused to be unfaithful to his God, whatever might be the consequences. In duty he was loyal, in temptation he was strong, and in prison he was faithful. When this spirit actuates our life, difficulties become means of grace and stepping-stones to higher things. On the other hand, if difficulties are met in a fretful, murmuring, complaining, disheartened spirit, not only do we lose the blessings that would otherwise come through them, but our spiritual life suffers untold injury, and we are weakened for the next encounter of temptation whenever it comes. There is scarcely anything in the Christian life which reveals more thoroughly what our Christianity is worth than the way we meet difficulties by the use of the grace of God." [Note: Thomas, pp. 375-76. Cf. James 1.]

This chapter reveals that dedication to God's calling enables His servants to resist temptation. [Note: See Doug Mennen, "How the Wise Man Overcomes Temptation," Exegesis and Exposition 3:1 (Fall 1988):90.]
40 Chapter 40
41 Chapter 41
Verses 1-8

The "magicians" were "men of the priestly caste, who occupied themselves with the sacred arts and sciences of the Egyptians, the hieroglyphic writings, astrology, the interpretation of dreams, the foretelling of events, magic, and conjuring, and who were regarded as the possessors of secret arts (vid. Ex. vii. 11) and the wise men of the nation." [Note: Keil and Delitzsch, 1:349.]

Divination tries to understand the future, and magic seeks to control it. God withheld the Egyptian diviners from comprehending the meaning of Pharaoh's dreams even though the clue to their interpretation lay in the religious symbols of Egypt.

"For the cow was the symbol of Isis, the goddess of the all-sustaining earth, and in the hieroglyphics it represents the earth, agriculture, and food; and the Nile, by its overflowing, was the source of fertility of the land." [Note: Ibid.]

Yet these symbols had multiple meanings to the Egyptians, which probably accounts for the difficulty of interpretation. [Note: Wenham, Genesis 16-50, p. 391.]

"Seven-year famines were a familiar feature of life in the ancient Near East." [Note: Ibid., p. 398.]

Verses 9-24

Joseph carefully gave God the glory for his interpretive gift in his response to Pharaoh (Genesis 41:16).

"As far as Joseph was concerned, absolute truthfulness in guarding God's honor was far more important than personal advantages." [Note: Leupold, 2:1025-26.]

"Like Daniel before Nebuchadnezzar, he expressly disclaims all ability of himself to unfold the secret counsels of heaven, or exercise that wisdom for which Pharaoh seems very willing to give him credit. The same humility has been in every age a distinguishing ornament of all God's faithful servants." [Note: Bush, 2:277.]

Verses 25-36

Joseph also presented God as sovereign over Pharaoh (Genesis 41:25; Genesis 41:28). The Egyptians regarded Pharaoh as a divine manifestation in human form. By accepting Joseph's interpretation of his dreams Pharaoh chose to place himself under Joseph's God. God rewarded this humility by preserving the land of Egypt in the coming famine.

". . . the writer has gone out of his way to present the whole narrative in a series of pairs, all fitting within the notion of the emphasis given by means of the repetition: 'The matter is certain and swift' (Genesis 41:32). The repetition of the dreams, then, fits this pattern." [Note: Sailhamer, The Pentateuch . . ., p. 214.]

"The intention of prophecies concerning judgments to come, is to excite those threatened with them to take proper measures for averting them." [Note: Bush, 2:281. Cf. von Rad, p. 376.]

"The writer's emphasis on the 'good' and 'evil' represents Joseph's wisdom and discernment as an ability to distinguish between the 'good' (tob) and the 'evil' (ra'). Such a picture suggests that in the story of Joseph the writer is returning to one of the central themes of the beginning of the book, the knowledge of 'good' (tob) and 'evil' (ra'). While Joseph is able to discern between 'good and evil,' it is clear from this story that ultimately such knowledge comes only from God (Genesis 41:39). Joseph is the embodiment of the ideal that true wisdom, the ability to discern between 'good and evil,' comes only from God. Thus the lesson of the early chapters of Genesis is artfully repeated in these last chapters." [Note: Sailhamer, "Genesis," p. 240.]

"Joseph prefigured the victors Moses and Daniel, the bookends of Israel's period of captivity, whose wisdom prevailed over the Gentiles (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:18 to 1 Corinthians 2:16)." [Note: Mathews, Genesis 11:27-50:26, p. 740.]

Verses 37-45

Pharaoh recognized Joseph as one who had unique supernatural powers (Genesis 41:38; cf. Daniel 5:14). He probably did not identify the "spirit" in Joseph as the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity. There is no evidence that Pharaoh understood or believed in the God of Israel much less comprehended his triunity. Most likely he thought some deity had manifested himself or herself through Joseph.

It was not unknown in Egypt for the Pharaohs to appoint individuals who lacked previous social station or political rank to positions of authority in the government.

"At any time the king would-and did-appoint outsiders. In fact, the noteworthy careers, as preserved for us in tomb inscriptions, broke through all departmental limitations. Men of humble origin could rise to the top once their gifts were recognized; and we find that they were called to a succession of posts which would seem to us to have required entirely different preparatory training." [Note: Henri Frankfort, Ancient Egyptian Religion, p. 35. Cf. Kitchen, The Bible . . ., p. 74; J. K. Hoffmeier, Israel in Egypt: The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Exodus Tradition, pp. 93-95; Wenham, Genesis 16-50, pp. 395-96; and Waltke, Genesis, p. 533.]

To naturalize Joseph, Pharaoh gave him an Egyptian name (Genesis 41:45; cf. Daniel 1:7) and an Egyptian wife from an appropriate level of society. Joseph's father-in-law was evidently a high-ranking priest in the celebrated temple of the sun located in the city of On (Gr. Heliopolis) 10 miles northeast of modern Cairo.

"The high priest at On held the exalted title 'Greatest of Seers.' Joseph thus marries into the elite of Egyptian nobility." [Note: Sarna, Understanding Genesis, p. 288.]

Joseph's marriage to an Egyptian seems to have been Pharaoh's order, and God permitted it. The patriarchs generally avoided marrying Canaanites because of God's curse on Canaan (Genesis 9:25), but marriage to non-Canaanite Gentiles was less serious. Joseph's wife and in-laws did not turn him away from his faith in Yahweh or his high regard for God's promises to his forefathers (cf. Moses).

Verses 46-57

The notation of the birth of Joseph's sons is, of course, very significant in view of God's purposes concerning Abraham's family (Genesis 41:50-52). Joseph acknowledged God's goodness to him in naming both his sons. An allusion to the blessing aspect of the patriarchal promises occurs in Genesis 41:49.

"If the name of Joseph's first son (Manasseh) focuses on a God who preserves, the name of Joseph's second son (Ephraim) focuses on a God who blesses." [Note: Hamilton, The Book . . . Chapters 18-50, p. 512.]

Some readers of Genesis have wondered why Joseph did not inform Jacob of his welfare quickly since he must have realized that Jacob would have worried about his disappearance. In naming Manasseh, Joseph said God had enabled him to forget all (his troubles in) his father's household (Genesis 41:51). Perhaps Joseph did not try to contact Jacob because he thought his father had set him up for what happened to him at Dothan. [Note: Marc Shapiro, "The Silence of Joseph," Journal of Reform Judaism 36:1 (Winter 1989):15-17.] This seems very unlikely to me since Jacob's sorrow over Joseph's apparent death seems genuine. Perhaps Joseph did not try to contact Jacob because, through the remarkable events by which God exalted him, he came to realize that God would fulfill the rest of His promises contained in his dreams. [Note: Delitzsch, 2:306; Waltke, Genesis, p. 535.] He may have concluded that his best course of action would be to continue to let God take the initiative as He had done so consistently in his life to that time. Joseph had evidently come to trust God in place of his father. In this sense he had forgotten his father's household.

"'Forget' does not mean here 'not remember' but rather to have something no longer (cf. Job 39:17; Job 11:16. See, too, the Arabic proverb, 'Whoever drinks water from the Nile forgets his fatherland if he is a foreigner'). The phrase refers, therefore, more to an objective external fact than to a subjective, psychological process." [Note: von Rad, p. 379.]

One might say that for Joseph life in Canaan was a closed chapter of his life. [Note: Cf. Mathews, Genesis 11:27-50:26, p. 766.]

"Just as Adam is seen in the Creation account as dependent on God for his knowledge of 'good and evil,' so Joseph also is portrayed here in the same terms ... Just as Adam is made God's 'vicegerent' to rule over all the land, so similarly Joseph is portrayed here as the Pharaoh's 'vicegerent' over all his land (Genesis 41:40-43). As Adam was made in God's image to rule over all the land, so the king here gave Joseph his 'signet ring' and dressed him in royal garments (Genesis 41:42). The picture of Joseph resembles the psalmist's understanding of Genesis 1 when, regarding that passage, he writes, '[You have] crowned him with glory and honor./ You made him ruler over the works of your hands;/ you put everything under his feet' (Psalms 8:5-7). Just as God provided a wife for Adam in the garden and gave man all the land for his enjoyment, so the king gave a wife to Joseph and put him over all the land (Genesis 41:45)....

"The picture of Joseph, then, looks back to Adam; but more, it looks forward to one who was yet to come. It anticipates the coming of the one from the house of Judah to whom the kingdom belongs (cf. Genesis 49:10). Thus in the final shape of the narrative, the tension between the house of Joseph and the house of Judah, which lies within many of these texts, is resolved by making the life of Joseph into a picture of the one who is to reign from the house of Judah." [Note: Sailhamer, "Genesis," p. 242. See also idem, The Pentateuch . . ., p. 215.]

God controls the fortunes of nations to protect and provide for His covenant people.

42 Chapter 42
Verses 1-7

Twenty-one years after his brothers sold Joseph into slavery they bowed before him in fulfillment of his youthful dreams (Genesis 42:6-7; cf. Genesis 37:5-9). Ronald Hyman analyzed Joseph's skillful use of questions to uncover his brothers' attitudes and intentions as well as the key role of questions in the whole Joseph narrative-there are 30 to 40 of them. [Note: Ronald T. Hyman, "Questions in the Joseph Story: The Effects and Their Implications for Teaching," Religious Education (Summer 1984):437-55.]

"The time was when Joseph's brethren were men of high respectability in the land of Canaan, whilst Joseph himself was a slave or a prisoner in the land of Egypt. Now, by a signal reverse, Joseph was governor over all the land of Egypt, while they appeared before him as humble suppliants, almost craving as an alms those supplies of food for which they were both able and willing to pay the price demanded." [Note: Bush, 2:298.]

"The double identification of Joseph as hassallit [administrator] and hammasbir [dispenser] recall Joseph's two earlier dreams, the one in which the sun, moon, and eleven stars bowed before him (his position of authority), and the other in which the brothers' sheaves bowed before his sheaf (his position of provider)." [Note: Hamilton, The Book . . . Chapters 18-50, p. 519. Cf. Robert Alter, The Art of Biblical Narrative, p. 163.]

People who sell their brother into slavery are not trustworthy. Therefore Joseph retained power over his brothers until he could trust them.

The chiastic structure of Genesis 42:7-24 focuses attention on the brothers' imprisonment.

"A Joseph knew his brothers and remembered (Genesis 42:7-9 a).

B Joseph accused them of being spies, but they explained their situation (Genesis 42:9-13).

C Joseph set out a test whereby they could prove they were honest men (14-16).

D Joseph put them in prison (Genesis 42:17).

C' Joseph set out a new test for the brothers to prove they were honest (Genesis 42:18-20).

B' The brothers confessed their guilt concerning their brother, and Reuben accused them of their fault (Genesis 42:21-22).

A' Joseph understood and wept (Genesis 42:23-24)." [Note: Ross, Creation and . . ., p. 649.]

Verses 8-17

Joseph remembered his dreams (Genesis 42:9), and the proof of God's faithfulness undoubtedly encouraged his confidence as he proceeded to deal with his brothers. He played a role before them charging them with a crime punishable with death in Egypt. Such a serious accusation encouraged his brothers to be as honest as possible, which is what Joseph wanted.

A family will rarely risk almost all of its sons in a dangerous spying mission, which probably explains the brothers' statement that they were all sons of one man (Genesis 42:11).

Probably Joseph wanted to be sure that his brothers had not killed Benjamin since they had contemplated killing himself (Genesis 42:15).

The three-day imprisonment provided Joseph with time to plan his strategy, and it impressed the brothers with the importance of cooperating with Joseph (Genesis 42:17). These three days also gave the brothers a taste of what Joseph had endured for three years. Joseph may have intended that they serve one day's imprisonment for each year he had suffered incarceration because of their hatred.

"A vindictive Joseph could have dismayed his brothers with worthless sackloads, or tantalized them at his feast as they had tantalized him (Genesis 37:24-25); his enigmatic gifts were a kinder and more searching test. Just how well-judged was his policy can be seen in the growth of quite new attitudes in the brothers, as the alternating sun and frost broke them open to God." [Note: Kidner, p. 199. Cf. Waltke, Genesis, p. 542.]

Verses 18-24

Joseph's profession of faith in God (Elohim) told his brothers that he realized he was under divine authority and therefore would be fair with them. His test guaranteed Benjamin's safe passage to Egypt, something Joseph had every reason to worry about in view of his brothers' treatment of himself. Earlier, when he saw only 10 brothers and not Benjamin, he probably wondered if the 10 had already done away with Benjamin.

The brothers saw divine retribution in what had happened to them (Genesis 42:21-23). The brothers confessed their guilt in dealing with Joseph as they had done in his hearing. However, Joseph wanted to assure himself that they had also borne the fruits of genuine repentance (i.e., taken a different course of action with Benjamin and Jacob). Therefore he did not reveal himself to them at this time. Joseph's heart had not become hard toward his brothers because of their treatment of him. He did not hate them (Genesis 42:24).

"There is nothing more striking in the character of Joseph than the utter absence of revengeful feeling, whether it was against his brothers, or against Potiphar, or against the chief butler." [Note: Thomas, p. 407.]

Rather his heart remained tender, and his brothers' confession moved him. Reuben as the eldest and most responsible son would have been the logical choice to retain as a hostage. Yet because Joseph had overheard that Reuben had talked his brothers out of killing Joseph (Genesis 42:22), Joseph passed him over and selected Simeon, who was the next oldest. Perhaps Joseph also remembered Simeon's cruelty and callousness toward his father (Genesis 34:25; cf. Genesis 49:5-7).

Verses 25-28

Joseph restored his brothers' money to them out of the goodness of his heart. His gracious act would satisfy their needs but also cause them to search their souls further as they contemplated the implications of their good fortune. When they first discovered the money in one of their sacks, they regarded what God was doing to them as divine punishment (Genesis 42:28). This is the first time in the story that the brothers mentioned God. Their aroused consciences saw God at work behind what they were experiencing (cf. Genesis 42:21-22).

"'Silver, money' (keseph) is mentioned twenty times (Genesis 42:25 to Genesis 45:22). In the first scene of Acts 1 [Genesis 37:2-36], the brothers put a total of twenty pieces of silver before a brother (Genesis 37:28). Now they put their brother over a fortune in silver. As might be expected in an act about family reconciliation [Genesis 42:1 to Genesis 46:27], other key words are 'brother' (ca. 50x) and 'father' (ca. 40x)." [Note: Waltke, Genesis, pp. 541-42.]

Verses 29-38

Each time Jacob's sons had left home they returned with more money but minus a brother (chs. 37, 42). [Note: Hamilton, The Book . . . Chapters 18-50, p. 535.] Did Jacob think they had sold Simeon?

"Joseph's brothers soften the news considerably, making it sound like Simeon was a guest of Joseph ... instead of being bound in prison. They do not mention the threat of death and do not at this time speak of the money in the one sack." [Note: The NET Bible note on 42:34.]

The money in the sack widened the breach between Jacob and his sons but drew the brothers closer together. Jacob despaired because he distrusted his sons and the Egyptian ruler, and he had forgotten the promises of God (Genesis 42:36). He therefore concluded that, "All these things are against me." In reality God was causing all those things to work together for good for Jacob (cf. Romans 8:28). He would soon realize God's blessing.

"A great portion of our present trouble arises from our not knowing the whole truth." [Note: Bush, 2:309.]

Reuben's offer of his two sons was pathetically weak (Genesis 42:37). He claimed willingness to suffer in Jacob's place, but would he really put his own sons before his brother? And how would killing Jacob's grandsons console Jacob? It is no wonder that Jacob declined Reuben's offer (Genesis 42:38).

Throughout this chapter we can observe the attitude of Joseph's brothers changing. Faced with a personal crisis they acknowledged their guilt. They regarded their suffering as righteous divine punishment, and they began to place Jacob's interests above their own. However their repentance was not yet complete. The process of contrition had to run further before reconciliation was possible. [Note: See Waltke, Genesis, p. 550, for further development of the "severe mercies" God used to heal Jacob's fractured family.]

"The motives and actions of Joseph and his family members are not patterns to be copied or avoided. The author's goal is to show that God's designs for Israel's fathers are working toward the end of redeeming the household of faith." [Note: Mathews, Genesis 11:27-50:26, p. 768.]

When believers have unresolved guilt in their hearts, God often convicts their consciences to discover if they are spiritually sensitive enough to participate in His program.