The Fallible · Synthetic · Study Bible

Genesis39:13–23

Joseph Falsely Imprisoned

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Genesis 39:13–23 — Joseph Falsely Imprisoned. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.

13“When she saw that he had left his cloak in her hand and had run …”+

13When she saw that he had left his cloak in her hand and had run out of the house,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·hî kir·’ō·w·ṯāh kî- ‘ā·zaḇ biḡ·ḏōw bə·yā·ḏāh way·yā·nās ha·ḥū·ṣāh

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“And-it-came-to-pass, when she-saw that he-had-left his-garment in-her-hand and-had-fled outside —”

Where the English smooths the original

  • וַיְהִי֙ Hebrew opens with the clause וַיְהִי, “and it came to pass,” the same narrative seam that begins so many scenes (cf. v. 7, v. 15); the BSB drops it into the bare “When.”
  • בִּגְד֖וֹ בֶּגֶד (beged) is a “garment” in general — the over-cloak slipped from his shoulders — not the ornamented “coat” of 37:3; English “cloak” is fair, but note the word’s irony: a beged becomes the instrument of bāgad, treachery.
  • וַיָּ֖נָס וַיָּנָס is from nûs, “to flee” — a panicked flight, not a casual exit; the BSB’s “had run out” loses the urgency the same verb carries in v. 12’s flight from sin.
  • הַחֽוּצָה׃ הַחוּצָה is simply “outside / to the street” with the directional -āh; “out of the house” is supplied — the Hebrew names only the direction, away.
Word by word8 · parsed+
וַיְהִי֙way·hîH1961
√ hâyâh — to exist, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
A verb of continuation, not a title — the wayyiqtol way·hî stitches this scene to the failed seduction of vv. 7–12; the story does not pause to moralize, it simply moves.
כִּרְאוֹתָ֔הּkir·’ō·w·ṯāhWhen she sawH7200
√ râʼâh — to see, literally or figuratively (in numerous applications, direct and implied, transitive, intransitive and causative)Preposition-kVerbQalInfinitive constructthird person feminine singular
Infinitive construct with the feminine suffix: “in her seeing.” The whole chain of false witness begins with what she saw — the cloak in her hand — the one piece of fact she will bend into a lie.
כִּֽי־kî-thatH3588
√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction
עָזַ֥ב‘ā·zaḇhe had leftH5800
√ ʻâzab — to loosen, iVerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular
‘āzab, “to leave / forsake” — the same root used of the LORD never forsaking His own (Deut 31:6). Joseph leaves a garment to keep a conscience; he forsakes cloth, not God.
בִּגְד֖וֹbiḡ·ḏōwhis cloakH899
√ beged — a covering, iNounmasculine singular constructthird person masculine singular
The pivot of the whole accusation hangs on this beged: a wordless object that can be read either way. Cambridge notes it “provided the only circumstantial piece of evidence for the charge brought against him.”
בְּיָדָ֑הּbə·yā·ḏāhin her handH3027
√ yâd — a hand (the open one (indicating power, means, direction, etcPreposition-bNounfeminine singular constructthird person feminine singular
bə·yā·ḏāh, “in her hand” — the narrator’s true account. Keil & Delitzsch sees the lie precisely here: she will later say ’eṣlî, “by my side,” not “in my hand,” because the truth — the cloak in her hand — “would have shown the true state of the case.”
וַיָּ֖נָסway·yā·nāsand had runH5127
√ nûwç — to flit, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
nûs, the verb of flight. Joseph’s only weapon against temptation was his heels; in fleeing he fulfills, narratively, the wisdom later codified — flee, do not negotiate.
הַחֽוּצָה׃ha·ḥū·ṣāhout [of the house]H2351
√ chûwts — properly, separate by awall, iArticleNounmasculine singularthird person feminine singular
The directional accusative: “to the outside.” He is now in the open, exposed — and, ironically, his very innocence (flight) furnishes the evidence of guilt.
The Voices✦ public domain+
✦Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s
When this daring assault upon Joseph's chastity had failed, on account of his faithfulness and fear of God, the adulterous woman reversed the whole affair, and charged him with an attack upon her modesty, in order that she might have her revenge upon him and avert suspicion from herself.
✦Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s
his garment ] This accident provided the only circumstantial piece of evidence for the charge brought against him.
✦John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63
when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand,.... And so all hopes of succeeding in her addresses to him were over: and he was fled forth; into the streets, or into some out house, where business was carried on by servants under him.
14“she called her household servants. “Look,” she said, “this Hebre…”+

14she called her household servants. “Look,” she said, “this Hebrew has been brought to us to make sport of us. He came to me so he could sleep with me, but I screamed as loud as I could.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wat·tiq·rā ḇê·ṯāh lə·’an·šê rə·’ū wat·tō·mer lā·hem lê·mōr ‘iḇ·rî ’îš hê·ḇî lā·nū lə·ṣa·ḥeq bā·nū bā ’ê·lay liš·kaḇ ‘im·mî wā·’eq·rā bə·qō·wl gā·ḏō·wl

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“that-she-called to-the-men-of her-house and-said to-them, saying, See, he-has-brought to-us a-man, a-Hebrew, to-make-sport-of us; he-came-in to-me to-lie with-me, and-I-cried with-a-voice loud.”

Where the English smooths the original

  • עִבְרִ֖י The Hebrew runs אִישׁ עִבְרִי, “a man, a Hebrew” — the BSB’s “this Hebrew” drops the noun ’îš; the doubling spits the slur. ‘Ibrî, “Hebrew,” is in Egyptian mouths a term of contempt (cf. 43:32).
  • לְצַ֣חֶק לְצַחֶק (ṣāḥaq, Piel) is the very root of Isaac — “to laugh / sport / play.” Here it is bent obscene: “to make sport of,” i.e. to molest. The Pulpit Commentary marks it “used in a bad sense.” English “make sport” cannot carry the bitter pun.
  • הֵ֥בִיא הֵבִיא is causative (Hiphil), “he has brought in” — an unnamed “he.” The Pulpit notes it is “literally, one has brought in, the subject of the verb being indefinite”; she will not deign to name her own husband.
  • לָהֶם֙ She says לָהֶם, “to them,” the male servants — turning private failure into a public summons, manufacturing witnesses before there is a charge.
Word by word20 · parsed+
וַתִּקְרָ֞אwat·tiq·rāshe calledH7121
√ qârâʼ — to call out to (iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person feminine singular
wat·tiq·rā, “she called” — the same verb qārāʼ she will use of her own pretended scream (v. 14b, 18). She calls the house to invent the cry she claims she made.
בֵיתָ֗הּḇê·ṯāhher householdH1004
√ bayith — a house (in the greatest variation of applications, especially family, etcNounmasculine singular constructthird person feminine singular
לְאַנְשֵׁ֣יlə·’an·šêservantsH582
√ ʼĕnôwsh — a man in general (singly or collectively)Preposition-lNounmasculine plural construct
’ĕnôš, “men” — the household menservants, summoned as a jury before the accused has spoken; the lie needs an audience to become a record.
רְא֗וּrə·’ūLookH7200
√ râʼâh — to see, literally or figuratively (in numerous applications, direct and implied, transitive, intransitive and causative)VerbQalImperativemasculine plural
וַתֹּ֤אמֶרwat·tō·mershe saidH559
√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person feminine singular
לָהֶם֙lā·hem
Prepositionthird person masculine plural
לֵאמֹ֔רlê·mōrH559
√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Preposition-lVerbQalInfinitive construct
עִבְרִ֖י‘iḇ·rîthis HebrewH5680
√ ʻIbrîy — an Eberite (iNounpropermasculine singular
‘Ibrî, “Hebrew.” Barnes: “A Hebrew is still the only national designation proper to Joseph… The national name is designedly used as a term of reproach among the Egyptians.” The slur is the lever; race is the rhetoric.
אִ֥ישׁ’îš. . .H376
√ ʼîysh — a man as an individual or a male personNounmasculine singular
הֵ֥בִיאhê·ḇîhas been broughtH935
√ bôwʼ — to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)VerbHifilPerfectthird person masculine singular
The Hiphil hēḇî, “he brought in” — Cambridge calls the slur “an appeal to the racial prejudice against Asiatic strangers,” implying her husband’s confidence in his Hebrew slave “meant disregard for the family’s honour.”
לָ֛נוּlā·nūto us
Prepositionfirst person common plural
לְצַ֣חֶקlə·ṣa·ḥeqto make sportH6711
√ tsâchaq — to laugh outright (in merriment or scorn)Preposition-lVerbPielInfinitive construct
ṣāḥaq — to laugh, play, fondle. The root that named the child of promise (Gen 21:6) is here weaponized into the language of assault; the same word can name covenant joy or covenant crime.
בָּ֑נוּbā·nūof us
Prepositionfirst person common plural
בָּ֤אbāHe cameH935
√ bôwʼ — to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)VerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular
אֵלַי֙’ê·layto meH413
√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPrepositionfirst person common singular
לִשְׁכַּ֣בliš·kaḇso he could sleepH7901
√ shâkab — to lie down (for rest, sexual connection, decease or any other purpose)Preposition-lVerbQalInfinitive construct
עִמִּ֔י‘im·mîwith meH5973
√ ʻim — adverb or preposition, with (iPrepositionfirst person common singular
וָאֶקְרָ֖אwā·’eq·rābut I screamedH7121
√ qârâʼ — to call out to (iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectfirst person common singular
wā·’eq·rā, “but I cried” — the fabricated outcry. Barnes: this “is intended to be the proof of her innocence” by the standard of Deut 22:24, 27 — the law of the betrothed woman who cries out. She borrows the Torah’s test to clothe a lie.
בְּק֥וֹלbə·qō·wlas loudH6963
√ qôwl — a voice or soundPreposition-bNounmasculine singular
גָּדֽוֹל׃gā·ḏō·wlas I couldH1419
√ gâdôwl — great (in any sense)Adjectivemasculine singular
gā·ḏôl, “great / loud.” Gill exposes the contradiction: if she truly “cried with a loud voice… how came it she was not heard by them, as well as when she called unto them.”
The Voices✦ public domain+
✦Albert BarnesNotes on the Bible1834
A Hebrew is still the only national designation proper to Joseph Genesis 14:13 . Jacob's descendants had not got beyond the family. The term Israelite was therefore, not yet in use. The national name is designedly used as a term of reproach among the Egyptians Genesis 43:32 .
✦Matthew PooleAnnotations upon the Holy Bible1685
An Hebrew; so she calls him, to render him hateful and contemptible to the Egyptians. To mock us; to abuse me; or to vitiate and defile me; for that word is oft used in an obscene sense. She insinuates, that this was not only an indignity to her, but an injury to all the family, which therefore they were obliged to revenge.
✦Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s
The word is an appeal to the racial prejudice against Asiatic strangers. to mock ] Cf. Proverbs 1:26 . The idea is of wanton insult. us ] As if none of the women in the house would be secure from insult, when the master’s wife had been subjected to such an affront from this young upstart foreigner. She implies that her husband’s confidence in his Hebrew slave meant disregard for the family’s honour.
✦Matthew HenryConcise Commentary on the Whole Bible1706
Those that have broken the bonds of modesty, will never be held by the bonds of truth. It is no new thing for the best of men to be falsely accused of the worst of crimes, by those who themselves are the worst of criminals.
15“When he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me an…”+

15When he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·hî ḵə·šā·mə·‘ōw kî- hă·rî·mō·ṯî qō·w·lî wā·’eq·rā way·ya·‘ă·zōḇ biḡ·ḏōw ’eṣ·lî way·yā·nās way·yê·ṣê ha·ḥū·ṣāh

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“And-it-came-to-pass, when he-heard that I-lifted-up my-voice and-cried, that-he-left his-garment beside-me and-fled and-went outside.”

Where the English smooths the original

  • הֲרִימֹ֥תִי הֲרִימֹתִי (rûm, Hiphil) is “I lifted up [my voice]” — a different, more dramatic verb than the simple qārāʼ she pairs it with; the BSB folds both into “scream for help.” The lifting of the voice is the legal proof she is staging (Deut 22:24).
  • אֶצְלִ֔י Here is the tell: she says אֶצְלִי, “beside me,” not “in her hand” (v. 13). Keil & Delitzsch: she said ’eṣlî, “by my side,” because “in my hand… would have shown the true state of the case.” One preposition is the whole perjury.
  • וַיֵּצֵ֥א The Hebrew piles three flight-verbs — ‘āzab (left), nûs (fled), yāṣāʼ (went out, וַיֵּצֵא); the BSB keeps only “left” and “ran out.” The redundancy is rhetorical, building the picture of guilty haste she wants believed.
Word by word12 · parsed+
וַיְהִ֣יway·hîH1961
√ hâyâh — to exist, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
כְשָׁמְע֔וֹḵə·šā·mə·‘ōwWhen he heard meH8085
√ shâmaʻ — to hear intelligently (often with implication of attention, obedience, etcPreposition-kVerbQalInfinitive constructthird person masculine singular
kə·šā·mə·‘ōw, “when he heard” — she casts Joseph as the one startled into flight by her cry, exactly inverting v. 12, where it was she who heard nothing and he who fled sin.
כִּֽי־kî-. . .H3588
√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction
הֲרִימֹ֥תִיhă·rî·mō·ṯîscream for helpH7311
√ rûwm — to be high actively, to rise or raise (in various applications, literally or figuratively)VerbHifilPerfectfirst person common singular
rûm Hiphil, “to raise high” — the verb usually of exalting; here, of raising a voice that was never raised. Gill presses the absurdity: “why should he strip himself of his garment, and leave that behind him? he might have fled with it.”
קוֹלִ֖יqō·w·lî. . .H6963
√ qôwl — a voice or soundNounmasculine singular constructfirst person common singular
וָאֶקְרָ֑אwā·’eq·rā. . .H7121
√ qârâʼ — to call out to (iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectfirst person common singular
וַיַּעֲזֹ֤בway·ya·‘ă·zōḇhe leftH5800
√ ʻâzab — to loosen, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
‘āzab, “he left” — repeated from v. 13, but now relocated beside her. The same true verb is set in a false frame; the lie is built not of new words but of rearranged ones.
בִּגְדוֹ֙biḡ·ḏōwhis cloakH899
√ beged — a covering, iNounmasculine singular constructthird person masculine singular
אֶצְלִ֔י’eṣ·lîbeside meH681
√ ʼêtsel — a sidePrepositionfirst person common singular
’eṣlî, “beside me.” The single word that distinguishes her testimony from the narrator’s — the place of perjury. The garment was in her hand; she swears it lay by her side.
וַיָּ֖נָסway·yā·nāsand ranH5127
√ nûwç — to flit, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
וַיֵּצֵ֥אway·yê·ṣê. . .H3318
√ yâtsâʼ — to go (causatively, bring) out, in a great variety of applications, literally and figuratively, direct and proximConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
הַחֽוּצָה׃ha·ḥū·ṣāhout [of the house]H2351
√ chûwts — properly, separate by awall, iArticleNounmasculine singularthird person feminine singular
ha·ḥū·ṣāh, “outside” — verbatim from v. 13, lending her account the surface texture of the true event she is distorting.
The Voices✦ public domain+
✦Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s
She said אצלי "by my side," not "in my hand," as that would have shown the true state of the case. She then left the garment lying by her side till the return of Joseph's master, to whom she repeated her tale.
✦John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63
that he left his garment with me, and fled, and got him out: but why should he strip himself of his garment, and leave that behind him? he might have fled with it.
16“So Potiphar’s wife kept Joseph’s cloak beside her until his mast…”+

16So Potiphar’s wife kept Joseph’s cloak beside her until his master came home.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wat·tan·naḥ biḡ·ḏōw ’eṣ·lāh ‘aḏ- ’ă·ḏō·nāw ’el- bō·w bê·ṯōw

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“And-she-laid his-garment beside-her until the-coming-of his-master to-his-house.”

Where the English smooths the original

  • וַתַּנַּ֥ח וַתַּנַּח is from nûaḥ (Hiphil), “she set / let it rest” — the same root as the divine rest; she deliberately rests the evidence at her side. Cambridge: “laid on one side, and kept ready to be produced as evidence.” “Kept” is mild for this calculated placement.
  • אֶצְלָ֑הּ Again אֶצְלָהּ, “beside her” — the narrator now uses her own word from v. 15, quietly confirming that the cloak really was at her side, exactly as she will claim, so that her physical setup matches her coming lie.
  • אֲדֹנָ֖יו אֲדֹנָיו is the honorific plural “his lord(s)/master,” with the suffix referring to Joseph — “his master.” The BSB names “Potiphar,” which the Hebrew never does here; the man is defined only by his relation to the slave he is about to wrong.
Word by word8 · parsed+
וַתַּנַּ֥חwat·tan·naḥSo [Potiphar’s wife] keptH5117
√ nûwach — to rest, iConjunctive wawVerbHifilConsecutive imperfectthird person feminine singular
nûaḥ Hiphil, “to set down, cause to rest.” The narrator’s verb is cold and deliberate: she does not drop the cloak in panic, she positions it. The staging of false evidence is itself an act of will.
בִּגְד֖וֹbiḡ·ḏōwJoseph’s cloakH899
√ beged — a covering, iNounmasculine singular constructthird person masculine singular
אֶצְלָ֑הּ’eṣ·lāhbeside herH681
√ ʼêtsel — a sidePrepositionthird person feminine singular
’eṣlāh, “beside her” — the truth the narrator grants and she exploits. The cloak was indeed at her side; the lie is not the location but the cause she assigns to it.
עַד־‘aḏ-untilH5704
√ ʻad — as far (or long, or much) as, whether of space (even unto) or time (during, while, until) or degree (equally with)Preposition
‘ad, “until.” The whole verse is suspended on a wait: she holds the evidence, biding time. Gill notes Potiphar was “gone a journey, or gone to court that day, being an officer of Pharaoh’s.”
אֲדֹנָ֖יו’ă·ḏō·nāwhis masterH113
√ ʼâdôwn — sovereign, iNounmasculine plural constructthird person masculine singular
אֶל־’el-. . .H413
√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPreposition
בּ֥וֹאbō·wcameH935
√ bôwʼ — to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)VerbQalInfinitive construct
bôʼ, infinitive, “the coming of” — the verse hangs on the master’s return, the moment the private slander becomes a public charge.
בֵּיתֽוֹ׃bê·ṯōwhomeH1004
√ bayith — a house (in the greatest variation of applications, especially family, etcNounmasculine singular constructthird person masculine singular
The Voices✦ public domain+
✦Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s
laid up ] i.e. laid on one side, and kept ready to be produced as evidence.
✦John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63
And she laid up his garment by her,.... As a proof of what she laid to his charge, and as a testimony against him: until her lord came home; or until his lord came home, for the pronoun refers to Joseph, and so Jarchi interprets it; who either was gone a journey, or gone to court that day, being an officer of Pharaoh's, or to the public place where the festival was kept that day, if it was such an one.
17“Then she told him the same story: “The Hebrew slave you brought …”+

17Then she told him the same story: “The Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport of me,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

wat·tə·ḏab·bêr ’ê·lāw hā·’êl·leh lê·mōr kad·də·ḇā·rîm hā·‘iḇ·rî ’ă·šer- hā·‘e·ḇeḏ bā- ’ê·lay hê·ḇê·ṯā lā·nū lə·ṣa·ḥeq bî

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“And-she-spoke to-him according-to-these-words, saying, He-came-in to-me — the-Hebrew, the-slave whom you-brought to-us — to-make-sport-of me.”

Where the English smooths the original

  • הָעֶ֧בֶד To the servants she said “a man, a Hebrew” (v. 14); to her husband she sharpens it to הָעֶבֶד, “the slave” — and adds “whom you brought.” The BSB’s “Hebrew slave you brought us” captures it; note she now makes him an accomplice.
  • הֵבֵ֥אתָ הֵבֵאתָ is 2nd-person, “you brought” — she pivots the verb of v. 14 (“he/one brought”) directly onto her husband. Poole: “she makes her husband accessory to the crime, that she might provoke him to the sharper revenge.”
  • לְצַ֥חֶק She repeats לְצַחֶק, “to make sport,” but now “of me” (bî) — narrowed from the public “us” of v. 14 to the intimate, inflaming “me,” tuned for a husband’s jealousy.
Word by word14 · parsed+
וַתְּדַבֵּ֣רwat·tə·ḏab·bêrThen she told himH1696
√ dâbar — perhaps properly, to arrangeConjunctive wawVerbPielConsecutive imperfectthird person feminine singular
wat·tə·ḏab·bēr, “she spoke” (Piel of dāḇar) — the formal verb of address; she delivers a prepared speech, “according to these words,” a rehearsed report, not a spontaneous cry.
אֵלָ֔יו’ê·lāw. . .H413
√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPrepositionthird person masculine singular
הָאֵ֖לֶּהhā·’êl·lehthe sameH428
√ ʼêl-leh — these or thoseArticlePronouncommon plural
לֵאמֹ֑רlê·mōr. . .H559
√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Preposition-lVerbQalInfinitive construct
כַּדְּבָרִ֥יםkad·də·ḇā·rîmstoryH1697
√ dâbâr — a wordPreposition-k, ArticleNounmasculine plural
kad·də·ḇā·rîm, “according to the words” — the narrator flags that this is the same set speech she gave the servants, now re-aimed. A lie repeated verbatim gains the air of testimony.
הָֽעִבְרִ֛יhā·‘iḇ·rîThe HebrewH5680
√ ʻIbrîy — an Eberite (iArticleNounpropermasculine singular
hā·‘iḇrî, “the Hebrew” — the slur retained for the husband too; but now coupled with hā·‘eḇeḏ, “the slave,” doubling the contempt: foreign and servile.
אֲשֶׁר־’ă·šer-H834
√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative
הָעֶ֧בֶדhā·‘e·ḇeḏslaveH5650
√ ʻebed — a servantArticleNounmasculine singular
בָּֽא־bā-you broughtH935
√ bôwʼ — to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)VerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular
אֵלַ֞י’ê·layusH413
√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPrepositionfirst person common singular
הֵבֵ֥אתָhê·ḇê·ṯācameH935
√ bôwʼ — to go or come (in a wide variety of applications)VerbHifilPerfectsecond person masculine singular
hēḇēʼṯā, “you brought” — the accusing second person. Gill: “she related to him… according to the purport of the above words, and in much the same manner.” The husband is both judge and, by her framing, the author of the offense.
לָּ֖נוּlā·nūto me
Prepositionfirst person common plural
לְצַ֥חֶקlə·ṣa·ḥeqto make sportH6711
√ tsâchaq — to laugh outright (in merriment or scorn)Preposition-lVerbPielInfinitive construct
בִּֽי׃bîof me
Prepositionfirst person common singular
The Voices✦ public domain+
✦Matthew PooleAnnotations upon the Holy Bible1685
So she makes her husband accessory to the crime, that she might provoke him to the sharper revenge.
✦John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63
the Hebrew servant which thou hast brought unto us came in unto me to mock me; in an obscene manner, using filthy words and actions, contrary to the rules of chastity as well as good manners; or, in other words, to lie with her, which she pretended he solicited.
18“but when I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ra…”+

18but when I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·hî ka·hă·rî·mî qō·w·lî wā·’eq·rā way·ya·‘ă·zōḇ biḡ·ḏōw ’eṣ·lî way·yā·nās ha·ḥū·ṣāh

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“And-it-came-to-pass, when I-lifted-up my-voice and-cried, that-he-left his-garment beside-me and-fled outside.”

Where the English smooths the original

  • כַּהֲרִימִ֥י כַּהֲרִימִי repeats the staged “lifting of the voice” (rûm, Hiphil) from v. 15 — the legal proof of the cry-out. Poole judges the whole tale “improbable… an evidence that the violence was on her side.”
  • אֶצְלִ֖י אֶצְלִי, “beside me” — she repeats the false location once more, now to her husband’s face. The perjury is consistent: every retelling keeps the cloak “by my side,” never “in my hand.”
  • הַחֽוּצָה׃ הַחוּצָה, “outside,” closes her account exactly as the true narrative closed v. 13 — a borrowed true detail sealing a false whole. The Pulpit notes her omission: she “seemed too modest to speak in plain terms of Joseph’s crime.”
Word by word9 · parsed+
וַיְהִ֕יway·hîH1961
√ hâyâh — to exist, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
כַּהֲרִימִ֥יka·hă·rî·mîbut when I screamed for helpH7311
√ rûwm — to be high actively, to rise or raise (in various applications, literally or figuratively)Preposition-kVerbHifilInfinitive constructfirst person common singular
rûm Hiphil again, “as I lifted up” — the second telling of the never-raised voice. Repetition is the lie’s strategy; the same fabricated cry is rehearsed until it sounds remembered.
קוֹלִ֖יqō·w·lî. . .H6963
√ qôwl — a voice or soundNounmasculine singular constructfirst person common singular
וָאֶקְרָ֑אwā·’eq·rā. . .H7121
√ qârâʼ — to call out to (iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectfirst person common singular
וַיַּעֲזֹ֥בway·ya·‘ă·zōḇhe leftH5800
√ ʻâzab — to loosen, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
way·ya·‘ă·zōḇ, “he left” — the true verb, kept for verisimilitude. Poole: had Joseph attempted violence “he would not have forborne violence to the recovery of his garment, which he very well knew might be made a pretence against him.”
בִּגְד֛וֹbiḡ·ḏōwhis cloakH899
√ beged — a covering, iNounmasculine singular constructthird person masculine singular
אֶצְלִ֖י’eṣ·lîbeside meH681
√ ʼêtsel — a sidePrepositionfirst person common singular
וַיָּ֥נָסway·yā·nāsand ranH5127
√ nûwç — to flit, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
nûs, “and fled” — Joseph’s flight, true in fact, is the very evidence she turns against him. Innocence that runs leaves tracks the guilty can read backward.
הַחֽוּצָה׃ha·ḥū·ṣāhout [of the house]H2351
√ chûwts — properly, separate by awall, iArticleNounmasculine singularthird person feminine singular
The Voices✦ public domain+
✦Matthew PooleAnnotations upon the Holy Bible1685
An improbable story, and an evidence that the violence was on her side; otherwise, if he had attempted violence upon her person, he would not have forborne violence to the recovery of his garment, which he very well knew might be made a pretence against him.
✦The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s
she seemed too modest to speak in plain terms of Joseph's crime (Lawson) - and it came to pass, as I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me and fled out
Pulpit Commentary treats vv. 16–18 as one block; this verbatim clause is filed under the Genesis 39:16 page in voices_raw but comments directly on v. 18’s wording.
19“When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, “This…”+

19When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, “This is what your slave did to me,” he burned with anger.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·hî ’ă·ḏō·nāw ’eṯ- ḵiš·mō·a‘ diḇ·rê ’iš·tōw ’ă·šer dib·bə·rāh ’ê·lāw lê·mōr hā·’êl·leh kad·də·ḇā·rîm ‘aḇ·de·ḵā ʿå̄·śå̄h lî way·yi·ḥar ’ap·pōw

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“And-it-came-to-pass, when heard his-master the-words-of his-wife that she-spoke to-him, saying, According-to-these-things did to-me your-slave — that burned his-anger.”

Where the English smooths the original

  • וַיִּ֖חַר וַיִּחַר אַפּוֹ is literally “his nose/nostril burned hot” (ḥārāh + ’aph) — the Hebrew idiom for kindled rage, picturing flared nostrils. “He burned with anger” is a fair gloss but loses the bodily image of the snorting nose.
  • אַפּֽוֹ׃ אַפּוֹ, “his nose,” stands by metonymy for anger — the same idiom used of the LORD’s wrath. The text leaves studiously ambiguous at whom the anger flares; Keil & Delitzsch and the Pulpit both suspect Potiphar “was not fully convinced of his wife’s chastity.”
  • עַבְדֶּ֑ךָ Her closing word in his ear is עַבְדֶּךָ, “your slave” — pinning the deed on the man Potiphar trusted, so that the master’s pride is wounded along with the husband’s honor. The BSB “your slave” keeps the barb.
Word by word17 · parsed+
וַיְהִי֩way·hîWhenH1961
√ hâyâh — to exist, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
אֲדֹנָ֜יו’ă·ḏō·nāwhis masterH113
√ ʼâdôwn — sovereign, iNounmasculine plural constructthird person masculine singular
אֶת־’eṯ-H853
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker
כִשְׁמֹ֨עַḵiš·mō·a‘heardH8085
√ shâmaʻ — to hear intelligently (often with implication of attention, obedience, etcPreposition-kVerbQalInfinitive construct
šāmaʻ, “heard” — the chapter’s recurring verb of hearing (vv. 15, 19) now belongs to the judge. He hears only one side; Gill notes the wrath rose “without strictly examining her words… and without hearing Joseph’s defence.”
דִּבְרֵ֣יdiḇ·rêthe storyH1697
√ dâbâr — a wordNounmasculine plural construct
אִשְׁתּ֗וֹ’iš·tōwhis wifeH802
√ ʼishshâh — a womanNounfeminine singular constructthird person masculine singular
אֲשֶׁ֨ר’ă·šerH834
√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative
דִּבְּרָ֤הdib·bə·rāhtoldH1696
√ dâbar — perhaps properly, to arrangeVerbPielPerfectthird person feminine singular
אֵלָיו֙’ê·lāwhimH413
√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPrepositionthird person masculine singular
לֵאמֹ֔רlê·mōrsayingH559
√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Preposition-lVerbQalInfinitive construct
הָאֵ֔לֶּהhā·’êl·lehThisH428
√ ʼêl-leh — these or thoseArticlePronouncommon plural
כַּדְּבָרִ֣יםkad·də·ḇā·rîmis whatH1697
√ dâbâr — a wordPreposition-k, ArticleNounmasculine plural
עַבְדֶּ֑ךָ‘aḇ·de·ḵāyour slaveH5650
√ ʻebed — a servantNounmasculine singular constructsecond person masculine singular
עָ֥שָׂהּʿå̄·śå̄hdidH6213
√ ʻâsâh — to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest applicationVerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular
‘āśāh, “did” — her verb of accusation, deliberately vague: “after this manner did your slave to me.” The crime is named by gesture, never plainly, leaving the husband’s imagination to convict.
לִ֖יlîto me
Prepositionfirst person common singular
וַיִּ֖חַרway·yi·ḥarhe burnedH2734
√ chârâh — to glow or grow warmConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
ḥārāh, “burned.” The single hot verb of the verse. Whether his anger burned at Joseph, at his wife, or at the scandal, the text will not say — and the mildness of the sentence (prison, not death) lets the ambiguity stand.
אַפּֽוֹ׃’ap·pōwwith angerH639
√ ʼaph — properly, the nose or nostrilNounmasculine singular constructthird person masculine singular
’aph, “nose / anger.” The idiom of the burning nostril; the same word the prophets use of divine wrath. Here it falls, by a lie, on the one innocent man in the house.
The Voices✦ public domain+
✦John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63
that his wrath was kindled; that is, against Joseph, without strictly examining her words, which they would not bear, her story being but ill put together, and without hearing Joseph's defence.
✦Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s
It is possible that Potiphar was not fully convinced of his wife's chastity, and therefore did not place unlimited credence in what she said.
✦The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s
A papyrus consisting of nineteen pages of ten lines of hieratic writing (purchased from Madame D'Orbiney, and presently in the British Museum), belonging probably to the nineteenth dynasty, contains a tale of two brothers, in which incidents occur very similar to those here narrated.
The Tale of Two Brothers is a genuine 19th-dynasty Egyptian papyrus; the parallel is a literary-motif observation, not a claim of dependence — see apparatus.
20“So Joseph’s master took him and had him thrown into the prison w…”+

20So Joseph’s master took him and had him thrown into the prison where the king’s prisoners were confined. While Joseph was there in the prison,

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

yō·w·sêp̄ ’ă·ḏō·nê way·yiq·qaḥ ’ō·ṯōw way·yit·tə·nê·hū ’el- bêṯ has·sō·har mə·qō·wm ’ă·šer- ham·me·leḵ ’ă·sū·rîm ʾă·sū·rē way·hî- šām bə·ḇêṯ has·sō·har

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“And-took him Joseph’s master and-put-him into the-house-of-roundness (the-prison), a-place where the-king’s-prisoners were-bound; and-he-was there in-the-house-of-the-prison.”

Where the English smooths the original

  • הַסֹּ֔הַר בֵּית הַסֹּהַר is literally the “house of the round-tower” (sōhar, from a root “to encircle/enclose”) — a rare word found only in chs. 39–40. The LXX renders it ochyrōma, “fortress.” “Prison” is right but loses the architectural image of the encircling wall.
  • וַֽיִּתְּנֵ֙הוּ֙ וַיִּתְּנֵהוּ is from nāṯan, “he gave/placed him,” not a violent “thrown.” The verb is mild — the same root used in v. 21 of God giving Joseph favor. Maclaren reads the whole sentence as “merciful as well as arrogant, for death would have been the punishment.”
  • אֲסוּרִ֑ים אֲסוּרִים (’āsar, “to bind”) — the “bound ones,” state-prisoners in fetters. Psalm 105:18 recalls Joseph’s own feet “hurt with fetters”; the prison of the king’s bound ones is where the bound future-ruler is held.
Word by word17 · parsed+
יוֹסֵ֜ףyō·w·sêp̄So Joseph’sH3130
√ Yôwçêph — Joseph, the name of seven IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular
אֲדֹנֵ֨י’ă·ḏō·nêmasterH113
√ ʼâdôwn — sovereign, iNounmasculine plural construct
וַיִּקַּח֩way·yiq·qaḥtookH3947
√ lâqach — to take (in the widest variety of applications)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
lāqaḥ, “took” — the deliberate act of the slighted master. JFB notes the master had “the power of masters over their slaves… restrained by law, and the murder of a slave was a capital crime,” a reason restraint was possible.
אֹת֗וֹ’ō·ṯōwhimH853
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object markerthird person masculine singular
וַֽיִּתְּנֵ֙הוּ֙way·yit·tə·nê·hūand had him thrownH5414
√ nâthan — to give, used with greatest latitude of application (put, make, etcConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singularthird person masculine singular
nāṯan, “put / consigned.” The verb is gentle and is the hinge of the unit: the master gives Joseph to prison (v. 20); God gives Joseph favor (v. 21). The same root turns a sentence into a providence.
אֶל־’el-intoH413
√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPreposition
בֵּ֣יתbêṯthe prisonH1004
√ bayith — a house (in the greatest variation of applications, especially family, etcNounmasculine singular construct
הַסֹּ֔הַרhas·sō·har. . .H5470
√ çôhar — a dungeon (as surrounded by walls)ArticleNounmasculine singular
sōhar, the rare “round-house.” Cambridge: “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” — a hint Potiphar half-doubted his wife.
מְק֕וֹםmə·qō·wmwhereH4725
√ mâqôwm — properly, a standing, iNounmasculine singular construct
אֲשֶׁר־’ă·šer-H834
√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative
הַמֶּ֖לֶךְham·me·leḵthe king’sH4428
√ melek — a kingArticleNounmasculine singular
אֲסוּרִ֑ים’ă·sū·rîmprisonersH631
√ ʼâçar — to yoke or hitchVerbQalQalPassParticiplemasculine plural
’āsar, “bound.” The lexeme that threads forward to ch. 40 (where this prison reappears) and back to Joseph’s feet in Psalm 105. The man God means to make a ruler is first numbered among the chained.
אֲסוּרֵיʾă·sū·rēwere confinedH631
√ ʼâçar — to yoke or hitchNounmasculine plural construct
וַֽיְהִי־way·hî-While [Joseph] wasH1961
√ hâyâh — to exist, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
way·hî šām, “and he was there.” The leaden refrain of confinement, the verse’s last flat note — yet it is the very phrase v. 21 will seize and answer: “but the LORD was with Joseph” in that same there. The narrator lets the dungeon have the last word of v. 20 only to overturn it in v. 21.
שָׁ֖םšāmthereH8033
√ shâm — there (transferring to time) thenAdverb
בְּבֵ֥יתbə·ḇêṯin the prisonH1004
√ bayith — a house (in the greatest variation of applications, especially family, etcPreposition-bNounmasculine singular construct
הַסֹּֽהַר׃has·sō·har. . .H5470
√ çôhar — a dungeon (as surrounded by walls)ArticleNounmasculine singular
The Voices✦ public domain+
✦Alexander MaclarenExpositions of Holy Scripturec. 1905
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.
✦Jamieson, Fausset & BrownCommentary Critical and Explanatory1871
a place where the king's prisoners were bound—Though prisons seem to have been an inseparable appendage of the palaces, this was not a common jail—it was the receptacle of state criminals; and, therefore, it may be presumed that more than ordinary strictness and vigilance were exercised over the prisoners.
✦Matthew PooleAnnotations upon the Holy Bible1685
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.
✦Albert BarnesNotes on the Bible1834
An uncomplaining patience and an unhesitating hopefulness keep the breast of Joseph in calm tranquillity. There is a God above, and that God is with him. His soul swerves not from this feeling.
21“the LORD was with him and extended kindness to him, granting him…”+

21the LORD was with him and extended kindness to him, granting him favor in the eyes of the prison warden.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

Yah·weh way·hî ’eṯ- yō·w·sêp̄ way·yêṭ ḥā·seḏ ’ê·lāw way·yit·tên ḥin·nōw bə·‘ê·nê bêṯ- has·sō·har śar

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“But-the-LORD was with Joseph, and-extended toward-him kindness, and-gave his-favor in-the-eyes-of the-keeper-of the-house-of-the-prison.”

Where the English smooths the original

  • וַיְהִ֤י The verse opens with the great adversative — וַיְהִי יְהוָה אֶת־יוֹסֵף, “and-the-LORD-was with-Joseph.” Maclaren calls it “one of the eloquent ‘buts’ of Scripture.” The BSB’s plain “the LORD was with him” undersells the hinge between dungeon and divine presence.
  • חָ֑סֶד חֶסֶד (ḥesed) is covenant loyal-love, not generic “kindness” — the LORD’s steadfast faithfulness to His own. The verb nāṭāh (“extended/stretched out”) pictures Him reaching ḥesed down into a cell.
  • חִנּ֔וֹ חִנּוֹ (ḥēn, “favor/grace”) is what God gives Joseph “in the eyes of” the keeper — the same idiom (‘ayin, eyes) used of Joseph’s favor before Potiphar (39:4). The BSB “granting him favor” is exact; note God is the giver of the human goodwill.
Word by word13 · parsed+
יְהוָה֙Yah·wehthe LORDH3068
√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular
way·hî YHWH — the wayyiqtol of hāyâ with the covenant name placed forward for stress: it is not chance but the LORD Himself who “was with Joseph.” The phrase deliberately recalls 39:2, where the same words crowned his rise in Potiphar’s house; the narrator presses that the presence which prospered the steward is unchanged in the prisoner. The Pulpit Commentary marks the adversative weight, glossing it as a “But… the Lord… was with Joseph.”
וַיְהִ֤יway·hîwasH1961
√ hâyâh — to exist, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
אֶת־’eṯ-withH854
√ ʼêth — properly, nearness (used only as a preposition or an adverb), nearPreposition
יוֹסֵ֔ףyō·w·sêp̄[him]H3130
√ Yôwçêph — Joseph, the name of seven IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular
וַיֵּ֥טway·yêṭand extendedH5186
√ nâṭâh — to stretch or spread outConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
nāṭāh, “extended / stretched out” — a verb of reaching across distance; God bends down to the bound man. The same hand the master used to put (v. 20, nāṯan) Joseph in prison is answered by God’s hand extending ḥesed into it; the human verb of consignment is overtopped by the divine verb of reaching.
חָ֑סֶדḥā·seḏkindnessH2617
√ chêçêd — kindnessNounmasculine singular
ḥesed — the towering covenant word of the Old Testament: not generic kindness but loyal, steadfast love, the faithfulness God shows to those bound to Him by covenant (the same term that fills Exod 34:6 and the refrain of Ps 136). That this ḥesed is what the LORD “extends” to a falsely-jailed slave declares the covenant unbroken by injustice. Henry: “Those that have a good conscience in a prison, have a good God there” — the cell does not exclude the covenant; it becomes its theatre.
אֵלָ֖יו’ê·lāwto himH413
√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPrepositionthird person masculine singular
וַיִּתֵּ֣ןway·yit·têngranting himH5414
√ nâthan — to give, used with greatest latitude of application (put, make, etcConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
חִנּ֔וֹḥin·nōwfavorH2580
√ chên — graciousness, iNounmasculine singular constructthird person masculine singular
ḥēn, “favor / grace” — what God gives Joseph “in the eyes of” the keeper, the very idiom (‘ayin, eyes) used of his standing before Potiphar in 39:4. The narrator makes the vertical the cause of the horizontal: human goodwill toward Joseph is the visible edge of God’s grace. Cambridge: “The favour of Jehovah towards Joseph is the cause of Joseph’s acceptability with the keeper of the prison.”
בְּעֵינֵ֖יbə·‘ê·nêin the eyesH5869
√ ʻayin — an eye (literally or figuratively)Preposition-bNouncdc
בֵּית־bêṯ-of the prisonH1004
√ bayith — a house (in the greatest variation of applications, especially family, etcNounmasculine singular construct
הַסֹּֽהַר׃has·sō·har. . .H5470
√ çôhar — a dungeon (as surrounded by walls)ArticleNounmasculine singular
שַׂ֥רśarwardenH8269
√ sar — a head person (of any rank or class)Nounmasculine singular construct
The Voices✦ public domain+
✦Jamieson, Fausset & BrownCommentary Critical and Explanatory1871
But there was a higher influence at work; for "the Lord was with Joseph, and that which he did, the Lord made it to prosper."
✦Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges—1880s
The favour of Jehovah towards Joseph is the cause of Joseph’s acceptability with the keeper of the prison. He receives the same degree of confidence in prison, as he had received from the master whom he had served as steward.
✦John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63
And the Lord was with Joseph,.... Comforting him with his presence under his afflictions; supporting him with his right hand; sanctifying all his troubles to him, and so causing him to bear them patiently and cheerfully: and showed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison; who was the underkeeper to Potiphar; God so wrought upon the heart of this man, that he was merciful to him, and took off the iron fetters, which hurt his feet, and gave him liberty to walk about; and many other favours and kindnesses he showed unto him, as follow.
✦Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s
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.
Benson comments on vv. 20–21 as one block; this verbatim clause is filed in voices_raw under the Genesis 39:20 page (a “Genesis 39:20-21” combined entry) but comments directly on v. 21’s wording.
22“And the warden put all the prisoners under Joseph’s care, so tha…”+

22And the warden put all the prisoners under Joseph’s care, so that he was responsible for all that was done in the prison.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

śar bêṯ- has·sō·har way·yit·tên kāl- hā·’ă·sî·rim ’ă·šer wə·’êṯ yō·w·sêp̄ ’êṯ bə·yaḏ- hū hā·yāh ‘ō·śîm kāl- ’ă·šer ‘ō·śeh šām bə·ḇêṯ has·sō·har

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“And-the-keeper of-the-house-of-the-prison gave into-Joseph’s-hand all the-prisoners that-[were] in-the-prison; and-everything they-were-doing there, he was the-one-doing-[it].”

Where the English smooths the original

  • וַיִּתֵּ֞ן וַיִּתֵּן (nāṯan, “gave”) — the keeper gives the prisoners into Joseph’s hand, the same verb God used to give Joseph favor (v. 21). Grace received becomes trust extended; the BSB’s “put under Joseph’s care” is smooth but loses the echo.
  • בְּיַד־ בְּיַד, literally “into the hand of” Joseph — the very hand-idiom of v. 13, where the cloak was “in her hand” to frame him. The hand that held false evidence is now the hand entrusted with a whole prison; English “care” erases the bodily image.
  • עֹשִׂים֙ The Hebrew is emphatic and almost untranslatable: הוּא הָיָה עֹשֶׂה — “all they were doing, he was the doer of it.” The Pulpit renders it “he was the person doing it, or attending to it.” The BSB’s “he was responsible” flattens the vivid identity of Joseph with every action.
Word by word20 · parsed+
שַׂ֤רśarAnd the wardenH8269
√ sar — a head person (of any rank or class)Nounmasculine singular construct
śar, “chief / captain” — the keeper is himself an officer (under Potiphar). Authority recognizes authority: the man God prospers rises even among the chained.
בֵּית־bêṯ-. . .H1004
√ bayith — a house (in the greatest variation of applications, especially family, etcNounmasculine singular construct
הַסֹּ֙הַר֙has·sō·har. . .H5470
√ çôhar — a dungeon (as surrounded by walls)ArticleNounmasculine singular
וַיִּתֵּ֞ןway·yit·tênputH5414
√ nâthan — to give, used with greatest latitude of application (put, make, etcConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
nāṯan, “gave / committed.” The third nāṯan of the unit (vv. 20, 21, 22): the master gave Joseph to prison, God gave Joseph favor, the keeper gives Joseph charge. Providence runs along a single verb.
כָּל־kāl-allH3605
√ kôl — properly, the wholeNounmasculine singular construct
הָ֣אֲסִירִ֔םhā·’ă·sî·rimthe prisonersH615
√ ʼâçîyr — bound, iArticleNounmasculine plural
אֲשֶׁ֖ר’ă·šer. . .H834
√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative
וְאֵ֨תwə·’êṯH853
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Conjunctive wawDirect object marker
יוֹסֵ֔ףyō·w·sêp̄under Joseph’sH3130
√ Yôwçêph — Joseph, the name of seven IsraelitesNounpropermasculine singular
אֵ֚ת’êṯH853
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker
בְּיַד־bə·yaḏ-careH3027
√ yâd — a hand (the open one (indicating power, means, direction, etcPreposition-bNounfeminine singular construct
bə·yaḏ, “into the hand of.” The motif of the hand turns: from the hand that gripped a garment to accuse (v. 13) to the hand that now holds the keys. Geneva sums it: “nothing was done without his commandment.”
ה֖וּאhūso that heH1931
√ hûwʼ — he (she or it)Pronounthird person masculine singular
הָיָ֥הhā·yāhwasH1961
√ hâyâh — to exist, iVerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular
עֹשִׂים֙‘ō·śîmresponsibleH6213
√ ʻâsâh — to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest applicationVerbQalParticiplemasculine plural
‘āśāh, “doing” — the participle of ongoing action. Joseph is not merely overseer but the effective agent of all prison business; Poole: “They did nothing but by Joseph’s command or permission.”
כָּל־kāl-for allH3605
√ kôl — properly, the wholeNounmasculine singular construct
אֲשֶׁ֤ר’ă·šerthatH834
√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative
עֹשֶֽׂה׃‘ō·śehwas doneH6213
√ ʻâsâh — to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest applicationVerbQalParticiplemasculine singular
שָׁ֔םšāmH8033
√ shâm — there (transferring to time) thenAdverb
בְּבֵ֣יתbə·ḇêṯinH1004
√ bayith — a house (in the greatest variation of applications, especially family, etcPreposition-bNounmasculine singular construct
הַסֹּ֑הַרhas·sō·harthe prisonH5470
√ çôhar — a dungeon (as surrounded by walls)ArticleNounmasculine singular
The Voices✦ public domain+
✦The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s
whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it - literally, and all that they (the prisoners) were doing there, he was the person doing it, or attending to it ; i.e. the keeper gave him charge to see that the prisoners obeyed whatever orders were issued for their regulation
✦Matthew PooleAnnotations upon the Holy Bible1685
They did nothing but by Joseph’s command or permission.
✦Geneva Study BibleMarginal Notes1599
That is, nothing was done without his commandment.
23“The warden did not concern himself with anything under Joseph’s …”+

23The warden did not concern himself with anything under Joseph’s care, because the LORD was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

śar bêṯ- has·sō·har ’eṯ- ’ên rō·’eh kāl- mə·’ū·māh bə·yā·ḏōw ba·’ă·šer Yah·weh ’it·tōw Yah·weh maṣ·lî·aḥ wa·’ă·šer- hū ‘ō·śeh

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“The-keeper-of the-house-of-the-prison was-not looking-into anything-at-all under-his-hand, because the-LORD [was] with-him, and-what he was-doing, the-LORD was-making-it-prosper.”

Where the English smooths the original

  • רֹאֶ֤ה אֵין… רֹאֶה is literally “[the keeper] was not seeing/looking-into” anything (rāʼâh) — the same verb of seeing that opened the false accusation (v. 13, “when she saw”). The first seeing condemned the innocent; the last not-seeing is complete trust. The BSB’s “did not concern himself” loses the pointed verb.
  • מַצְלִֽיחַ׃ס מַצְלִיחַ (tsālaḥ, Hiphil ptcp) is “[the LORD was] causing to prosper” — God is the active subject of Joseph’s success; “gave him success” is right but English makes success a thing handed over, where the Hebrew makes the LORD the one continually prospering it.
  • בַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר בַּאֲשֶׁר, “because / in that” — the verse states the cause outright, twice naming יְהוָה: the keeper’s carefree trust rests not on Joseph’s competence but on the LORD’s presence.
Word by word17 · parsed+
שַׂ֣רśarThe wardenH8269
√ sar — a head person (of any rank or class)Nounmasculine singular construct
בֵּית־bêṯ-. . .H1004
√ bayith — a house (in the greatest variation of applications, especially family, etcNounmasculine singular construct
הַסֹּ֗הַרhas·sō·har. . .H5470
√ çôhar — a dungeon (as surrounded by walls)ArticleNounmasculine singular
אֶֽת־’eṯ-H853
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker
אֵ֣ין׀’êndid notH369
√ ʼayin — a non-entityAdverb
רֹאֶ֤הrō·’ehconcern himselfH7200
√ râʼâh — to see, literally or figuratively (in numerous applications, direct and implied, transitive, intransitive and causative)VerbQalParticiplemasculine singular
rāʼâh, “looking into.” The inclusio of the unit: it began with a woman who saw a cloak and lied (v. 13); it ends with a keeper who does not need to look because God is trustworthy in His servant. Sight that accused; sight relinquished in peace.
כָּל־kāl-with anythingH3605
√ kôl — properly, the wholeNounmasculine singular construct
מְא֙וּמָה֙mə·’ū·māh. . .H3972
√ mᵉʼûwmâh — properly, a speck or point, iNounmasculine singular
בְּיָד֔וֹbə·yā·ḏōwunder Joseph’s careH3027
√ yâd — a hand (the open one (indicating power, means, direction, etcPreposition-bNounfeminine singular constructthird person masculine singular
בַּאֲשֶׁ֥רba·’ă·šerbecauseH834
√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPreposition-bPronounrelative
יְהוָ֖הYah·wehthe LORDH3068
√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular
YHWH — named again, the unit’s last word about the cause of everything. The chapter brackets Joseph’s descent (sold, enslaved, jailed) with the same refrain that opened it (39:2): “the LORD was with Joseph.”
אִתּ֑וֹ’it·tōwwas with [Joseph]H854
√ ʼêth — properly, nearness (used only as a preposition or an adverb), nearPrepositionthird person masculine singular
’it·tōw, “with him.” Benson: “No gates nor bars can shut out his gracious presence from his people.” The preposition does the theology — God is not above the prison but with the prisoner.
יְהוָ֥הYah·wehH3068
√ Yᵉhôvâh — Jehovah, Jewish national name of GodNounpropermasculine singular
מַצְלִֽיחַ׃סmaṣ·lî·aḥand gave him successH6743
√ tsâlach — to push forward, in various senses (literal or figurative, transitive or intransitive)VerbHifilParticiplemasculine singular
tsālaḥ Hiphil, “making prosper.” The closing note of the whole Joseph-in-Egypt arc to date: not that Joseph was clever, but that the LORD prospered what he did — the same word that frames his rise in Potiphar’s house (39:3).
וַֽאֲשֶׁר־wa·’ă·šer-in whateverH834
√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatConjunctive wawPronounrelative
ה֥וּאhūheH1931
√ hûwʼ — he (she or it)Pronounthird person masculine singular
עֹשֶׂ֖ה‘ō·śehdidH6213
√ ʻâsâh — to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest applicationVerbQalParticiplemasculine singular
The Voices✦ public domain+
✦John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63
and that which he did the Lord made it to prosper; every method he took to secure the prisoners, every scheme he formed to bring them to confession of their crimes, or to clear those that were innocent; and every other thing relative to prison affairs, all through the good hand of God upon him, guiding, directing, and blessing him, succeeded well, which gained him the favour and good will of the keeper and the prisoners.
✦Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s
In the prison itself Jehovah was with Joseph, procuring him favour in the eyes of the governor of the prison, so that he entrusted all the prisoners to his care, leaving everything that they had to do, to be done through him, and not troubling himself about anything that was in his hand, i.e., was committed to him, because Jehovah made all that he did to prosper.
✦Matthew HenryConcise Commentary on the Whole Bible1706
A good man will do good wherever he is, and will be a blessing even in bonds and banishment.
✣

The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.

⚙Grand Commentary — the unit, read wholesynthesis · verify+

AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.

i. The garment that lies (vv. 13–18) — 13–18

The unit turns on an object that cannot speak for itself. Joseph’s beged — left “in her hand” (v. 13, בְּיָדָהּ) by the narrator’s honest reckoning — becomes, in her mouth, a cloak left “beside me” (vv. 15, 18, אֶצְלִי). Keil & Delitzsch locates the whole perjury in that one preposition: she said “by my side,” not “in my hand,” as that would have shown the true state of the case. Matthew Henry states the law of it plainly — “Those that have broken the bonds of modesty, will never be held by the bonds of truth.” Her chosen weapon is the verb לְצַחֶק (ṣāḥaq, v. 14, v. 17), the very root that named Isaac, “laughter,” here twisted into the language of assault; the Pulpit Commentary flags it as used in a bad sense. And the slur that carries it is racial: Albert Barnes notes that “the national name is designedly used as a term of reproach among the Egyptians,” while Matthew Poole sees the strategy — she names neither husband nor accused, calling Joseph only “an Hebrew… to render him hateful and contemptible.” John Gill catches the internal contradiction: if she truly cried out “with a loud voice… how came it she was not heard.”

ii. The silence of the accused, the burning of the master (v. 19) — 19

The accused never answers. The Hebrew gives Potiphar one hot verb — וַיִּחַר אַפּוֹ, literally “his nose burned” (v. 19) — and pointedly will not say at whom. Gill presses that the wrath rose “without strictly examining her words… and without hearing Joseph’s defence.” Yet the very mildness of the sentence — prison, not the death an attempted assault would have earned — prompts the older expositors to doubt the verdict. Keil & Delitzsch: “It is possible that Potiphar was not fully convinced of his wife’s chastity, and therefore did not place unlimited credence in what she said.” The Pulpit Commentary here adduces the genuine 19th-dynasty Egyptian papyrus, the Tale of Two Brothers, “in which incidents occur very similar to those here narrated” — a literary-motif observation about a stock scene of the false accuser, not a claim that Genesis borrows (see apparatus).

iii. The eloquent “but” — God in the dungeon (vv. 20–23) — 20–23

Joseph is given (v. 20, נָתַן) to the “house of the round-tower” (בֵּית הַסֹּהַר), the rare prison-word found only here and in chapter 40. Maclaren sees him “at the lowest ebb of his fortunes, flung down in a moment by a lie” — and then names the hinge of the whole Bible-story: “‘But the Lord was with Joseph.’ That is one of the eloquent ‘buts’ of Scripture.” The unit now repeats one verb three times — God extends חֶסֶד (covenant love, v. 21), the keeper gives all into Joseph’s hand (v. 22), and the LORD makes prosper all that he does (v. 23). Matthew Henry draws the moral: “A good man will do good wherever he is, and will be a blessing even in bonds and banishment.” Benson adds the assurance: “No gates nor bars can shut out his gracious presence from his people.” The chapter closes as it opened (39:2) — the LORD was with Joseph — bracketing the entire descent into Egypt with the one fact that outlasts the lie.

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

Read under Sola Scriptura, this passage is the Bible’s anatomy of how a lie is built and how God outlasts it. The lie needs only a fact rearranged — a cloak truly left, relocated from “in her hand” to “by my side”; a flight truly made, recast as guilty escape; a real verb (‘āzab, “he left”) set in a false frame. Slander does not invent from nothing; it bends what is true. Against this the text sets no human vindication — Joseph never speaks, no witness clears him, the record is sealed against him for years. What the text sets against the lie is a Presence: the same refrain that crowned his rise in Potiphar’s house (“the LORD was with Joseph,” 39:2) follows him unbroken into the cell (39:21, 23). The lesson is not that integrity is rewarded — here it is punished — but that integrity is accompanied. The God who lets His servant be falsely bound does not let him be alone; and the threefold נָתַן (given to prison, given favor, given charge) shows providence quietly composing a throne out of a dungeon. This is a fallible reading, offered to be tested against the whole counsel of Scripture: that the measure of a life is not whether it is believed but whether God is with it.

Slander needs no new facts — only a true cloak moved from the hand to the side; but the “but” of God is louder than the lie. (synthesis — not Scripture)

⚙Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripturecross-refs · verify+

AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.

The prison that becomes a stage (Joseph in the round-house) verbal / quotation — confirmed

The rare word סֹהַר (sōhar, “round-house / prison”) occurs in only six verses in the whole Hebrew Bible — and four of them are this prison, carried straight into Genesis 40, where Pharaoh’s butler and baker are “bound in the prison, the place where Joseph was bound.” The verbal link is direct and rare: the same prison-word and the same root אָסַר (’āsar, “to bind”), tying 39:20–23 to the next scene. The Verifier confirms the shared lexemes; this is not theme but the same physical building, the same Joseph, narrated continuously.

Genesis 39:20 · Genesis 40:3 · Genesis 40:5

basis: rare shared lexeme H5470 çôhar (only 6 vv) + H631 ʼâçar; with H3130 Yôwçêph — same prison continued into ch. 40 (Verifier-confirmed)

ṣāḥaq — the laughter that names Isaac, turned to slander structural / thematic — confirmed

Potiphar’s wife twice calls Joseph’s alleged crime לְצַחֶק (ṣāḥaq, 39:14, 17) — “to make sport.” This is the rare root (12 verses) that elsewhere carries the laughter of the covenant: Sarah’s laugh and the name of Isaac (Gen 17:17; 18:12–15; 21:6, 9), and the more troubling “sporting” of Isaac with Rebekah (26:8) and of Israel before the golden calf (Exod 32:6). The same verb that names the child of promise becomes, in her mouth, the word for assault — and recurs at Israel’s lowest in Judges 16:25, where blind Samson is brought out for the Philistines “to make sport.” A single root spanning covenant joy, idolatrous revelry, and weaponized lie.

Genesis 39:14 · Genesis 21:9 · Genesis 26:8 · Exodus 32:6 · Judges 16:25

basis: rare shared lexeme H6711 tsâchaq (only 12 vv), Verifier-confirmed across all listed refs — but these are recurrences of one wordplay root across covenant-joy, revelry, and slander, NOT a quotation of Genesis 39 by the others; downgraded from ‘verbal’ since no citation is claimed, only a motif on a low-frequency root

“The Hebrew” — the slur that follows Israel structural / thematic — confirmed

The wife’s racial taunt, עִבְרִי (‘Ibrî, “Hebrew,” 39:14, 17), reappears as Joseph’s own self-description before the butler — “I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews” (40:15) — and is later thrown at David in a Philistine camp (1 Sam 29:3). The term (32 verses) is consistently the outsider’s name for Israel, a designation of contempt. The link here is a single shared lexeme and a recurring social motif, not a quotation; the Verifier tiers it structural/thematic, and so do we.

Genesis 39:14 · Genesis 40:15 · 1 Samuel 29:3

basis: shared lexeme H5680 ʻIbrîy (32 vv) — recurring outsider-slur motif, not a quotation (Verifier-confirmed)

“His feet they hurt with fetters” — the psalmist’s retrospect on Joseph in prison flagged — verify source

Psalm 105:18 looks back on this very imprisonment: “They bruised his feet with shackles; his neck was put in irons.” Several expositors here — Benson, Poole, the Geneva Bible — read 39:20 through that psalm, inferring real bodily hardship behind the bare “prison.” The connection is genuine and ancient, but it must be argued, not asserted: the Verifier finds no shared original-language lexeme indexed between Genesis 39:20 and Psalm 105:18, so the link is thematic/retrospective only. We flag it accordingly rather than claim a verbal tie.

Genesis 39:20 · Psalm 105:18

basis: no shared indexed lexeme (Verifier: empty) — Psalm 105:18 is a thematic retrospect on Joseph’s imprisonment; the verbal connection asserted by some commentators is not confirmable from the lexical index

Bound in the house — Joseph and Samson structural / thematic — confirmed

Two of Israel’s narratives place a chosen man, betrayed by a woman, bound in a prison-house. Joseph is among the king’s אֲסוּרִים (39:20, 22); Samson, blinded, is “bound with fetters… in the prison house” (Judg 16:21) and brought out to make sport (16:25). The shared lexemes are אָסִיר/אָסַר (“prisoner/bind,” a rare cluster, 12 vv) and בַּיִת (“house”); with the ṣāḥaq overlap above, the two scenes rhyme — yet they diverge sharply: the LORD is with Joseph in his prison (39:21), while Samson must pray for the strength once forfeited. A structural rhyme, not a quotation.

Genesis 39:20 · Genesis 39:22 · Judges 16:21

basis: shared lexemes H615 ʼâçîyr (12 vv, rare) + H631 ʼâçar (63 vv) + H1004 bayith — Verifier rates Gen 39:22↔Judg 16:21 ‘verbal’ on the rare ʼâçîyr cluster; we deliberately DOWNGRADE to structural because this is a recurring ‘bound in the prison-house / betrayed-by-a-woman’ motif, not a quotation — the two scenes diverge (LORD with Joseph vs. Samson forsaken)

⚙Christ in the Unittypology · verify+

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

The righteous one falsely accused, who answers nothing ancient/widely-held

Joseph is the innocent slave charged with a crime he refused, who offers no recorded defense and is condemned on a lie — numbered, in his master’s sentence, among the king’s bound prisoners. The pattern is the suffering Servant who “was numbered with the transgressors” (Isa 53:12) and who, falsely accused before the high priest and Pilate, “held his peace and answered nothing” (Mark 14:61; cf. Matt 27:12). This reading of Joseph as a type of the slandered, silent Christ is drawn explicitly by the public-domain expositors of this very passage — Matthew Henry bids us “look unto Jesus… who was slandered, and persecuted, and imprisoned, but without cause.”

Genesis 39:14 · Genesis 39:19 · Genesis 39:20 · Isaiah 53:12 · Mark 14:61

By the cross to the throne — descent before exaltation ancient/widely-held

The Joseph-Christ figure here is specifically the path down before up: the favored son sold, enslaved, and now imprisoned, yet with God prospering him even in the pit — the shape Paul names of Christ, who “humbled himself… therefore God exalted him” (Phil 2:8–9). Matthew Henry, on these verses, makes the typology express: “through Joseph, to look unto Jesus… who by the cross ascended to the throne,” and Joseph Benson likewise: “Our Lord Jesus, like Joseph, was bound, and numbered with transgressors.” The dungeon where the LORD is present (39:21) prefigures the suffering through which the exalted Lord passes, and out of which God brings the saving of many (Gen 50:20).

Genesis 39:20 · Genesis 39:21 · Philippians 2:8 · Genesis 50:20

Apparatus & Provenance

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.

Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:

This unit (Genesis 39:13–23) is Hebrew throughout; all four cross-Testament Christ references are typological/structural, never verbal — Hebrew↔Greek links cannot share Strong’s numbers, so they are tiered by pattern and named where ancient and widely held (Henry, Benson, and Maclaren draw the Joseph–Christ figure on these very verses).

Honesty notes on the threads: Only one link is tiered “verbal / quotation”: the rare prison-word sōhar (6 vv) carried straight into ch. 40, where 40:3 names “the place where Joseph was bound” — a back-reference inside one continuous narrative, not a mere shared word. The ṣāḥaq wordplay and the ’āsîr/’āsar binding-cluster with Judges 16 both rest on genuinely rare shared lexemes (12 vv each) that the Verifier will register at “verbal” strength, yet we have deliberately downgraded both to “structural / thematic,” because each is a recurring motif on a low-frequency root, not a quotation: no later text cites Genesis 39, and the Samson scene in fact diverges from it. The Psalm 105:18 connection — that Joseph’s feet were “hurt with fetters” in this prison — is real to the commentators (Benson, Poole, Geneva) but is flagged: the Verifier finds no shared indexed lexeme between Genesis 39:20 and Psalm 105:18, so it stands as a thematic retrospect to be argued, not a verbal quotation to be asserted.

On the voices: Three excerpts carry editorial cautions. The Pulpit Commentary clause on v. 18 (“too modest to speak in plain terms of Joseph’s crime”) is filed in voices_raw under the Genesis 39:16 page, because that commentary treats vv. 16–18 as one block; it comments directly on v. 18. Likewise, Joseph Benson’s clause on v. 21 (“No gates nor bars can shut out his gracious presence”) is filed under the Genesis 39:20 page, because Benson treats vv. 20–21 as one block; it comments directly on v. 21. The Cambridge excerpt on v. 14 trims an intervening parenthetical between two contiguous clauses of the source. The Pulpit Commentary’s appeal to the Egyptian Tale of Two Brothers (v. 19) is a literary-parallel observation about a recurring motif of false accusation, not a claim of literary dependence by Genesis.

Translation honesty: The BSB names “Potiphar” in v. 16 and v. 20 where the Hebrew says only “his master”; we follow the parses, which keep the Hebrew. The threefold נָתַן (“give,” vv. 20–22) and the inclusio of רָאָה (“see,” vv. 13 and 23) are observed in the notes as the unit’s own structuring devices, consistent with the supplied Strong’s data.

✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)