1 Meanwhile, Joseph had been taken down to Egypt, where an Egyptian named Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there. 2 And the LORD was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, serving in the household of his Egyptian master. 3 When his master saw that the LORD was with him and made him prosper in all he did, 4 Joseph found favor in his sight and became his personal attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household and entrusted him with everything he owned. 5 From the time that he put Joseph in charge of his household and all he owned, the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s household on account of him. The LORD’s blessing was on everything he owned, both in his house and in his field. 6 So Potiphar left all that he owned in Joseph’s care; he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate. Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, 7 and after some time his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph and said, “Sleep with me.” 8 But he refused. “Look,” he said to his master’s wife, “with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in his house, and he has entrusted everything he owns to my care. 9 No one in this house is greater than I am. He has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. So how could I do such a great evil and sin against God?” 10 Although Potiphar’s wife spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be near her. 11 One day, however, Joseph went into the house to attend to his work, and not a single household servant was inside. 12 She grabbed Joseph by his cloak and said, “Sleep with me!” But leaving his cloak in her hand, he escaped and ran outside. 13 When she saw that he had left his cloak in her hand and had run out of the house, 14 she 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. 15 When he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.” 16 So Potiphar’s wife kept Joseph’s cloak beside her until his master came home. 17 Then she told him the same story: “The Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport of me, 18 but when I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.” 19 When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, “This is what your slave did to me,” he burned with anger. 20 So 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, 21 the LORD was with him and extended kindness to him, granting him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. 22 And the warden put all the prisoners under Joseph’s care, so that he was responsible for all that was done in the prison. 23 The 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.
Genesis · Majority Standard Bible
Genesis 39 Majority Standard Bible
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Joseph
Betrayed and enslaved, he rose to rule Egypt and saved his family from famine.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 37; 39–50
Potiphar
An Egyptian officer of Pharaoh and captain of the guard who bought Joseph from the Ishmaelites, put him in charge of his household, and had him thrown into prison after his wife's…
Cited in the guide: Genesis 37:36; Genesis 39:1; Genesis 39:4
Cross references (20)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Genesis 37:28; Psalm 105:17; Genesis 37:36; Genesis 37:25; Acts 7:9
- 2 1 Samuel 18:14; Psalm 91:15; Jeremiah 15:20; Genesis 26:28; Acts 7:9–10
- 3 Psalm 1:3; 2 Chronicles 26:5; 1 Samuel 18:14; Genesis 30:27; Matthew 5:16
- 4 Genesis 39:21–22; Genesis 19:19; Proverbs 27:18; Genesis 39:8; Genesis 24:2
- 5 Genesis 30:27; 2 Samuel 6:11–12; Acts 27:24; Psalm 72:17; Genesis 12:2
- 6 1 Samuel 16:12; Luke 19:17; Proverbs 31:11; Genesis 29:17; Genesis 39:23
- 7 Ezekiel 16:34; 2 Samuel 13:11; 2 Peter 2:14; Ezekiel 16:32; Ezekiel 23:12–16
- 8 Proverbs 22:14; Proverbs 23:26–28; Proverbs 9:13–18; Proverbs 1:10; Proverbs 7:5
- 9 2 Samuel 12:13; Genesis 20:6; Genesis 42:18; 1 John 3:9; Luke 12:48
- 10 1 Peter 2:11; 1 Corinthians 15:33; 2 Timothy 2:22; 1 Corinthians 6:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:22
- 11 Ephesians 5:3; Ephesians 5:12; Malachi 3:5; Proverbs 9:17; Jeremiah 23:24
- 12 2 Timothy 2:22; Proverbs 7:13–27; Ecclesiastes 7:26; 1 Peter 2:11; Proverbs 5:8
- 14 Matthew 26:59; Genesis 40:15; Psalm 120:3; Genesis 39:17; Proverbs 10:18
- 16 Psalm 37:32; Psalm 37:12; Titus 3:3; Jeremiah 9:3–5; Jeremiah 4:22
- 17 Exodus 23:1; Psalm 55:3; 1 Kings 18:17; Proverbs 12:19; 1 Kings 21:9–13
- 19 2 Thessalonians 2:11; Proverbs 18:17; Job 29:16; Proverbs 29:12; Acts 25:16
- 20 Genesis 40:15; 1 Peter 2:19; Genesis 41:9–14; 2 Timothy 2:9; Genesis 40:1–3
- 21 Isaiah 41:10; Exodus 3:21; 1 Peter 3:17; Acts 7:9–10; Isaiah 43:2
- 22 Genesis 40:3–4; Genesis 39:4; Genesis 39:9; 1 Samuel 2:30; Genesis 39:6–7
- 23 Isaiah 43:2; Psalm 1:3; Genesis 39:2–3; Daniel 6:22; Genesis 49:23–24
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
"Thou broughtest in unto us here an Hebrew servant to mock us." It was not this man that mocked thee, O wretched and unhappy woman, but the devil that told thee that thou couldest break down the adamant.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)