Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

There Judah saw the daughter of a Canaanite man named Shua, and he took her as a wife and slept with her.

“And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite--Like Esau [Ge 26:34], this son of Jacob, casting off the restraints of religion, married into a Canaanite family; and it is not surprising that the family which sprang from such an unsuitable connection should be…”

Then Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother’s wife. Perform your duty as her brother-in-law and raise up offspring for your brother.”

“Judah said unto Onan . . . marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother--The first instance of a custom, which was afterwards incorporated among the laws of Moses, that when a husband died leaving a widow, his brother next of age was to…”

After a long time Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died. When Judah had finished mourning, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite went up to his sheepshearers at Timnah.

“Judah . . . went up unto his sheep-shearers--This season, which occurs in Palestine towards the end of March, was spent in more than usual hilarity, and the wealthiest masters invited their friends, as well as treated their servants, to sumptuous entertainments.”

“What pledge should I give you?” he asked. She answered, “Your seal and your cord, and the staff in your hand.”

“But the Hebrew word here rendered "bracelets," is everywhere else translated "lace" or "ribbon"; so that as the signet alone was probably more than an equivalent for the kid, it is not easy to conjecture why the other things were given in addition, except by…”

she called her household servants. “Look,” she said, “this Hebrew has been brought to us to make sport of us.

“Then she called unto the men of her house--Disappointed and affronted, she vowed revenge and accused Joseph, first to the servants of the house, and on his return to her lord. See, he hath brought in an Hebrew . . .”

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,

“Accused persons were cast into them until the charges against them could be investigated; and though the jailer was responsible for the appearance of those placed under his custody, yet, provided they were produced when called, he was never interrogated as to the way in…”

Some time later, the king’s cupbearer and baker offended their master, the king of Egypt.

“Both officers, especially the former, were, in ancient Egypt, always persons of great rank and importance; and from the confidential nature of their employment, as well as their access to the royal presence, they were generally the highest nobles or princes of the blood.”

and imprisoned them in the house of the captain of the guard, the same prison where Joseph was confined.

“Pharaoh put them in ward, &c.--Whatever was their crime, they were committed, until their case could be investigated, to the custody of the captain of the guard, that is, Potiphar, in an outer part of whose house the royal prison was situated.”

The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he became their personal attendant. After they had been in custody for some time,

“The captain of the guard charged Joseph with them--not the keeper, though he was most favorably disposed; but Potiphar himself, who, it would seem, was by this time satisfied of the perfect innocence of the young Hebrew; though, probably, to prevent the exposure of his…”

Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, squeezed them into his cup, and placed the cup in his hand.”

“Everything was done in the king's presence--the cup was washed, the juice of the grapes pressed into it; and it was then handed to him--not grasped; but lightly resting on the tips of the fingers.”

But when it goes well for you, please remember me and show me kindness by mentioning me to Pharaoh, that he might bring me out of this prison.

“Nothing has hitherto met us in the record indicative of Joseph's feelings; but this earnest appeal reveals a sadness and impatient longing for release, which not all his piety and faith in God could dispel.”

In the top basket were all sorts of baked goods for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.”

“The risk from these carnivorous birds was the greater in the cities of Egypt, where being held sacred, it was unlawful to destroy them; and they swarmed in such numbers as to be a great annoyance to the people.”

After two full years had passed, Pharaoh had a dream: He was standing beside the Nile,

“Pharaoh dreamed--"Pharaoh," from an Egyptian word Phre, signifying the "sun," was the official title of the kings of that country.”

So Pharaoh sent for Joseph, who was quickly brought out of the dungeon. After he had shaved and changed his clothes, he went in before Pharaoh.

“During his protracted confinement, he might have often been distressed with perplexing doubts; but the mystery of Providence was about to be cleared up, and all his sorrows forgotten in the course of honor and public usefulness in which his services were to be employed.”

Then Pharaoh said to Joseph: “In my dream I was standing on the bank of the Nile,

“The fertility of Egypt being wholly dependent on the Nile, the scene is laid on the banks of that river; and oxen being in the ancient hieroglyphics symbolical of the earth and of food, animals of that species were introduced in the first dream.”

In my dream I also saw seven heads of grain, plump and ripe, growing on a single stalk.

“I saw in my dream, and, behold, seven ears--that is, of Egyptian wheat, which, when "full and good," is remarkable in size (a single seed sprouting into seven, ten, or fourteen stalks) and each stalk bearing an ear.”

Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-paneah, and he gave him Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest of On, to be his wife.

“Zaphnath-paaneah--variously interpreted, "revealer of secrets"; "saviour of the land"; and from the hieroglyphics, "a wise man fleeing from pollution"--that is, adultery. gave him to wife Asenath, the daughter of--His naturalization was completed by this alliance with a family of high distinction.”

When Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, he said to his sons, “Why are you staring at one another?”

“Now when Jacob saw that there was corn in Egypt--learned from common rumor. It is evident from Jacob's language that his own and his sons' families had suffered greatly from the scarcity; and through the increasing severity of the scourge, those men, who had formerly…”

Joseph remembered his dreams about them and said, “You are spies! You have come to see if our land is vulnerable.” “Not so, my lord,” they replied.

“Ye are spies--This is a suspicion entertained regarding strangers in all Eastern countries down to the present day.”

Then Joseph gave orders to fill their bags with grain, to return each man’s silver to his sack, and to give them provisions for their journey.

“Joseph commanded to fill their sacks with corn, and to restore every man's money--This private generosity was not an infringement of his duty--a defrauding of the revenue.”

At the place where they lodged for the night, one of them opened his sack to get feed for his donkey, and he saw his silver in the mouth of…

“If they had been congratulating themselves on escaping from the ruthless governor, they perceived that now he would have a handle against them; and it is observable that they looked upon this as a judgment of heaven.”

Their father Jacob said to them, “You have deprived me of my sons. Joseph is gone and Simeon is no more. Now you want to take Benjamin.

“The language does not imply that his missing sons had got foul play from the hands of the rest, but he looks upon Simeon as lost, as well as Joseph, and he insinuates it was by some imprudent statements of theirs that he was exposed…”

Then Reuben said to his father, “You may kill my two sons if I fail to bring him back to you.

“Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee--This was a thoughtless and unwarrantable condition--one that he never seriously expected his father would accept. It was designed only to give assurance of the greatest care being taken of Benjamin.”

Take double the silver with you so that you may return the silver that was put back into the mouths of your sacks. Perhaps it was a mistake.

“The restored money in the sacks' mouth was a perplexing circumstance. But it might have been done inadvertently by one of the servants--so Jacob persuaded himself--and happy it was for his own peace and the encouragement of the travellers that he took this view.”

Then he washed his face and came back out. Regaining his composure, he said, “Serve the meal.”

“Joseph said, Set on bread--equivalent to having dinner served, "bread" being a term inclusive of all victuals.”