Genesis 39:20
in Genesis 39So 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,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Joseph’s master took him, and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were bound: and he was there in the prison.
KJV
And Joseph’s master took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were bound: and he was there in the prison.
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This verse in Genesis 39
Commentary
11 notes on this verseTherefore I might say Joseph was happier when he was put into prison, because he was giving witness on behalf of chastity. For modesty is a good gift but one of lesser merit when it involves no risk. Where, however, it is maintained at the risk of one's safety, there it wins a more abundant crown. With his case unheard, his truthfulness unexamined, Joseph is sent into prison as if guilty of a crime. But the Lord did not abandon him even in prison.
This site's exposition
he burned with anger
on Genesis 39:19-20
Potiphar burns with anger and then stops short of what the charge allows. An attempt on his wife could have cost Joseph his life, and he goes to the king's prison instead. Jamieson reads the king's prison as a sign the master did not wholly believe the story. Joseph answers nothing, here or anywhere in the chapter.
This site's exposition
had him thrown into the prison
The prison where his master had him thrown is called sohar, a round house or fortress, and the Old Testament uses the word only in Genesis 39 and 40. Psalm 105:18 adds that the king's prisoner had his feet bruised with shackles and his neck put in irons. Sold at seventeen, he stands before Pharaoh at thirty.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
A commentator
QuodvultdeusBOOK OF PROMISES AND PREDICTIONS OF GOD 1.28.40 · Written before 450.
proposed
Joseph was imprisoned. Our Joseph, that is, Christ, as Isaiah says, "was numbered with the transgressors." The innocent man is led among the guilty by the wisdom of God, who "went down with him"—as was written—"into the pit, and did not leave him in bonds."
Now when Joseph was accused by his mistress, he refused to say that she was guilty, because as a just man he did not know how to accuse anyone; for this reason the unchaste woman acted with impunity.
But the holy man considered that prison to be a palace; and Joseph himself was a palace in his prison, because where faith, chastity and modesty are, there the palace of Christ is, the temple of God, the dwelling of the Holy Spirit.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Where the king's prisoners were bound - Potiphar, it is likely, chose that prison because it was the worst; for there the irons entered into the soul, Psalm cv, 18, but God designed it to pave the way to his enlargement. Our Lord Jesus, like Joseph was bound, and numbered with the transgressors.
And Joseph's master took him, and put him into the prison,....
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Joseph owned and righted by his God, who is, and will be, the just and powerful patron of oppressed innocence. Joseph was at a distance from all his friends and relations, had not them with him to comfort him, or to minister to him, or to mediate for him; but the Lord was with Joseph, and showed him mercy,
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
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 which he had kept them.
Put him into the prison - בית סהר beith sohar, literally the round house; in such a form the prison was probably built.
The words behind it
17 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּקַּח֩ | vaiyikach | and he took | H3947 → | 966 times |
| אֲדֹנֵ֨י | ʾadonei | [the] master<s> of | H113 → | 333 times |
| יוֹסֵ֜ף | yosef | Joseph | H3130 → | 213 times |
| אֹת֗וֹ | ʾoto | <obj.> him | H853 → | 10935 times |
| וַֽיִּתְּנֵ֙הוּ֙ | vaiyitenehu | and he put him | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | into | H413 → | 5510 times |
| בֵּ֣ית | beit | [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| הַסֹּ֔הַר | hasohar | the prison | H5470 → | 8 times |
| מְק֕וֹם | mekom | [the] place | H4725 → | 401 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | <of> where | H834 → | 5497 times |
| אֲסִירֵ֥י | ʾasurei | [the] prisoners of | H615 → | |
| הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ | hamelekh | the king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| אֲסוּרִ֑ים | ʾasurim | [were] imprisoned | H631 → | 72 times |
| וַֽיְהִי־ | vayhi- | and he was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| שָׁ֖ם | sham | there | H8033 → | 834 times |
| בְּבֵ֥ית | beveit | in [the] house of | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| הַסֹּֽהַר׃ | hasohar | the prison | H5470 → | 8 times |
וַיִּקַּח֩and he took
vaiyikachH3947 →966 times
אֲדֹנֵ֨י[the] master<s> of
ʾadoneiH113 →333 times
יוֹסֵ֜ףJoseph
yosefH3130 →213 times
אֹת֗וֹ<obj.> him
ʾotoH853 →10935 times
וַֽיִּתְּנֵ֙הוּ֙and he put him
vaiyitenehuH5414 →2011 times
אֶל־into
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
בֵּ֣ית[the] house of
beitH1004 →2046 times
הַסֹּ֔הַרthe prison
hasoharH5470 →8 times
מְק֕וֹם[the] place
mekomH4725 →401 times
אֲשֶׁר־<of> where
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
אֲסִירֵ֥י[the] prisoners of
ʾasureiH615 →
הַמֶּ֖לֶךְthe king
hamelekhH4428 →2525 times
אֲסוּרִ֑ים[were] imprisoned
ʾasurimH631 →72 times
וַֽיְהִי־and he was
vayhi-H1961 →3559 times
שָׁ֖םthere
shamH8033 →834 times
בְּבֵ֥יתin [the] house of
beveitH1004 →2046 times
הַסֹּֽהַר׃the prison
hasoharH5470 →8 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 53:8By oppression and judgment He was taken away, and who can recount His descendants? For He was cut off from the land of the living; He was stricken for the transgression of My people.
it leads to
- Acts 8:33
In His humiliation He was deprived of justice. Who can recount His descendants? For His life was removed from the earth.”
- 1 Peter 3:18
For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit,
- Matthew 26:65–66
At this, the high priest tore his clothes and declared, “He has blasphemed! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy.
- John 19:7
“We have a law,” answered the Jews, “and according to that law He must die, because He declared Himself to be the Son of God.”
- Psalms 22:12–21
Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
- Acts 8:33
Through
Genesis 40:15For I was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing for which they should have put me in this dungeon.”
it leads to
- 1 Peter 3:17–18
For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
- Genesis 41:12
Now a young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard. We told him our dreams and he interpreted them for us individually.
- Acts 24:12–21
Yet my accusers did not find me debating with anyone in the temple or riling up a crowd in the synagogues or in the city.
- 1 Peter 3:17–18
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Genesis
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Ambrose of Milan, On Joseph the Patriarch; Caesarius of Arles, SERMON 92.4; Chromatius of Aquileia, SERMON 24.2; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Quodvultdeus, BOOK OF PROMISES AND PREDICTIONS OF GOD 1.28.40.