The walled courtyard of a wealthy Egyptian house at early morning: a still pool edged with papyrus, date palms and a shaded portico.

The Book of

Genesis 39

Sold as a slave into an Egyptian official’s house, Joseph has lost everything but one thing, and the chapter says it four times.

23 verses≈ 4 min4 peopleBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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In this chapter

Where we are

1–11BeginningsCreation, fall, flood, Babel
12–24AbrahamThe call and the promise
25–36Isaac and JacobThe promise passed on
37–50JosephGod meant it for goodChapter 39

Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife

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.

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Genesis 39:2

Reflect

Where God put you

Joseph didn’t choose Egypt. He was sold, carried off and bought like a tool. Yet the first thing the chapter says about his new life is “the LORD was with Joseph.” Where are you right now that you would never have chosen? Write down one way God might be with you there, even if you can’t see it yet.

Now Joseph was well-built and handsome,

and after some time his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph and said, “Sleep with me.”

But he refused.

Joseph

“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. 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?”

how could I do such a great evil and sin against God?

Genesis 39:9

Although Potiphar’s wife spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be near her. One day, however, Joseph went into the house to attend to his work, and not a single household servant was inside.

She grabbed Joseph by his cloak and said, “Sleep with me!” But leaving his cloak in her hand, he escaped and ran outside.

Pray

Give me a way out

Joseph didn’t argue his way out of temptation. He named it for what it was, “sin against God,” he kept his distance “day after day,” and when it grabbed hold of him, “he escaped and ran outside.” Bring God the temptation you know best. Ask Him to make you honest about it, to help you keep away from it, and to give you the courage to run when you need to.

Joseph Falsely Imprisoned

When she saw that he had left his cloak in her hand and had run out of the house, she called her household servants.

Potiphar's wife

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

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

Potiphar's wife

Then she told him the same story: “The Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport of me, but when I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.”

When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, “This is what your slave did to me,” he burned with anger. So Joseph’s master took him and had him thrown into the prison where the king’s prisoners were confined.

The inner yard of an ancient Egyptian prison, prisoners sitting against thick mud-brick walls, a young man crouching to hand one a bowl of water.

While Joseph was there in the prison,

the LORD was with him and extended kindness to him, granting him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. And the warden put all the prisoners under Joseph’s care, so that he was responsible for all that was done in the prison. 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.

0:30

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

he was responsible for all that was done in the prison

Genesis 39:22

Question

Quick question

When Joseph turned his master’s wife down, he gave a reason.

Against whom did Joseph say the sin would be?

Twice put in charge

Whiteboard

In the house and in the prison the chapter tells it the same way: “the LORD was with Joseph,” he was trusted with everything, and the man over him “did not concern himself with anything.” The place changed. The LORD didn’t.

You’ve experienced

Genesis 39

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A verse to carry with you

So how could I do such a great evil and sin against God?

Genesis 39:9

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