translation_id: net-engnet

book_id: GEN

label: NET translator note

text: The disjunctive clause resumes the earlier narrative pertaining to Joseph by recapitulating the event described in 37:36 . The perfect verbal form is given a past perfect translation to restore the sequence of the narrative for the reader.


text: Heb “from the hand of.”


text: Heb “and he was a prosperous man.” This does not mean that Joseph became wealthy, but that he was successful in what he was doing, or making progress in his situation (see 24:21 ).


text: Heb “and he was.”


text: The Hebrew text adds “in his hand,” a phrase not included in the translation for stylistic reasons.


text: Heb “him”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Heb “put into his hand.”


text: Heb “and it was from then.”


text: Heb “he”; the referent (Potiphar) has been specified in the translation for clarity.


text: Heb “in the house and in the field.” The word “both” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.


text: Heb “hand.” This is a metonymy for being under the control or care of Joseph.


text: Heb “did not know.”


text: Heb “handsome of form and handsome of appearance.” The same Hebrew expressions were used in Gen 29:17 for Rachel.


text: Heb “she lifted up her eyes toward,” an expression that emphasizes her deliberate and careful scrutiny of him.


text: Heb “lie with me.” Here the expression “lie with” is a euphemism for sexual intercourse. sn The story of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife has long been connected with the wisdom warnings about the strange woman who tries to seduce the young man with her boldness and directness (see Prov 5-7 , especially 7:6-27 ). This is part of the literary background of the story of Joseph that gives it a wisdom flavor. See G. von Rad, God at Work in Israel , 19-35; and G. W. Coats, “The Joseph Story and Ancient Wisdom: A Reappraisal,” CBQ 35 (1973): 285-97.


text: Heb “and he said.”


text: Heb “know.”


text: The word “here” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.


text: The nuance of potential imperfect fits this context.


text: The verse begins with the temporal indicator, followed by the infinitive construct with the preposition כְּ ( kÿ ). This clause could therefore be taken as temporal.


text: Heb “listen to.”


text: Heb “to lie beside her to be with her.” Here the expression “to lie beside” is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.


text: Heb “and it was about this day.”


text: Heb “the men of the house.”


text: Heb “he fled and he went out.” The construction emphasizes the point that Joseph got out of there quickly.


text: The verb has no expressed subject, and so it could be treated as a passive (“a Hebrew man was brought in”; cf. NIV). But it is clear from the context that her husband brought Joseph into the household, so Potiphar is the apparent referent here. Thus the translation supplies “my husband” as the referent of the unspecified pronominal subject of the verb (cf. NEB, NRSV).


text: Heb “to make fun of us.” The verb translated “to humiliate us” here means to hold something up for ridicule, or to toy with something harmfully. Attempted rape would be such an activity, for it would hold the victim in contempt.


text: Heb “he came to me to lie with me.” Here the expression “lie with” is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.


text: Heb “and I cried out with a loud voice.”


text: Heb “that I raised.”


text: Heb “and she spoke to him according to these words, saying.”


text: Heb “came to me to make fun of me.” The statement needs no explanation because of the connotations of “came to me” and “to make fun of me.” See the note on the expression “humiliate us” in v. 14 .


text: Heb “and when his master heard the words of his wife which she spoke to him, saying.”


text: Heb “according to these words.”


text: Heb “did to me.”


text: Heb “his anger burned.”


text: Heb “the house of roundness,” suggesting that the prison might have been a fortress or citadel.


text: Heb “and he extended to him loyal love.”


text: Or “the chief jailer” (also in the following verses).


text: Heb “all which they were doing there, he was doing.” This probably means that Joseph was in charge of everything that went on in the prison.


text: Heb “was not looking at anything.”


text: Heb “his”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.