Read Genesis 9:1-23 at Bible Gateway.
the teaching tools of scripture
Hebrew paragraph divisions
Gen 39:1-23 {p} Joseph departed from his brothers among Egyptians
Strong themes of the parashah
Gen 38:1-39:23 {s+p} Judah and Joseph departed from their brothers among the pagans
how the paragraph divisions in Gen 38-39 reveal the strong theme
Gen 39:1-23 chiastic structure
1a.1) Gen 39:1, Joseph brought low: a slave in the house of Potipher, captain of Pharaoh’s guard;
1a.2) Gen 39:2-5, But the favor of YHVH was upon him;
1a) Gen 39:2, YHVH was with Joseph/ he was a successful man in the house of the Egyptian;
1b) Gen 39:3a, And his master saw;
central axis) Gen 39:3b, That YHVH was with him + all that he did prospered;
2b) Gen 39:4a, Joseph found favor in his sight, and served him;
2a) Gen 39:4b-5, Potiphar made him overseer + all under his authority/ YHVH blessed the house for Joseph’s sake;
1b) Gen 39:6, Potipher’s trust placed in Joseph;
1c) Gen 39:7, Potipher’s wife sought to lie with Joseph;
central axis) Gen 39:8-10, Joseph’s refusal;
1a) Gen 39:8a, But he refused and said to his master’s wife;
1b) Gen 39:8b, My master has committed all that he has to my hand;
central axis) Gen 39:9a, There is no one greater in this house than I;
2b) Gen 39:9b, He has not kept back anything from me but you/ How can I sin against God;
2a) Gen 39:10, She sought him day by day, but he did not heed her, to lie with or be with her;
2c) Gen 39:11-19a, Potipher’s wife sought to lie with Joseph/ lies about Joseph;
2b) Gen 39:19b, Potipher’s anger aroused against Joseph;
2a.1) Gen 39:20, Joseph brought low: a prisoner in the king’s prison;
2a.2) Gen 39:21-23, But the favor of YHVH was upon him;
1a) Gen 39:21, But YHVH was with Joseph + showed him mercy + gave him favor;
1b) Gen 39:22a, The keeper of the prison committed to Joseph all the prisoners in the prison;
central axis) Gen 39:22b, Whatever they did there, it was his doing;
2b) Gen 39:23a The keeper of the prison did not look into anything that was under Joseph’s authority;
2a) Gen 39:23b, Because YHVH was with him + whatever he did, YHVH made it prosper.
Theme of the parashah
Joseph departed from his brothers among the Egyptians.
Finding Messiah in Torah
There is an extraordinary number of threes in these chapters concerning the life of Joseph: he was made overseer three times (for his father, for Potiphar, and for the keeper of the prison); he was cast down three times (into a pit, into slavery, and into prison). We saw that Joseph is a prophetic type of Messiah. Three is a sign of Messiah in Torah, that a passage is prophesying of Messiah. The prophecy of Messiah, is that just as Joseph was preeminent yet cast down, so also was Messiah:
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Phi 2:5-8
Additional readings for this parashah
Psa 32 (my notes) | Isa 52 (my notes) | Act 7 (my notes)
For further study
Joseph in Egypt (Assoc. for Biblical Research) part two, part three
The Bible and slavery – Answers in Genesis
Leave a Reply