37.24–25a Being thrown into a pit (Hebrew bor) is a symbolic death; this word occurs in poetry to refer to the underworld (e.g., Isa 14.15; Pss 28.1; 30.3). This descent into a symbolic death will recur when Joseph is cast into a dungeon (bor) in 40.15; 41.14. The absence of water in the pit means that Joseph will not drown. Later the brothers reveal with guilty conscience that he pleaded with them, but they would not listen (42.21). That the brothers sat down to eat shows remarkable callousness.
37.25b–27 In the J version, the brothers’ plan to kill Joseph is altered by Judah, who argues for selling him to the Ishmaelites. This rids them of Joseph without the stain of bloodshed, especially from a family member (our own flesh, v. 26), and gains the brothers some profit. Judah saves Joseph’s life, but his motives are less than honorable.
37.28 The J text reads: His brothers agreed (v. 27) and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. This is the price for a male slave under twenty years old (see Lev 27.5). The E text reads: When some Midianite traders passed by, they drew Joseph up, lifting him out of the pit…. And they took Joseph to Egypt. The Midianites apparently come by while the brothers are busy eating (v. 25). The two versions are skillfully woven together, with each text preserved intact. The composite text yields the curious impression that the Midianites sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites, although the E version continues: the Midianites had sold him in Egypt to Potiphar (v. 36).
37.29–30 Reuben’s response, tearing his clothes in grief, parallels Jacob’s grief in v. 34 (J).
37.31–35 The conclusion in the J version is the brothers’ deception of Jacob, echoing the terms of Jacob’s deception of his father in ch. 27. Both involve a brother’s fine clothes, the slaughtering of a goat, and an old father. In both the father recognizes his son, but falsely. (Note the tragic irony of the inference that Joseph is torn to pieces, v. 33.) The older brothers deceive their father, and Jacob, the younger son, grieves for his younger son. Jacob’s false recognition is a measure of poetic justice for his deception of Isaac and anticipates the key moments of recognition to come in 38.25–26; 42.7–8.
37.36 Potiphar…guard. See note on 39.1.
GENESIS 38
Judah and Tamar
1It happened at that time that Judah went down from his brothers and settled near a certain Adullamite whose name was Hirah. 2There Judah saw the daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua; he married her and went in to her. 3She conceived and bore a son; and he named him Er. 4Again she conceived and bore a son whom she named Onan. 5Yet again she bore a son, and she named him Shelah. Shea was in Chezib when she bore him. 6Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn; her name was Tamar. 7But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD put him to death. 8Then Judah said to Onan, “Go in to your brother’s wife and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her; raise up offspring for your brother.” 9But since Onan knew that the offspring would not be his, he spilled his semen on the ground whenever he went in to his brother’s wife, so that he would not give offspring to his brother. 10What he did was displeasing in the sight of the LORD, and he put him to death also. 11Then Judah said to his daughter-in-law Tamar, “Remain a widow in your father’s house until my son Shelah grows up”—for he feared that he too would die, like his brothers. So Tamar went to live in her father’s house.
12In course of time the wife of Judah, Shua’s daughter, died; when Judah’s time of mourning was over,b he went up to Timnah to his sheepshearers, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite. 13When Tamar was told, “Your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep,” 14she put off her widow’s garments, put on a veil, wrapped herself up, and sat down at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. She saw that Shelah was grown up, yet she had not been given to him in marriage. 15When Judah saw her, he thought her to be a prostitute, for she had covered her face. 16He went over to her at the roadside, and said, “Come, let me come in to you,” for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. She said, “What will you give me, that you may come in to me?” 17He answered, “I will send you a kid from the flock.” And she said, “Only if you give me a pledge, until you send it.” 18He said, “What pledge shall I give you?” She replied, “Your signet and your cord, and the staff that is in your hand.” So he gave them to her, and went in to her, and she conceived by him. 19Then she got up and went away, and taking off her veil she put on the garments of her widowhood.
20When Judah sent the kid by his friend the Adullamite, to recover the pledge from the woman, he could not find her. 21He asked the townspeople, “Where is the temple prostitute who was at Enaim by the wayside?” But they said, “No prostitute has been here.” 22So he returned to Judah, and said, “I have not found her; moreover the townspeople said, ‘No prostitute has been here.’” 23Judah replied, “Let her keep the things as her own, otherwise we will be laughed at; you see, I sent this kid, and you could not find her.”
24About three months later Judah was told, “Your daughter-in-law Tamar has played the whore; moreover she is pregnant as a result of whoredom.” And Judah said, “Bring her out, and let her be burned.” 25As she was being brought out, she sent word to her father-in-law, “It was the owner of these who made me pregnant.” And she said, “Take note, please, whose these are, the signet and the cord and the staff.” 26Then Judah acknowledged them and said, “She is more in the right than I, since I did not give her to my son Shelah.” And he did not lie with her again.
27When the time of her delivery came, there were twins in her womb. 28While she was in labor, one put out a hand; and the midwife took and bound on his hand a crimson thread, saying, “This one came out first.” 29But just then he drew back his hand, and out came his brother; and she said, “What a breach you have made for yourself!” Therefore he was named Perez.c 30Afterward his brother came out with the crimson thread on his hand; and he was named Zerah.d
next chapter
* * *
a Gk: Heb He
b Heb when Judah was comforted
c That is A breach
d That is Brightness; perhaps alluding to the crimson thread
38.1–30 Joseph’s plight is interrupted by a story about Judah and his family (from the J source), in which themes of knowledge, deception, and recognition continue to reverberate. Judah’s previous duplicity toward his brother and father are repaid by his daughter-in-law Tamar’s deception of him, crowned by a moment of recognition (v. 26), when he perceives his iniquity and reforms himself (see Judah’s exemplary behavior thereafter in the Joseph story). Tamar is a successful matriarch and trickster (echoing the qualities of Jacob, Rebekah, and Rachel) who preserves the tribe of Judah. The story ends with a glimpse of the ancestry of David and a resumption of the theme of strife between brothers. Among the story’s remarkable features is the heroic prominence of a righteous foreign woman in contrast to the usually dangerous foreign woman, exemplified by Potiphar’s wife in ch. 39.
38.1–6 Judah’s marriage to a Canaanite woman is not seen as problematic in the story, nor is the arranged marriage of his firstborn son to Tamar. The J source differs from 24.3 and the P source (27.46–28.2) in this attitude. Judah’s three sons’ names have a folkloric quality: Er is a wordplay on “evil” (see note on 38.7), Onan sounds like “sorrow, trouble, wickedness” (see ’oni in 35.18), and Shelah can mean “request, something asked for,” each an appropriate name for the character.
38.7 The name Er (‘er) and his moral quality, wicked, better “evil” (ra‘), are anagrams. God put him to death because of his intrinsic evil, but no one else knows why he died.
38.8–10 Judah’s instruction to Onan in v. 8 is a way of providing an heir for the dead husband (see Deut 25.5–10). Onan’s evil is his refusal to perform this sexual and familial duty, so God rightly put him to death also. In the sight of the LORD, to which we are given partial access, both brothers are rightly put to death, but the other characters cannot see this.
38.11 Judah fears that Sh
elah will die too, if he performs the still unfulfilled duty of the brother-in-law. Judah deceives Tamar by seeming to promise Shelah’s services when he grows up, when in fact he is expelling her from his household to her father’s house. Tamar is pointedly called his daughter-in-law Tamar at the moment when Judah violates his legal responsibilities toward her. He instructs her to remain a widow, outside of his care. Tamar is deceived, unaware of Judah’s intentions.
38.12–14 The tables turn when Tamar recognizes the truth some time later and plans a counter-deception. Entrance to Enaim, lit. “opening of the eyes,” an apt setting for her dawning perception. Her change of clothes, from widow’s garb to a prostitute’s, reverses her situation from a dependent figure to an active agent, a woman empowered to negotiate with men about sex. This is her ruse to enforce the duty of a brother-in-law (v. 8), which now falls to the next closest male kin, not Shelah but Judah himself.
38.15–19 Judah saw her. Judah sees falsely, however, deceived by Tamar’s disguise, and has sex with her. Signet, cord, staff, tokens of Judah’s identity (v. 18). By taking his insignia, Tamar symbolically assumes his role as head of the lineage and tribe of Judah, and she ensures its proper continuance. Judah, unknowing, fulfills his duty (v. 18; cf. his instruction in v. 8). Having achieved her goal, Tamar puts back on the garments of her widowhood (v. 19).
38.20–23 Temple prostitute, probably a polite euphemism for prostitute. Judah cannot pay his debt, because Tamar is no longer there. No prostitute has been here is literally true. Judah remains deceived and fears being laughed at, which is ironic in light of what is to come.
38.24–26 Tamar has played the whore, an accusation that is true in its way, and as a type of adultery it warrants the death penalty for both parties (see Deut 22.22). But Tamar’s defense rests in her possession of Judah’s insignia, which he recognizes, in diction that echoes Jacob’s recognition of Joseph’s robe (37.32–33). Daughter-in-law, father-in-law. The repetition of kinship terms highlights the significance of this relationship in the recognition scene. Judah now sees rightly and understands the justice of Tamar’s actions (v. 26). He did not lie with her again. Judah resumes his proper role as father-in-law.
38.27–30 The story concludes with the birth of twins, echoing the birth of Jacob and Esau (25.21–26). These brothers too are struggling in the womb over who will be the firstborn, and Perez prevails over Zerah (both are clans of Judah in Num 26.19–22). Perez will be David’s ancestor (see Ruth 4.18–22), ending the story with a hint of future glory.
GENESIS 39
Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife
1Now Joseph was taken down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there. 2The LORD was with Joseph, and he became a successful man; he was in the house of his Egyptian master. 3His master saw that the LORD was with him, and that the LORD caused all that he did to prosper in his hands. 4So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him; he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had. 5From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; the blessing of the LORD was on all that he had, in house and field. 6So he left all that he had in Joseph’s charge; and, with him there, he had no concern for anything but the food that he ate.
Now Joseph was handsome and good-looking. 7And after a time his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.” 8But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Look, with me here, my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my hand. 9He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except yourself, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” 10And although she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not consent to lie beside her or to be with her. 11One day, however, when he went into the house to do his work, and while no one else was in the house, 12she caught hold of his garment, saying, “Lie with me!” But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside. 13When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled outside, 14she called out to the members of her household and said to them, “See, my husbanda has brought among us a Hebrew to insult us! He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice; 15and when he heard me raise my voice and cry out, he left his garment beside me, and fled outside.” 16Then she kept his garment by her until his master came home, 17and she told him the same story, saying, “The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought among us, came in to me to insult me; 18but as soon as I raised my voice and cried out, he left his garment beside me, and fled outside.”
19When his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, saying, “This is the way your servant treated me,” he became enraged. 20And Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined; he remained there in prison. 21But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love; he gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer. 22The chief jailer committed to Joseph’s care all the prisoners who were in the prison, and whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. 23The chief jailer paid no heed to anything that was in Joseph’s care, because the LORD was with him; and whatever he did, the LORD made it prosper.
next chapter
* * *
a Heb he
39.1–23 The Joseph story resumes with Joseph a slave in Egypt, foreshadowing his family’s later fate. In his master’s house he shows his virtue by resisting the advances of his master’s wife, but falls victim to her false accusation. The beginning and end of the chapter relate with similar diction Joseph’s rise to success as second in command in his two domains (his master’s house and prison) because the LORD was with Joseph (v. 2; cf. v. 21). His twofold ascent in this chapter anticipates his final ascent in Pharaoh’s court (ch. 41). This is a J chapter; note that the Ishmaelites had brought him down there (v. 1), resuming from 37.25b–27, 28b.
39.1 Potiphar…guard, probably an editorial expansion harmonizing the J story with the previous E text (37.36) and creating a resumptive repetition around the story of Judah and Tamar in ch. 38. Elsewhere in the story Joseph’s owner is referred to as his Egyptian master (v. 2) or his master (e.g., v. 3).
39.2–6 The LORD was with Joseph (v. 2), as he had previously been with Jacob (28.15). The LORD blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake (v. 5), as he had previously blessed Laban because of Jacob (30.27–30). The theme of divine care for the family of Israel, stemming from the patriarchal promises, is central to the Joseph story, and here it is first openly signaled. Corresponding to these notices, Joseph now shows himself worthy of divine favor. This is a dual causality: Joseph’s success is due to God’s favor but also depends on his own exercise of wisdom, such as he shows in this chapter. Found favor in his master’s sight (v. 4) is echoed at the end of the chapter by favor in the sight of the chief jailer (v. 21). Left all…in Joseph’s charge (charge, lit. “hand” cf. v. 22), all except his wife, as Joseph notes in vv. 8–9.
39.6–12 Handsome and good-looking, a repetition of adjectives for emphasis; cf. 29.17. This rare description of physical characteristics sets the stage for trouble with Joseph’s master’s wife. She flaunts her authority over him with a terse command, Lie with me (v. 7). Joseph shows his virtue and wisdom and his vulnerable position with an eloquent reply, laying out the moral issues and his responsibility to his master and to God. As a dangerous and lustful foreign woman (cf. the adulterous foreign woman in Prov 5, 7), she is uninterested in moral discourse and subsequently repeats her blunt command (v. 12).
39.12–19 The wife’s stripping Joseph of his garment, which she will use as a prop in her false accusation to Joseph’s master, echoes the brothers’ stripping of Joseph’s robe, which they use as a prop to deceive Joseph’s father (37.23, 32). The master’s wife now shows her eloquence: she garners her household’s
support by blaming her husband for bringing in a Hebrew to insult them, but blames the Hebrew servant for insulting her when speaking to her husband (v. 17). Insult can have a sexual nuance, which is brought out in the speech to her husband by the phrase came in to me. Her use of suggestive language to describe the attempted rape has its desired effect: the master becomes enraged (v. 19).
39.20–23 Joseph’s passage from slavery to prison echoes his previous passage from beloved son to slave. Yet, as before, the LORD was with Joseph (v. 21). The chapter ends as it began, with a description of Joseph’s ascent in his new domain. The place where the king’s prisoners were confined (v. 20), an editorial expansion harmonizing the J text with the E story that follows in ch. 40.
GENESIS 40
The Dreams of Two Prisoners
1Some time after this, the cupbearer of the king of Egypt and his baker offended their lord the king of Egypt. 2Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, 3and he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the prison where Joseph was confined. 4The captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he waited on them; and they continued for some time in custody. 5One night they both dreamed—the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison—each his own dream, and each dream with its own meaning. 6When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were troubled. 7So he asked Pharaoh’s officers, who were with him in custody in his master’s house, “Why are your faces downcast today?” 8They said to him, “We have had dreams, and there is no one to interpret them.” And Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Please tell them to me.”
HarperCollins Study Bible Page 27
