One day, however, when he went into the house to do his work, and while no one else was in the house,
she caught hold of his garment, saying, “Lie with me!” But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside.
When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled outside,
she called out to the members of her household and said to them, “See, my husband[142 (#ulink_d08c893f-0748-5d2e-9b3a-68964b8c9932)] 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;
and when he heard me raise my voice and cry out, he left his garment beside me, and fled outside.”
Then she kept his garment by her until his master came home,
and she told him the same story, saying, “The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought among us, came in to me to insult me;
but as soon as I raised my voice and cried out, he left his garment beside me, and fled outside.”
19 When his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, saying, “This is the way your servant treated me,” he became enraged.
And 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.
But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love; he gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer.
The 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.
The 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.
40 Some time after this, the cupbearer of the king of Egypt and his baker offended their lord the king of Egypt.
Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker,
and he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the prison where Joseph was confined.
The captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he waited on them; and they continued for some time in custody.
One 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.
When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were troubled.
So he asked Pharaoh’s officers, who were with him in custody in his master’s house, “Why are your faces downcast today?”
They 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.”
9 So the chief cupbearer told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, “In my dream there was a vine before me,
and on the vine there were three branches. As soon as it budded, its blossoms came out and the clusters ripened into grapes.
Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.”
Then Joseph said to him, “This is its interpretation: the three branches are three days;
within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office; and you shall place Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, just as you used to do when you were his cupbearer.
But remember me when it is well with you; please do me the kindness to make mention of me to Pharaoh, and so get me out of this place.
For in fact I was stolen out of the land of the Hebrews; and here also I have done nothing that they should have put me into the dungeon.”
16 When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was favorable, he said to Joseph, “I also had a dream: there were three cake baskets on my head,
and in the uppermost basket there were all sorts of baked food for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating it out of the basket on my head.”
And Joseph answered, “This is its interpretation: the three baskets are three days;
within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head—from you!—and hang you on a pole; and the birds will eat the flesh from you.”
REFLECTIONS ON POTIPHAR
Reflection on the story raised in my mind a problem I never happened to have thought of before: why was Joseph imprisoned, and not killed, by Potiphar? Surely it seems extraordinarily mild treatment for attempted rape of a great lady by a slave? Or must one assume that Potiphar, tho’ ignorant of the lady’s intention to make him a cuckold, was aware in general . . . that her stories about the servants were to be taken with a grain of salt—that his real view was “I don’t suppose for a moment that Joseph did anything of the sort, but I foresee there’ll be no peace till I get him out of the house”? One is tempted to begin to imagine the whole life of the Potiphar family: e.g. how often had he heard similar stories from her before?
—from a letter to his brother, February 25, 1940
For reflection
Genesis 39:1–20
20 On the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, he made a feast for all his servants, and lifted up the head of the chief cupbearer and the head of the chief baker among his servants.
He restored the chief cupbearer to his cupbearing, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand;
but the chief baker he hanged, just as Joseph had interpreted to them.
Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.
41 After two whole years, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile,
and there came up out of the Nile seven sleek and fat cows, and they grazed in the reed grass.
Then seven other cows, ugly and thin, came up out of the Nile after them, and stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile.
The ugly and thin cows ate up the seven sleek and fat cows. And Pharaoh awoke.
Then he fell asleep and dreamed a second time; seven ears of grain, plump and good, were growing on one stalk.
Then seven ears, thin and blighted by the east wind, sprouted after them.
The thin ears swallowed up the seven plump and full ears. Pharaoh awoke, and it was a dream.
In the morning his spirit was troubled; so he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all its wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them to Pharaoh.
9 Then the chief cupbearer said to Pharaoh, “I remember my faults today.
