Read with Me
Genesis 39:16-20 (HCSB)
She put Joseph’s garment beside her until his master came home. Then she told him the same story: “The Hebrew slave you brought to us came to make a fool of me, but when I screamed for help, he left his garment with me and ran outside.”
When his master heard the story his wife told him—“These are the things your slave did to me”—he was furious and had him thrown into prison, where the king’s prisoners were confined. So Joseph was there in prison.
Listen with Me
Potiphar’s wife had already laid the groundwork for her charges against Joseph by sharing her concocted story with the other servants in the household. So, when she shared the story of attempted rape with Potiphar himself, they were all there nodding and saying, “Yes, that’s just what happened!”
In her story, Potiphar’s wife used three different attacks to persuade her husband that Joseph had done an unspeakable thing to her, and that he deserves the worst possible punishment. She began by reinforcing the fact that Joseph was a Hebrew, a foreigner, who had no rights according to Egyptian law. She also referred to him repeatedly as “slave”, pushing the idea that, even though Potiphar had given Joseph greater and greater responsibility and had shown greater and greater trust in him and his ability, he was after all simply a slave, someone who proper Egyptian society believed was a lower class of person who was by nature untrustworthy.
Finally, and likely the key to her plan, she pointed out twice that Joseph was HIS slave, that that HE HIMSELF had brought Joseph into the household, and given too much freedom, and that this had been the natural outcome of his carelessness. These accusations, all based in truth, put Potiphar on the defensive. He not only had the honor of his wife to defend, but he also now had to defend his own honor against these charges of carelessness.
Potiphar was angry, of course. But he also knew his wife, and that she herself was less than completely trustworthy. So, rather than killing Joseph outright, which would have been legally defensible under Egyptian law, he put Joseph in the prison.
Unlike modern prisons which are distinct buildings set apart by themselves, this prison was in the basement of Potiphar’s own house, or possibly in another building on his property (Genesis 40:2-4). As the captain of the guard (Genesis 39:1) Potiphar was in charge of guarding all the most high-profile prisoners of the Pharaoh. We see a similar arrangement in Acts, where the jail in Philippi, where Paul and Silas were confined, was in the basement or on the grounds of the jailer’s house (Acts 16:27-34).
Pray with Me
Father, without Your protection, this event could have turned out very differently, with Joseph being executed as a rebellious slave. But even in the midst of accusations and false charges, You were with him and protected him, because You still had a key part for him to play in Your plan. We see the same thing throughout the Bible, where You protect those who are fulfilling their role in Your plan until their part is done. Thank You, Lord, for Your faithfulness and Your grace, and for the understanding that I am safe in Your hands all the way until I finish my part of the race. Amen.