And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hand of the Ishmaelites, that had brought him down there.
verse value 4866
Insights
Verse structure: 16 words, 74 letters. The shortest word is "chief" (שַׂ֤ר, 2 letters) and the longest is "the·Ishmaelites" (הַיִּשְׁמְעֵאלִ֔ים, 9 letters). Words sharing gematria 385: to·Egypt, Potiphar. 5 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Genesis. Unique to this verse in Genesis (hapax): "was·taken·down" (הוּרַ֣ד), "and·bought·him" (וַיִּקְנֵ֡הוּ), "Potiphar" (פּוֹטִיפַר֩). The root ירד appears 2 times in this verse. 14 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "which" (root אשר, 313x in Genesis); "there" (root שם, 180x in Genesis); "and·Joseph" (root יוסף, 156x in Genesis). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'to·Egypt', dividing the verse into phrases of 3 and 13 words.
Onkelos
And Joseph was brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, a nobleman of Pharaoh, the chief executioner, an Egyptian man, purchased him from the hand of the Arabs who had brought him down there.
Rashi
ויוסף הורד AND JOSEPH WAS BROUGHT DOWN — It (Scripture) now reverts to the original subject (and consequently it states ויוסף הורד “Joseph had been brought down to Egypt” before the events last mentioned); it interrupted it only in order to connect the account of the degradation of Judah (Genesis 38:1) with that of the sale of Joseph, thus suggesting that it was on account of him (i.e. Joseph — Judah’s part in the sale of Joseph —) that they (his brothers) degraded him from his high position. A further reason why this narrative of Judah and Tamar is interpolated here is to place in juxtaposition the story of Potiphar’s wife and the story of Tamar, suggesting that just as this woman (Tamar) acted out of pure motives so also the other (Potiphar’s wife) acted out of pure motives, for she foresaw by her astrological speculations that she was destined to be the ancestress of children by him (Joseph) — but she did not know whether these children were to be hers or her daughter’s (Genesis Rabbah 85:2).
Sforno
ויוסף הורד, whereas Joseph was brought to Egypt against his will, Yehudah, at the same time exiled himself. During that period all the things related earlier had befallen Yehudah. During that period Joseph had been brought to Egypt by the Ishmaelites, the owners of the camels who were also agents acting on behalf of others.
Chizkuni
ויוסף הורד מצרימה, “meanwhile Joseph had been transported toward Egypt;” before the first Israelite became enslaved the eventual redeemer had been born. Peretz who was destined to become the ancestor of the Mashiach was born, and only after that does the Torah report about Joseph becoming a slave in Egypt. [Joseph clearly had been brought to Egypt about 21 years earlier, as we demonstrated in our commentary on Genesis 38,1. Ed.] Joseph was the first Israelite to become enslaved.
Rabbeinu Bahya
ויוסף הורד מצרים, “meanwhile Joseph had been brought down to Egypt.” Our sages in Bereshit Rabbah 86,4 comment on this that “the son of a maid-servant (Midianites descendad from Hagar) sells a free man whereas the slave (Potiphar) buys him,” i.e. a reversal of the norm. Our verse confirms the truth of what Solomon said in Kohelet 10,7: “I have observed slaves riding on horses.” The person described as שר הטבחים was the man who was appointed to execute all those prisoners who had received a death sentence. He was a physically strong specimen and a cruel person such as Nebuzaradan who occupied that position in the army of Nebuchadnezzar as we know from Jeremiah 39,13: “he (Nebuchadnezzar) dispatched Nebuzaradan the chief executioner, etc.” We also find that it was he who is credited with exiling the remnant of the Jewish people (Kings II 25,11). We find in Daniel 2,14 that “Aryoch the chief executioner had set out to put to death the wise men of Babylon.” Midrash Tanchuma Vayeshev 3 on the words “and Joseph had been brought down to Egypt,” relates a story involving Antoninus, governor of Palestine under the Romans around 200 A.D. When said governor arrived in Caesaria he summoned Rabbi Yehudah Hanassi. The latter took with him his son Rabbi Shimon as well as the great Rabbi Chiya (his nephew). When they arrived there Rabbi Shimon saw an exceptionally tall and handsome Roman soldier and he commented to Rabbi Chiyah on the remarkable physical prowess of the descendants of Esau (referring to them as “the fatted calves”). Thereupon Rabbi Chiyah took Rabbi Shimon to the market-place and showed him gorgeous figs and grapes all of which were infested with flies, etc. Rabbi Chiyah asked Rabbi Shimon to tell him whether he considered these flies as superior to the Roman soldiers who were so impressive in their outward appearance. When Rabbi Shimon returned to his father, he related to him his conversation with Rabbi Chiyah concerning the relative importance of the Roman legionnaires and the flies. Thereupon Rabbi Yehudah Hanassi said to his son: “the Babylonian (Rabbi Chiyah) said something of substance when he compared the legionnaires to the flies. The legionnaires of the Roman Emperor are worth nothing whereas the flies are creatures of the Lord, are like soldiers of the Lord performing tasks assigned to them by their Creator.” This is the meaning of Isaiah 7,18: “On that day the Lord shall whistle to the flies at the end of the water channels of Egypt and to the bees in the land of Assyria; and they shall all come and alight in the rugged wadis.” It is also written in Exodus 23,28: “and I shall dispatch the hornet ahead of you.” During the plagues of insects and frogs these creatures were also commanded by G’d to carry out His directives. You should remember that at the time when G’d wanted to enact the decree of Genesis 15,13 where He told Avram: “you shall surely know that your descendants will be strangers in a land which is not theirs,” that He used the most insignificant little creatures to do His bidding. When Joseph was sold and brought down to Egypt to be followed by his brothers and his father, the IOU described in Genesis 15,13 began to be paid. This is why Joseph’s descent is described in such terms as “he was brought down.”
Cross-references: I Chronicles 11:23; II Samuel 23:21; Genesis 39:6; Genesis 41:45; Genesis 37:36
And Hashem was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.
verse value 1995 — יְהֹוָה֙ = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 10 words, 44 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָה֙) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "man" (אִ֣ישׁ, 3 letters) and the longest is "Joseph" (אֶת־יוֹסֵ֔ף, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 31: and·it·was, and·it·was, and·it·was. The root היה appears 3 times in this verse. 8 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·it·was" (root היה, 313x in Genesis); "Hashem" (root יהוה, 165x in Genesis); "Joseph" (root יוסף, 156x in Genesis). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'successful', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 4 words. Full calculation: וַיְהִ֤י [and·it·was] (31) + יְהֹוָה֙ [Hashem] (26) + אֶת־יוֹסֵ֔ף [Joseph] (557) + וַיְהִ֖י [and·it·was] (31) + אִ֣ישׁ [man] (311) + מַצְלִ֑יחַ [successful] (178) + וַיְהִ֕י [and·it·was] (31) + בְּבֵ֖ית [in·the·house·of] (414) + אֲדֹנָ֥יו [his·lord] (71) + הַמִּצְרִֽי [the·Egyptian] (345) = 1995.
Onkelos
And the Word of Hashem was at Joseph's side, and he was a man who prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master.
Sforno
ויהי ה' את יוסף, to save him from anyone who would take advantage of him. ויהי איש מצליח, he achieved every venture that he set out to accomplish. ויהי בבית אדוניו המצרי, he would perform tasks in his master’s private room. The meaning of the word היה here is the same as the meaning of the word עמד elsewhere, i.e. stationed, remaining in a fixed position. Examples of the word היה occurring in this sense are found in Deuteronomy 31,26 והיה שם, “it would remain there.” Compare also Deuteronomy 10,5 ויהיו שם כאשר צוני ה', “they remained there as the Lord had commanded me.”
Or HaChaim
ויהי בבית אדוניו, He stayed in the house of his master, etc. The Torah described how G'd arranged for a variety of promotions Joseph experienced while in the service of Potiphar. At the beginning Joseph performed menial labour outside the home of Potiphar. When he did so successfully he was promoted to work inside the home. He then became a guard in the home. Eventually, he performed all his duties only indoors, i, e. בבית אדוניו. Still later he became Potiphar's personal valet, i.e. וישרת אותו. This made Joseph's life comfortable. Still later Potiphar appointed Joseph as the general manager over his entire household, i.e. ויעזוב כל אשר לו ביד יוסף. Eventually, Potiphar left every initiative to Joseph, not even bothering to ask him to account for what he was doing.
Chizkuni
ויהי ה' את יוסף, “Hashem was with Joseph;” he required Divine assistance in order to insulate him against the temptation to adopt the corrupt ways of that country.
Kli Yakar
“And God was with Joseph, and he was a successful man, and he was in his Egyptian master’s house.” The verse mentions “and he was” [vayehi] three times, because Joseph ascended three levels one after another, and subsequently his master gave him three types of authority corresponding to the additional success he observed in him, thus increasing his authority two and three times. Initially, God was with Joseph — only with him, and his success had not yet extended to others. Then, he was a successful man [affecting] others, for “matzliach” [successful] is in the causative form, indicating that he brought success also to his master, until God was also with his master. After that, he was in his master’s house — and God’s presence extended also to his master’s household members. Success clung so strongly to Joseph’s footsteps that it spread from Joseph to his master, and from his master to the rest of the household members who lived with his master. Thus, his master also brought success to others. And his master saw that God was with him — meaning literally with him, to such an extraordinary degree that whatever he does — meaning whatever the master does — God makes successful in his hand, because from him success spread also to his household members, as God was also with him — with the master. Therefore, Joseph found favor in his eyes, and he appointed him over his house — he made him overseer of all his household members since success came to them through Joseph. And all that he had he placed in his hand because success came upon all that he had through Joseph.
And his master saw that Hashem was with him, and that Hashem made all that he did to prosper in his hand.
verse value 1921 — יְהֹוָ֖ה = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 11 words, 43 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֖ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "that" (כִּ֥י, 2 letters) and the longest is "which·he" (אֲשֶׁר־ה֣וּא, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 26: Hashem, Hashem. The root יהוה appears 2 times in this verse. 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "that" (root כי, 167x in Genesis); "Hashem" (root יהוה, 165x in Genesis); "does" (root עשה, 152x in Genesis). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'with·him', dividing the verse into phrases of 5 and 6 words. Full calculation: וַיַּ֣רְא [and·saw] (217) + אֲדֹנָ֔יו [his·lord] (71) + כִּ֥י [that] (30) + יְהֹוָ֖ה [Hashem] (26) + אִתּ֑וֹ [with·him] (407) + וְכֹל֙ [and·all] (56) + אֲשֶׁר־ה֣וּא [which·he] (513) + עֹשֶׂ֔ה [does] (375) + יְהֹוָ֖ה [Hashem] (26) + מַצְלִ֥יחַ [lending·success] (178) + בְּיָדֽוֹ [in·his·hand] (22) = 1921.
Onkelos
And his master saw that the Word of Hashem was at his side, and all that he did, Hashem caused to prosper in his hand.
Rashi
כי ה‘ אתו THAT THE LORD WAS WITH HIM — the name of God was a familiar word in his mouth (Midrash Tanchuma, Vayeshev 8).
Ramban
THAT THE ETERNAL WAS WITH HIM. The name of G-d was a familiar word in his mouth. This is Rashi’s language. But it does not appear to be correct. In a similar sense is the verse, We have surely seen that the Eternal was with thee. Thus Joseph found favor in his lord’s eyes, and he appointed him as his personal attendant and overseer of his house.
Rabbeinu Bahya
כי ה' אתו, “for G’d was with him.” Actually, the Torah should have written כי אלוקים אתו, “for G’d (in His capacity as the Force who established an orderly universe) was with him.” However, seeing that Joseph’s master was an Egyptian and did not know of a G’d in heaven known as Hashem, his master would have attributed the extraordinary success of Joseph to a superior form of sorcery and magic. After all, Egypt was the epitome of these magic arts, the Egyptians had written the textbook for them. Potiphar eventually became aware that Joseph’s success could not be due to such magic so that he came to realise a new dimension of the G’d in heaven, one that overrides the attribute Elohim. This is why the Torah described G’d’s assistance to Joseph in terms of the supernatural rather than in terms of the natural. According to Bereshit Rabbah 86,5 G’d even let Potiphar have a dream in which he confirmed His assistance. Some say that a pillar of cloud hovered over Joseph to show that he was under G’d’s direct guidance. Examples cited by the Midrash of Joseph’s extraordinary abilities are: when Potiphar demanded that he boil water, the water came to a boil immediately. When he commanded the water to be cooled so that it would be lukewarm, it would become lukewarm immediately. Had G’d not demonstrated His dimension as Hashem to Potiphar, he would have said: “big deal! do you Joseph want to teach us additional magic? It is like carrying coal to Newcastle.” For these reasons the Torah had to testify: וירא אדוניו כי ה' אתו, “his master realised that a special dimension of G’d was active on Joseph’s behalf.”
Tur HaArokh
כי ה' אתו, “for the Lord was with him.” One reason was that Joseph invoked the name of the Lord in his daily conversation. According to the plain meaning of the text, the פשט, his master observed how unusually successful everything Joseph undertook turned out to be. Our sages interpret the word וירא, “he saw,” to mean that Potiphar observed that prior to carrying out a task Joseph invariably whispered something. He concluded that Joseph was employing witchcraft, challenging him that he had brought witchcraft with him to Egypt, something which had been banned in Egypt for a long time already. He then noticed that the Divine presence rested above Joseph, having had a dream that featured the Divine Presence as reposing above the head of an individual. This Presence appeared in the shape of a pillar of cloud, honouring the presence of a righteous individual.
And Joseph found favor in his sight, and he ministered to him. And he appointed him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand.
verse value 3485
Insights
Verse structure: 11 words, 52 letters. The shortest word is "favor" (חֵ֛ן, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·put·in·charge" (וַיַּפְקִדֵ֙הוּ֙, 7 letters). 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Genesis. Unique to this verse in Genesis (hapax): "and·put·in·charge" (וַיַּפְקִדֵ֙הוּ֙), "and·all·that·he·had" (וְכׇל־יֶשׁ־ל֖וֹ). 11 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "Joseph" (root יוסף, 156x in Genesis); "gave" (root נתן, 150x in Genesis); "and·all·that·he·had" (root כל, 127x in Genesis). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'him', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 5 words. Full calculation: וַיִּמְצָ֨א [and·found] (147) + יוֹסֵ֥ף [Joseph] (156) + חֵ֛ן [favor] (58) + בְּעֵינָ֖יו [in·his·eyes] (148) + וַיְשָׁ֣רֶת [and·served] (916) + אֹת֑וֹ [him] (407) + וַיַּפְקִדֵ֙הוּ֙ [and·put·in·charge] (211) + עַל־בֵּית֔וֹ [over·his·house] (518) + וְכׇל־יֶשׁ־ל֖וֹ [and·all·that·he·had] (402) + נָתַ֥ן [gave] (500) + בְּיָדֽוֹ [in·his·hand] (22) = 3485.
Onkelos
And Joseph found favor in his eyes, and he served him, and he appointed him over his household, and all that he possessed he entrusted into his hand.
Rashi
וכל יש לו AND ALL THAT HE HAD — This is an elliptical phrase — the word אשר is omitted after.
Ramban
AND ALL THAT HE HAD HE GAVE INTO HIS HAND. I.e., to be overseer and officer in charge of all that he had in the house and in the field. Our Rabbis have a Midrash on this verse. Thus they say: “He would whisper (Ibid., Commentaries.) whenever he entered and whenever he left. If his master said to him, ‘Mix a hot drink,’ it was hot immediately in Joseph’s hands and if he said, ‘Mix it lukewarm,’ it was lukewarm. [Because he suspected Joseph of witchcraft, his master said to him,] ‘What is this, Joseph? Bringing witchcraft to Egypt is like importing straw to Ofraim!’217“Straw to Ofraim” is the Midrashic equivalent of the present day expression, “coals to Newcastle.” How long did his master suspect him of practicing witchcraft? It was until he saw the Divine Presence standing over him. This is the meaning of the words, And his lord saw that the Eternal was with him.” here. The point of this Midrash is that because his lord was an Egyptian who did not know the Eternal, the Sages in the Midrash said that when he saw Joseph’s great success he suspected that it was done by witchcraft, as was the case with his countrymen, until he saw in a vision which was shown to him in a dream, or, when awake, in the form of a cloud of glory or the like, that his success came from the Supreme One. This was done in honor of the righteous Joseph.
Sforno
וישרת אותו, he attended to his master’s bodily needs.
Rabbeinu Bahya
וישרת אותו, “he became his personal valet.” He performed such tasks promptly and with extreme regard for cleanliness. ויפקידהו על ביתו, “he appointed him to be in charge of his household.” He was the supervisor of the entire household. We find such a position in Kings I 18,3 when Achav appointed such a supervisor. וכל אשר יש לו נתן בידו, “and he entrusted all his belongings to the care of Joseph.” He appointed him as manager of the household budget. We find something similar in Isaiah 22,15: “go in to see that steward, that Shevna, in charge of the palace.”
And it came to pass from the time that he appointed him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that Hashem blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; and the blessing of Hashem was upon all that he had, in the house and in the field.
verse value 6060 — יְהֹוָ֛ה = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 21 words, 90 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֛ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "then" (מֵאָז֩, 3 letters) and the longest is "in·all·that" (בְּכׇל־אֲשֶׁ֣ר, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 346: he·has, he·has. 7 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Genesis. Unique to this verse in Genesis (hapax): "then" (מֵאָז֩), "put·in·charge" (הִפְקִ֨יד), "in·his·house" (בְּבֵית֗וֹ). The root בית appears 3 times in this verse. 15 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·it·was" (root היה, 313x in Genesis); "Hashem" (root יהוה, 165x in Genesis); "Joseph" (root יוסף, 156x in Genesis). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'Joseph', dividing the verse into phrases of 14 and 7 words.
Onkelos
And it came to pass from the time he appointed him over his household and over all that he possessed, that Hashem blessed the house of the Egyptian for Joseph's sake, and the blessing of Hashem was upon all that he had, in the house and in the field.
Rabbeinu Bahya
ויברך ה' את בית המצרי בגלל יוסף, “G’d blessed the household of the Egyptian on account of Joseph. Here the Torah draws a comparison with the house of Oved Edom HaGitti whose house was host to the Holy Ark and whom G’d blessed for the sake of the Holy Ark (Samuel II 6,11). The blessing extended both to money and other objects. בבית, “in the house.” Both his money and his various utensils increased. ובשדה, “and in the field.” Potiphar’s crops, etc., all prospered unnaturally. Up until this point Joseph, though in charge, was required to present the accounts to Potiphar. From that point on he did not even have to give an accounting of his activities. It says ויעזוב את כל אשר לו ביד יוסף, “he left everything he had in the hand (under the care) of Joseph. The Midrash Seder Olam understands the words בבית ובשדה, as meaning that during the six winter months Potiphar’s affairs prospered enormously indoors, whereas during the six summer months they prospered in the field. This tells you that the length of time Joseph spent in Potiphar’s employ was one year. Subsequently he spent twelve years in jail. He had been away from his father for thirteen years when he was called in to Pharaoh. Actually, he had been meant to spend eleven years in the service of Potiphar, corresponding to the number of eleven sheaves he had dreamt about in his first dream. Some say that these eleven years corresponded to the eleven stars in Joseph’s second dream. At any rate, he had two years added to that sentence on account of the two words והזכרתני, והוצאתני (40,14) which he said to the Chief of the butlers, asking him to intercede on his behalf. These two words were counted against Joseph just as the fact that he boasted about the dream he had dreamt.
Kli Yakar
“And it was from then, etc.” The text mentions three types of authority that were given to him [Joseph] one after another. For from then refers to the beginning of his success when the Divine Presence attached itself, and success was [initially] only in Joseph’s personal handiwork. At that time, [Potiphar] appointed him in his house, but not over his house, as he had not yet given him authority over all the members of his household. Rather, he was an officer in his house only over his own work. Shortly after, when his master saw that from him [Joseph] success spread until God was with the master himself, then he made him overseer over all that he possessed — this is the second division [of authority]. And regarding the third division, it states And God blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake, and the blessing of God was upon all that he had in the house and in the field. Previously, [the blessing] was only in the house and not in the field. Therefore, he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand, etc. And regarding this third division, it had already stated he appointed him over his house, giving him authority over everyone. Another explanation of “and he was in his Egyptian master’s house”: It was his way to be a “dweller of tents” because every successful person has many friends and typically goes to feasts and celebrations. However, due to the anguish over his father, he did not go here and there but was constantly in his master’s house and did not follow after his group of companions. Therefore, his master appointed him over his house. And even though he was [only] in his house, nevertheless God blessed [everything] in his wake, even what was in the field, despite him not setting foot there. And upon seeing the greatness of his success, therefore he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand.
And he left all that he had in Joseph's hand; and, having him, he knew not aught save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was of beautiful form, and fair to look upon.
verse value 3428
Insights
Verse structure: 15 words, 73 letters. The shortest word is "that" (כִּ֥י, 2 letters) and the longest is "all·that·he·had" (כׇּל־אֲשֶׁר־לוֹ֮, 7 letters). 4 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Genesis. Unique to this verse in Genesis (hapax): "all·that·he·had" (כׇּל־אֲשֶׁר־לוֹ֮), "except·the·bread" (אִם־הַלֶּ֖חֶם), "beautiful·of·form" (יְפֵה־תֹ֖אַר). The root יוסף appears 2 times in this verse. 13 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·it·was" (root היה, 313x in Genesis); "that" (root כי, 167x in Genesis); "in·the·hand·of·Joseph" (root יוסף, 156x in Genesis). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'eating', dividing the verse into phrases of 10 and 5 words.
Onkelos
And he left all that he had in Joseph's hand, and he took no account of anything with him, except for the food that he ate. And Joseph was handsome in form and fair in appearance.
Rashi
AND HE KNEW NOT AUGHT HE HAD — he paid no attention to anything. כי אם הלחם SAVE THE BREAD — this means his wife, but Scripture uses here a euphemism (Genesis Rabbah 86:6) (cf. Joseph’s own words in Genesis 39:9). ויהי יוסף יפה תאר AND JOSEPH WAS OF BEAUTIFUL FORM — As soon as he saw that he was ruler (in the house) he began to eat and drink and curl his hair. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “Your father is mourning and you curl your hair! I will let a bear loose against you” (Midrash Tanchuma, Vayeshev 8). Immediately.
Ramban
SAVE THE BREAD WHICH HE DID EAT. In the words of our Rabbis, this is a refined expression which refers to his wife. Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra said in interpretation of the verse that whatever Potiphar possessed was left in the hands of Joseph excepting the bread which he ate. This he did not even permit him to touch since he was a Hebrew. It was the customary behavior of the Egyptians towards the Hebrews that they not permit the Hebrews to touch their food, because that is abhorrent to the Egyptians. Possibly this is so. Perhaps the interpretation of the verse is that his lord did not know of Joseph taking anything from him save only the bread which Joseph ate, but no other pleasures as young people are wont to do. Nor did he gather wealth and property, just as it is said of David, And I have found no fault in him since he fell unto me unto this day. Now the verse, Having me, he knoweth not what is in the house, here. Joseph speaking to Potiphar’s wife. expresses another matter, namely, that he [Joseph’s lord] did not trouble himself to know about anything inside the house. But the present verse, Having him, he knew not aught, is an expression of negation; he knew that nothing in the house is [taken by Joseph except the bread which he eats]. 219-220. AND JOSEPH WAS HANDSOME AND GOOD-LOOKING. The verse mentions this here in order to indicate that it was on account of his good looks that his master’s wife cast her eyes upon him. And Rashi wrote that because he saw that he was ruler of the house, he began to eat and drink, and curl his hair, etc.“The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Joseph: ‘Your father is mourning for you, and you curl your hair. I will incite a bear against you.’” (Rashi.) That is, “I shall let temptation loose against you.”
Ibn Ezra
"He did not concern himself with anything in his charge, except the bread that he ate." Some say this is a euphemism for relations with his wife. But this is far-fetched; moreover, Potiphar, Joseph's master, was a eunuch. The correct interpretation in my view is that everything Potiphar owned was in Joseph's charge, except the bread — Joseph did not so much as touch it — because he was a Hebrew. This is stated explicitly: "For the Egyptians could not eat bread with the Hebrews" (Gen. 43:32). Potiphar knew that Joseph was a Hebrew, as his wife also says: "See, he has brought us a Hebrew man" (Gen. 39:14). "And Joseph was handsome of form" — like his mother [Rachel; see above, 29:17].
Sforno
ויעזוב כל אשר לו, he left everything in Joseph’s hands without demanding an accounting from him. ויהי יוסף יפה תואר ויפה מראה, after Potiphar had entrusted him with all these important tasks Joseph found time to make himself look handsome having no longer to perform demeaning physical labour assigned to most slaves. Psalms 81,7 extols the relief felt when one is freed from such burdensome tasks.
Chizkuni
כי אם הלחם אשר הוא אוכל, “except for the food he used to eat.” We have learned already in Genesis 43,32, that the kind of food that Hebrews ate was considered as an abomination by the Egyptians; it is therefore understandable that Potiphar would not allow Joseph to prepare food in an Egyptian kitchen. In Isaiah 30,7 the prophet speaking in the name of the Lord, describes the Egyptians in derogatory terms. In their haughtiness, they looked down on all other nations, on Hebrews especially. [This is also clear from the way Mrs Potiphar refers to Joseph as a lowly subhuman category of being; (39,17). An alternate explanation: Potiphar entrusted everything to Joseph, the only thing he found fault with was his eating habits; we know the prejudice the Egyptians harboured against the Semites on account of that from Genesis 43,32. They could not bring themselves to eat at the same table as the Hebrews.
Rabbeinu Bahya
ולא ידע אתו מאומה, “and he did not share any knowledge with him,” the only matters concerning which Joseph bothered to consult his master Potiphar was the menu to be served at meal-time, as the Torah said: “except for the bread he would eat.” The word לחם also included his wife; we know that wives are sometimes referred to as לחם, from Exodus 2,2 קראן לו ויאכל לחם, “call him so that he can take a wife.” We also find the word אכל, “ate,” in that sense in Proverbs 30,2 אכלה ומחתה פיה, “she ate and wiped her mouth.” The verse speaks about the harlot indulging in her trade and acting as if she had done no wrong. We encounter the same meaning of that word again in verse nine: “except for you inasmuch as you are his wife.” ויהי יוסף יפה תואר ויפה מראה, “Joseph was of handsome form and handsome appearance.” The Torah revealed the reason Potiphar’s wife was so attracted to him. (Tanchuma)
Kli Yakar
“Except for the bread that he ate.” Rashi explains that this refers to his wife, as it is written and he has kept back nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. He refers to his wife using the metaphor of bread because just as bread satisfies all living beings more than any other nourishing thing, so too permissible sexual relations satisfy that organ [of desire]. This is in contrast to forbidden sexual relations which do not satisfy, as our Sages said (Sukkah 52b) “The small organ — if one satisfies it, it becomes hungry,” and our Sages said (Sanhedrin 75) “The taste of sexual relations was taken away and given to those who transgress,” because one’s evil inclination only overpowers him regarding forbidden matters. Therefore, our Sages said (Sotah 4b) “Anyone who has relations with a prostitute will ultimately seek a loaf of bread but not find it, as it is said for on account of a harlot, [one is brought] to a loaf of bread (Proverbs 6:26).” His punishment is measure for measure — because he abandoned his wife who is called “bread” and clung to a prostitute who is not his bread, therefore he will lack bread. And there are those who say that bread here means actual bread, because it was an abomination for Egyptians to eat bread with the Hebrews. According to this interpretation, we can explain the phrase and he knew not anything with him as referring to Joseph, because even though [Potiphar] left everything he had in Joseph’s hand, and Joseph could have eaten from all types of delicacies — and who would have protested since everything was in his control — nevertheless, Joseph knew not anything with him means that he did not benefit from any of his master’s choice food except for the bread that he ate. He ate only bread with salt, as is the way of Torah study. Even so, Joseph was of beautiful form and beautiful appearance as he was before, and his countenance did not change, similar to what happened with Daniel and his companions. This resolves the question that some raise: “Did he only now become beautiful in form and appearance? Wasn’t he always this way?” Rather, this detail is mentioned here to emphasize that his appearance did not change despite his refusal to defile himself with his master’s choice food.
Tur HaArokh
כי אם הלחם אשר הוא אוכל, “except for the food which he was in the habit of eating.” According to the plain meaning, Potiphar did not issue any instructions to Joseph concerning his duties, but he left it all to his good sense and sense of duty. He did, however, tell Joseph the kind of menu he wished to enjoy every day. Ibn Ezra explains why Potiphar did not charge Joseph with preparing food; the Egyptians had a different eating culture from that of the Hebrews, and they detested the manner in which Hebrews prepared their food. He did not even let Joseph touch the bread. [This editor has never understood this explanation as something pertaining to the family of Yaakov, who numbered very few, and whose cultural impact on Egypt was nil. It is more likely that all the people from beyond the Tigris and Euphrates, the Sumerians, had different food habits from those of the Egyptians, the competing major culture, and that Joseph as was obvious by his skin colour, (The Eyptians being black) was viewed as culturally basically different. The derogatory manner in which the wife of Potiphar refers to Joseph as a “Hebrew” slave, is further evidence that it was not his “Jewishness” but his being associated with the Sumerians, Accadians, Babylonians, etc., which evoked her disdain once she had been rejected as a lover. (39,14) Ed.] Nachmanides writes that the meaning of the words ולא ידע אתו מאומה כי אם הלחם, mean that Joseph was free to take whatever was in the household and use it on behalf of his master except the bread which his master ate. This was something reserved for the master of the house. All other items in the house that were designed to enhance the residents’ quality of life were Joseph’s to enjoy. ויהי יוסף יפה תואר, “Joseph became exceedingly handsome.” According to Rashi the fact that Joseph enjoyed so much authority caused him to attend to his personal appearance in an exaggerated manner. Nachmanides writes that the Torah had to provide us with a rationale why the wife of Potiphar would want to have an affair with a slave, one from Mesopotamia, of all places. The Torah therefore explains that Joseph’s physique proved of an overpowering attraction to her.
And it came to pass after these things, that his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said: "Lie with me."
verse value 3848
Insights
Verse structure: 11 words, 54 letters. Verse gematria: 3848 is divisible by 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "after" (אַחַר֙, 3 letters) and the longest is "his·master's·wife" (אֵֽשֶׁת־אֲדֹנָ֛יו, 8 letters). 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in Genesis. Unique to this verse in Genesis (hapax): "his·master's·wife" (אֵֽשֶׁת־אֲדֹנָ֛יו). 11 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·she·said" (root אמר, 604x in Genesis); "and·it·was" (root היה, 313x in Genesis); "these" (root אלה, 301x in Genesis). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'to·Joseph', dividing the verse into phrases of 8 and 3 words. Full calculation: וַיְהִ֗י [and·it·was] (31) + אַחַר֙ [after] (209) + הַדְּבָרִ֣ים [the·words] (261) + הָאֵ֔לֶּה [these] (41) + וַתִּשָּׂ֧א [and·lifted] (707) + אֵֽשֶׁת־אֲדֹנָ֛יו [his·master's·wife] (772) + אֶת־עֵינֶ֖יהָ [her·eyes] (546) + אֶל־יוֹסֵ֑ף [to·Joseph] (187) + וַתֹּ֖אמֶר [and·she·said] (647) + שִׁכְבָ֥ה [lie] (327) + עִמִּֽי [with·me] (120) = 3848.
Onkelos
And it came to pass after these events that his master's wife lifted her eyes toward Joseph and said, "Lie with me."
Rashi
ותשא אשת אדניו HIS LORD’S WIFE LIFTED UP HER EYES etc. — wherever אחר is used and not אחרי it means immediately after (Genesis Rabbah 44:5).
Sforno
ותשא אשת אדוניו, on account of his good looks described before.
Rabbeinu Bahya
ויהי אחר הדברים האלה, “it was after these events, etc.” The Torah told us of the virtuous nature of Joseph who in spite of experiencing one promotion after another within a short space of town rejected the advances made by his master’s wife, advances which must have appeared very flattering to him. Unlike others in a similar position, Joseph did not exploit the trust of his employer by deceiving him. According to Tanchuma Vayeshev 8 as soon as Joseph had been promoted to his present high position he began to indulge in food and drink and in paying excessive attention to his outward appearance, carefully coiffing his hair, etc. He went as far as saying “thank the Lord who has made me forget my father’s house.” Upon hearing this, G’d said: “your father is in mourning for you and you live it up! Your mistress will try and seduce you and cause you distress.”
But he refused, and said to his master's wife: "Behold, my master, having me, knows not what is in the house, and he has put all that he has into my hand;
verse value 3701 — בְּיָדִֽי = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 13 words, 57 letters. Notable word values: "in·my·hand" (בְּיָדִֽי) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "behold" (הֵ֣ן, 2 letters) and the longest is "that·he·has" (אֲשֶׁר־יֶשׁ־ל֖וֹ, 7 letters). 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Genesis. Unique to this verse in Genesis (hapax): "does·not·know" (לֹא־יָדַ֥ע), "what·in·the·house" (מַה־בַּבָּ֑יִת), "that·he·has" (אֲשֶׁר־יֶשׁ־ל֖וֹ). The root אדון appears 2 times in this verse. 12 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·said" (root אמר, 604x in Genesis); "gave" (root נתן, 150x in Genesis); "to·the·wife·of" (root אשה, 148x in Genesis). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'what·in·the·house', dividing the verse into phrases of 9 and 4 words. Full calculation: וַיְמָאֵ֓ן [and·refused] (107) + וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ [and·said] (257) + אֶל־אֵ֣שֶׁת [to·the·wife·of] (732) + אֲדֹנָ֔יו [his·lord] (71) + הֵ֣ן [behold] (55) + אֲדֹנִ֔י [my·lord] (65) + לֹא־יָדַ֥ע [does·not·know] (115) + אִתִּ֖י [with·me] (411) + מַה־בַּבָּ֑יִת [what·in·the·house] (459) + וְכֹ֥ל [and·all] (56) + אֲשֶׁר־יֶשׁ־ל֖וֹ [that·he·has] (847) + נָתַ֥ן [gave] (500) + בְּיָדִֽי [in·my·hand] (26) = 3701.
Onkelos
And he refused and said to his master's wife, "Behold, my master takes no account with me of anything that is in the house, and all that he has he has entrusted into my hand.
Ramban
BUT HE REFUSED, AND SAID UNTO HIS MASTER’s WIFE. Scripture relates that he refused to do her will even though she was his mistress, i.e., his master’s wife, and he feared her, for he feared G-d more. This is the meaning of the expression, unto his master’s wife.
Rabbeinu Bahya
וימאן, ויאמר אל אשת אדוניו הן אדוני, “he refused, and he said to the wife of his master: ‘here my master, etc.” At the beginning of their conversation, Joseph said to Mrs Potiphar: הן אדוני, “my master is present;” he meant: “what do you want with me, seeing you already have a husband?” The reason that Tanchuma interprets Joseph’s words in that fashion is that the tone-sign shalshelet over the word וימאן suggests that Joseph’s refusal contained an element of something forbidden. It is not unusual for the tone-signs on the words to reveal matters not spelled out but which nevertheless we are to read between the lines. This is not unlike to what is called in English “body-language.” The manner in which a person walks, for instance, indicates whether he looks forward to his destination or whether he drags his feet because he dreads what is expected of him at the end of his walk. The Midrash felt that the tone-sign revealed that Joseph’s refusal was hesitant. Midrash Tanchuma Vayeshev 8 also claims that the words הן אדוני, are a reference to his father Yaakov’s features which sudddenly appeared before Joseph’s mind’s eye, reminding him what moral obligations he owed to the wishes of G’d, his “Master.” His father phrased his admonition thus: “your brothers’ names will be engraved on the gemstones of the High Priest’s Ephod (shoulder epaulettes). Do you want to risk that your name will be omitted from that list? Do you prefer to tend to whores for the rest of your life?” ותאמר שכבה עמי, “she said: lie with me!” She spoke vulgarly as do the whores, similar to what has been described in Proverbs 7,10: “and here a woman came toward him dressed in harlot’s attire and of determined heart.” Words such as reported here by the Torah are typical of an adulterous woman. When a chaste woman desires to express similar sentiments she uses refined language as did Ruth when she said to Boaz: “spread your robe over your handmaid;” (Ruth 3,9). ויאמר אל אשת אדוניו, “he said to the wife of his master, etc.” The Torah could have simply written: “he said to her.” However, the Torah wanted to let us know that Joseph explained to Mrs. Potiphar that seeing she was his master’s wife he was duty bound to accept instructions from her; however, in this instance his duty towards G’d took precedence over his duty to obey her commands.
Tur HaArokh
ויאמר אל אשת אדוניוו וימאן “He refused, and said to the wife of his master, etc.” Although we are well aware that Potiphar was Joseph’s master, the Torah reports his position, in order to explain that Joseph’s refusal to respond to the advances of his mistress was based on her husband being his master, also. It was not based on Joseph finding her unattractive. He had reason to also fear the anger of his mistress, but he made plain that his fear of G’d was stronger than his fear of the results of her displeasure with him.
he is not greater in this house than I; neither has he kept back any thing from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?"
verse value 5140
Insights
Verse structure: 19 words, 86 letters. The shortest word is "that" (כִּ֥י, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·has·not·withheld" (וְלֹֽא־חָשַׂ֤ךְ, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 140: from·me, from·me. 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Genesis. Unique to this verse in Genesis (hapax): "and·has·not·withheld" (וְלֹֽא־חָשַׂ֤ךְ), "except·you" (אִם־אוֹתָ֖ךְ). The root גדול appears 2 times in this verse. 17 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "in·which" (root אשר, 313x in Genesis); "to·God" (root אלה, 301x in Genesis); "that" (root כי, 167x in Genesis). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'you·are·his·wife', dividing the verse into phrases of 12 and 7 words.
Onkelos
There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil and sin before Hashem?"
Rashi
וחטאתי לאלהים AND SIN AGAINST GOD — The “Sons of Noah” (בני נח) were subject to the command which forbade immorality (Sanhedrin 56b).
Ramban
AND I SHALL SIN AGAINST G-D. The Sons of Noah were commanded concerning forbidden relations. This is Rashi’s language. This is correct. It is only due to the feminine lack of knowledge that he first told her that the act would constitute a betrayal of his master who trusted him, and following that he added that it also involves a sin against G-d. It is possible to further explain the verse, And I shall sin against G-d, by this betrayal, since “it would be a matter of great evil consequence which would be accounted to me as a sin against G-d since His eyes are upon the faithful of the land, and no traitor dare come before Him.” Joseph spoke the truth. However he did not mention the prohibition of the illicit relation because he spoke in language suitable to women.
Sforno
כי אם אותך באשר את אשתו, the only restrictions imposed upon me in this house concern the inviolable marital relations between you and my master, your husband. הרעה הגדולה הזאת, to repay good with evil. להיות עמה, in seclusion.
Or HaChaim
באשר את אשתו, "inasmuch as you are his wife." Joseph meant that Potiphar had not placed his wife out of bounds to Joseph in so many words; the matter was understood because of her status. ואיך אעשה הרעה הגדולה, "how could I possibly commit such a great evil?" By doing so I would lose everything I have achieved. Furthermore, I would create an unbridegable gap to the holy roots of my soul seeing that adultery is forbidden to Gentiles as well as to Jews. This is what Joseph meant when he said "I would sin against G'd." Furthermore, by mentioning that he would commit a sin vis-a-vis G'd Joseph already countered Mrs Potiphar's argument that her husband did not need to know about their liaison and that therefore Joseph did not stand to lose anything. Joseph attributed his present status to the help of G'd. He would certainly forfeit G'd's help if he became guilty of adultery.
Chizkuni
וחטאתי לאלוקים, “and I would commit a sin against G-d;” even if the matter will remain concealed from human beings, G-d sees everything.
Rabbeinu Bahya
איך אעשה הרעה הגדולה הזאת וחטאתי לאלוקים, “and how could I commit such a great wrong and sin against the Lord?” He explained that indulging in sex with his master’s wife would be wrong on two counts. Not only would it be an act of betrayal against his employer but it would also be a grievous offense against G’d. This is similar to the wording used by the High Priest Eli when he rebuked his sons in Samuel I 2,25: “If a man sins against a man, the Lord may pardon him [after he has served the penalty decreed by a human tribunal, Ed.]; but if a man sins against G’d who can obtain pardon for him?“
Tur HaArokh
וחטאתי לאלוקים, “I would commit a sin against G’d.” Rashi explains that basic legislation about incestuous relations including adultery applied universally, not only to Jews. Nachmanides writes that he finds it difficult that Joseph mentioned the sin of adultery against his own master Potiphar, which is secondary, before mentioning the sin against G’d which is primary. He answers this problem by saying that women do not perceive matters in that order. They relate first and foremost to their visible masters, their husbands, and are only marginally concerned with their sins against the Creator, who remains invisible both to them and to their husbands. There is also another way of answering the manner in which Joseph described the sin of giving in to the allure of Mrs. Potiphar. He did not refer to the aspect of illicit sex at all directly, other than saying that he would be committing a great wrong against G’d’s law, without implying that she would be a party to that sin. According to that approach, the words הרעה הגדולה, “the great evil,” would modify the words וחטאתי לאלוקים.
And it came to pass, as she spoke to Joseph day by day, that he did not heed her, to lie by her, or to be with her.
verse value 2098
Insights
Verse structure: 11 words, 47 letters. The shortest word is "day" (י֣וֹם, 3 letters) and the longest is "to·Joseph" (אֶל־יוֹסֵ֖ף, 6 letters). Words sharing gematria 56: day, day. 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Genesis. Unique to this verse in Genesis (hapax): "as·she·spoke" (כְּדַבְּרָ֥הּ), "and·did·not·heed" (וְלֹא־שָׁמַ֥ע). The root היה appears 2 times in this verse. 9 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·it·was" (root היה, 313x in Genesis); "to·her" (root אל, 242x in Genesis); "to·Joseph" (root יוסף, 156x in Genesis). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'day', dividing the verse into phrases of 5 and 6 words. Full calculation: וַיְהִ֕י [and·it·was] (31) + כְּדַבְּרָ֥הּ [as·she·spoke] (231) + אֶל־יוֹסֵ֖ף [to·Joseph] (187) + י֣וֹם [day] (56) + י֑וֹם [day] (56) + וְלֹא־שָׁמַ֥ע [and·did·not·heed] (447) + אֵלֶ֛יהָ [to·her] (46) + לִשְׁכַּ֥ב [to·lie] (352) + אֶצְלָ֖הּ [beside] (126) + לִהְי֥וֹת [to·be] (451) + עִמָּֽהּ [with·her] (115) = 2098.
Onkelos
And it came to pass that as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her, to be with her.
Rashi
לשכב אצלה TO LIE BY HER — even without sinning (Genesis Rabbah 87:6). להיות עמה TO BE WITH HER, in the world to come (Gehinnom) (Genesis Rabbah 87:6).
Ramban
TO LIE ‘ETZLA’ (BY HER). The meaning of this expression is as Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra interpreted it: “even to lie near her, each in their garment, or to be with her for general conversation.” This interpretation is correct since we do not find the word etzla (near her) in Scripture in connection with sexual intercourse, only the word ima (with her) or othah (with her), as for example: Lie ‘imi’ (with me); here. And if any man lie ‘othah’ (with her); And the women ravished (‘tishachavnah’). In tishachavnah, the plural form of othah is implicit.
Ibn Ezra
"To lie beside her" — even to lie in a place near her; or "to be with her" means to engage in conversation.
Rabbeinu Bahya
ולא שמע אליה לשכב אצלה, “and he did not listen to her request even to (merely) lie beside her.” The plain meaning of the text is that Joseph refused to have any bodily contact with Mrs. Potiphar even if it did not involve intercourse itself. להיות עמה, “to be intimate with her.” To have sexual intercourse. We have found elsewhere in the Bible that the word להיות may mean sexual intercourse, such as in Ruth 1,12 where Naomi speaks about “being in the company of a man,” i.e. to have intimate relations with him which would result in her becoming pregnant.” The Hebrew word used there for having sexual relations is גם הייתי הלילה לאיש. A Midrashic approach to this verse is found in Tanchuma Vayeshev 8. She said to him: “why do you not listen to me? No one is going to see us.” He replied to her: “we have been forbidden to have sexual relations with you people even when you are not married, how much more so are we forbidden to have such relations with you once you are married to someone?” The best way to illustrate this argument is by means of a parable. A Gentile approached a Jew telling him that he had some delectable dish which he wanted him to taste. When the Jew inquired what precisely this dish consisted of, the Gentile told him that it was the meat from a pig. The Jew replied: “you must really be very foolish. You know that if one of you slaughters an animal we are only not allowed to eat it because it has not been slaughtered by a Jew, how could you imagine that I would eat meat from an animal which I may not eat even if a Jew had slaughtered it?” The words ולא שמע אליה לשכב אצלה, להיות עמה, which appear repetitive, are viewed by the Midrash as referring to life in the present world, and as a result of committing the former sin, life in the hereafter, i.e. in Gehinom, (hell). We are told in that same Midrash that there are three categories of people who may be trusted implicitly: 1) A private householder who sets aside his tithes conscientiously. Such a person is not suspected of shortchanging the Priest by withholding his Terumah (a form of tithe given to the Priests). There is no greater demonstration of a person’s trustworthiness than that we believe him in other matters based on his observing commandments whose performance cannot be checked. Such people enjoy the greatest trust by their peers. 2) Next lower on the rungs of the ladder of trustworthiness is a bachelor who resides in a quarter inhabited by harlots and does not succumb to the temptation which surrounds him. 3) A poor man who has been entrusted with the safekeeping of valuables for others and has demonstrated that he has kept faith with those who gave him the objects to be kept for them. Joseph excelled them all while he was in Egypt, a country of which the prophet (Ezekiel 23,20) writes that “the flesh of the people there could be compared to the flesh of donkeys.” Seeing that Joseph was seventeen years old at the time he was sold to Egypt, and was subjected daily to sexual temptation by his master’s wife without yielding to such alluring prospects, this meant that henceforth he could never be suspected of any sexual misdemeanour. We are told in Pirke d'Rabbi Eliezer chapter 39 that there were three prominent people who demonstrated control over their sexual urges when faced with temptation which was hard to resist. They are Joseph, Boaz, and Palti ben Layish. Our sages in Sanhedrin 19 contrast the active libido of Joseph, a teenager, with the relatively dormant one of Boaz, an aged man. They say that whereas Joseph’s feat was indeed major, by comparison to Boaz’s constraint, it was still only a modest accomplishment. Whereas the temptation Joseph faced was by day, the temptation Boaz faced when Ruth came to him in the barn was at night. Joseph might have been afraid of being observed, a possible consideration enabling him to withstand the urgings of Mrs. Potiphar. Similarly what was considered an act of great restraint by Boaz paled into insignificance when compared to the restraint Palti ben Layish imposed upon himself. He had been given Michal (David’s wife) as a legal wife (Samuel I 25,44) by King Saul, and could have claimed her, but did not ever touch her or even share the same house with her. Palti had been aware that a marriage ceremony is invalid when the woman in question is still the wife of another man, David, who had not divorced Michal. King Saul had forced his daughter into marrying Palti. Seeing Palti was afraid of King Saul, he pretended to accept Michal as his wife although he had no intention of sleeping with her. In fact, after Saul’s death (Samuel II 3,14) David sent word to Ish Boshet, Saul’s son, demanding that his wife Michal be restored to him. Ish Boshet agreed, and a weeping Palti accompanied her up to a place called Bachurim. He wept because he was afraid David would not believe that he had not touched Michal. [At any rate, the thrust of the story in the Talmud is that every feat of sexual restraint must be evaluated on its own. There are features in each of these stories which made the deed especially great; on the other hand each of these situations also contained features which helped the person subject to the temptation to successfully resist it. Ed]
Kli Yakar
To lie beside her, to be with her. Rashi explains to lie beside her means even without intimate relations. Perhaps there is a distinction between “beside her” and “with her.” Nevertheless, she demanded this [from him], for otherwise, who asked this of him? And perhaps there is support for this from what is written And it was as she spoke to him day after day but it doesn’t specify what she said. Rather, this is certainly the explanation: Initially she said lie with me literally, and he refused, etc. Afterwards, she asked at least to lie beside her without relations, and if you fear that this closeness will lead to action, to this she said “Look, it’s daytime now, and it’s not the way of the world to be intimate during the day,” but he did not listen to her. Afterwards, she asked that at least he be alone with her in a room, for there was no concern for action since it was day, as mentioned. This is what is meant by as she spoke to him day after day — that she asked two requests one after the other, and linked both of them to daytime. And he did not listen to her regarding the first request to lie beside her without relations, and also not to the second request to be with her in one room. And it was on this day — in the middle of the day when he wasn’t afraid that she would request the act from him, since she had already said that it wasn’t their way to be intimate during the day. Therefore, he came to the house to do his work — even though he didn’t want to even be alone with her, that was when he was idle from work, but now that he went to do his work, Joseph thought she wouldn’t ask anything of him so as not to distract him from the household work, because her husband would blame her saying “why didn’t you urge the servant to do his work?” Nevertheless, she caught him by his garment and returned to the first request saying lie with me literally.
Tur HaArokh
לשכב אצלה, “to lie down beside her;” Ibn Ezra understands this as sitting beside one another on the same settee, fully clothed, engaging in idle chatter. The reason for Ibn Ezra’s explanation is that the term לשכב אצלה, is most inappropriate for intimacy involving sex, as the Torah would have used the word עמה, if it wanted to describe such an intimate physical relationship.
And it came to pass on a certain day, when he went into the house to do his work, and there was none of the men of the house there within,
verse value 3823
Insights
Verse structure: 13 words, 54 letters. The shortest word is "there" (שָׁ֖ם, 2 letters) and the longest is "his·work" (מְלַאכְתּ֑וֹ, 6 letters). 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Genesis. Unique to this verse in Genesis (hapax): "on·a·day·like" (כְּהַיּ֣וֹם), "of·the·men·of" (מֵאַנְשֵׁ֥י). The root בית appears 3 times in this verse. 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·it·was" (root היה, 313x in Genesis); "and·came" (root בוא, 213x in Genesis); "there" (root שם, 180x in Genesis). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'his·work', dividing the verse into phrases of 7 and 6 words. Full calculation: וַֽיְהִי֙ [and·it·was] (31) + כְּהַיּ֣וֹם [on·a·day·like] (81) + הַזֶּ֔ה [this] (17) + וַיָּבֹ֥א [and·came] (19) + הַבַּ֖יְתָה [the·house] (422) + לַעֲשׂ֣וֹת [to·do] (806) + מְלַאכְתּ֑וֹ [his·work] (497) + וְאֵ֨ין [and·not] (67) + אִ֜ישׁ [man] (311) + מֵאַנְשֵׁ֥י [of·the·men·of] (401) + הַבַּ֛יִת [the·house] (417) + שָׁ֖ם [there] (340) + בַּבָּֽיִת [in·the·house] (414) = 3823.
Onkelos
And it came to pass on a day like this that he entered the house to examine the account books, and none of the men of the household were there in the house.
Rashi
ויהי כהיום הזה AND IT CAME TO PASS ON A CERTAIN DAY — This means as much as “and it came to pass when a certain distinguished day arrived” — a day of merriment, a day of their sacred feast when they all went to the temple of their idols, — she said), “I shall find no day fitting to associate with Joseph as this day”. She therefore told her attendants I am sick and cannot go to the temple (Sotah 36b). לעשות מלאכתו TO DO HIS WORK — Rab and Samuel differ as to what this means. One holds that it means, his actual house-work; the other that it means to associate with her, but a vision of his father’s face appeared to him and he resisted temptation and did not sin as is stated in Treatise Sotah 36b.
Ibn Ezra
"And it came to pass on such a day" — one week after the day she first said to him "lie with me"; or one month; or after a full year — and this last is the correct view in my opinion. "To do his work" — the work of the household or of the estate, for he was overseer over everything. "And there was no man" — this is a minority opinion [i.e., the interpretation that no man whatsoever was present is the view of a single authority].
Sforno
כהיום הזה, when she raised her eyes to him in lust. ויבא הביתה, he entered a room, unaware that she was in that room at the time.
Chizkuni
ויהי כהיום, “it was on a day no different from any other day;” this short phrase has been inserted here as in praise of Joseph, the righteous person, and as condemnation of the cursed person. In a cultured society, marital intercourse is an activity reserved for the night, to be performed in darkness; the wife of Potiphar demanded from Joseph that he engage not only in infidelity to his master and to G-d, but that he do so in broad daylight. Seeing that Joseph could not have foreseen such a demand by his mistress, he can certainly not be faulted to have gone about his daily routine on that day just as on any other day. Regardless of this, she tried to disrobe him. According to Rabbi Yishmael, (Pessikta zutrata) that day was the day on which the Nile used to flood its banks to irrigate the fields; that day was a kind of joyous festival, everyone participating in the festivities. Mrs Potiphar and Joseph chose not to participate in those activities.
Tur HaArokh
ויהי כהיום, “A certain day arrived, etc.” It was as clear as day(light) that Joseph had only arrived to perform his regular work. ואין איש מאנשי הבית בבית, ”and no one of the normally present people in the house was in the house on that occasion.” The unusual phrasing מאנשי הבית, meaning “of the men normally assigned to the house,” prompted the sages to say that another person was present, referring to the image of Yaakov, Joseph’s father, whose image reminded him not to fall victim to the lure of this woman.
that she caught him by his garment, saying: "Lie with me." And he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out.
verse value 2410
Insights
Verse structure: 11 words, 49 letters. The shortest word is "with·me" (עִמִּ֑י, 3 letters) and the longest is "and·caught·hold·of·him" (וַתִּתְפְּשֵׂ֧הוּ, 7 letters). 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Genesis. Unique to this verse in Genesis (hapax): "and·caught·hold·of·him" (וַתִּתְפְּשֵׂ֧הוּ), "by·his·garment" (בְּבִגְד֛וֹ). The root בגד appears 2 times in this verse. 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "saying" (root אמר, 604x in Genesis); "in·her·hand" (root יד, 88x in Genesis); "with·me" (root עם, 87x in Genesis). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'with·me', dividing the verse into phrases of 5 and 6 words. Full calculation: וַתִּתְפְּשֵׂ֧הוּ [and·caught·hold·of·him] (1197) + בְּבִגְד֛וֹ [by·his·garment] (17) + לֵאמֹ֖ר [saying] (271) + שִׁכְבָ֣ה [lie] (327) + עִמִּ֑י [with·me] (120) + וַיַּעֲזֹ֤ב [and·left] (95) + בִּגְדוֹ֙ [his·garment] (15) + בְּיָדָ֔הּ [in·her·hand] (21) + וַיָּ֖נׇס [and·fled] (126) + וַיֵּצֵ֥א [and·went·out] (107) + הַחֽוּצָה [outside] (114) = 2410.
Onkelos
And she seized him by his garment, saying, "Lie with me," and he left his garment in her hand and fled and went out to the street.
Ramban
AND HE LEFT HIS GARMENT IN HER HAND. Out of respect for his mistress he did not wish to take the garment from her hand with his superior strength, and he removed it from upon himself, as it was a garment which one wears as a robe and headdress. But when she saw that he left his garment in her hands she feared lest he expose her to the people of the household or his master, and so she preceded him to them, saying that he had removed his garment to lie with her, but “when he saw that I screamed he fled in confusion.” This is the meaning of the verse, And it came to pass, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand. here. This is also why she did not say, “And he left his garment in my hand,” but she instead told the men of her house and her husband, And he left his garment ‘etzli’ (with me).
Sforno
And fled. So that he would not be overcome by desire. And he went outside. As soon as he left the room he slowed down so that no one would ask questions. She, however, assumed that he continued running and that people would soon know what happened; therefore she called to the men of the household.
Or HaChaim
ותתפשהו בבגדו, She grabbed hold of his garment, etc. The Torah reveals Mrs Potiphar's intention when she grabbed Joseph's garment by stating לאמור. This word needs to be translated here: "as if to say." She did not say a word. Her actions spoke louder than any words.
Rabbeinu Bahya
ויעזוב בגדו אצלה, “he left his garment with her.” This is another example of Joseph’s chastity; he did not want to struggle for his garment with her and thereby involve himself in physical contact with her. He respected her dignity in not demonstrating his superior male power. וינס החוצה, “he fled outside.” He left the house in order that she should give up hope to entrap him, so that she would cease her efforts in this regard. Or, he fled outside in order to regain his emotional equilibrium. He had been aroused by the encounter with Mrs. Potiphar. According to a Midrash the meaning of the words וינס, ויצא החוצה, is G’d said to him: ”today you fled, there will come a day when the sea will flee before your coffin.” This is the meaning of Exodus Psalms 114,3 “the sea saw (it) and fled.” What did the sea see? It saw the coffin containing the body of Joseph.
Kli Yakar
And he fled and went outside. The verse doesn’t simply state “and he fled outside” because when someone runs through city streets, people notice and wonder why he is running and what he’s running from. Therefore, he only ran while inside the house itself, but when he left through the doorway, he walked normally without running. Our Sages teach (Tanchuma 9) “The sea saw and fled” — what did it see? It saw Joseph’s coffin, about which it is said “and he fled and went outside.” For our Sages said (Ketubot 30b) that although the four death penalties of the court were abolished, the judgment of the four deaths was not abolished — one who deserves strangulation either drowns in a river or dies of suffocation. It is known that one who commits adultery with a married woman is punished by strangulation, and for this reason the generation of the flood was punished through drowning, due to their promiscuity. And it is written For this shall every righteous person pray to You at a time when You may be found (Psalms 32:6) — our Sages explained (Berachot 8a) this refers to [finding] a wife, and it is followed by surely the flood of great waters shall not reach him. Therefore, Joseph, who guarded himself from sexual impropriety, as it says and he fled and went outside, was worthy of saving Israel from the flood of the sea’s waters. This is what is meant by “the sea saw and fled” — it saw Joseph’s flight from his master’s wife, and thus it was appropriate that the sea’s waters should not flood Joseph’s coffin. And because of him, all those carrying his coffin and all of Israel who walked after his coffin were saved, while the Egyptians, who were steeped in lewdness, drowned. It is possible that the phrase he went outside means [that he went] outside of his astrological influences, similar to [the phrase] And He took him outside which was said regarding Abraham (Genesis 15:5). Similarly, Joseph went outside the influence of the celestial arrangement until the celestial forces had no power over him. On the contrary, he ruled over natural phenomena, and they fled at his voice. This is [the meaning behind] the splitting of the Red Sea before Joseph’s coffin.
Tur HaArokh
ויעזב בגדו בידה, “he left his outer garment in her hand.” Out of deference for her position as his mistress, he did not wrest the garment from her hands, although he was physically powerful enough to have done this.
And it came to pass, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and was fled forth,
verse value 1048
Insights
Verse structure: 7 words, 32 letters. The shortest word is "and·it·was" (וַֽיְהִי֙, 4 letters) and the longest is "when·she·saw" (כִּרְאוֹתָ֔הּ, 6 letters). 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Genesis. Unique to this verse in Genesis (hapax): "when·she·saw" (כִּרְאוֹתָ֔הּ), "that·he·had·left" (כִּֽי־עָזַ֥ב). 7 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·it·was" (root היה, 313x in Genesis); "when·she·saw" (root ראה, 140x in Genesis); "in·her·hand" (root יד, 88x in Genesis). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'in·her·hand', dividing the verse into phrases of 5 and 2 words. Full calculation: וַֽיְהִי֙ [and·it·was] (31) + כִּרְאוֹתָ֔הּ [when·she·saw] (632) + כִּֽי־עָזַ֥ב [that·he·had·left] (109) + בִּגְד֖וֹ [his·garment] (15) + בְּיָדָ֑הּ [in·her·hand] (21) + וַיָּ֖נׇס [and·fled] (126) + הַחֽוּצָה [outside] (114) = 1048.
Onkelos
And it came to pass that when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled to the street,
that she called to the men of her house, and spoke to them, saying: "See, he has brought in a Hebrew to us to mock us; he came in to me to lie with me, and I cried with a loud voice.
verse value 4703 — הֵ֥בִיא = 18 (chai)
Insights
Verse structure: 20 words, 75 letters. Notable word values: "brought" (הֵ֥בִיא) = 18, chai, 'life'. The shortest word is "came" (בָּ֤א, 2 letters) and the longest is "and·called" (וַתִּקְרָ֞א, 5 letters). 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Genesis. Unique to this verse in Genesis (hapax): "to·the·men·of" (לְאַנְשֵׁ֣י), "with·a·voice" (בְּק֥וֹל). The root קרא appears 2 times in this verse. 16 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·she·said" (root אמר, 604x in Genesis); "us" (root בן, 248x in Genesis); "to·me" (root אל, 242x in Genesis). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'us', dividing the verse into phrases of 13 and 7 words.
Onkelos
she called to the men of her household and said to them, saying, "See — he has brought us a Hebrew man to mock us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice.
Rashi
ראו הביא לנו SEE, HE HATH BROUGHT IN UNTO US — This is an elliptical phrase: “he hath brought in to us” without stating plainly who brought him in She was referring to her husband. עברי A HEBREW — is one who came from the other side (עבר) of the river Euphrates, being at the same time of the sons of Eber (אדניו).
Ramban
SEE, HE HATH BROUGHT IN A HEBREW UNTO US. The meaning thereof is that the Hebrews were hated by the Egyptians. They did not eat with them, this being a matter of abhorrence to them. They did not purchase them as servants except as vinedressers and plowmen, but they would not permit them to come into their homes. This is why she said: “Behold, the master has done us evil by bringing a Hebrew into our home, and he has further appointed him as overseer and ruler, and now he has fittingly seen to mock us.” [The point of her statement] is similar to that which is said in the verse, He that delicately bringeth up his servant from a child shall have him become a master at the last. This is the meaning of her saying, Whom thou hast brought unto us, here. as his being brought into their house was in itself embarassing to them. In the verse before us, the expression, He has brought us, refers to her husband. She does not mention him by name out of respect, or perhaps because such is the ethical way for women to speak, or perhaps because it is known who brought Joseph into the house. Similarly, in many places in the book of Job it speaks of Almighty G-d anonymously because the conversants know that they are speaking of Him. Similarly, in the verse, And he said to Abner, Why hast thou gone in unto my father’s concubine? the name of the speaker is not mentioned, and no reference is made to him at all in the above verse because it is known that he was Ish-bosheth. And it is already self-understood that the speaker in Verse 7 is Ish-bosheth, as he was the leader of the house of Saul. (R’dak.)
Ibn Ezra
"He brought to us" — [means] "my husband."
Sforno
ותקרא לאנשי ביתה, in order to justify her conduct. However, when she saw that Joseph had stopped running after leaving the room where she had waylaid him, and the fact that the people in her house had no reason to question Joseph who was acting perfectly normally, she told those people that Joseph had fled from her room and walked outside, something which actually corresponded to the truth as far as the facts were concerned. (verse 15) However, when relating what had supposedly occurred to her husband who had not been an eye witness to any part of the incident, she described Joseph’s behaviour as a flight not only from her room but also outside of it. (verse 18) In order to make her version of events believable she had to lie so that Joseph would be perceived as having tried to escape from the other members of the household. לצחק בנו, to take sexual liberties with us.
Or HaChaim
ותקרא לאנשי ביתה, she called the members of her household, etc. She was well aware that her husband put great faith in Joseph's righteousness and might not believe her accusation against him. Therefore she called the members of her household asking them, i.e. לאמור to tell her husband what had happened (according to her version). The members of her household who were jealous of Joseph who had risen above them would be happy to testify against him, saying: "look what happened as a result of your bringing this Hebrew man into the house." When she said לצחק בנו, "to make sport of us," she used the word us deliberately to indicate that they had all suffered from Joseph's elevated status, especially since Joseph was an alien. It is also possible that when Mrs Potiphar said ראו, look! that she invited the members of the household to testify only to what they had seen; the Torah describes this as לאמור ראו, "say what you have seen." She included her husband in her accusation in the event he would find excuses for Joseph's alleged behaviour.
Rabbeinu Bahya
ראו! הביא לנו איש עברי, “see here! he has brought to us a Hebrew man to make sport with us.” Mrs. Potiphar did not name the subject of “he brought,” i.e. her husband. The reason she did not mention her husband by name is related to a feminine tactic not to directly embarrass their husbands. The reason she described Joseph as איש עברי, “a Hebrew man,” was because both Joseph and his forefathers were considered as “newcomers,” even in the land of Canaan seeing they had immigrated from beyond the river Euphrates. לצחק בנו, “to make sport with us.” The term is one used for sexual license such as in Proverbs 10,23: “just as to a fool carnality is like a sport, etc.” בא אלי לשכב עמי, “he came to me in order to have sexual intercourse with me.” She inflated her ego, claiming that Joseph had initiated the request to have sex with her, whereas she had initiated the request to be intimate with Joseph. According to Midrash Tanchuma Vayeshev 6, the above words are an illustration of why Solomon warned in Kohelet 7,26: “and I have discovered that a woman whose heart is snares and nets is worse than death.” Rabbi Yehudah son of Shalom added: “there is no worse cause of sin than woman; whereas we find that three thousand Jewish males were slain for having worshipped the golden calf, (Exodus 32,28), twenty-four thousand Jewish males were killed due to the seduction by the Mobaite and Midianite women reported in Numbers 28,9”. What is the meaning of the words אסורים ידיה “her hands are tied?” If G’d had not tied woman’s hands she would accost man in the marketplace demanding that he have carnal relations with her. Kohelet continues by saying that “he who is pleasing to G’d will escape the machinations of such a woman whereas the sinner will be trapped by her.” The “man pleasing to G’d” is a reference to Joseph who escaped the wife of Potiphar, where the “sinner” is a reference to Zimri, prince of the tribe of Shimon, who slept with Cosbi the Midianite during the encounter described in Numbers. When G’d created Chavah, (first woman) He had said to Himself: “which part of Adam shall I use to make into woman? If I use the head she will be of haughty spirit. If I use Adam’s eyes as raw material she will possess insatiable curiosity. If I create her from part of Adam’s mouth she will babble interminably. If I construct her out of part of Adam’s ear, she will turn out to be extremely inquisitive. If I create her out of Adam’s hands, she may turn out to be a thief, whereas if I construct her from part of Adam’s legs, she will constantly roam outside her house. What did G’d do? He formed Chavah from the rib, a place well hidden from Adam’s exterior so that she would be chaste and remain primarily indoors. In spite of the fact that G’d took care not to construct Chavah from one of the organs which would made her prone to the afore-mentioned character weaknesses, we find that she possessed these weaknesses after all. She is described as haughty in Isaiah 3 16, “because the daughters of Zion are so vain and walk with their heads thrown back, with roving eyes, and with mincing gait, etc.” Although G’d did not use part of Adam’s eyes as raw material from which to form Chavah we still find that she was insatiably curious as the prophet records her as possessing “roving eyes.” We also find that the Torah writes (Genesis 3,6) “the woman saw that the tree was good to eat and alluring for the eyes.” Even though G’d did not utilise any of Adam’s hands to create woman she still became a thief as the Torah writes (Genesis 30,15) “Rachel stole the teraphim.” Even though G’d did not use any part of Adam’s ears in order to make Chavah, she became unduly curious as we know from Sarah who is reported as listening to the conversation between Avraham and the angels “at the entrance to the tent” in Genesis 18,10. Even though G’d also did not use any part of Adam’s legs or feet to make Chavah, she still developed the tendency to roam outside her home as we know from Dinah, the daughter of Yaakov and Leah of whom the Torah reports that “she went out to look around amongst the girls of the country”’ (Genesis 34,1). Dinah’s mother Leah has also been described as leaving her home needlessly when the Torah writes (Genesis 30,15) “Leah went out, etc.” We know that Leah was babbling when the Torah describes her as accusing her sister Rachel of taking her husband away from her (Genesis 30,15), an accusation which was quite unwarranted. All this happened although G’d had not made Chavah from any part of Adam’s mouth.
Tur HaArokh
ראו הביא לנו איש עברי, “see here! He brought us a Hebrew man.” Mrs. Potiphar referred to the “Hebrew” as universally known antagonists of the Egyptians, a reason why the Egyptians would not acquire “Hebrews” as slaves, except to work in the vineyards and other menial occupations in the fields. They were never allowed into the homes of upper class Egyptians. Mrs Potiphar voiced her disgust with her husband who not only had taken a slave of such parentage into their house, but had even elevated him to be the most powerful person in the whole household. It was not surprising therefore that an עברי slave who had been promoted to such a position would begin to take advantage of it and treat all of us as his inferiors, abusing us, as he has just tried to do with me. She deliberately left out a direct reference to her husband, as she wanted to insure that the members of the household would support her.
And it came to pass, when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment by me, and fled, and got him out."
verse value 2204
Insights
Verse structure: 11 words, 52 letters. The shortest word is "and·it·was" (וַיְהִ֣י, 4 letters) and the longest is "that·I·raised" (כִּֽי־הֲרִימֹ֥תִי, 8 letters). 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Genesis. Unique to this verse in Genesis (hapax): "when·he·heard" (כְשׇׁמְע֔וֹ), "that·I·raised" (כִּֽי־הֲרִימֹ֥תִי). 11 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·it·was" (root היה, 313x in Genesis); "and·I·called" (root קרא, 123x in Genesis); "and·went·out" (root יצא, 77x in Genesis). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'and·I·called', dividing the verse into phrases of 5 and 6 words. Full calculation: וַיְהִ֣י [and·it·was] (31) + כְשׇׁמְע֔וֹ [when·he·heard] (436) + כִּֽי־הֲרִימֹ֥תִי [that·I·raised] (695) + קוֹלִ֖י [my·voice] (146) + וָאֶקְרָ֑א [and·I·called] (308) + וַיַּעֲזֹ֤ב [and·left] (95) + בִּגְדוֹ֙ [his·garment] (15) + אֶצְלִ֔י [beside·me] (131) + וַיָּ֖נׇס [and·fled] (126) + וַיֵּצֵ֥א [and·went·out] (107) + הַחֽוּצָה [outside] (114) = 2204.
Onkelos
And it came to pass that when he heard that I raised my voice and cried out, he left his garment beside me and fled and went out to the street."
Chizkuni
ויעזב את בגדו אצלי, “he left his outer garment in my hands;” in preparation of raping me. He was not able o retrieve it until I started yelling, when he decided to flee.
Daat Zkenim
וינס ויוצא החוצה, “he fled, leaving the house.” As a reward for Joseph’s fleeing the presence of his master’s wife on that occasion, G–d told him that He would reward him when the sea of reeds fled at the approach of Joseph’s coffin when the Israelites were facing the sea with the Egyptians threatening them from behind. (Tanchuma on parshat Nasso, section 30, interprets Psalms: 114,3: הים ראה וינוס, “the sea saw and fled” as meaning just that.)
And she spoke to him according to these words, saying: "The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought to us, came in to me to mock me.
verse value 2894 — לָּ֖נוּ = 86 (Elohim)
Insights
Verse structure: 12 words, 53 letters. Notable word values: "to·us" (לָּ֖נוּ) = 86, equal to Elohim. The shortest word is "me" (בִּֽי, 2 letters) and the longest is "whom·you·brought" (אֲשֶׁר־הֵבֵ֥אתָ, 7 letters). 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Genesis. Unique to this verse in Genesis (hapax): "and·spoke" (וַתְּדַבֵּ֣ר), "came·to·me" (בָּֽא־אֵלַ֞י), "whom·you·brought" (אֲשֶׁר־הֵבֵ֥אתָ). The root דבר appears 2 times in this verse. 10 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "saying" (root אמר, 604x in Genesis); "these" (root אלה, 301x in Genesis); "to·him" (root אל, 242x in Genesis). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'saying', dividing the verse into phrases of 5 and 7 words. Full calculation: וַתְּדַבֵּ֣ר [and·spoke] (612) + אֵלָ֔יו [to·him] (47) + כַּדְּבָרִ֥ים [according·to·the·words] (276) + הָאֵ֖לֶּה [these] (41) + לֵאמֹ֑ר [saying] (271) + בָּֽא־אֵלַ֞י [came·to·me] (44) + הָעֶ֧בֶד [the·servant] (81) + הָֽעִבְרִ֛י [the·Hebrew] (287) + אֲשֶׁר־הֵבֵ֥אתָ [whom·you·brought] (909) + לָּ֖נוּ [to·us] (86) + לְצַ֥חֶק [to·mock] (228) + בִּֽי [me] (12) = 2894.
Onkelos
And she spoke to him according to these words, saying, "The Hebrew servant whom you brought to us came in to me to mock me.
Rashi
בא אלי —The sentence means: the Hebrew servant whom thou hast brought unto us came to me to have his sport with me.
Or HaChaim
ותדבר אליו.לאמור, She spoke to him…saying. The word לאמור here is meant as a reference to the testimony which the members of the household would be willing to supply. Potiphar's anger was not so much directed at Joseph but at the fact that his wife was able to reinforce her accusations by calling the members of the household as witnesses. This is why the Torah writes: "when his master heard the words of his wife which she spoke to him לאמור כדברים האלה." The Torah did not need to write more than: "when his master heard the words of his wife." We are meant to realise that Potiphar only became angry after לאמור, i.e. that there were independent witnesses supporting his wife's tale. לאמור כדברים האלה, to corroborate such words. Potiphar did not believe his wife. Since the accuser was his own wife, however, he had to make some gesture otherwise his wife would have been publicly discredited. This is why Potiphar did not discipline Joseph nor had him executed, the normal penalty for a slave who dared to aspire to the wife of his master.
Tur HaArokh
כדברים האלה, “words similar to these.” According to Rashi, a reference to “pillow” talk between Mrs Potiphar and her husband. She considered the timing appropriate to relate to her husband matters pertaining to what she described as Joseph’s sexual advances to her. Nachmanides queries this in light of the Midrashim that teach us that Potiphar had become impotent as a punishment for trying to indulge his homosexual fantasies by using Joseph as his partner. Furthermore, it seems unlikely that Mrs Potiphar would reveal intimate details about Joseph to her husband, details the knowledge of which would incriminate her. If she had accused Joseph of raping her, he would be guilty of execution, so why did Potiphar not have him executed? Moreover, why had she not cried out before Joseph could perpetrate his evil intention? She only raised a fuss after the event! This would give her husband the right to execute her! She only had to tell her husband that Joseph was getting ready to rape her! Perhaps both the Midrash upon which Rashi based himself, and his own understanding of the words עניני תשמיש, is not to be understood literally, but refers to Mrs Potiphar describing fondling of her by Joseph, not his sleeping with her. It is possible that Potiphar, in order to suppress the scandal, did not execute Joseph, as his reputation as a husband cuckolded by a Hebrew slave would have resulted in his becoming a laughing stock among his peers. It is also possible that Potiphar’s fondness of Joseph was such that he could not bear to kill him. Looking at the plain meaning of the text, we do not need all of these convoluted explanations (based on the extraneous letter כ in front of the word דברים), and the meaning is the same as if the Torah had written הדברים האלה, “these matters.” Alternately, the Torah hints, that as soon as Potiphar heard the story of his wife about what Joseph was supposed to have done to her, i.e. her words, not necessarily the true events, he did not believe her, having faith in Joseph’s uprightness, and, seeing that he had to save face, he incarcerated Joseph instead of executing him, thus saving face for his wife also.
And it came to pass, when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spoke to him, saying: "After this manner did your servant to me"; that his wrath was kindled.
verse value 4025
Insights
Verse structure: 16 words, 64 letters. The shortest word is "to·me" (לִ֖י, 2 letters) and the longest is "the·words·of" (אֶת־דִּבְרֵ֣י, 6 letters). 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in Genesis. Unique to this verse in Genesis (hapax): "his·anger" (אַפּֽוֹ). The root דבר appears 3 times in this verse. 14 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "saying" (root אמר, 604x in Genesis); "and·it·was" (root היה, 313x in Genesis); "which" (root אשר, 313x in Genesis). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'your·servant', dividing the verse into phrases of 14 and 2 words.
Onkelos
And it came to pass that when his master heard the words of his wife that she spoke to him, saying, "Your servant did to me according to these things," his anger burned.
Rashi
ויהי כשמע אדניו AND IT CAME TO PASS WHEN HIS LORD HEARD etc. — She said this when he was alone with her, caressing her. This is what she meant by כדברים האלה “things like these did thy servant do to me” — caresses such as these.
Ramban
AND IT CAME TO PASS, WHEN THE MASTER HEARD. She told him about it at the time of conjugal intimacy. Matters such as these did your servant to me, i.e., matters of intimacy such as these. So says Rashi. So also did they say in Bereshith Rabbah:10. “Rabbi Abahu said, ‘She said it to him at the time of conjugal relations.’”Now I wonder. Joseph’s master was a castrate, who had married his wife during his youth, and the Rabbis expounded, “ ‘Sris’ (a captain of) Pharaoh — this teaches us that he bought Joseph for carnal purposes only, but the Holy One, blessed be He, caused Joseph’s master to become castrated.” Moreover, how would she dare discredit herself and become loathsome in the eyes of her husband by telling him that she had committed adultery, whether by force or with acquiescence, which would have merited mortal punishment, for why did she not cry out at the outset, so that he should run away, as she did at the end? Now to the men of her house she said, He came unto me to lie with me, here. but not that he lay with her, only that he came to do so, but she cried out and he fled. And surely she would hide the matter from her husband. And should you say that she told him so in order that his anger be kindled against him and that he should kill him, [it would have been sufficient for this purpose that she say that he attempted to violate her, for] any servant that attempts to violate his master’s wife deserves the death penalty! It is possible that they intended to explain the expression, Matters such as these, as meaning matters of intimacy, meaning, exposing and caressing but not actual intimacy, as his master had become physically castrate, having been visited by a disease which resulted in a lack of desire for conjugal relations, as is the case with a shachuf. In line with the literal interpretation of Scripture there is no need for all this, for the Hebrew letter kaph, in the word kadvarim, is not for the purpose of expressing comparison to other matters. Instead its meaning is “these things.” e., only to indicate approximation, and here meaning: “matters as these, more or less.” A similar usage [of the letter kaph is found in these verses]: And she told her mother’s house ‘kadvarim ha’eileh’ (according to these words); And when he had spoken unto me ‘kadvarim ha’eileh’ (according to these words) I set my face toward the ground. There are many similar verses. It may be that the verse is saying that when his master heard his wife’s words which she told him — “Your servant did unto me such matters as these which I had immediately related to the men of the house” — then his anger was kindled. It is possible that the kaph is here used for exaggeration, similar to its use in the verses: Why speaketh my lord ‘kadvarim ha’eileh’ (such words as these)? And there have befallen me such things as these (‘ka’eileh’)? Now due to his master’s love for Joseph he did not kill him, or it was a miracle of G-d, or knowing Joseph’s righteousness, he doubted her words. Similarly the Rabbis said in Bereshith Rabbah: “The master said to Joseph, ‘I know this charge against you is false, but lest a stigma fall on my children, ” [I will put you in prison].’”
Ibn Ezra
"And his anger burned" — yet even so he did not kill Joseph, because the matter was uncertain in his mind.
And Joseph's master took him, and put him into the prison, the place where the king's prisoners were bound; and he was there in the prison.
verse value 4377
Insights
Verse structure: 14 words, 66 letters. The shortest word is "him" (אֹת֗וֹ, 3 letters) and the longest is "where·the·prisoners·of" (אֲשֶׁר־אֲסִירֵ֥י, 8 letters). Words sharing gematria 270: the·prison, the·prison. 3 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Genesis. Unique to this verse in Genesis (hapax): "and·put·him" (וַֽיִּתְּנֵ֙הוּ֙), "where·the·prisoners·of" (אֲשֶׁר־אֲסִירֵ֥י), "and·he·was·there" (וַֽיְהִי־שָׁ֖ם). The root סהר appears 2 times in this verse. 13 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·he·was·there" (root היה, 313x in Genesis); "into·house·of" (root אל, 242x in Genesis); "Joseph" (root יוסף, 156x in Genesis). First appearance of the root סהר ("the·prison") in Genesis. The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'confined', dividing the verse into phrases of 11 and 3 words. Full calculation: וַיִּקַּח֩ [and·took] (124) + אֲדֹנֵ֨י [master·of] (65) + יוֹסֵ֜ף [Joseph] (156) + אֹת֗וֹ [him] (407) + וַֽיִּתְּנֵ֙הוּ֙ [and·put·him] (477) + אֶל־בֵּ֣ית [into·house·of] (443) + הַסֹּ֔הַר [the·prison] (270) + מְק֕וֹם [the·place·of] (186) + אֲשֶׁר־אֲסִירֵ֥י [where·the·prisoners·of] (782) + הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ [the·king] (95) + אֲסוּרִ֑ים [confined] (317) + וַֽיְהִי־שָׁ֖ם [and·he·was·there] (371) + בְּבֵ֥ית [in·house·of] (414) + הַסֹּֽהַר [the·prison] (270) = 4377.
Onkelos
And Joseph's master took him and put him in the prison house, the place where the king's prisoners were imprisoned, and he remained there in the prison house.
Ramban
AND HE PUT HIM INTO PRISON, THE PLACE WHERE THE KING’s PRISONERS WERE BOUND. Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra says that the verse itself explains that a beth haso’ar (prison) is “a place where the king’s prisoners were bound.” The reason this is stated in the verse itself is that beth haso’ar is an Egyptian word, for it is the style of Scripture to explain foreign words just as, they cast pur, that is the lot. This interpretation is of no significance. Rather, And he put him into the prison, means that he put him into a certain prison recognized as the royal prison, which was the place where the king’s prisoners were bound. The sense of the verse is thus to state that this was the cause of the butler and the baker being imprisoned with him. It is possible that the term, “the king’s prisoners,” means his servants and attendants who have sinned against him in matters of state, as other prisoners of the people sentenced by judges and officers were placed in another prison house. Scripture relates that they placed Joseph in the king’s prison because of his master’s love for Joseph, all of which was caused by G-d. Linguists explain sohar as an arched chamber, similar in expression to, agan hasohar (a round goblet). In my opinion it is an underground house having a small opening above ground, through which the prisoners are lowered and from which they have light. The word sohar is thus derived from the word sihara (light) in Aramaic, just as in Hebrew, Scripture says; A transparency (‘tzohar’) shalt thou make to the ark, the word tzohar being derived from tzaharayim (mid-day — when the light reaches its zenith). The difference between tzohar and sohar is that tzohar connotes an abundance of light, while sohar connotes minimal light.
Ibn Ezra
"The house of the sohar" — we do not know whether this is a Hebrew word or an Egyptian word, since the text goes on to explain what it is, just as "ha-achashteranim" is a Persian word and the text explains that these are "the sons of the ramachim" (Esther 8:10).
Chizkuni
ויתנהו אל בית הסוהר, “he put him in (the) jail.” He was not guilty of the death penalty as there had been no witness to the alleged rape attempt. In such cases the standard penalty was to be incarcerated. אסורי המלך, “the King’s prisoners;” the spelling here is with the letter ו, although we are to read the word as if it had been written with the letter י instead of the letter ו. We found an interesting Midrash, according to which when Joseph was brought before the King, the angel Gavriel, having assumed the guise of a human being said to the King: “if it pleases Your Majesty may the garments of both the accused and the accuser be examined for evidence. If the woman’s garment show tears it is clear that the accused has tried to rape her. If only Joseph’s clothing has been torn, it is clear that his mistress attempted to seduce him by force. Gavriel’s suggestion was accepted and that was the reason why Joseph was not convicted of the death penalty. He could not be released unconditionally as it would have been too embarrassing for the wife of a highly placed minister at Pharaoh’s Court to have been declared a liar. He was judged by a court of the priests of Egypt, and out of gratitude for this, Joseph did not confiscate the lands of the priests during the years of the famine. (compare 47,22)
Rabbeinu Bahya
ויתנהו אל בית הסוהר, “and he put him in jail.” This is a kind of underground prison, a dungeon, a place where the mentally ill are kept nowadays (author’s time). These prisons have a small hole on top through which the prisoners are brought in and a little daylight is seen. The expression סוהר is similar to the word צוהר, which is used in Genesis 6,15 to describe the source of light in Noah’s ark. The exchange of the letters ס and צ respectively is not unique. The Torah next mentions that this was an extraordinary dungeon, reserved for the King’s highly placed servants if they had incurred his displeasure. This is why the Torah writes: “the place where the king’s prisoners would be kept locked up.” There were two jails within the same compound, the one reserved for the king’s prisoners being the “deluxe” accommodation. The main distinction between the two appears to have been the amount of daylight the prisoners enjoyed. The reason the Torah adds: “he (Joseph) remained there in the jail,” is in order to place these words next to the words ויהי ה' את יוסף, “G’d remained at Joseph’s side.” This teaches that even within the prison G’d’s שכינה, benevolent presence, remained with Joseph.(based on Mechilta Bo, 14). It is quite possible that these words were meant to allude to happenings in the future, and that the oppression which Joseph underwent in that dungeon foreshadowed the exile of the Jewish people which has also been compared to a בור, a pit, a dungeon. This may have been the origin of the prayer in which we ask יעלה ויבא, “may He arise and arrive,” a request voiced in our prayers on days when we are especially conscious of the absence of the Temple service and the benefits it had conferred upon the Jewish people. It is a reference to the ascent of the Shechinah. Anyone who finds himself imprisoned in a dungeon needs to literally “arise” in order to get out of there. Just as the Shechinah did not forsake Joseph when he was in jail, so the Shechinah will not forsake the Jewish people just because they are in exile. Just as the Torah wrote concerning Joseph (Psalms 105,18) ברזל באה נפשו, “an iron collar was placed around his neck,” it is also written concerning Israel in exile (Psalms 107,10) יושבי חשך וצלמות אסירי עני וברזל, “some lived in deepest darkness, bound in cruel irons.” Just as we read concerning Joseph ויט אליו חסד, “He endowed him with kindness,” (verse 21) so we find concerning Israel in exile that the prophet says (Isaiah 54,10) וחסדי מאתך לא ימוש, “but My kindness will not depart from you.” Concerning Joseph the Torah writes (21) ויתן חנו בעיני שר בית הסוהר, “He put his favour in the eyes of the prison warden.” We find a corresponding statement in connection with Israel in exile when the psalmist writes (Psalms 106,46) ויתן אותם לרחמים לפני כל שוביהם, “He made all their captors kindly disposed toward them.” Just as Joseph eventually was released from prison and rose to unprecedented power and prominence, so the Jewish people will be redeemed from their exile as is written in Daniel 12,4 “as for you Daniel, obscure the matters and close the book and seal it until the time of the end; let many muse and let knowledge increase.”
Tur HaArokh
ויתנהו אל בית הסוהר מקום אשר אסירי המלך, “he placed him in the jail in which the King’s prisoners were kept.” According to Ibn Ezra the term בית הסוהר is a specifically Egyptian term. This is the reason why the Torah found it necessary to explain the meaning of the term by writing that it was the place in which the King’s prisoners were kept. Nachmanides writes concerning Ibn Ezra’s observation that Ibn Ezra made no contribution at all with his excuse for the apparent repetition, but that the letter ה at the beginning of the word סוהר indicates that this was a very well known jail, the one specially reserved for the king’s prisoners This explains why the King’s baker and the King’s cupbearer were placed in that jail where they met Joseph. It is also possible that the wording in chapter 40,3 indicates that prisoners kept in that jail were dealt with by the King personally, and not by regular judges and courts. The Torah’s reporting that this was the jail Potiphar placed Joseph in, is an indication that Joseph was considered as a V.I.P. by his former master.
But Hashem was with Joseph, and showed kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison.
verse value 2612 — יְהֹוָה֙ = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 11 words, 45 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָה֙) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "chief" (שַׂ֥ר, 2 letters) and the longest is "the·prison" (בֵּית־הַסֹּֽהַר, 7 letters). 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in Genesis. Unique to this verse in Genesis (hapax): "his·favor" (חִנּ֔וֹ). 11 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "and·it·was" (root היה, 313x in Genesis); "to·him" (root אל, 242x in Genesis); "Hashem" (root יהוה, 165x in Genesis). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'kindness', dividing the verse into phrases of 6 and 5 words. Full calculation: וַיְהִ֤י [and·it·was] (31) + יְהֹוָה֙ [Hashem] (26) + אֶת־יוֹסֵ֔ף [Joseph] (557) + וַיֵּ֥ט [and·extended] (25) + אֵלָ֖יו [to·him] (47) + חָ֑סֶד [kindness] (72) + וַיִּתֵּ֣ן [and·gave] (466) + חִנּ֔וֹ [his·favor] (64) + בְּעֵינֵ֖י [in·the·eyes·of] (142) + שַׂ֥ר [chief] (500) + בֵּית־הַסֹּֽהַר [the·prison] (682) = 2612.
Onkelos
And the Word of Hashem was at Joseph's side, and He extended kindness to him and granted him favor in the eyes of the chief of the prison house.
Rashi
ויט אליו חסד AND CAUSED HIM TO FIND FAVOUR — so that he was liked by all who saw him. We have the expression חסד in a like sense in the Mishna (Baraitha): “a handsome bride liked by all (חסודה)” (Ketubot 17a).
Ibn Ezra
"The house of the sohar" — we do not know whether this is a Hebrew word or an Egyptian word, since the text goes on to explain what it is, just as "ha-achashteranim" is a Persian word and the text explains that these are "the sons of the ramachim" (Esther 8:10).
Or HaChaim
ויהי ה׳ את יוסף. G'd was with Joseph. The meaning of this verse is that when a human being enjoys divine protection people around him are also influenced by the fact that such a person enjoys G'd's help. It was natural then that Joseph should find favour in the eyes of those who came into contact with him. G'd had to especially influence the warden of the prison to take a liking to Joseph as a righteous person [and therefore innocent, the victim of a miscarriage of justice. Ed.]
Targum Yonatan
And the Word of the Lord was Joseph's Helper, and extended mercy to him, and gave him favour in the eyes of the captain of the prison.
And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners that were in the prison; and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it.
verse value 5897
Insights
Verse structure: 14 words, 64 letters. The shortest word is "chief" (שַׂ֤ר, 2 letters) and the longest is "all·the·prisoners" (אֵ֚ת כׇּל־הָ֣אֲסִירִ֔ם, 10 letters). 1 word in this verse appears nowhere else in Genesis. Unique to this verse in Genesis (hapax): "all·the·prisoners" (אֵ֚ת כׇּל־הָ֣אֲסִירִ֔ם). The root בית appears 2 times in this verse. 12 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "which" (root אשר, 313x in Genesis); "was" (root היה, 313x in Genesis); "there" (root שם, 180x in Genesis). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'the·prison', dividing the verse into phrases of 8 and 6 words. Full calculation: וַיִּתֵּ֞ן [and·gave] (466) + שַׂ֤ר [chief] (500) + בֵּית־הַסֹּ֙הַר֙ [the·prison] (682) + בְּיַד־יוֹסֵ֔ף [in·the·hand·of·Joseph] (172) + אֵ֚ת כׇּל־הָ֣אֲסִירִ֔ם [all·the·prisoners] (767) + אֲשֶׁ֖ר [which] (501) + בְּבֵ֣ית [in·the·house·of] (414) + הַסֹּ֑הַר [the·prison] (270) + וְאֵ֨ת כׇּל־אֲשֶׁ֤ר [and·all·which] (958) + עֹשִׂים֙ [were·doing] (420) + שָׁ֔ם [there] (340) + ה֖וּא [he] (12) + הָיָ֥ה [was] (20) + עֹשֶֽׂה [doing] (375) = 5897.
Onkelos
And the chief of the prison house placed into Joseph's hand all the prisoners who were in the prison house, and all that was done there was done at his direction.
Rashi
הוא היה עושה HE WAS THE DOER OF IT — understand this as the Targum does: it was done at his command.
Ibn Ezra
"And all that was done there" — some say that Joseph engaged in a craft or trade to sustain himself, as prisoners would do. But what seems closer to me is the plain meaning of the verse: all that they [the prisoners] needed was as if he himself had provided it, since he was the overseer over them all. And the very next verse attests to this.
Or HaChaim
הוא היה עושה, which he was doing. Onkelos translates: על מימריה הוה מתעבד, that what was done inside the jail was done at Joseph's instructions. If that was so, why does the Torah not say so outright, i.e. ועל פיו היו עושים? Perhaps the Torah wanted to hint that though Joseph enjoyed great authority within the jail, he did not use it to make the other inmates feel as if he dictated to them. He did not claim any special privileges for himself either. All this was evidence of his good character.
The keeper of the prison looked not to any thing that was under his hand, because Hashem was with him; and that which he did, Hashem made it to prosper.
verse value 4048 — יְהֹוָ֖ה = 26 (Hashem)
Insights
Verse structure: 13 words, 58 letters. Notable word values: "Hashem" (יְהֹוָ֖ה) = 26, the value of the divine name Hashem. The shortest word is "chief" (שַׂ֣ר, 2 letters) and the longest is "anything·whatever" (אֶֽת־כׇּל־מְא֙וּמָה֙, 9 letters). Words sharing gematria 26: Hashem, Hashem. 2 words in this verse appear nowhere else in Genesis. Unique to this verse in Genesis (hapax): "anything·whatever" (אֶֽת־כׇּל־מְא֙וּמָה֙), "and·whatever·he" (וַֽאֲשֶׁר־ה֥וּא). The root יהוה appears 2 times in this verse. 12 unique roots are used. Frequent roots: "in·which" (root אשר, 313x in Genesis); "Hashem" (root יהוה, 165x in Genesis); "does" (root עשה, 152x in Genesis). The etnachta (major mid-verse pause) falls on 'with·him', dividing the verse into phrases of 9 and 4 words. Full calculation: אֵ֣ין [not] (61) + שַׂ֣ר [chief] (500) + בֵּית־הַסֹּ֗הַר [the·prison] (682) + רֹאֶ֤ה [seeing] (206) + אֶֽת־כׇּל־מְא֙וּמָה֙ [anything·whatever] (543) + בְּיָד֔וֹ [in·his·hand] (22) + בַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר [in·which] (503) + יְהֹוָ֖ה [Hashem] (26) + אִתּ֑וֹ [with·him] (407) + וַֽאֲשֶׁר־ה֥וּא [and·whatever·he] (519) + עֹשֶׂ֖ה [does] (375) + יְהֹוָ֥ה [Hashem] (26) + מַצְלִֽיחַ [makes·successful] (178) = 4048.
Onkelos
The chief of the prison house did not look at any fault in what was under his hand, because the Word of Hashem was at his side, and whatever he did, Hashem caused to prosper.
Rashi
באשר ה' אתו — means BECAUSE THE LORD WAS WITH HIM (i.e. באשר means because).
Targum Yonatan
It was not needful for the captain of the prison to watch Joseph, after the custom of all prisoners, because he saw that there was no fault in his hands; for the Word of the Lord was his Helper, and that which he did the Lord made it to prosper.
Onkelos
Rashi
Sforno
Chizkuni
Rabbeinu Bahya