Genesis 39:20

39:20 Joseph’s master took him and threw him into the prison, ¹  the place where the king’s prisoners were confined. So he was there in the prison. ² 

Genesis 39:23

39:23 The warden did not concern himself ³  with anything that was in Joseph’s ⁴  care because the Lord was with him and whatever he was doing the Lord was making successful.

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¹ tn Heb “the house of roundness,” suggesting that the prison might have been a fortress or citadel.

² sn The story of Joseph is filled with cycles and repetition: He has two dreams (chap. 37), he interprets two dreams in prison (chap. 40) and the two dreams of Pharaoh (chap. 41), his brothers make two trips to see him (chaps. 42-43), and here, for the second time (see 37:24), he is imprisoned for no good reason, with only his coat being used as evidence. For further discussion see H. Jacobsen, “A Legal Note on Potiphar’s Wife,” HTR 69 (1976): 177.

³ tn Heb “was not looking at anything.”

⁴ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.