Discovery BoxGenesis 39:20 
Context39:20 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 40:5
Context40:5 Both of them, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison, had a dream 3 the same night. 4 Each man’s dream had its own meaning. 5
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 “dreamed a dream.”
4 tn Heb “a man his dream in one night.”
5 tn Heb “a man according to the interpretation of his dream.”
