John Gill Commentary Genesis 39

And Joseph was brought down to Egypt
By the Ishmaelites, (Genesis 37:28) ; as in a following clause: and Potiphar an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian ;
as his name also shows, which signifies the fruit of Pot or Phut, that is, the son or grandson of one of that name ^F13 ; which might be common in Egypt, since it was the name of a son of Ham, (Genesis 10:6) , from whom the land of Egypt is called the land of Ham, (Psalms 105:23Psalms 105:27) (106:22) ; of this man and his offices, (See Gill on Genesis 37:36); he bought him :
that is, "Joseph", of the hands of the Ishmaelites, who had brought him down there ;
what they gave for him we know, but what they sold him for to Potiphar is not said; no doubt they got a good price for him, and his master had a good bargain too, as appears by what follows.

FOOTNOTES:

• F13: Onomastic. Sacr. p. 671, 672.

And the Lord was with Joseph Blessing him with his gracious presence, with discoveries of his love, and communion with himself, though destitute of the means of grace and ordinances of worship he enjoyed in his father's house; favouring him with bodily health, and protecting him from all evils and enemies:

and he was a prosperous man; in worldly things, and which was owing to the presence of God with him, and his blessing on him:

and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian; he continued there, and did not attempt to make his escape; or his employment lay chiefly, if not altogether, in the house, and herein he was prosperous, and continued to be so as long as he was in it;

the Jews ^F14 say, he remained here twelve months.

Near the pyramids built in the neighbourhood of Memphis, as is affirmed unanimously by the ancients, to this day is shown a hill, on which they say the house of Potiphar was built, whose servant the patriarch Joseph was, and some of the rubbish of the bricks are yet to be seen ^F15 .

FOOTNOTES:

• F14: Seder Olam Rabba, c. 2. p. 5.
• F15: Jablonski de Terra Goshen, Dissert. 6. sect. 6.

And his master saw that the Lord [was] with him
He knew nothing of the spiritual and gracious presence of God that was with him, he was no judge of that; but he perceived by the ingenuity of his mind, by his ready and speedy learning the Egyptian language, by his dexterity in business, and by the prudence and faithfulness with which he did everything, that he was highly favoured by the divine Being, and had great endowments bestowed upon him, and was an extraordinary person for his age:

and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand ;
and though Potiphar might have no knowledge of the true Jehovah, whose name he uses, yet he might have a notion of a supreme Being, and that all outward prosperity was owing to him; and knowing Joseph to be an Hebrew, as it is plain his wife did, (Genesis 39:14) ; and Jehovah to be the God of the Hebrews, he imputes all the prosperity that attended Joseph and his services unto his God.

And Joseph found grace in his sight In the sight of his master, as he did in the sight of God, he had favour both with God and man; his master had a high esteem of him, and a great value for him, and showed him much kindness and respect: and he served him ; readily, willingly, cheerfully, and faithfully; or he served him personally; his master took such a liking to him, that he selected him from the rest of his servants to wait on his person, and to be what we now call a "valet de chambre", whose business was to dress and undress him, to wait upon him at table

and he made him overseer over his house, and all [that] he had he put into his hand ; that is, after he had served him some time, in the capacity of a valet, he advanced him, and made him the head servant, or steward of his house, and committed all his business, cash, and accounts to his care, and put all his servants under him.

And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer
in his house, and over all that he had
How long he was in this office is not certain; there must be some time for the following observation; and during all the time he was in it, it was easily discerned, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake;

That is, much more than before; everything under his hands succeeded before, but now much more abundantly; Potiphar's family was blessed with health, his substance increased, he grew rich and wealthy, and abounded with all good things.

And the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had in the house,
and in the field;
His domestic affairs prospered, his fields brought forth plentifully, his cattle were fruitful and stood well; Everything belonging to him within doors and without happily succeeded, through the blessing of God upon it, and all for Joseph's sake.