Genesis 39:1 - Exposition

And Joseph was brought down to Egypt. The narrative now preparing to recite the fortunes of Joseph in Egypt, which eventually led, through his elevation to be Pharaoh's prime minister, first to the salvation of the patriarchal family, 'and finally to their settlement in Goshen, the historian reverts, in accordance with his usual practice, to a point of time antecedent to the incidents contained in the preceding chapter, and makes a new departure in his story from the moment of Joseph's crossing into Egypt. And Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard (vide Genesis 37:36 ), an Egyptian ,—literally, a man of Mitzraim . This implies that foreigners were sometimes employed to fill responsible offices about the Court of Pharaoh. The phrase "is not a superfluous addition, as the population of Heliopolis, from remote times, included a considerable admixture of Arabians" (Kalisch)— bought him of the hands of the Ishmaelites ( vide Genesis 37:36 ), which had brought him down thither.