We all know the story of Joseph and his brothers. Sold into slavery in Egypt, he rises to prominence, eventually saving his family from famine. But let's rewind and look at the very beginning, at his arrival in Egypt, because even in those dark days, Joseph's character shines. Ginzberg, in his Legends of the Jews, draws on a wealth of rabbinic tradition to paint a vivid picture.
When Joseph was sold to the Ishmaelites, he didn't reveal his true identity. He kept quiet about being the son of Jacob, a man of status and power. Why? Out of respect for his brothers. He didn't want to bring shame upon them, even after they'd sold him! Even when the Midianites questioned him, he maintained the facade, claiming to be a mere slave. Isn't that incredible? One of the Midianites, perceptive as can be, even called him out, saying, "Thou art no slave, thy appearance betrayeth thee!" He threatened Joseph with death, but Joseph stayed true to his word. What incredible loyalty!
Arriving in Egypt, the Ishmaelite merchants couldn't agree on who should own him. They were so eager to possess him! So, they left him with a shopkeeper while they went to get more merchandise. And here's where hashem, God, steps in. God granted Joseph favor in the eyes of the shopkeeper. Everything the shopkeeper owned, he entrusted to Joseph. The shopkeeper prospered because of Joseph. According to the text, he was blessed with much silver and gold, and Joseph stayed with him for three months and five days.
Then, the wife of Potiphar (sometimes spelled Poti-phera), an officer of Pharaoh, caught wind of this handsome Hebrew youth. She had heard about him from her eunuchs. She told her husband about the shopkeeper's sudden wealth and the young Hebrew. She even suggested that the youth was stolen from Canaan. "Go," she urged Potiphar, "and sit in judgment upon his owner, and take the youth unto thy house, that the God of the Hebrews may bless thee, for the grace of heaven rests upon the youth."
So, Potiphar confronted the shopkeeper. "What is this I hear?" he demanded, accusing him of stealing people from Canaan. The shopkeeper vehemently denied it, sticking to his story that the Ishmaelites had left Joseph in his care. Potiphar had him stripped and beaten, but the shopkeeper wouldn't budge.
Next, Potiphar summoned Joseph himself. Joseph, showing respect, prostrated himself before this high-ranking official. Potiphar questioned him: "Art thou a slave or a free-born man?" Joseph replied, "A slave." Potiphar pressed further, "Whose slave art thou?" Joseph: "I belong to the Ishmaelites." Potiphar: "How wast thou made a slave?" Joseph: "They bought me in the land of Canaan."
But Potiphar didn't believe him. He had Joseph stripped and beaten too! Talk about injustice! Potiphar's wife, witnessing this, intervened. "Thy verdict is unjust," she told her husband, "for thou punishest the free-born youth that was stolen away from his place as though he were the one that had committed a crime."
Joseph, unwavering, stuck to his story. So, Potiphar threw him in prison until his supposed masters returned. All this time, Potiphar’s wife was thinking of ways to get Joseph into her own household. She wanted him to serve her rather than languish in prison. Potiphar, however, refused. “The law of the Egyptians does not permit us to take what belongs to another before all titles are made clear,” he explained, and Joseph remained in prison for twenty-four days, until the return of the Ishmaelites to Egypt.
Meanwhile, the Ishmaelites had heard that Joseph was the son of Jacob! They confronted him in prison: "Why didst thou pretend that thou wast a slave? See, we have information that thou art the son of a powerful man in Canaan, and thy father mourns for thee in sackcloth." Joseph was tempted to reveal the truth but held back for his brothers' sake. He repeated that he was a slave.
The Ishmaelites, fearing Jacob's revenge, decided to sell Joseph. They also needed the shopkeeper to clear them of any suspicion of kidnapping. So, they told Joseph to testify that they had bought him. He agreed, and Potiphar released him and dismissed everyone.
Potiphar’s wife, still determined to have Joseph, sent a eunuch to buy him from the Ishmaelites. They demanded a high price, but she insisted he pay whatever it took. The eunuch paid eighty pieces of gold but told his mistress he'd paid a hundred, pocketing the difference. Joseph noticed the deception but remained silent to spare the eunuch embarrassment.
And so, Joseph became the slave of Potiphar, an idolatrous priest. According to the narrative, Potiphar wanted Joseph for "a lewd purpose," but the angel Gabriel intervened, preventing him from acting on his desires.
Potiphar quickly noticed Joseph's piety. Whenever Potiphar was occupied with his priestly duties, Joseph would whisper a prayer: "O Lord of the world, Thou art my trust, Thou art my protection. Let me find grace and favor in Thy sight and in the sight of all that see me, and in the sight of my master Potiphar." Potiphar, impressed, came to believe that God was with Joseph. He even tested Joseph's supposed miraculous powers, and each time, Joseph delivered.
As a result, Potiphar entrusted Joseph with everything, except his wife. He treated Joseph not as a slave but as a member of his family. He provided him with education and better food, recognizing that Joseph was "worthy of a prince's place." Joseph thanked God for his improved situation. "Blessed art Thou, O Lord, that Thou hast caused me to forget my father's house," he prayed. He reveled in the freedom from his brothers' envy.
Free from worry, Joseph focused on his appearance, dressing well and taking pride in his presentation. But God cautioned him, saying, "Thy father is mourning in sackcloth and ashes, while thou dost eat, drink, and dress thy hair. Therefore I will stir up thy mistress against thee, and thou shalt be embarrassed." And so, Joseph's secret wish to prove his piety under temptation was about to be fulfilled, just as his forefathers had been tested.
So, what do we take away from this? Joseph's initial struggles in Egypt highlight his unwavering character, his loyalty, and his deep faith. He faced injustice with grace, choosing to protect his brothers even at his own expense. He trusted in God, and even in slavery, he found favor and eventually, great responsibility. And even when things were going well, he was reminded that true piety requires constant vigilance, a concept we can find echoed throughout the entire Tanakh.
It makes you wonder, doesn't it? How would we react in similar circumstances? Would we be able to maintain our integrity and faith in the face of such adversity? It's a powerful reminder that even in the darkest of times, our actions define us. And sometimes, those actions set the stage for even greater things to come.
When Joseph was sold as a slave to the Ishmaelites, he kept silent out of respect for his brethren, and did not tell his masters that he was a son of Jacob, a great and powerful man. Even when he came to the Midianites with the Ishmaelites, and the former asked after his parentage, he still said he was a slave, only in order not to put his brethren to shame. But the most distinguished of the Midianites rebuked Joseph, saying, "Thou art no slave, thy appearance betrayeth thee," and he threatened him with death unless he acknowledged the truth. Joseph, however, was steadfast, he would not act treacherously toward his brethren. Arrived in Egypt, the owners of Joseph could come to no agreement regarding him. Each desired to have sole and exclusive possession of him. They therefore decided to leave him with a shopkeeper until they should come back to Egypt again with their merchandise. And God let Joseph find grace in the sight of the shopkeeper. All that he had, his whole house, he put into Joseph's hand, and therefore the Lord blessed him with much silver and gold, and Joseph remained with him for three months and five days. At that time there came from Memphis the wife of Potiphar, and she cast her eyes upon Joseph, of whose comeliness of person she had heard from the eunuchs. She told her husband how that a certain shopkeeper had grown rich through a young Hebrew, and she added: "But it is said that the youth was stolen away out of the land of Canaan. Go, therefore, and sit in judgment upon his owner, and take the youth unto thy house, that the God of the Hebrews may bless thee, for the grace of heaven rests upon the youth." Potiphar summoned the shopkeeper, and when he appeared before him, he spoke harshly to him, saying: "What is this I hear? that thou stealest souls from the land of Canaan, and dost carry on traffic with them?" The shop-keeper protested his innocence, and he could not be made to recede from his assertion, that a company of Ishmaelites had left Joseph in his charge temporarily, until they should return. Potiphar had him stripped naked and beaten, but he continued to reiterate the same statement. Then Potiphar summoned Joseph. The youth prostrated himself before this chief of the eunuchs, for he was third in rank of the officers of Pharaoh. And he addressed Joseph, and said, "Art thou a slave or a free-born man?" and Joseph replied, "A slave." Potiphar continued to question him, "Whose slave art thou?" Joseph: "I belong to the Ishmaelites." Potiphar: "How wast thou made a slave?" Joseph: "They bought me in the land of Canaan." But Potiphar refused to give credence to what he said, and he had also him stripped and beaten. The wife of Potiphar, standing by the door, saw how Joseph was abused, and she sent word to her husband, "Thy verdict is unjust, for thou punishest the free-born youth that was stolen away from his place as though he were the one that had committed a crime." As Joseph held firmly to what he had said, Potiphar ordered him to prison, until his masters should return. In her sinful longing for him, his wife wanted to have Joseph in her own house, and she remonstrated with her husband in these words: "Wherefore dost thou keep the captive, nobly-born slave a prisoner? Thou shouldst rather set him at liberty and have him serve thee." He answered, "The law of the Egyptians does not permit us to take what belongs to another before all titles are made clear," and Joseph stayed in prison for twenty-four days, until the return of the Ishmaelites to Egypt. Meanwhile they had heard somewhere that Joseph was the son of Jacob, and they therefore said to him: "Why didst thou pretend that thou wast a slave? See, we have information that thou art the son of a powerful man in Canaan, and thy father mourns for thee in sackcloth." Joseph was on the point of divulging his secret, but he kept a check upon himself for the sake of his brethren, and he repeated that he was a slave. Nevertheless the Ishmaelites decided to sell him, that he be not found in their hands, for they feared the revenge of Jacob, who, they knew, was in high favor with the Lord and with men. The shopkeeper begged the Ishmaelites to rescue him from the legal prosecution of Potiphar, and clear him of the suspicion of man theft. The Ishmaelites in turn had a conference with Joseph, and bade him testify before Potiphar that they had bought him for money. He did so, and then the chief of the eunuchs liberated him from prison, and dismissed all parties concerned. With the permission of her husband, Potiphar's wife sent a eunuch to the Ishmaelites, bidding him to buy Joseph, but he returned and reported that they demanded an exorbitant price for the slave. She dispatched a second eunuch, charging him to conclude the bargain, and though they asked one mina of gold, or even two, he was not to be sparing of money, he was to be sure to buy the slave and bring him to her. The eunuch gave the Ishmaelites eighty pieces of gold for Joseph, telling his mistress, however, that he had paid out a hundred pieces. Joseph noticed the deception, but he kept silent, that the eunuch might not be put to shame. Thus Joseph became the slave of the idolatrous priest Potiphar, or Poti-phera, as he was sometimes called. He had secured possession of the handsome youth for a lewd purpose, but the angel Gabriel mutilated him in such manner that he could not accomplish it. His master soon had occasion to notice that Joseph was as pious as he was beautiful, for whenever he was occupied with his ministrations, he would whisper a prayer: "O Lord of the world, Thou art my trust, Thou art my protection. Let me find grace and favor in Thy sight and in the sight of all that see me, and in the sight of my master Potiphar." When Potiphar noticed the movement of his lips, he said to Joseph, "Dost thou purpose to cast a spell upon me?" "Nay," replied the youth, "I am beseeching God to let me find favor in thine eyes." His prayer was heard. Potiphar convinced himself that God was with Joseph. Sometimes he would make a test of Joseph's miraculous powers. If he brought him a glass of hippocras, he would say, "I would rather have wine mixed with absinthe," and straightway the spiced wine was changed into bitter wine. Whatever he desired, he could be sure to get from Joseph, and he saw clearly that God fulfilled the wishes of his slave. Therefore he put all the keys of his house into his hand, and he knew not aught that was with him, keeping back nothing from Joseph but his wife. Seeing that the Shekinah rested upon him, Potiphar treated Joseph not as a slave, but as a member of his family, for he said, "This youth is not cut out for a slave's work, he is worthy of a prince's place." Accordingly, he provided instruction for him in the arts, and ordered him to have better fare than the other slaves. Joseph thanked God for his new and happy state. He prayed, "Blessed art Thou, O Lord, that Thou hast caused me to forget my father's house." What made his present fortunes so agreeable was that he was removed from the envy and jealousy of his brethren. He said: "When I was in my father's house, and he gave me something pretty, my brethren begrudged me the present, and now, O Lord, I thank Thee that I live amid plenty." Free from anxieties, he turned his attention to his external appearance. He painted his eyes, dressed his hair, and aimed to be elegant in his walk. But God spake to him, saying, "Thy father is mourning in sackcloth and ashes, while thou dost eat, drink, and dress thy hair. Therefore I will stir up thy mistress against thee, and thou shalt be embarrassed." Thus Joseph's secret wish was fulfilled, that he might be permitted to prove his piety under temptation, as the piety of his fathers had been tested.
