NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible | Page 81

Genesis 39:12  | 85
38:24 i  Lev  21:9;
Dt  22:21, ​22
38:25 j  ver  18
38:26 k  1Sa  24:17
l  ver  11
38:27 m  Ge  25:24
38:29 n  Ge  46:12;
Nu 26:20, ​21; Ru 4:12, ​
18; 1Ch 2:4; Mt 1:3
38:30 o  1Ch  2:4
39:1 p  Ge  37:36
q  Ge 37:25; Ps 105:17
39:2 r  Ge  21:20, ​22;
Ac 7:9
39:3 s  Ge 21:22; 26:28
t  Ps  1:3
39:4 u   ver  8, ​22;
Ge 24:2
v
39:5  Ge 26:24; 30:27
w
39:6  1Sa  16:12
39:7 x  2Sa  13:11;
Pr 7:15‑18
39:8 y  Pr  6:23‑24
z
39:9  Ge  41:33, ​40
a  Ge 20:6; 42:18;
2Sa 12:13
39:12 b  Pr  7:13
23 Then Ju­dah said, “Let her keep what she has, or we will be­come a laugh­ing­stock. Af­ter
all, I did send her this ­young goat, but you ­didn’t find ­her.”
24 About t ­ hree m
­ onths later Ju­dah was told, “Your daugh­ter-in-law Ta­mar is g
­ uilty of
pros­ti­tu­tion, and as a re­sult she is now ­preg­nant.”
Ju­dah said, “Bring her out and have her ­burned to ­death!”  i
25 As she was be­ing b
­ rought out, she sent a mes­sage to her fa­ther-in-law. “I am preg­nant
by the man who owns t ­ hese,” she said. And she added, “See if you rec­og­nize ­whose seal
and cord and ­staff ­these ­are.”  j
26 Ju­dah rec­og­nized them and said, “She is more righ­teous than I,  k ­since I ­wouldn’t give
her to my son She­lah.  l ” And he did not ­sleep with her ­again.
27 When the time came for her to give b
­ irth, ­there were twin boys in her womb.  m 28 As
she was giv­ing ­birth, one of them put out his hand; so the mid­wife took a scar­let ­thread
and tied it on his ­wrist and said, “This one came out ­first.” 29 But when he drew back his
hand, his brother came out, and she said, “So this is how you have bro­ken out!” And he
was ­named Pe­rez.  a   n 30 Then his brother, who had the scar­let ­thread on his ­wrist, came out.
And he was named ­Ze­rah.  b   o
Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife
39
Now Jo­seph had been taken down to ­Egypt. Pot­i­phar, an Egyp­tian who was one of
Phar­aoh’s of­fi­cials, the cap­tain of the ­guard,  p ­bought him from the Ish­ma­el­ites who
had taken him ­there.  q
2 The Lord was with Jo­seph  r so that he pros­pered, and he ­lived in the ­house of his Egyp­
tian mas­ter. 3 When his mas­ter saw that the Lord was with him  s and that the Lord gave
him suc­cess in ev­ery­thing he did,  t 4 Jo­seph ­found fa­vor in his eyes and be­came his at­ten­
dant. Pot­i­phar put him in c ­ harge of his house­hold, and he en­trusted to his care ev­ery­thing
he ­owned.  u 5 From the time he put him in ­charge of his house­hold and of all that he ­owned,
the Lord ­blessed the house­hold of the Egyp­tian be­cause of Jo­seph.  v The bless­ing of the
Lord was on ev­ery­thing Pot­i p
­ har had, both in the h
­ ouse and in the f ­ ield. 6  So Pot­i­phar left
ev­ery­thing he had in Jo­seph’s care; with Jo­seph in ­charge, he did not con­cern him­self with
any­thing ex­cept the food he ­ate.
Now Jo­seph was well-­built and hand­some,  w 7 and af­ter a ­while his mas­ter’s wife took
no­tice of Jo­seph and said, “Come to bed with me!”  x
8 But he re­fused.  y “With me in c ­ harge,” he told her, “my mas­ter does not con­cern him­
self with any­thing in the ­house; ev­ery­thing he owns he has en­trusted to my care. 9 No one
is greater in this h
­ ouse than I am.  z My mas­ter has with­held noth­ing from me ex­cept you,
be­cause you are his wife. How then ­could I do such a wicked ­thing and sin a
­ gainst God?”  a
10 And t ­ hough she ­spoke to Jo­seph day af­ter day, he re­fused to go to bed with her or even
be with ­her.
11 One day he went into the ­house to at­tend to his du­ties, and none of the house­hold
ser­vants was in­side. 12 She ­caught him by his ­cloak  b and said, “Come to bed with me!” But
he left his ­cloak in her hand and ran out of the ­house.
a  29 
Perez means breaking out.    b  30  Zerah can mean scarlet or brightness.   
38:24  have her burned to death! Judah’s
condemnation of Tamar is exceptionally
hypocritical and shows little compassion for
his daughter-in-law.
38:25 – 26  Judah acknowledges his own guilt
in keeping Shelah from marrying Tamar. Not
only does this justify Tamar’s unconventional
conduct, but it marks a turning point in Ju-
dah’s life. From this point onward in the nar-
rative, his behavior is very different. Without
knowledge of this event, it would be difficult
to explain why Judah, having sold Joseph into
slavery in Egypt, is later prepared to sacrifice
his own freedom in order to take the place of
Benjamin as a slave.
38:27 – 30  To identify the firstborn son, the
midwife ties a scarlet thread on the wrist of
Zerah (see NIV text note on v. 30). Yet before
Zerah is born, Perez breaks out in front of him
(see NIV text note on v. 29). Genesis has re-
corded a series of incidents in which younger
brothers usurp firstborn sons. Centuries later,
in the time of Samuel, the lineage of Perez
will replace the firstborn lineage of Joseph/
Ephraim, leading to the creation of the Da-
vidic dynasty (see Ps 78:67 – 72). The events of
ch. 38 take on great significance when viewed
in the light of God’s plan to redeem human-
ity through an offspring descended from Eve
through the line of Abraham, Isaac, and Ja-
cob. Ultimately, this is fulfilled in ­Jesus Christ
(Matt 1:1 – 16).
39:1 – 23  Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife. God is
with Joseph, in spite of his enslavement in
Egypt. Joseph’s loyalty to God, reflected in
his personal integrity, results in blessing for
Potiphar. This continues a pattern of God’s
mediat ing his blessing to others through the
line of patriarchs, beginning with Abraham.
However, Joseph’s integrity results in Poti-
phar’s wife falsely accusing him. Joseph is
once more the victim of injustice.
39:1 By echoing 37:36, this verse resumes the
story of the Midianites selling Joseph into
slavery in Egypt. one of Phar­aoh’s officials,
the captain of the guard. See note on 37:36.
39:2 – 5 The frequent references to the “Lord”
underscore that Joseph’s success comes from
God. The “Lord” prospers both Joseph and
those whom he serves. In light of God’s ear-
lier promises to bless others (12:3; 18:18; 22:18;
26:4), this presents Joseph as the “firstborn”
heir to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
39:6 – 10 Potiphar’s wife is attracted to Joseph
because he is handsome and successfully
manages her husband’s household. How-
ever, Joseph’s loyalty to his master, Potiphar,
prevents him from yielding to the sexual
advances of Potiphar’s wife. His faith in God
clearly influences his moral stance; to com-
mit adultery would involve sinning “against
God” (v. 9). Joseph does not exploit the trust
Potiphar placed in him, nor does he succumb
to the temptation of sexual gratification. He
recognizes that all wrongdoing offends God
(Ps 51:4).
39:11 – 18  This is the second time (see
37:31 – 33) in this short story of Joseph’s life
that someone uses one of Joseph’s cloaks to
deceive others. Potiphar’s wife exploits the
situation to the maximum. She emphasizes
Joseph’s foreign status by describing him as
a “Hebrew” (vv. 14,17; see note on 14:13). She
presents Joseph’s assault on her as an assault