Genesis 39:2

And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Benson Commentary

Genesis 39:2. The Lord was with Joseph — Those that can separate us from all our friends cannot deprive us of the gracious presence of our God. When Joseph had none of his relations with him, he had his God with him, even in the house of the Egyptian: Joseph was banished from his father’s house, but the Lord was with him. It is God’s presence with us that makes all we do prosperous. Those that would prosper must therefore make God their friend; and those that do prosper must therefore give God the praise. He was in the house of his master the Egyptian — He did not endeavour, as might have been expected, to effect an escape to his father, but demeaned himself patiently and faithfully in the station into which God’s providence had brought him.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

39:1-6 Our enemies may strip us of outward distinctions and ornaments; but wisdom and grace cannot be taken from us. They may separate us from friends, relatives, and country; but they cannot take from us the presence of the Lord. They may shut us from outward blessings, rob us of liberty, and confine us in dungeons; but they cannot shut us out from communion with God, from the throne of grace, or take from us the blessings of salvation. Joseph was blessed, wonderfully blessed, even in the house where he was a slave. God's presence with us, makes all we do prosperous. Good men are the blessings of the place where they live; good servants may be so, though mean and lightly esteemed. The prosperity of the wicked is, one way or other, for the sake of the godly. Here was a wicked family blessed for the sake of one good servant in it.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Joseph fares well with his first master. "Potiphar." This is a racapitulation of the narrative in Genesis 37:"The Lord;" the God of covenant is with Joseph. "In the house." Joseph was a domestic servant. "And his master saw." The prosperity that attended all Joseph's doings was so striking as to show that the Lord was with him. "Set him over" - made him overseer of all that was in his house. "The Lord blessed the Mizrite's house." He blesses those who bless his own Genesis 12:3. "Beautiful in form and look" Genesis 29:17. This prepares the way for the following occurrence.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

2. he was in the house of his master—Those slaves who had been war captives were generally sent to labor in the field and subjected to hard treatment under the "stick" of taskmasters. But those who were bought with money were employed in domestic purposes, were kindly treated, and enjoyed as much liberty as the same class does in modern Egypt.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

The Lord was with Joseph, with his gracious presence and blessing, as this phrase is taken here, Genesis 39:21 21:22 26:24.

He was in the house of his master: he doth not edeavour to make an escape to his father, but demeaned himself patiently and faithfully in the station into which God’s providence had brought him.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

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 (n) 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 (o).

(n) Seder Olam Rabba, c. 2. p. 5. (o) Jablonski de Terra Goshen, Dissert. 6. sect. 6.

Geneva Study Bible

And the {b} LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.

(b) The favour of God is the fountain of all prosperity.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

2. the Lord was with Joseph] This is the motif of the whole section. Jehovah stands by Joseph whether in trouble or in prosperity, in good report or in evil; cf. Genesis 39:3; Genesis 39:5; Genesis 39:21; Genesis 39:23. Joseph was one of those rare characters in which great personal attractiveness in manner and appearance was combined with high principle and good intellectual powers.

in the house] i.e. not sent out to labour in the field.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 2. - And the Lord - Jehovah, as usual, because the entire chapter is the work of the Jehovist (Tuch, Colenso), with the exception of a few alterations by the redactor (Davidson), or because, though the work of the Elohist, it has been modified by the Jehovistic editor (Bleek, Vaihinger); but more likely because the advancement of Joseph in Egypt was a special fruit of the theocratic promise which belonged to the patriarchal family (Hengstenberg, Quarry) - was with Joseph (cf. ver. 21; 21:20; 26:24; 28:15), and he was a prosperous man (literally, a man prospering); and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian - i.e. as a domestic servant. Genesis 39:2

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

In Potiphar's House. - Potiphar had bought him of the Ishmaelites, as is repeated in Genesis 39:1 for the purpose of resuming the thread of the narrative; and Jehovah was with him, so that the prospered in the house of his Egyptian master. מצליח אישׁ: a man who has prosperity, to whom God causes all that he undertakes and does to prosper. When Potiphar perceived this, Joseph found favour in his eyes, and became his servant, whom he placed over his house (made manager of his household affairs), and to whom he entrusted all his property (כּל־ישׁ־לו Genesis 39:4 equals ישׁ־לו כּל־אשׁר Genesis 39:5, Genesis 39:6). This confidence in Joseph increased, when he perceived how the blessing of Jehovah (Joseph's God) rested upon his property in the house and in the field; so that now "he left to Joseph everything that he had, and did not trouble himself אתּו (with or near him) about anything but his own eating."