Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah

Ibn Ezra on Genesis 39/אבן עזרא על בראשית ל״ט

אולא ידע אתו מאומה כי אם הלחם. י"א שהוא כנוי לשכיבת אשתו וזה רחוק, ועוד כי אדוני יוסף סריס היה, והנכון בעיני שכל אשר לו היה בידו חוץ מן הלחם שלא היה אפילו נוגע בו בעבור היותו עברי, כי הנה מפורש "כי לא יוכלו המצרים לאכול את העברים לחם" (בראשית מג לב) כי פוטיפר ידע שיוסף עברי הוא וכן אשתו אומרת ראו הביא לנו איש עברי (בראשית לט יד):

1HE KNEW NOT AUGHT SAVE THE BREAD WHICH HE DID EAT. Some say that the bread which he did eat is a euphemism for a conjugal relationship.¹ However, this interpretation is far-fetched. Furthermore, Potiphar was a eunuch.². I.E. interprets seris paroh (an officer of Pharaoh) as Pharaoh’s eunuch. If he was a eunuch then the bread which he did eat obviously cannot refer to sexual intercourse. I believe that what this verse says is that Potiphar put Joseph in charge of everything that he had except for his bread, which Joseph was not permitted even to touch because he was a Hebrew, as we see from the verse because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews; for that is an abomination unto the Egyptians (Gen. 43:32). Potiphar knew that Joseph was a Hebrew. Potiphar’s wife similarly said, See, he hath brought in a Hebrew unto us to mock us (v. 14).³

בויהי יוסף יפה תואר. כאמו:

2AND JOSEPH WAS OF BEAUTIFUL FORM. Like his mother.

אלשכב אצלה. אפילו לשכוב במקום קרוב ממנה או להיות עמה לדבר שיחות:

1[TO LIE BY HER.] To just lie next to her,⁴ or to be with her, to converse with her.

אויהי כהיום הזה. משבוע אחד מהיום שהחלה לדבר לו שכבה עמי, או מחודש אחד, או אחר שנה תמימה והוא הנכון בעיני:

1AND IT CAME TO PASS ON A CERTAIN DAY. On the same day that she had first asked him to lay with her.⁵ It was on this same day a week later, or a month later or a full year later. The latter appears correct to me.

בלעשות מלאכתו. מלאכת הבית או הממון כי פקיד היה על הכל, ודרש ואין איש דברי יחיד:

2TO DO HIS WORK. To supervise the housework or to oversee his master’s wealth, for Joseph was in charge of everything. The Midrash pertaining to and there was none of the men⁶, 9, Joseph wanted to have intercourse with Potiphar’s wife but found himself impotent (Weiser and Krinsky according to one interpretation). Or the reference may be to Soteh 36b, that he wanted to have intercourse with Potiphar’s wife but his father’s image appeared before him and as a result Joseph refrained from sinning. Thus and there was none of the men of the house there within but his father’s image was there. is an individual opinion.⁷

אהביא לנו. בעלי:

1HE HATH BROUGHT UNTO US. That is, my husband.⁸

אויחר אפו. ואעפ"י כן לא הרגו כי בספק היה הדבר אצלו:

1THAT HIS WRATH WAS KINDLED. Potiphar nevertheless did not kill Joseph because he wasn’t certain as to the truth of his wife’s accusation.

אבית הסהר. לא נדע אם הוא לשון הקדש, או לשון מצרים בעבור שפי' אחריו ואמר מה הוא, כמו האחשתרנים (אסתר ח, י) שהוא לשון פרס ופי' שהם בני הרמכים:

1PRISON. We can not ascertain whether bet ha-sohar (the prison) is a Hebrew or Egyptian word in view of the fact that the Bible goes on to explain its meaning⁹. as it does with the Persian word ha-achashteranim (that were used in the King’s service) which is followed by the Hebrew bene ha-rammakhim (bred of the stud)¹⁰ is Hebrew for achashteranim. (Est. 8:10).

אואת כל אשר עושים. יש אומרים כי היה מתעסק באומנות שיחיה ממנה, כאשר הי' עושים האסורים, והקרוב אלי שפירושו כל אשר הי' צריכים כאילו היה הוא העושה כי פקיד היה עליהם, והפסוק הבא אחריו לעד:

1AND WHATSOEVER THEY DID THERE, HE WAS THE DOER OF IT. Some interpret this to mean that Joseph, like all the other prisoners, was engaged in work to support himself.¹¹ However, I believe that the meaning of our verse is: and whatsoever they had to do there he was, as it were, the doer of it, because he was their supervisor. The next verse bears out the latter interpretation.¹², which implies that Joseph did not actually do any work, but supervised the others.