Ostensibly, the lesson of this chapter is that if someone is with the LORD (whatever that means), he will do well in all of his endeavors. Whether that means being head slave for the Egyptian ruler or being in charge of the other inmates in prison, God helps his own. I mean, sure, I suppose he could free Joseph from slavery or from prison, but, I mean, well...why the crap doesn't God just free Joseph? If my best friend were the all-powerful creator of the universe, I would be pretty pissed that he can't even spring me from the joint after I was wrongly accused of attempting to "know" (in the Biblical sense) my boss's wife.
When [Joseph's] master saw that the LORD was with [Joseph] and that the LORD gave [Joseph] success in everything he did, Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. (39:2-4)
But while Joseph was there in the prison, the LORD was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. (39:21)
Gee, thanks, LORD. This is another of those instances where God's either impotent or mean. Like, if he's so buddy-buddy with Joseph, why doesn't He just make him ruler or Egypt or something? Why doesn't He, like, give him magical powers and, I don't know, make him not a slave? Unless He can't. Maybe God just doesn't have the same influence here that he had back in Dothan and Edom. Like, the Egyptians obviously respect him, and they respect his opinion of Joseph, but they aren't willing to overturn their local laws just because God said so.
What I want to know is, where are the floods? Where are the plagues? And I think Joseph ought to be asking the same questions. I mean, if God isn't willing to pull out the big guns in Joseph's defense, why should Joseph stay friends with this Guy?
Also in this chapter, Joseph comes so close to making an actual moral decision, but mucks it up by bringing God into it. What happens is that Joe, as noted above, finds favor in Potiphar's eyes, so Pot brings Joseph into his home and basically puts him in charge of the place. He's still a slave, mind you, but he is fed, and looked after, and treated with respect and kindness. And then one day, Potiphar's wife invites Joe to bed. He refuses:
"With me in charge," he told her, "my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing...?" (39:8-9)Wow. Someone in the Bible is showing actual compassion for another human being? Seriously? Maybe I had these guys all wrong. Maybe Joseph recognizes the pain he would cause by sleeping with his master's wife. Maybe he can sympathize with the pain Potiphar would feel when he realized that both his closest confidant and his wife betrayed his trust. Maybe he's not such a bad--oh, wait. There's more to that last line: "'How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?'" (Emphasis mine.)
I guess this is why modern sexual ethics are so fucked up. According to the Bible, having sex with your friend's wife isn't wrong because it hurts your friend, but because it makes God cry. I guess, concievably, if you belived that God was encouraging you to steal your friend's wife, that would make it okay, right? No matter what the real world consequences are, as long as you believe God approves, you think you're acting morally. Well, guess what? Morality isn't that simple. Actual morality relflects an obligation to other persons, not to an abstract entity with moral standards we can all agree are shaky at best. Not that I expected anything else from the Bible.
One last thing: presumably the Egyptians are less sexist than the Wherever-the-heck-Joseph's-from-ians, since they accepted Potiphan's wife's word over Joe's. I sure hope Joseph subjugates them and teaches them the way to treat their women properly, i.e., like property.
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