And Joseph’s master took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were bound: and he was there in the prison.
Parallel translations
- WEB Joseph’s master took him, and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were bound, and he was there in custody.
- BSB So Joseph’s master took him and had him thrown into the prison where the king’s prisoners were confined. While Joseph was there in the prison,
- NKJV Then Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were confined. And he was there in the prison.
- NASB So Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined; and he was there in the prison.
- NLT So he took Joseph and threw him into the prison where the king’s prisoners were held, and there he remained.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Joseph is imprisoned in the royal prison rather than executed.
Overview
Joseph descends again, from trusted overseer to prisoner, for refusing to sin. Notably, he is placed in the king's prison rather than put to death, a possible sign of restraint. This unjust imprisonment becomes the very path by which God will raise him before Pharaoh.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Gen 40:15For indeed I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews: and here also have I done nothing that they should put me into the dungeon.
- Dan 3:21–22Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
- Isa 53:8He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
- Gen 41:9–14Then spake the chief butler unto Pharaoh, saying, I do remember my faults this day:
- 1 Pet 2:19For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully.
- 2 Tim 2:9Wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, even unto bonds; but the word of God is not bound.
- Gen 40:1–3And it came to pass after these things, that the butler of the king of Egypt and his baker had offended their lord the king of Egypt.
- Ps 105:18–19Whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron:
- Ps 76:10Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 39:20 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.