Genesis makes clear two things about Joseph: (1) He was betrayed, misunderstood, slandered, and suffered for a long time, and (2) Yahweh was with him through the whole process. In the end, much like Job and other righteous sufferers, Joseph had no regrets. He named his firstborn Manasseh saying, “God has caused me to forget all my trouble and all the house of my father” (Gen 41:51).

God with Him

Genesis 39 states over and over that Yahweh was with Joseph even though he had descended to the depths. He was betrayed and enslaved, only then to be imprisoned precisely because he wouldn’t listen to the snaky voice of Pharaoh’s wife (Gen 39:10; cf. Prov 5–7).

Joseph was successful, even in prison, because Yahweh was with him (Gen 39:2). There’s a play on words here in Genesis 39. In the Hebrew Bible, Yahweh is regularly called “Lord” (אָדֹן), and in Genesis 39:3 Joseph’s Egyptian “lord” (אָדֹן) recognizes that Yahweh is with Joseph, causing him to flourish even in captivity.¹ The lord recognizes the LORD with with Joseph despite his circumstances.

Seemingly Forsaken

The author of Genesis is just as emphatic about the amount of time that passes during Joseph’s hard years. In the next several verses, Joseph enters into a long period where it would be very easy for him to say that God had abandoned him (Gen 39:6–20). Joseph does everything right, yet time passes (וַיְהִי אַחַר הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה, Gen 40:1), and Joseph sits in jail. Even after miraculously interpreting the dreams of the cupbearer and the baker, “the cupbearer did not remember Joseph. He forgot him” (Gen 40:23). Who knows how long Joseph was in prison before the cupbearer conveniently “forgets” him or how long he had already been separated from this father and family. We do know this: from the time the cupbearer forgot Joseph until he interprets Pharaoh’s dreams, “two whole years pass” (Gen 41:1). The point is simply this: Joseph suffered for a long time, and yet through it all Yahweh was with him.

He’s Still There

The author is clear that Yahweh was with Joseph in his prison years (Gen 39:21). It would have been easy for Joseph to assume that Yahweh had forgotten him, but the author says over and over “Yahweh was with him, and whatever he did Yahweh made him successful” (Gen 39:23). When Joseph interpreted the dreams of the cupbearer and the baker, Joseph said the interpretation he gave was given by God (Gen 40:8). He said the same to Pharaoh, denying that he himself had the power to interpret dreams: “Apart from God, no solid answer can be given” (Gen 41:16). Pharaoh recognized the Spirit of God with Joseph (Gen 41:37).

When Joseph named his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, both names were explained with reference to God’s sustaining presence through these hard years:

Joseph called the name of his firstborn Manasseh because “God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s house.” The name of the second he called Ephraim because “God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction” (Genesis 41:51–52).

Notice the wordplay on forgetting in the explanation of Manasseh’s name. God hadn’t forgotten Joseph. In the end, God caused Joseph to forget all the hardship of Egypt and the betrayal of his family.

Conclusion

Joseph’s story provides a striking example of what it looks like to walk through hard times faithfully. In chapters 27–35, Jacob had to learn the hard way to depend on God’s presence. Joseph is more locked in. There’s a black and white contrast between Jacob and Joseph, but the hope offered by both stories is the same.² Even when every appearance says God has forgotten his people, he has not. Jacob: “Surely Yahweh is in this place, and I didn’t know it!” (Gen 28:16). Joseph: “God has made me forget all my hardship and all my father’s house” (Gen 41:52).

Footnotes

1. More on this wordplay and how it seems to be recognized by the Old Greek translator of Genesis here: Wordplay in LXX Gen 39:20–21. The אָדֹן wordplay continues to develop in the story. In chapter 44, “Judah and his brothers” fall to the ground before Joseph, and they repeatedly address him as lord (אָדֹן, Gen 44:14). At this point, Joseph stands in the spot of Yahweh. Joseph is lord to his brothers, and within the story, for the reader, he represents the presence and power of the Lord Yahweh. Yahweh has exalted Joseph and placed his enemies under his feet, but not for their harm — for their good. For more on the reconciliation of Joseph and his brothers see this post: Illumination through Analogy: Law and Narrative. ↩
2. More on Jacob’s character here: The Meta-Perspective in the Conclusion to Jacob’s Story. ↩