Genesis 39:22

22 The warden put all the prisoners who were in the prison under Joseph's authority,[a] and he was responsible for everything that was done there.

Genesis 39:22 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 39:22

And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's hand all
the prisoners that [were] in the prisons
Who, as they were state prisoners, were a considerable charge; and this gave Joseph great honour, credit, and influence in the prison: and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer [of it];
not that he learned and exercised every trade the prisoners were of, to get a living by, which is the sense of some, as Aben Ezra relates; or that he in fact did everything that was done in the prison: but the meaning is, that he gave orders for the doing of everything, and there was nothing done without him; all that was done, as the Targum of Jonathan paraphrases it, he commanded it to be done; or, as Onkelos, all that was done was done by his word, that is, by his authority and command.

Genesis 39:22 In-Context

20 and had him thrown into prison, where the king's prisoners were confined. So Joseph was there in prison.
21 But the Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him. He granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden.
22 The warden put all the prisoners who were in the prison under Joseph's authority, and he was responsible for everything that was done there.
23 The warden did not bother with anything under Joseph's authority, because the Lord was with him, and the Lord made everything that he did successful.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Lit prison in the hand of Joseph
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