The Book of Genesis
Genesis Chapters 39, 40, 42, 47, 49

INTRODUCTION TO THIS STUDY

The purpose of this work is to guide you in Spirit Filled interpretation of this "Selected Study". As necessary we will provide outlines, historical backgrounds, note the purpose and focus of the text, and also provide the original Hebrew language definitions for the key words in the highlighted text. The English translation used is the King James (Authorized) Version, not because it is the best translation available, but because I just plain prefer it for study!

All Scripture text will be presented in normal cased lettering, and all notes within the text will be in TRUE TYPE FONT, as shown. This (I hope) will allow you to avoid confusion between God's Word and my notes. As I update this website, I will continue to embellish the text so that anyone using NETSCAPE 3.0 or MICROSOFT 3.0 or higher will be able to read the document easier.
 

An excellent site to study Biblical Hebrew is by Lee R. Martin, Biblical Hebrew. The following are excerpts from his Hebrew Dictionary (if you want more, go to his site):

ABSOLUTE: In Hebrew Greek grammar, a word is absolute when it stands independently and has no grammatical relation to other elements in the sentence. The most common instance in Greek is the genitive absolute.

ABSOLUTE STATE: The Hebrew absolute together with a word in the construct state expresses the genitive. Do not confuse with the infinitive absolute. Heb: king (absolute); horse of (construct) the king (absolute), i.e., the king's horse (genitive).

ACCIDENCE: That part of grammar that treats inflection; a subcategory of morphology.

ACCUSATIVE CASE: A substantive used as the direct object of a transitive verb is said to be in the accusative case. In Greek, the accusative is the case of extension. Heb: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Gen. 1:1). Gk: "He gave the right to become children of God" (John 1:12).

ACCUSATIVE ENDING: In Hebrew see DIRECTIVE h.

ACTIVE VOICE: In the active voice, the subject is the doer of the action that is expressed by the verb.

AKTIONSART: German for "kind of action."

ANARTHROUS: A word that appears without the article is anarthrous.

ARAMAIC: A branch of the northwest Semitic languages that is closely related to Hebrew. In the OT Masoretic text, Ezra 4:8-6:18; 7:12-26; Dan. 2:4b-7:28; and Jer. 10:11 are in Aramaic rather than Hebrew. Aramaic had become the common language of the Jewish people by NT times.

CASE: Case shows the grammatical relation of inflected forms such as nouns and pronouns to other words (nominative, possessive, objective cases).

CAUSATIVE VERB: A transitive verb that can be said to cause the action depicted in a corresponding intransitive verb. Ex: lay ("cause to lie") is the causative of lie; raise, the causative of rise.

DIRECT OBJECT: The word, phrase, or clause that is the primary goal or result of the action of the verb (cf. accusative case); the person or thing is directly affected by the action of the verb. Heb: "God created the heavens and the earth" (Gen. 1:1). Gr: "He grabbed him and began to choke him" (Matt. 18:28).

GENITIVE: The case that expresses possession or specifies a relationship that can be expressed in English by "of." In Hebrew this is called a construct relationship. The Greek genitive is the specifying case answering the question "What kind?" Heb: "the expanse of the sky" (Gen. 1:21). Gk: "a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins" (Mark 1:4).

GUTTURALS: The mute consonants whose sounds are produced when the front of the tongue approaches the palate of the mouth. Four letters in Hebrew, a h j and [ are the guttural letters (r has some guttural characteristics). Hebrew gutturals cannot be doubled, prefer a-class vowels, and composite shevas. In Greek, the guttural letters are g k and c also called velars, laryngeals, or palatals.

HITHPAEL: A verbal form in Hebrew that expresses intensive or emphatic action (classified by some grammars as causative action) and reflexive voice. For this emphasis in Greek, middle voice. Heb: "A group of adventurers gathered around [lit., gathered themselves around] him" (Judg. 11:3).

HOPHAL: A verbal form in Hebrew that expresses causative action and passive voice. Heb: "Let seven of his male descendants be given [hophal] to us" (2 Sam. 21:6).

IMPERATIVE: A verb or verbal mood that expresses command or makes a request.

IMPERFECT: In Hebrew, the form of the verb used to express action that is incomplete or unfinished. Heb: "What if they do not believe me" (Exod. 4:1). The Greek imperfect tense expresses incomplete, linear action in past time. Gk: "People were eating and drinking..." (Luke 17:28). Other regular uses of the tense include iterative, frequentative, inceptive, and conative.

INFINITIVE: A verbal noun that has characteristics of both verbs and nouns. In English usually introduced by to. Hebrew has both infinitive absolute and infinitive construct forms. Heb: "I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land" (Gen. 15:7). The Greek infinitive is used as a substantive, in subordinate clauses, with prepositions, and in epexegesis. Gk: "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain" (Phil. 1:21).

INFINITIVE ABSOLUTE: A form of the Hebrew infinitive that may function in a number of ways: to express certainty or intensification ("you will surely die," Gen. 2:17); to express repeated or continued action ("Be ever hearing," Isa. 6:9); as a finite verb ("They...broke the jars," Judg. 7:19); to express an emphatic imperative ("Remember the Sabbath day," Exod. 20:8).

MASORETIC TEXT: The vocalized text of the Hebrew Bible, prepared by a group of Jewish scholars around A.D. 700 to preserve the oral pronunciation of the Hebrew words.

MOOD: Mood indicates the manner in which the action is conceived (or its relation to reality). Moods are indicative, imperative, subjunctive, and optative. Mood may be expressed by finite verbs in Greek and by various means (form, words, or context) in Hebrew. Mode.

NIPHAL: A verbal form (stem) in Hebrew that expresses simple action and passive or reflexive voice. Heb: "She was given in marriage to Adriel of Meholah" (1 Sam. 18:19).

OPTATIVE MOOD: The mood of possibility and more doubtful assertion that expresses wish or desire. See also jussive and cohortative. Heb: "If only we had died in Egypt!" (Num. 14:2). Gk: "Maythe Lord direct your hearts into God's love and Christ's perseverance" (2 Thess. 3:5).

PARTICIPLE: A verbal form that has characteristics of both noun and verb. In Hebrew it represents characteristic, continual, uninterrupted action. Heb: "The Spirit of God was hovering over the waters" (Gen. 1:2). The Greek participle is widely used as a substantive, adjective, and adverb in phrases and clauses. Gk:"...in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him" (1 Peter 1:21).

PARTICLE: A unit of speech that is ranked as an uninflected word but expresses some kind of syntactical relationship or some general aspect of meaning. Some grammarians classify all conjunctions, prepositions, and negatives as particles.

PASSIVE VOICE: A voice form of the verb that represents the subject as receiver of the action. Heb: "This land was given to us as our possession" (Ezek. 11:15). Gk: "You were marked in him with a seal" (Eph. 1:13).

PERFECT/PERFECT TENSE: In Hebrew, this form of the verb is used to express completed action, whether in reality or in the thought of the speaker or writer. Heb: rm'v; is a perfect form of the verb and would be translated "he guarded." The Greek perfect tense, by contrast, represents a state of completion with abiding results and is often translated as a present perfect. Gk: The perfect leluke would be rendered "he has released."

PIEL: A verbal form in Hebrew that expresses intensive or emphatic action and active voice. Heb: "They destroyed the high places and the altars" (2 Chron. 31:1).

PREPOSITION: A word that shows relationships between its object and some other word in the sentence. Some common English prepositions are in, to, from, with, above, for, by.

PRETERITE: A Latin name for the past tense; it is the equivalent of the perfect in Hebrew and the aorist indicative in Greek.

PUAL: A verbal form in Hebrew that expresses intensive or emphatic action and passive voice. Heb: "There was Baal's altar, demolished" (Judg. 6:28).

QAL: A verbal form in Hebrew that expresses simple action and active voice; it is sometimes spelled Kal. Ex:"Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and some lentil stew" (Gen.25:34).

REFLEXIVE VOICE: Denotes an action that is directed back upon the agent or subject; expressed in Hebrew by the niphal and the hithpael, in Greek by the middle voice.Heb: "I have...kept myself from sin" (Ps. 18:23). Gk: "Then he went away and hanged himself" (Matt. 27:5).

ROOT: That part of a word left when all affixes are removed; the morpheme that carries the minimal unit of meaning in a word and can be common to several different words. The three consonants in Hebrew that ordinarily compose the basic uninflected spelling of a word are called the root letters. Occasionally a Hebrew word may have two or four root letters. Gk: the root dik- is common to dikaio", "righteous," dikh, "justice," and dikaiow, "to acquit." Also called "Lexeme."

STATIVE VERB, STATIC VERB: A stative verb is one that indicates a state of being or relationship rather than action. In Hebrew, its vowel pattern is different from that of verbs of action or motion. Greek statives include eijmi, ginomai, and uJparcw. Heb: "the hands...will be strengthened (2 Sam. 16:21). Gk: "Who, being in very nature God" (Phil. 2:6).

STEM: The noun or verb base formed by the addition of derivational affixes to the root. Thus, in Greek, doro- is the stem of the noun doron, "gift"; do- is the root, ro is the affix (in this case, a suffix). Also called base in recent grammars. In Hebrew, the term is used to designate verb forms that express certain kinds of action and voice; the major Hebrew verbal stems are qal, niphal, piel, pual, hithpael, hiphil, and hophal.

STRONG VERB: In Hebrew, the regular verb whose stem consonants do not change, i.e., remain unmodified in conjugation, in contrast to the weak verb. In Greek, a tense stem formed from the verb stem or root itself by vowel gradation.

VOICE: Voice is a modification of a verb that tells whether the subject of the verb acts or is acted upon. There are three voices in English, Hebrew, and Greek: active, passive, and reflexive.

WEAK VERB: In Hebrew, the verbs with gutturals or weak letters ( n in first root position, y and w in first or second root position, identical second and third root letters) as radicals, which produce modifications in the conjugation, in contrast to the strong verb. In Greek, a tense stem formed by adding a suffix to the verb stem or root.

If you discover obvious errors (as I am human, and do make mistakes), please let me know. Do not contact me to argue about the doctrinal differences that you may have with my teaching. I do not argue Theology with anyone, so all Legalists, cultists, and others with extremist views, please save your (and my) time. If you want to discuss your doctrinal differences, or share a viewpoint, please contact me at Didaskalos Ministries. I am not so arrogant as to think I know it all, or even 1% of what the scripture teaches.
 
 

1  And Joseph (Joseph was approximately 17 years old when he became a slave, and served Potiphar well until he was cast into prison, around 27 years old {see Gen 41.46; 40}. At 28 years old Joseph interpreted the dreams of the cup bearer and chief baker, and at 30 years old he was one of the most powerful men in the kingdom, nay, in the world. The principle? If you maintain Godly integrity, you will eventually be rewarded by the Father - though that reward may not come overnight)

was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, (Powtiyphar, means "one devoted to the sun god". He was an Egyptian unbeliever)

an officer (cariyc, nobleman, minister of state)

of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, (tabbach, chief of police)

an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmeelites, which had brought him down thither.
 

2  And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was (literally = "was caused to be")

a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.
 

3  And his master saw that the LORD was with him, and that the LORD made all that he did to prosper in his hand.
 

4  And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, (bayith, estate. Joseph was in charge of a large part of the Egyptian empire)

and all that he had he put into his hand.
 

7  And it came to pass after these things, that his master's wife cast her eyes upon (nasa', to lift up, to flirt with)

Joseph; and she said, Lie with me. (shakab, lie down so as to have sexual intercourse with)
 

8  But he refused, and said unto his master's wife, Behold, my master wotteth not (yada` + negative = does not know)

what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand;
 

9  There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?
 

10  And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, (This evil woman tempted Joseph for about 9 years. How many men would be able to resist this sexual advance for this long a time?)

that he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her.
 
 
 

1  And it came to pass after these things, that the butler (mashqeh, the King's cup bearer. He had the duty of tasting all the wine before the King drank of it to insure that it was not poisoned. He also introduced all visitors to the King. This was a job only given to nobility, and because he guarded the King he was the highest ranking nobleman in the kingdom)

of the king of Egypt and his baker ('aphah, the chief cook. This man was in charge of protecting the King's food from being poisoned, and he, too, was a nobleman)

had offended (chata', had failed or acted traitorously in duties. One of these men, assigned to protect the King, had plotted to poison the King)

their lord the king of Egypt.
 

2  And Pharaoh was wroth against two of his officers, against the chief of the butlers, and against the chief of the bakers.
 

3  And he put them in ward in the house of the captain of the guard, into the prison, the place where Joseph was bound.
 

4  And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he served them: (sharath, to serve as a slave. Imprisoned noblemen had the right to a slave, and Joseph was theirs)

and they continued a season in ward.
 

5  And they dreamed a dream both of them, each man his dream in one night, each man according to the interpretation of his dream, the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, which were bound in the prison.
 

6  And Joseph (Joseph was approximately 17 years old when he became a slave, and served Potiphar well until he was cast into prison, around 27 years old {see Gen 41.46; 40}. At 28 years old Joseph interpreted the dreams of the cup bearer and chief baker, and at 30 years old he was one of the most powerful men in the kingdom, nay, in the world. The principle? If you maintain Godly integrity, you will eventually be rewarded by the Father - though that reward may not come overnight)

came in unto them in the morning, and looked upon them, and, behold, they were sad.
 
 
 

6  And Joseph was the governor  (shalliyt, prince, prime minister)

over the land, and he it was that sold to all the people of the land: and Joseph's brethren (this was 17 years after they threw Joseph in the pit)

came, and bowed down themselves before him with their faces to the earth.
 

9  And Joseph remembered the dreams which he dreamed of them, and said unto them, Ye are spies; to see the nakedness (`ervah, lack of fortifications)

of the land ye are come.
 

12  And he said unto them, Nay, but to see the nakedness (`ervah, lack of fortifications)

of the land ye are come.
 

16  Send one of you, and let him fetch your brother, (Benjamin was the only full blooded brother of Joseph, and he wanted to see him)

and ye shall be kept in prison, that your words may be proved, whether there be any truth in you: or else by the life of Pharaoh surely ye are spies.
 

17  And he put them all together into ward three days.
 

18  And Joseph said unto them the third day, This do, and live; for I fear God: ('elohiym, the Godhead. This should have been a sign to the family that Joseph believed in God as they did - yet they did not catch the inference)
 

19  If ye be true men, let one of your brethren be bound ('acar, kept as hostage)

in the house of your prison: go ye, carry corn for the famine of your houses:
 

22  And Reuben (the elder brother who, because of his cowardice, Joseph was sold into slavery)

answered them, saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the child; and ye would not hear? therefore, behold, also his blood is required.
 

28  And he said unto his brethren, My money is restored; and, lo, it is even in my sack: and their heart failed them, and they were afraid, saying one to another, What is this that God hath done unto us? (the brothers were out of fellowship with God, so expected or believed that this incident was a punishment from Him)
 

36  And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, (Jacob had already considered Simeon to be as dead as he though Joseph was, because he had lost faith in God's provision)

and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me. (a sign of the carnal: self pity and selfishness)
 

37  And Reuben (Benjamin was the only full blooded brother of Joseph)

spake unto his father, saying, Slay my two sons, (another sign of carnality, stupid solutions. Reubin's instability as a believer kept him from seeing God's solution - why would Jacob want to kill a grandson when he lost a son?)

if I bring him not to thee: deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee again.
 

38  And he said, My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he is left alone: if mischief befall him by the way in the which ye go, then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave. (Jacob was willing to allow his family, around 70 people, to starve in order to maintain his own wants and desires)
 
 

27  And Israel (when "Jacob" is used, then he is out of fellowship, but when "Israel" is used, this is God's sign that he was in fellowship)

dwelt (yashab, to dwell in peace, happiness, blessing)

in the land of Egypt, in the country of Goshen; and they had possessions therein, and grew, (parah, grew in maturity as a believer)

and multiplied (rabah, to increase in tribal size due to procreation)

exceedingly.
 

28  And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years: so the whole age of Jacob was an hundred forty and seven years.
 

29  And the time drew nigh that Israel must die: and he called his son Joseph, (Joseph was called because he was in fellowship with God and was stable. This was what caused him to be chief shepherd years before for his father's flock)

and said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me; bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt:
 

30  But I will lie with my fathers, (refers to Abraham and Isaac)

and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burying place. And he said, I will do as thou hast said.
 

31  And he said, Swear unto me. And he sware unto him. And Israel bowed himself upon the bed's head. (ro'sh, staff, post)
 
 
 

1 And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you [that] which shall befall you in the last days. (refers to the Tribulational period on the earth)
 

2 Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father.
 

3 Reuben, (a prophecy of Israel from Malachi to the time of Christ)

thou [art] my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, (se'eth, potential of character. Reuben had great potential, could have been great in character, but blew it)

and the excellency of power: (`az, power, strength. Reuben had the potential to be strong, but sold out to sin instead of selling out for God)

(As firstborn, Reuben was to be Lord over all the other tribes, a Priest over the tribes, and to receive a double portion of inheritance from his father's estate. Because of sin he lost the kingship to Judah, the Priesthood to Levi, and the double portion went to Joseph to the tribes Ephraim and Manasseh. No one of Reuben ever amounted to anything)
 

4 Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to thy father's bed; (He actually went in to his mother, Bilhah, and had sex with her. See Gen 35.22-23)

then defiledst thou [it]: he went up to my couch. (James 1.8; Judges 5.15-16; Numbers 32.1-7; 1  Chron 5.1-2)
 

5 Simeon and Levi (a prophecy of Israel from Malachi to the time of Christ)

[are] brethren; instruments of cruelty (see Genesis 34.25)

[are in] their habitations. (Simeon never prospered, though Levi did become the priestly line. See Numbers 18.20-21)
 

6 O my soul, come not thou into their secret; (cowd, plotting, conspiracy)

unto their assembly, mine honor, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their self-will they digged down a wall. (See Gen 34.28, literally "they destroyed the city". Rather than punish just the evil doing Shekemalakites that raped their sister, they went beyond justice and punished the innocent with the guilty. God expects a just measure, and a righteous judgment. What they did was unGodly)
 

7 Cursed [be] their anger, for [it was] fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, (as they always worked together, God first divided them)

and scatter them in Israel. (God next scattered them by refusing to give them a covenant portion of the land (see Num 26.14; Josh 19.1-9). This had the effect of scattering the tribes out for their own protection. When together as a group they were unmanageable)
 

8 Judah, (prophecy of Israel at Second Coming of Christ)

thou [art he] whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand [shall be] in the neck of thine enemies; (Judah was to be a conquering tribe)

thy father's children shall bow down before thee.
 

9 Judah (Yehuwdah, the celebrated one. Judah was the ruling tribe, and the tribe from which Christ would come. See 2 Sam 7.8-16; Psa 89.20-37)

[is] a lion's whelp: (guwr, a lion cub. Signifies great speed and growing power)

from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up? (Prophetical of when Judah will not rule under Babylonian captivity)
 

10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; (literally = until peace comes. Refers to Second Coming of our Lord Jesus)

and unto him [shall] the gathering of the people [be]. (refers to the regathering of the Jews at the Second Advent of Jesus)
 

11 Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes:
 

12 His eyes [shall be] red with wine, and his teeth white with milk. (pictures the prosperity of the Millennial reign of Christ)
 

13 Zebulun (prophetic of Israel's scattering during the Church Age)

shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and he [shall be] for an haven of ships; and his border [shall be] unto Zidon. (Tsiydown, the name of a gentile son of Canaan. Used here to refer to the Gentiles with their false gods) (Zebulun was the refuge of Jesus when he was 12-23 years old. Zebulun established the Galilee-Zebulun area as a refuge, as the men of Zebulun were great soldiers. See Judges 5.18; 1 Chron 12.33)
 

14 Issachar [is] a strong ass couching down (rabats, reclining)

between two burdens: (normal for a jackass to carry a balanced burden)  (Issachar means "he will bring reward". Issachar had great potential power, but refused to use it)
 

15 And he saw that rest (menuwchah, comfort, prosperity)

[was] good, and the land that [it was] pleasant; and bowed his shoulder to bear, (literally "he became a slave". When the enemy came Issachar bowed down to the enslavement as long as he had prosperity. He was a sell out)

and became a servant unto tribute.
 

16 Dan (a picture of apostate Jews in the Tribulational Period)

shall judge (diyn, judge, rule. Dan will lead the tribes during the Tribulation)

his people, as one of the tribes of Israel. (Dan was the most evil tribe in Israel, a tribe from which the antiChrist will spring. See Num 10.25; Jud 18.30; Josh 19.37-49; 1 Chron 27; Rev 7 {where Dan is purposely omitted}; 1 Chron 2-10 {where Dan's genealogies are omitted})
 

17 Dan shall be a serpent (a reference to the antiChrist)

by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse (refers to the nation Israel)

heels, so that his rider (refers to the believer in Israel)

shall fall backward.
 

18 I have waited for thy salvation, O LORD.
 

19 Gad, (depicts the believing Jews during the Tribulation)

a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last.
 

20 Out of Asher (depicts the believing Jews during the Tribulation)

his bread [shall be] fat, (shamen, richness, prosperity)

and he shall yield royal dainties. (refers to mature believers that please God)
 

21 Naphtali (depicts the believing Jews during the Tribulation)

[is] a hind let loose: (see Judges 4.6; Rev 7.6; Mat 24.14; Rev 7.9, 14)

he giveth goodly words.
 

22 Joseph (prophecy of the Second Advent of Christ)

[is] a fruitful bough, [even] a fruitful bough by a well; (refers to the Word of God)

[whose] branches run over the wall: (the wall separated Israel from the Gentiles. In other words, Joseph's testimony went beyond Israel to the Gentiles)
 

23 The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot [at him], and hated him:
 

24 But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty [God] of Jacob; (from thence [is] the shepherd, the stone of Israel:) (prophecy of Jesus Christ)
 

25 [Even] by the God of thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb:
 

26 The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.
 

27 Benjamin (depicts the powerful rule of Christ during the Millennium)

shall ravin [as] a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.
 

28 All these [are] the twelve tribes of Israel: and this [is it] that their father spake unto them, and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them.
 

29 And he charged them, and said unto them, I am to be gathered unto my people: bury me with my fathers (Refers to Isaac and Abraham)

in the cave that [is] in the field of Ephron the Hittite