20. Joseph's master took him, and put him into the prison--the
roundhouse, from the form of its construction, usually attached to the
dwelling of such an officer as Potiphar. It was partly a subterranean
dungeon
(Ge 41:14),
though the brick-built walls rose considerably above the surface of the
ground, and were surmounted by a vaulted roof somewhat in the form of
an inverted bowl. Into such a dungeon Potiphar, in the first ebullition
of rage, threw Joseph and ordered him to be subjected further to as
great harshness of treatment
(Ps 105:18)
as he dared; for the power of masters over their slaves was very
properly restrained by law, and the murder of a slave was a capital
crime.
a place where the king's prisoners were bound--Though prisons
seem to have been an inseparable appendage of the palaces, this was not
a common jail--it was the receptacle of state criminals; and,
therefore, it may be presumed that more than ordinary strictness and
vigilance were exercised over the prisoners. In general, however, the
Egyptian, like other Oriental prisons, were used solely for the
purposes of detention. Accused persons were cast into them until the
charges against them could be investigated; and though the jailer was
responsible for the appearance of those placed under his custody, yet,
provided they were produced when called, he was never interrogated as
to the way in which he had kept them.
JFB.
Outline
1 God is with Joseph
4 Joseph is made overseer in Potiphar's house
7 Joseph resists his master's wife's temptation
13 Jospeh is falsely accused
20 Joseph is cast into prison
21 God Is with him.
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