Commento su Genesi 39:20

AND HE PUT HIM INTO PRISON, THE PLACE WHERE THE KING’s PRISONERS WERE BOUND. Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra says that the verse itself explains that a beth haso’ar (prison) is “a place where the king’s prisoners were bound.” The reason this is stated in the verse itself is that beth haso’ar is an Egyptian word, for it is the style of Scripture to explain foreign words just as, they cast pur, that is the lot.²⁵²Esther 3:7.
This interpretation is of no significance. Rather, And he put him into the prison, means that he put him into a certain prison recognized as the royal prison, which was the place where the king’s prisoners were bound. The sense of the verse is thus to state that this was the cause of the butler and the baker being imprisoned with him.
It is possible that the term, “the king’s prisoners,” means his servants and attendants who have sinned against him in matters of state, as other prisoners of the people sentenced by judges and officers were placed in another prison house. Scripture relates that they placed Joseph in the king’s prison because of his master’s love for Joseph, all of which was caused by G-d.
Linguists²⁵³Here referring to R’dak, who so writes in his Book of Roots, under the term sohar. explain sohar as an arched chamber, similar in expression to, agan hasohar (a round goblet).²⁵⁴Song of Songs 7:3. In my opinion it is an underground house having a small opening above ground, through which the prisoners are lowered and from which they have light. The word sohar is thus derived from the word sihara (light) in Aramaic, just as in Hebrew, Scripture says; A transparency (‘tzohar’) shalt thou make to the ark,²⁵⁵Above, 6:16. the word tzohar being derived from tzaharayim (mid-day — when the light reaches its zenith). The difference between tzohar and sohar is that tzohar connotes an abundance of light, while sohar connotes minimal light.

ויתנהו אל בית הסוהר מקום אשר אסירי המלך, “he placed him in the jail in which the King’s prisoners were kept.” According to Ibn Ezra the term בית הסוהר is a specifically Egyptian term. This is the reason why the Torah found it necessary to explain the meaning of the term by writing that it was the place in which the King’s prisoners were kept. Nachmanides writes concerning Ibn Ezra’s observation that Ibn Ezra made no contribution at all with his excuse for the apparent repetition, but that the letter ה at the beginning of the word סוהר indicates that this was a very well known jail, the one specially reserved for the king’s prisoners This explains why the King’s baker and the King’s cupbearer were placed in that jail where they met Joseph. It is also possible that the wording in chapter 40,3 indicates that prisoners kept in that jail were dealt with by the King personally, and not by regular judges and courts. The Torah’s reporting that this was the jail Potiphar placed Joseph in, is an indication that Joseph was considered as a V.I.P. by his former master.

סחר ,זהר ,צהר ,סהר usw. סחר: im Kreise herumziehen.־^ und צהר: einen Strahlenkreis um sich bilden, einen Hof um sich bilden. סהר: ein umschließender Raum. Ob ihre Gefängnisse rund gewesen? Es scheint so, da auch בור, der gewöhnliche Name für Gefängnis, rund war. Siehe 50 ב18"ק b. Die Verwandt-19 schaft von סהר, die Kreislinie, mit סור weichen, gibt den Begriff der Kreislinie als eine solche, die in jedem Punkt ihrer Fortbewegung von der eingenommenen Richtung weicht. Sie verändert unaufhörlich ihre "Berührende", ihr Tangente, d. h. sie weicht unaufhörlich. — ויתנהו אל בית הסהר וגו׳ ויהי שם בבית הסהר. Wenn das erste schon hieß, er gab ihn ins Gefängnis, so wäre der Schlusssatz, dort war er im Gefängnis, völlig überflüssig. Potiphar hatte auch das Staatsgefängnis unter sich (siehe folgendes Kap.Raw Hirsch on Genesis 39: 3). Dorthin, אל בית הסהר gab er ihn, versetzte ihn dorthin, damit er dort sich nützlich mache wie bisher in seinem Hause, und auf diese Weise war er dort Gefangener. Es würde dies voraussetzen, dass er in seinem eigenen Innern von Josefs Unschuld überzeugt gewesen, und nur um seiner Ehre willen also handeln musste. — אָסִיר ist Hauptwort, also ein bleibender Charakter, Gefangener, אָסור als Zeitwort bezeichnet nur einen zeitweiligen Charakter. Ein Untersuchungsgefangener ist אָסור, ein Strafgefangener: אָסִיר. Durch Keri und Kethib steht hier beides. Es war das ein Gewahrsam, wohin sowohl Straf- als Untersuchungsgefangene kamen. Auf diesen Umstand scheint der weitere Verfolg zu beruhen. Dadurch konnte Josef mit Männern in Berührung kommen, die, nur zeitweilig interniert, wieder zu einer bedeutenden Stellung zurückkehrten. In der Tat scheinen der Fürst der Bäcker und der der Schenke nur in Untersuchungshaft gewesen zu sein. Raw Hirsch on Genesis 39: 21. ויט אליו חסד, nicht der Menschen, sein, Gottes Wohlwollen neigte Er ihm zu. Es war dies die tiefste Stufe, auf welche Josef sinken sollte. Von nun an wandte Gott ihm חסד zu. — ׳שר ב׳ה. Wiederum ein שר. Je knechtischer und gefesselter ein Volk ist, umsomehr "Fürsten" hat es. Wer nur ein bischen höher steht, wird gleich ein "Fürst".

ויתנהו אל בית הסוהר, “he put him in (the) jail.” He was not guilty of the death penalty as there had been no witness to the alleged rape attempt. In such cases the standard penalty was to be incarcerated.

He did not hand him over to his servants, the officials, to lead him away in shame and derision to the jail, as would be normal (in such cases); but rather, his master personally took him by the hand and led him there, as he (Joseph) was highly esteemed by him. This is what is meant by the verse ‘And Joseph’s master took him, and placed him in the prison-house’. (39:20). However, he did not put him in the area where men of lowly rank were imprisoned by order of the city’s judiciary, but in the section where royal prisoners were incarcerated; for inside the jail were various chambers and storeys, each separate from one another; and Joseph was placed in that very room where those princes imprisoned by royal command had been assigned.

אסורי המלך, “the King’s prisoners;” the spelling here is with the letter ו, although we are to read the word as if it had been written with the letter י instead of the letter ו. We found an interesting Midrash, according to which when Joseph was brought before the King, the angel Gavriel, having assumed the guise of a human being said to the King: “if it pleases Your Majesty may the garments of both the accused and the accuser be examined for evidence. If the woman’s garment show tears it is clear that the accused has tried to rape her. If only Joseph’s clothing has been torn, it is clear that his mistress attempted to seduce him by force. Gavriel’s suggestion was accepted and that was the reason why Joseph was not convicted of the death penalty. He could not be released unconditionally as it would have been too embarrassing for the wife of a highly placed minister at Pharaoh’s Court to have been declared a liar. He was judged by a court of the priests of Egypt, and out of gratitude for this, Joseph did not confiscate the lands of the priests during the years of the famine. (compare 47,22)

As for the next phrase, ‘and he remained there in the prison-house’, we must understand this to mean that he (Potiphar) placed him there, as this was to be his punishment, i.e. to remain there at his pleasure for a period of time; and he was to receive no further punishment.