Literary Devices – Bereshit 39

• Bereshit 39 begins (verses 2-5) and ends (verses 21-23) with statements that God was with Yosef (וַיְהִי י״י אֶת יוֹסֵף), causing him to be successful (וַאֲשֶׁר הוּא עֹשֶׂה י״י מַצְלִיחַ) and trusted by others. A literary envelope generally connotes a sense of harmony and consistency. In this case, the message is that God was with Yosef throughout all of his tribulations.

• For discussion this inclusio and how such literary envelopes might help a reader demarcate the boundaries of a story, see Professor Yonatan Grossman's Narrative Demarcation (I) - "You Have Set an Inviolable Boundary"

• Though the root "פקד" appears only twice in the chapter, see the concordance that, with one exception, all appearances of the root (and the related noun פקיד) in Sefer Bereshit are found in the Yosef narratives,¹ suggesting that the word might play an important role.
• Articles – Professor Yonatan Grossman, in his article Leitwort (III) discusses the repetition of the root, noting that it takes various forms with different meanings:: “פקד” (to take account or remember), “הפקיד” (appoint), and “פקיד” (agent) . The various usages and different contexts² underscore the theme of dual causality that is central to the story of Yosef, playing with the question: “Who is the ruler? Who is the agent?”  (God or man?) 

Tanakh Lab demonstrates that the three words most frequently used in this chapter are בית, יד, and אדון.  All of these words relate to Yosef’s position in Potiphar’s house (בית), where he is given great responsibility and even authority (יד), but is ultimately a servant, at the whim of his master (אדון).  

• פּוֹטִיפַר סְרִיס פַּרְעֹה שַׂר הַטַּבָּחִים אִישׁ מִצְרִי – When first introduced n verse 1, Potiphar is given a full title, making his position in Paroh's palace clear.
• אדון – Other than in the first verse, though, Potiphar is consistently referred to as Yosef’s master "אדון", rather than by his name. This highlights Yosef’s subservient stature throughout this narrative.

• "אשתו" – Not unexpectedly, Mrs. Potiphar is never mentioned by name, but only in relationship to her husband. 
• "אֵשֶׁת אֲדֹנָיו" – In verses 7-8 which speak of her attempts to seduce Yosef, she is referred to as “the wife of his master” (rather than "the wife of Potiphar").  As above, this relational epithet underscores the power imbalance between them.  

• Clothes are an important symbol in the Yosef story, with their bestowal and removal perhaps reflecting a change in status. At the beginning of the story, Yosef is given a coat that represents Yaakov’s love, but his brothers later strip him of it. In Chapter 39, Yosef again loses his clothes when Potiphar’s wife pulls them off of him. He is given new clothes when he is taken from prison to appear before Paroh, and again when he becomes Paroh’s viceroy. He later gives gifts of clothing to his brothers.
• Articles – For analysis of the meaning of clothing in the Yosef story, see Joseph and the Imagery of Clothing by Samuel Borodach, who suggests that in these stories clothing might reflect not just a change in status but also a change in character.

• Pits are symbolic in the story of Yosef, as are descents and ascents in general.  Yosef is thrown into a pit by his brothers, then rises to a position of power in Potiphar's house, but then descends again as he is thrown into jail (referred to as a בּוֹר, pit, in Bereshit 40:15) by Potiphar.
• Articles
• See The Prince and the Prison by R. Chanoch Waxman, who suggests that Yosef’s series of descents reflect the development of his character from a somewhat arrogant leader into a humble one.⁵
• See Prof. Robert Alter’s article Character in the Bible, as well as his chapter on characterization in The Art of Biblical Narrative, for exploration of how character is developed in Tanakh.

• Repeat – The story of Yosef and Mrs. Potiphar is told three times, once in the narrative voice, once when Mrs. Potiphar relays the event to her household, and once when she relays it her husband. Comparing the accounts highlights how strategic Mrs. Potiphar is in the use of her words. [See the Tanakh Lab.]

• Articles – See Nehama Leibowitz’s עיונים חדשים בפר בראשית (Jerusalem, 1992): 294-298 who compares the accounts, noting the following:
  • To the people of the palace, Mrs. Potiphar stresses Yosef’s foreignness as an "עברי" and implies that Potiphar was wrong in bringing Yosef “to mock us,” grouping herself with her subjects. She likewise refers to Yosef as an “איש” rather than an “עבד”, perhaps to mute the tensions that might exist between her and her people due to differences in social class, and to prevent them from feeling solidarity with Yosef.
  • To her husband, in contrast, she calls Yosef an “עבד” and says that he “came upon me to mock me,” playing on Potiphar’s protectiveness of his wife, and the outrage he might feel upon hearing that a slave treated her this way.