What Does Genesis 37:15 Mean?

The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of Potiphar his Egyptian master. The Lord was with Joseph: this formula, which recurs at every stage of the Joseph narrative, is the theological key to the entire story. Joseph is a slave in a foreign country; he has been betrayed by his brothers, separated from his father, stripped of his status robe. From the outside, his situation looks like complete ruin. From the perspective of the narrator: who sees what is invisible to the participants: the Lord is with him. The presence of God does not mean the absence of suffering; it means that the suffering is not the final state.

The success that comes to Joseph in Potiphar's house is practical and visible: Potiphar notices that everything Joseph handles prospers, and he correctly attributes this to God's blessing on him. The Egyptian master who worships Egyptian gods recognizes that the Hebrew slave's God is producing observable results. He puts Joseph in charge of his entire household and in time removes himself from oversight of anything, leaving everything under Joseph's management. The slave from Canaan becomes the functioning head of one of the most significant households in Egypt.

The rise in Potiphar's house is the first of three rises in the Joseph narrative. He will be elevated at Potiphar's house, then thrown into prison, then elevated at prison, then thrown into obscurity (the cupbearer forgets him), then elevated to Pharaoh's throne room. Each rise is followed by a fall; each fall is followed by a greater rise. The pattern teaches what "the Lord was with Joseph" means in practice: not smooth sailing, but sustained upward trajectory through every reversal. The God of Joseph does not remove the obstacles; He uses them.