So he asked Pharaoh's officers who were with him in custody in his master's house, “Why are your faces downcast today?”
A false charge has put Joseph in an Egyptian prison, where two of Pharaoh's servants come under his care. He sees their sad faces and asks why — a small question that turns the whole story.
Faithful wherever he serves
Joseph had already served well in one house and lost it. In prison the pattern repeats: his place changes, his faith does not.
William KellyJoseph had served as a slave in Potiphar's house. Now he served as a criminal in the prison tower, falsely accused of what was true of his accuser. But his faith remained simple, peaceful, and bright. We note its effect on those who had no faith themselves, yet valued faithfulness highly. The captain put the king's officers in his care. As before in his master's house, so now in the governor's prison, he became the man in charge: whatever needed doing there, he did it. The Lord was with him in each place of trial, and the Lord made what he did prosper.
A man who noticed
The verse shows Joseph reading faces. One writer uses this to correct the common picture of Joseph as a soft, passive young man.
The Bible TreasuryRead the history with ordinary attention, and we can trace a character far from soft or weak. At heart it is strong, wise, noble, generous, manly and big-hearted… Punished for his honourable conduct with the dungeon, he says to his fellow prisoners, "Do not interpretations belong to God?" He did not complain under that great disaster. Instead he looks around to see what he can do to help others, even his jailers. He cannot see his companions in misery losing heart without asking, "Why are your faces downcast today?"
Turning to someone else's trouble does something to your own.
J. N. DarbyIf we knew more of Christ's sympathies, the children of God might have more for one another. If you are full of sorrow yourself, go and sympathize with another, and your own will be gone.
Sympathy first, then power
Joseph is still in prison when he starts caring for others. One writer sees in that order the way God deals with His people.
J. G. BellettIn His way with His chosen ones, God's sympathy comes first, and then His power. The sympathy goes with them through their sorrow. The power then delivers them out of it. We are inclined to want ease now, and would sweep away every inconvenience and contradiction at once. But this is not His way. At Bethany "Jesus wept," and afterwards, but not until afterwards, He said, "Lazarus, come out."
A link in a chain
The sad faces were no accident. One writer counts them as the third link in a chain.
F. B. HoleThe third was that both men should have dreams on the same night, of an unusual kind and yet alike in certain ways. The effect on their minds should be such that they looked sad and caught Joseph's notice. They felt there must be a hidden meaning in their dreams, and they wanted an interpreter. Joseph's reply was in effect an offer to interpret, while he acknowledged that all power to do so came from God.
Service that prepares for glory
Nothing in the prison was wasted. One writer reads Joseph's kindness to two forgotten men as part of his training.
Hamilton SmithEvery trial he passes through is only a stage in the path that leads to glory: the treatment from his brothers, the slavery in the Egyptian's house, the false accusations of Potiphar's wife, the prison of Pharaoh, the neglect of Pharaoh's cupbearer. His work as a shepherd, his mission to his brothers, his service in Potiphar's house and in Pharaoh's prison are all preparing him to use power in the day of his glory. The service in the trials prepares for the right use of glory.
And the picture points beyond Joseph. In prison he shows himself as the interpreter of God's mind, and that is what fits him to hand out the wealth of Egypt's throne. One writer sees here a shadow of "the lowly Minister to human need" who comes out of humiliation "to serve as the Wisdom and Power of God upon a throne of grace" (F. W. Grant).
Summary
- Faithful — jailed on a false charge, Joseph still did whatever needed doing. His faith stayed "simple, peaceful, and bright," and unbelieving men noticed.
- Attentive — he did not complain. He looked around for someone to help, and read the need in their faces.
- Sympathy — God's way is sympathy through the sorrow first, power out of it afterwards. Joseph gives what he is receiving.
- Opened — the question invited their dreams, and the dreams became a link in the chain that led to the throne.
- Prepared — service in the trial trains the hand that will later hold the glory. Christ completes the pattern.