Bible Strands
Genesis 40:15
For I was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing for which they should have put me in this dungeon.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Joseph addresses the cupbearer in the prison dungeon immediately after correctly interpreting his dream, following the explicit request for future intervention recorded in verse 14.
The words — גֻּנַּ֔בְתִּי (gunnavti) translates literally to "I was stolen/kidnapped," and עִבְרִ֑ים ('ivrim) denotes the ethnic group of the land he was forcibly removed from.
The thread — The verse's claim of unjust confinement aligns with Genesis 39:20, where Joseph's master throws him into the same prison, and anticipates the New Testament observation that suffering for doing good is preferable (1 Peter 3:17), while the designation "Hebrews" recurs in Genesis 14:13.
Why it lands — The text asserts that Joseph's imprisonment resulted from external abduction rather than personal wrongdoing, requiring the reader to acknowledge this factual separation of circumstance and guilt before drawing any theological conclusions about his situation.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
For indeed I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews: and here also have I done nothing that they should put me into the dungeon.
Cross-references
- Genesis 39:20 So Joseph’s master took him and had him thrown into the prison where the king’s prisoners were confined. While Joseph was there in the prison,
- 1 Peter 3:17 For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
- Genesis 14:13 Then an escapee came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew. Now Abram was living near the Oaks of Mamre the Amorite, a brother of Eshcol and Aner, all of whom were bound by treaty to Abram.
- Genesis 39:8 But he refused. “Look,” he said to his master’s wife, “with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in his house, and he has entrusted everything he owns to my care.
- Genesis 41:12 Now a young Hebrew was there with us, a servant of the captain of the guard. We told him our dreams and he interpreted them for us individually.
- Exodus 21:16 Whoever kidnaps another man must be put to death, whether he sells him or the man is found in his possession.
- Deuteronomy 24:7 If a man is caught kidnapping one of his Israelite brothers, whether he treats him as a slave or sells him, the kidnapper must die. So you must purge the evil from among you.
- 1 Samuel 24:11 See, my father, look at the corner of your robe in my hand. For I cut it off, but I did not kill you. Know and see that there is no evil or rebellion in my hands. I have not sinned against you, even though you are hunting me down to take my life.
- Psalms 59:3 See how they lie in wait for me. Fierce men conspire against me for no transgression or sin of my own, O LORD.
- Daniel 6:22 My God sent His angel and shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, for I was found innocent in His sight, and I have done no wrong against you, O king.”