# SDMB weekly Bible Study (SDMBWBS)-Week 25 Genesis 39 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 24, 2014, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-weekly-bible-study-sdmbwbs-week-25-genesis-39/682089 "2014-02-24T11:58:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2014, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-weekly-bible-study-sdmbwbs-week-25-genesis-39/682089/21 "2014-03-02T20:07:57Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > It wasn’t the same person as his former master though. If it’s more or less the same name, why is it given two different forms? In my copy of the Tanakh, there’s Potiphar the master of Joseph, and Poti-phera, priest of On, whose daughter Asenath became the wife of Joseph. > > A trivial question, but I’m like that. I didn’t mean to imply that they were the same person. However, now that it’s mentioned, there is a midrash that states that the two are one and the same. However, of course, you can always take midrashic statements with a grain of salt. 🙂 Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2014, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-weekly-bible-study-sdmbwbs-week-25-genesis-39/682089/22 "2014-03-02T20:21:09Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > Also interesting that Joseph is the only male portrayed as attractive in the Bible. He’s bald, isn’t he? Elsewhere baldness is presented as a curse. > > Obviously I’m not an expert- feel free to fill in the blanks of my incomplete views. David is also described as fresh-faced and with a nice complexion in his fight with Goliath, and Absalom’s hair is mentioned as one of his attractive qualities. I missed it - where is Joseph described as bald? The only one I am aware of who is mentioned as bald is the prophet Elisha. But you are correct that baldness is presented as one of the signs either of leprosy, or of mourning. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2014, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-weekly-bible-study-sdmbwbs-week-25-genesis-39/682089/23 "2014-03-02T20:33:05Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > Ultimately Joseph ends up commanding a huge number of slaves, which seems monstrous to me, Yes, but that’s because you’re thinking as a 21st century person. You can’t assign today’s morality to historical personages. Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2014, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-weekly-bible-study-sdmbwbs-week-25-genesis-39/682089/24 "2014-03-02T20:48:42Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > I missed it - where is Joseph described as bald? Oops, I was thinking of Jacob. Scratch that. ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2014, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-weekly-bible-study-sdmbwbs-week-25-genesis-39/682089/25 "2014-03-02T22:13:49Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > Oops, I was thinking of Jacob. Scratch that. Where was Jacob described as bald? Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2014, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-weekly-bible-study-sdmbwbs-week-25-genesis-39/682089/26 "2014-03-02T23:27:28Z")
Gen 27:11 > [@](#): > > But Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Behold, my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man. I always thought Jacob was bald. Is that incorrect? But look, this is supposed to be about Joseph. I’m wondering if it was volitional acts by Joseph that put him in his state of grace, or if God just picked somebody. Obviously Joseph had to not screw it up with too many bad reports and raping &etc, but I mean in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2014, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-weekly-bible-study-sdmbwbs-week-25-genesis-39/682089/27 "2014-03-02T23:53:04Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > What did Joseph do to get God “with him”? Is it implied to be something repeatable, is it who his parents are, or is it simply arbitrary? “Arbitrary” is a dangerous word to use about an omniscient deity, but there are plenty of Biblical examples of someone who is clearly favored by God before he does anything remarkable, at least that we know about. Samuel selected David as God’s anointed before David had done anything but tend sheep. Even if he was the Best Sheepherder Ever, that seems like a pretty thin resume to me. And John the Baptist was evidently blessed even before he was born. On the other hand, there are examples of God favoring people who seem quite deceitful and conniving, like Jacob. So all you can say is, maybe God sees something that humans don’t. ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2014, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-weekly-bible-study-sdmbwbs-week-25-genesis-39/682089/28 "2014-03-03T00:30:41Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > Gen 27:11 > > I always thought Jacob was bald. Is that incorrect? I think the plain meaning is referring to body hair, not head hair. Hence his mother dressed him in animal skins, so that if Isaac touched him, he would not be smooth. Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2014, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-weekly-bible-study-sdmbwbs-week-25-genesis-39/682089/29 "2014-03-03T13:23:21Z")
[New thread for Genesis 40](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=17157930&posted=1#post17157930) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-weekly-bible-study-sdmbwbs-week-25-genesis-39/682089.md?page=1)