74 Joseph in Potiphar's House

The story line picks up where it left off at the end of chapter thirty-seven. Joseph’s brothers in their hatred of him sold him to a group of itinerant merchantmen who were members of the Midianites/Ishmaelites tribes. Even though they are different groups they intermarried and travelled together.
The plot to kill him had been tempered by Reuben and Judah’s alternate scenario of selling him and making a profit on the transaction. Potiphar probably bought Joseph because the text states that Joseph was comely, and well favored. It is noteworthy that only two men in the Bible are characterized in this manner. Joseph and David are both called handsome. It could also be because Potiphar (being Egyptian) wanted a Semitic man in his household as political protection against the Hyksos. Joseph had some familiarity with the language used by the Hyksos because he lived in Haran for most of his life. This was an advantage Potiphar especially if his relationship to Pharaoh declined.