בראשית, פרק ל״ז, פסוק ל״ו

The sale of a young man into slavery marks a dramatic turning point, transforming a family tragedy into the beginning of a broad Divine plan. Handed off through a chain of merchants, he is transported directly into the heart of the Egyptian empire and the royal court. This sequence of events is not random. The tears of a grieving father served a purpose, ensuring the young man was not sold to some distant, remote island, but rather placed in the hands of a distinguished official [צרור המור]. At the same time, a profound sense of measure for measure is at play: because the brothers sold their own flesh and blood into Egyptian slavery, their descendants would eventually settle in that very land and become slaves themselves [חזקוני].

The transaction involves multiple groups of traders. The Medanites and Ishmaelites operated as brothers and business partners, working together as middlemen in the slave trade. It was the Medanites who originally pulled the young man from the pit, selling him to the Ishmaelites who then transported him down to Egypt [מלבי״ם, שד״ל]. The underlying motive for this sale was to exile him to a place so remote that he would be entirely cut off, unable to contact his father or send word of his fate [קונטרס חיבה יתירה].

Upon arriving in Egypt, he was placed on the auction block in the country's public slave market, where he was eventually purchased by a wealthy and high-ranking buyer [העמק דבר, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. This buyer, Potiphar, bears a name deeply rooted in Egyptian culture, meaning the property of the Egyptian sun god, which reflects his elevated status in the kingdom [אם למקרא]. Although Potiphar is given a title that often translates to a eunuch, commentators emphasize that this does not indicate any physical defect or lack of fertility, especially since he was a married man. Instead, in the ancient Near East, it served as a general title of honor denoting a minister, senior official, or royal agent [שד״ל, ביאור יש״ר, רש ר הירש].

The exact nature of Potiphar's position in the royal court is a subject of extensive discussion. The primary approach among commentators is that he served as the minister in charge of executions, acting as the chief executioner and head of the king's guard. This is supported by the fact that the royal prison was located inside his own home, and the term used for his profession applies to the execution of people just as it does to animals [רמב״ן, אבן עזרא, רד״ק, חזקוני]. In contrast, another perspective suggests a more literal interpretation of his title, identifying him as the slaughterer of the king's livestock and the head of the royal kitchen [רש״י, פענח רזא]. Those who support this view argue that God would not place a righteous man into the hands of a despised murderer, preferring to see Potiphar's role as strictly related to the king's food supply [גור אריה, שפתי חכמים]. Bridging these viewpoints, some explain that in ancient kingdoms, the officials entrusted with guarding the king's life were often the very same men appointed to execute and punish rebels [שד״ל, ביאור יש״ר, רלב״ג].