Gen. 39:5
“The blessing of the Lord”
“…the blessing of the LORD was on all that he had, in house and field.”
Arnold briefly points out the “blessing of the Lord” is a subjective genitive. This means that the Lord is “the subject of the act of blessing others” (pg. 331). Another way to read this would be that Joseph receives ‘the Lord’s blessing.’ For Joseph, it can be understood that he receives from the Lord a variety blessings. But what does the blessing of the Lord mean? What does it include?
In verse five, it states that all Joseph “had” (both in house and in the field) received the blessing. Noticing this, apparently, Potiphar place everything he “had” under Joseph’s charge. As a result, Potiphar “had” no concerns because everything that Joseph “had” received the Lord’s blessing. As it says earlier in v. 5, “the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake.” But what exactly is this blessing?
I think we are given the answer to “what” the blessing is at least indirectly in v. 2 – “The Lord was with Joseph.” It is the presence of the Lord himself that is the blessing. The “Lord’s blessing” is the Lord. What greater blessing could there be? The subject is the Lord, the word "blessing" is a noun (not a verb). So it must be a noun-something of the Lord. The evidence within these verses suggests the possible answer is the Lord's presence.
The first five verses follow this way: “The Lord was with Joseph” (verb, v. 2, v.3), “The Lord caused…” (verb, v. 3), “The Lord blessed…” (verb, v. 5a), and finally the culmination is “The Lord’s blessing was on all…” (noun, v. 5b). Whatever it may be that is blessed or whatever may be the result of the blessing is a result of the presence of the Lord with Joseph. This has later implications when the recurrence of the Lord's blessing, causing Joseph to prosper also in prison, to build his confidence in the Lord.
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