Psalms 105:19-22 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Until the time that his word came Dr. Waterland renders the verse, Until the time that his saying came to pass, the word of the Lord purged him: and Green translates it, Until the time that his prediction had come to pass, and the word of the Lord cleared him. The meaning seems evidently to be, that notwithstanding his eminent prudence, innocence, and piety, he was detained in prison until the time that his word, or cause, came before the king, and was known; (so it is in our old translation;) or, until his word, or prediction, concerning the chief butler's promotion, came to pass; for this was the means of Joseph's enlargement and justification; since a person, guilty of the crime with which he stood charged, would not have been inspired to foretel future events. Can we find, said Pharaoh, such a man as this, a man in whom the Spirit of God is? Genesis 41:38. The word of the Lord tried him Either, 1st, Discovered him unto Pharaoh and his courtiers, and showed how innocent, holy, and wise a person he was, and thereby cleared him from those calumnies which had been cast upon him, and so prepared the way for his release, as it follows Psalms 105:20. Or, 2d, Tried his sincerity and constancy, (the word of the Lord being put for his commandment or decree,) tried him in the furnace of affliction, there refining and preparing him for his approaching exaltation to glory and honour. He made him ruler of all his substance Hebrew, בכל קנינו, of all his possession; that is, of his whole kingdom. To bind his princes By his commands; and, if they were refractory, to punish them. And teach his senators wisdom His wisest counsellors, whom he commanded to receive instruction from Joseph on all occasions.