Genesis 39:11

Summary

Genesis 39:11 opens a new scene with a temporal formula ("on this day") introducing the moment Joseph entered the house to perform his duties. The verse then states, through a negative existential clause, that none of the household men were present inside the house at that time.

Key words

• vayehi ("it was", H1961) — narrative qal verb marking the transition into a new episode, the standard Biblical Hebrew formula for "and it happened."
• keyom hazeh (H3117G + H2088) — the article + demonstrative "the day" + "this" together form the fixed expression "on this [particular] day," anchoring the scene temporally without naming a specific date.
• la'asot ("to do", H6213A) — qal infinitive construct, expressing purpose: Joseph enters "in order to do" his task.
• melakhto ("his work", H4399) — feminine singular noun in construct with the possessive suffix -o ("his"), specifying the nature of the errand as labor/duty.
• 'ein 'ish ("there is no man", H0369 + H0376I) — 'ein functions as a construct negator of existence, paired with 'ish to form the standard Hebrew way of saying "no one was [present]."

What the text says

The verse is built from two chained narrative clauses joined by the vav-consecutive: vayehi ("and it was") followed by vayavo ("and he went"), the typical backbone of Hebrew narrative prose. The temporal clause keyom hazeh ("as/when this day [came]") sets the scene before the main action, a common structural device in Biblical Hebrew to introduce a turning point without stating a calendar date. The subject of vayavo ("he went") is left implicit in the Hebrew verb form itself (third person masculine singular), continuing from the previous narrative context rather than being named explicitly.

The second half of the verse pivots to a negative existential construction: ve'ein 'ish me'anshei habayit sham babayit — literally "and there is no man from the men of the house there in the house." The repetition of bayit ("house", H1004B) — once with the directional -ah suffix (habaytah, "to the house") and again with the preposition ba- (babayit, "in the house") — frames the spatial setting twice, first as destination, then as the location where no one else is found. This double marking of "house" is a feature of the Hebrew syntax that is often smoothed over in translation.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew keyom hazeh ("this day," definite with demonstrative) is rendered in the LXX as τοιαύτη τις ἡμέρα ("a certain such day") and in the Vulgate as quadam die ("on a certain day") — both versions shift from the Hebrew's demonstrative specificity toward indefiniteness. The LXX also names the subject explicitly, Ἰωσὴφ ("Joseph"), where the Hebrew verb vayavo ("he went") leaves the subject only implied grammatically. Additionally, the Hebrew's detailed 'ein 'ish me'anshei habayit ("no man from the men of the house") is condensed in the LXX to οὐθεὶς ("no one"), omitting the specific reference to "the men of the house." The Vulgate's absque arbitris ("without witnesses") interprets rather than translates the Hebrew phrase describing the absence of household men.