5043. 'And gave him favour in the eyes of the governor of the prison-house' means consequent support in temptations. This is clear from the meaning of 'giving favour' as support, for 'giving favour' in temptations is bringing comfort and supporting with hope; from the meaning of 'the governor (or the prince)' as primary truth, dealt with in the next paragraph; and from the meaning of 'the prison-house' as the laying waste of falsity, and therefore temptation, dealt with above in 5038, 5039.

5038. 'A place where the king's bound ones were bound' means the state of those governed by falsities. This is clear from the meaning of 'a place' as a state, dealt with in 2625, 2837, 3356, 3387, 4321, 4882; and from the meaning of 'the king's bound ones' as those who are governed by falsities and who, being governed by falsities, undergo vastation, and those who, while being regenerated in the world, undergo temptation. For temptation involves the laying waste of falsity and at the same time the consolidation of truth. The expression 'the king's bound ones' is used because 'a king' in the internal sense means truth, 1672, 1728, 2015, 2069, 3009, 3670, 4575, 4581, 4789, 4966, and therefore 'his bound ones' means those governed by falsity. The places where the king's bound ones were kept were also called 'pits', which was why Joseph said, in verse 15 of the next chapter,

By theft I have been taken out of the land of the Hebrews, and here also I have not done anything for which they should have put me in the pit.

As regards 'a pit' meaning a place of vastation, see 4728, 4744.