7 And it came to pass after H310 these things, H1697 that his master's H113 wife H802 cast H5375 her eyes H5869 upon Joseph; H3130 and she said, H559 Lie H7901 with me.
And when she had brought H5066 them unto him to eat, H398 he took hold H2388 of her, and said H559 unto her, Come H935 lie H7901 with me, my sister. H269
Thou hast built H1129 thy high place H7413 at every head H7218 of the way, H1870 and hast made thy beauty H3308 to be abhorred, H8581 and hast opened H6589 thy feet H7272 to every one that passed by, H5674 and multiplied H7235 thy whoredoms. H8457
Having G2192 eyes G3788 full G3324 of adultery, G3428 and G2532 that cannot cease from G180 sin; G266 beguiling G1185 unstable G793 souls: G5590 an heart G2588 they have G2192 exercised G1128 with covetous practices; G4124 cursed G2671 children: G5043
But G1161 I G1473 say G3004 unto you, G5213 That G3754 whosoever G3956 looketh G991 on a woman G1135 to G4314 lust after G1937 her G846 hath committed adultery G3431 with her G846 already G2235 in G1722 his G846 heart. G2588
She doted H5689 upon the Assyrians H1121 H804 her neighbours, H7138 captains H6346 and rulers H5461 clothed H3847 most gorgeously, H4358 horsemen H6571 riding H7392 upon horses, H5483 all of them desirable H2531 young men. H970 Then I saw H7200 that she was defiled, H2930 that they took both H8147 one H259 way, H1870 And that she increased H3254 her whoredoms: H8457 for when she saw H7200 men H582 pourtrayed H2707 upon the wall, H7023 the images H6754 of the Chaldeans H3778 pourtrayed H2710 with vermilion, H8350 Girded H2289 with girdles H232 upon their loins, H4975 exceeding H5628 in dyed attire H2871 upon their heads, H7218 all of them princes H7991 to look to, H4758 after the manner H1823 of the Babylonians H1121 H894 of Chaldea, H3778 the land H776 of their nativity: H4138 And as soon as she saw H4758 them with her eyes, H5869 she doted H5689 upon them, and sent H7971 messengers H4397 unto them into Chaldea. H3778
And Aholah H170 played the harlot H2181 when she was mine; H8478 and she doted H5689 on her lovers, H157 on the Assyrians H804 her neighbours, H7138 Which were clothed H3847 with blue, H8504 captains H6346 and rulers, H5461 all of them desirable H2531 young men, H970 horsemen H6571 riding H7392 upon horses. H5483
That the sons H1121 of God H430 saw H7200 the daughters H1323 of men H120 that they H2007 were fair; H2896 and they took H3947 them wives H802 of all which they chose. H977
Therefore the showers H7241 have been withholden, H4513 and there hath been no latter rain; H4456 and thou hadst a whore's H2181 H802 forehead, H4696 thou refusedst H3985 to be ashamed. H3637
Therefore came I forth H3318 to meet H7125 thee, diligently to seek H7836 thy face, H6440 and I have found H4672 thee. I have decked H7234 my bed H6210 with coverings H4765 of tapestry, with carved H2405 works, with fine linen H330 of Egypt. H4714 I have perfumed H5130 my bed H4904 with myrrh, H4753 aloes, H174 and cinnamon. H7076 Come, H3212 let us take our fill H7301 of love H1730 until the morning: H1242 let us solace H5965 ourselves with loves. H159
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Genesis 39
Commentary on Genesis 39 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
In Potiphar's House. - Potiphar had bought him of the Ishmaelites, as is repeated in Genesis 39:1 for the purpose of resuming the thread of the narrative; and Jehovah was with him, so that the prospered in the house of his Egyptian master. מצליח אישׁ : a man who has prosperity, to whom God causes all that he undertakes and does to prosper. When Potiphar perceived this, Joseph found favour in his eyes, and became his servant, whom he placed over his house (made manager of his household affairs), and to whom he entrusted all his property ( כּל־ישׁ־לו Genesis 39:4 = ישׁ־לו כּל־אשׁר Genesis 39:5, Genesis 39:6). This confidence in Joseph increased, when he perceived how the blessing of Jehovah (Joseph's God) rested upon his property in the house and in the field; so that now “ he left to Joseph everything that he had, and did not trouble himself אתּו (with or near him) about anything but his own eating .”
Joseph was handsome in form and feature; and Potiphar's wife set her eyes upon the handsome young man, and tried to persuade him to lie with her. But Joseph resisted the adulterous proposal, referring to the unlimited confidence which his master had placed in him. He (Potiphar) was not greater in that house than he, and had given everything over to him except her, because she was his wife. “How could he so abuse this confidence, as to do this great wickedness and sin against God!”
But after she had repeated her enticements day after day without success, “ it came to pass at that time ( הזּה כּהיּום for the more usual הזּה כּיּום (Genesis 50:20), lit., about this day, i.e., the day in the writer's mind, on which the thing to be narrated occurred) that Joseph came into his house to attend to his duties, and there were none of the house-servants within .” And she laid hold of him by his garment and entreated him to lie with her; but he left his garment in her hand and fled from the house.
When this daring assault upon Joseph's chastity had failed, on account of his faithfulness and fear of God, the adulterous woman reversed the whole affair, and charged him with an attack upon her modesty, in order that she might have her revenge upon him and avert suspicion from herself. She called her house-servants and said, “ See, he (her husband, whom she does not think worth naming) has brought us a Hebrew man (“no epitheton ornans to Egyptian ears: Genesis 43:32”) to mock us ( צחק to show his wantonness; us , the wife and servants, especially the female portion): he came in unto me to lie with me; and I cried with a loud voice...and he left his garment by me .” She said אצלי “by my side,” not “in my hand,” as that would have shown the true state of the case. She then left the garment lying by her side till the return of Joseph's master, to whom she repeated her tale.
Joseph in Prison. - Potiphar was enraged at what he heard, and put Joseph into the prison where ( אשׁר for שׁם אשׁר , Genesis 40:3 like Genesis 35:13) the king's prisoners (state-prisoners) were confined. הסּהר בּית : lit., the house of enclosure, from סהר , to surround or enclose ( ὀχύρωμα , lxx); the state-prison surrounded by a wall. This was a very moderate punishment. For according to Diod. Sic . (i. 78) the laws of the Egyptians were πικροὶ περὶ τῶν γυναιῶν νόμοι . An attempt at adultery was to be punished with 1000 blows, and rape upon a free woman still more severely. It is possible that Potiphar was not fully convinced of his wife's chastity, and therefore did not place unlimited credence in what she said.
(Note: Credibile est aliquod fuisse indicium, quo Josephum innocentem esse Potiphari constiteret; neque enim servi vita tanti erat ut ei parceretur in tam gravi delicto. Sed licet innocuum, in carcere tamen detinebat, ut uxoris honori et suo consuleret ( Clericus ). The chastity of Egyptian women has been in bad repute from time immemorial ( Diod. Sic. i. 59; Herod. ii. 111). Even in the middle ages the Fatimite Hakim thought it necessary to adopt severe measures against their immorality ( Bar-Hebraei , chron. p. 217), and at the present day, according to Burckhardt (arab. Sprichwφrter, pp. 222, 227), chastity is “a great rarity” among women of every rank in Cairo.)
But even in that case it was the mercy of the faithful covenant God, which now as before (Genesis 37:20.) rescued Joseph's life.
In the prison itself Jehovah was with Joseph, procuring him favour in the eyes of the governor of the prison, so that he entrusted all the prisoners to his care, leaving everything that they had to do, to be done through him, and not troubling himself about anything that was in his hand, i.e., was committed to him, because Jehovah made all that he did to prosper. “ The keeper ” was the governor of the prison, or superintendent of the gaolers, and was under Potiphar, the captain of the trabantes and chief of the executioners (Genesis 37:36).