8 But he refused, H3985 and said H559 unto his master's H113 wife, H802 Behold, my master H113 wotteth H3045 not what is with me in the house, H1004 and he hath committed H5414 all that he hath H3426 to my hand; H3027
To deliver H5337 thee from the strange H2114 woman, H802 even from the stranger H5237 which flattereth H2505 with her words; H561 Which forsaketh H5800 the guide H441 of her youth, H5271 and forgetteth H7911 the covenant H1285 of her God. H430 For her house H1004 inclineth H7743 unto death, H4194 and her paths H4570 unto the dead. H7496 None that go H935 unto her return again, H7725 neither take they hold H5381 of the paths H734 of life. H2416
For the lips H8193 of a strange woman H2114 drop H5197 as an honeycomb, H5317 and her mouth H2441 is smoother H2509 than oil: H8081 But her end H319 is bitter H4751 as wormwood, H3939 sharp H2299 as a twoedged H6310 sword. H2719 Her feet H7272 go down H3381 to death; H4194 her steps H6806 take hold H8551 on hell. H7585 Lest thou shouldest ponder H6424 the path H734 of life, H2416 her ways H4570 are moveable, H5128 that thou canst not know H3045 them. Hear H8085 me now therefore, O ye children, H1121 and depart H5493 not from the words H561 of my mouth. H6310 Remove H7368 thy way H1870 far H7368 from her, and come not nigh H7126 the door H6607 of her house: H1004
My son, H1121 keep H5341 thy father's H1 commandment, H4687 and forsake H5203 not the law H8451 of thy mother: H517 Bind H7194 them continually H8548 upon thine heart, H3820 and tie H6029 them about thy neck. H1621 When thou goest, H1980 it shall lead H5148 thee; when thou sleepest, H7901 it shall keep H8104 thee; and when thou awakest, H6974 it shall talk H7878 with thee. For the commandment H4687 is a lamp; H5216 and the law H8451 is light; H216 and reproofs H8433 of instruction H4148 are the way H1870 of life: H2416 To keep H8104 thee from the evil H7451 woman, H802 from the flattery H2513 of the tongue H3956 of a strange woman. H5237 Lust H2530 not after her beauty H3308 in thine heart; H3824 neither let her take H3947 thee with her eyelids. H6079
But whoso committeth adultery H5003 with a woman H802 lacketh H2638 understanding: H3820 he that doeth H6213 it destroyeth H7843 his own soul. H5315 A wound H5061 and dishonour H7036 shall he get; H4672 and his reproach H2781 shall not be wiped away. H4229
Let not thine heart H3820 decline H7847 to her ways, H1870 go not astray H8582 in her paths. H5410 For she hath cast down H5307 many H7227 wounded: H2491 yea, many strong H6099 men have been slain H2026 by her. Her house H1004 is the way H1870 to hell, H7585 going down H3381 to the chambers H2315 of death. H4194
A foolish H3687 woman H802 is clamorous: H1993 she is simple, H6615 and H1077 knoweth H3045 nothing. H4100 For she sitteth H3427 at the door H6607 of her house, H1004 on a seat H3678 in the high places H4791 of the city, H7176 To call H7121 passengers H5674 H1870 who go right H3474 on their ways: H734 Whoso is simple, H6612 let him turn in H5493 hither: and as for him that wanteth H2638 understanding, H3820 she saith H559 to him, Stolen H1589 waters H4325 are sweet, H4985 and bread H3899 eaten in secret H5643 is pleasant. H5276 But he knoweth H3045 not that the dead H7496 are there; and that her guests H7121 are in the depths H6012 of hell. H7585
My son, H1121 give H5414 me thine heart, H3820 and let thine eyes H5869 observe H7521 H5341 my ways. H1870 For a whore H2181 is a deep H6013 ditch; H7745 and a strange woman H5237 is a narrow H6862 pit. H875 She also lieth in wait H693 as for a prey, H2863 and increaseth H3254 the transgressors H898 among men. H120
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).