Genesis 39 | Joseph & Potiphar's Wife

Joseph is seduced by Potiphar's wife, and after his refusal, is accused of attempted rape and imprisoned

Transcript

• Wherever you find yourself around the world today, welcome to this verse-by-verse Bible study, I’m Randy Duncan, and in this episode, we’ll be covering Genesis chapter 39, which will pick back up on our story of Joseph. 
• Now in the last episode, chapter 38 sort of interrupted the story of Joseph just as it was getting started. And although the background information of Judah and Tamar was important for various reasons, we pick back up where we left off with Joseph, who had been sold into slavery by his own brothers, and then taken to Egypt and sold on the slave market. And if you remember, he was purchased by a man named Potiphar, who was the captain of the guard for Pharoah.
• And so, we pick back up with the action here in chapter 39. And we begin with verses 1-6, which read…Now Joseph had been brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, had bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there. 2 The LORD was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master. 3 His master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD caused all that he did to succeed in his hands. 4 So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had. 5 From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the LORD blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; the blessing of the LORD was on all that he had, in house and field. 6 So he left all that he had in Joseph's charge, and because of him he had no concern about anything but the food he ate.
• And they all lived happily ever after! The End!  Uh, no. That’s not real life, nor is that what we are about to see…
• So, as we already knew, Joseph is brought to Egypt by the slave traders, and is purchased by Potiphar, who was Pharoah’s captain of the guard. And it tells us that the Lord was with Joseph. This is a critical piece of information here. Because although Joseph’s situation has changed dramatically, God’s relationship to him has remained the same. And this relationship will be key in understanding how Joseph can continue to rise again and again in situations that would have broken many other people. 
• But because God is with him, Joseph quickly becomes successful in all that he does, all that he touches, and Potiphar takes notice of this fact. Joseph found favor in his eyes. 
• Now this also makes you stop and wonder if Potiphar was aware of and knew Joseph’s religious convictions and beliefs, which would have certainly been much different than his own pagan, beliefs. This narrative sort of implies that he did, and it straight-out tells us that he was aware that God was with Joseph. 
• And because of this, Potiphar places him over everything in his household. He puts Joseph in charge. The Hebrew expression here signifies that Joseph was placed over Potiphar’s entire estate. Now Potiphar had to be a reasonably intelligent man to be the captain of the guard for Pharoah, and so he’s not just some gullible schmuck here. This is someone who has intelligence, ability, rank, and authority. And he sees enough in Joseph to place him over his entire estate. Quite astonishing!  And once he does this, God blesses Potiphar’s entire house for the sake of Joseph. It reminds me of how God blessed Laban’s house because of Jacob’s presence. 
• But it tells us that Potiphar didn’t have to worry about anything except for the food that he ate. Just a word on this. You could read this as simply what it says, that all Potiphar had to worry about was what he wanted to eat, and Joseph took care of his entire estate. But there are differing views on what this means exactly. 
• For example, others point out that the Egyptians had particular dietary practices that were different from the Hebrews, and so Potiphar wouldn’t necessarily want Joseph in charge of his food. But another interpretation points to verse 9, and argues that this is a euphemism for Potiphar’s wife, meaning that the only concern Potiphar had to focus on was his wife. This was actually the view based on early exegesis, and it references Proverbs 30:20, which says that the adulteress “eats, wipes her mouth, and says “I have done no wrong”. 
• You know, there is a saying that “absolute power corrupts absolutely”. So, with Joseph now in charge of overseeing everything about Potiphar’s estate, how will it affect his morality? Will it corrupt him? There is a quote that, I think may be misattributed to Abraham Lincoln, that says "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." Well, Joseph’s character is about to be severely tested. And how will he fare? 
• Well, let’s find out as we continue reading verses 6- 10.  Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. 7 And after a time his master's wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.” 8 But he refused and said to his master's wife, “Behold, because of me my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my charge. 9 He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” 10 And as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her.
• So, we learn here that Joseph was well-built and handsome. Interesting, no other male is described like that in all of scripture. And actually, the Hebrew phrase used to describe him, which literally means “well-built and good to look at” is also used of his mother Rachel. So, they were apparently two very nice-looking people.
• That’s the good news for Joseph. The bad news is that Potiphar’s wife also noticed he was good looking! Actually, the literal meaning here is that she “cast her eyes upon him, with longing and with a lustful desire”. So much so that she says to him,” come and lie with me”, meaning, “come to bed with me” “come have sex with me”. In fact, nowhere else in scripture does a woman so brazenly proposition a man like we see here.
• Potiphar’s wife’s name is never given. She is simply referred to as “Potiphar’s wife”. Now Joseph was the slave here, but in an ironic twist, Potiphar’s wife will end up becoming a slave to her own lust for her husband’s slave!
• And so how does Joseph respond to this possible seduction? In short, he simply refuses. His answer is no. He doesn’t display anger. He doesn’t give her some lame excuse. He doesn’t preach to her. He simply gives her his reasons for refusing her advances. 
• His first reason involves the abuse of trust that would be involved. He says that “because of me my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my charge. He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except you, because you are his wife. This last part, except you, is what some point to as the only thing Potiphar had to concern himself with, because Joseph handled everything else. Joseph would not betray his master’s trust
• And so, he is severely tested here, Joseph neither betrays his master’s trust in him, nor does he abandon his trust in God
• This sort of reminds me of Adam and Eve in the Garden. God gave them everything, only one thing was off limits. Here, Joseph was given authority over everything, except this one thing, Potiphar’s wife. Interesting. Adam and Eve blew it. They crossed that line, deciding to trust in their own morality rather than trusting in God’s wisdom. But here, Joseph doesn’t cross that line. 
• In fact, he explains the other reason to Potiphar’s wife for refusing her sexual advances…that he could not do this evil thing and sin against God. That is really interesting, because Joseph lived centuries before the Ten Commandments were given. So how did he know that adultery was a sin against God? But we can go back even further, and remember the conversation between Abraham and Abimelech, when Abimelech chews Abraham out for almost causing him to sleep with Sarah, a married woman, almost bringing a great sin upon his people by doing something that ought not be done.
• Through everything that Joseph has been through, and for everything that is still to come, I want you to keep something in mind here. The patriarchs to this point, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, have all had encounters with God. God spoke directly to them. But not so for Joseph. Joseph never has a direct message or revelation from God like they did. 
• Joseph is the first to maintain his faith while living in a non-prophetic era, meaning a time when God is silent. And so, Joseph is a great example for us today, when we may not hear direct messages from God like the patriarchs did. Because our challenge is like Joseph’s was, to see God’s hidden hand in the world around us. As Rabbi Ian Pear wrote, this is what makes Joseph so righteous. In a world in which God is silent, in a world in which God appears absent, Joseph sees God everywhere”. 
• I think that is very insightful. And maybe we should ask ourselves a question: Do we see God nowhere today? Or do we see him everywhere? And how do we view sin today? Have you become so numb to the pervasiveness of sin in the world today that you don’t even notice it any longer? And if you do, does it bother you at all? It seems to me that one of the ways to sort of evaluate your relationship with God is to take stock of how you view and feel about known sin when you see it. 
• But we see Potiphar’s wife didn’t just take his refusal and go on about her business. She kept after Joseph. Day after day, trying to wear him down, trying to entice him, to seduce him. But he refused. 
• BTW, this was the same method that was used by Delilah against Sampson, the strongest person in the Bible, and a great warrior. And Sampson did not hold up. It worked against him, twice in fact. But not so with Joseph. 
• And we continue reading verses 11-18…11 But one day, when he went into the house to do his work and none of the men of the house was there in the house, 12 she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house. 13 And as soon as she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled out of the house, 14 she called to the men of her household and said to them, “See, he has brought among us a Hebrew to laugh at us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice. 15 And as soon as he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried out, he left his garment beside me and fled and got out of the house.” 16 Then she laid up his garment by her until his master came home, 17 and she told him the same story, saying, “The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought among us, came in to me to laugh at me. 18 But as soon as I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment beside me and fled out of the house.”
• So, at some point, Joseph goes into the interior of the house to perform his duties, and Potiphar’s wife catches him by his garment and says again, “Lie with me”. She’s relentless! But the Hebrew word here translated as “caught”, describes an act of violence. Her verbal attempts have failed, and so out of desperation and frustration, she now resorts to physical aggression. This sort of aggression we see from her here is unique to a woman in scripture. 
• So, this is it, right here! The moment of truth. She grabs Joseph, and no doubt he is now standing face to face with a woman who desperately wants to have sex with him, and nobody else is in the house. Right here, right now, Joseph has a decision to make! And what does he do? He left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house. He doesn’t speak with her, doesn’t try to explain, doesn’t rationalize, he just runs and gets out of the house. 
• Now the Hebrew verbs used here describe his spontaneous and abrupt withdrawal and fleeing from the room, and then his assuming a normal stride once he was outside, so he wouldn’t draw attention
• Now this must have left Potiphar’s wife feeling angry and humiliated, maybe even wanting revenge for refusing here again and again. And she also realizes she is in a vulnerable position by having Joseph’s coat. But she quickly realizes that his coat can serve as evidence for a case against Joseph. And so, she immediately accuses him of the very acts she wanted him to perpetrate all along! And once again, Joseph’s coat will be used as a means of deception against him, just as it was when his brothers deceived Jacob. Once again, Joseph is being identified by a coat that has been taken from him.
• But she calls out to her servants and immediately begins to make her case in front of them. But notice how she begins, “See, he has brought among us a Hebrew to laugh at us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice.”
• When she says “He has brought among us a Hebrew”, who exactly is she talking about here? Her husband, Potiphar! She’s sarcastically putting the blame on Potiphar for even having Joseph around in the first place! She’s throwing Potiphar under the bus here in front of all his servants and household. 
• It’s interesting that Joseph, Potiphar’s slave, honored him by not sleeping with his wife, but his own wife doesn’t honor him, and she tries to place the blame at his feet. 
• Notice also how shrewdly she uses her words here. She is manipulative. Today’s politicians could learn much from Potiphar’s wife in the art of manipulation and propaganda. For example, notice how she identifies herself with the slaves by saying “He has brought among us a Hebrew”, like she and the slaves are on the same team, and she’s pleading their case. And by identifying Joseph as a Hebrew, she implies that he is threatening their shared Egyptian values, and that they have a mutual interest here in defending those interests. 
• And she says “He had to bring us a Hebrew” …, casting the blame on her husband. This reminds me of Adam trying to blame Eve and then Eve blaming Satan! I mean seriously, this woman knows how to skillfully adjust her language to fit the needs of her situation. And you know, if I turn on the television here in 2023, I see the exact same thing happening on news networks every single day. I see it on social media platforms every single day. 
• So be diligent my friends. Be aware. And understand that the enemy deals in lies and deception and propaganda. But this is nothing new. This isn’t unique to our modern times. People haven’t changed, only the times have. But unfortunately for us, we are absolutely bombarded 24/7 with non-stop information, manipulation, and propaganda. And unfortunately, I’m afraid Christians are going to increasingly be on the receiving end of much of it. But keep in mind what Jesus told the disciples as he sent them out, warning them that persecution would come, in Matt 10:16 he instructed them, saying “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves”. And that instruction is still very appropriate for Christians today
• But back to Potiphar’s wife…after she had said these things, she continues by saying that Joseph came in to have sex with her, but that she screamed. Now she includes this detailed lie because it was necessary to establish the fact that the sex was unwanted. In other words, the scream was regarded as evidence of resistance to attempted rape, and was therefore a sign of her innocence. And she knew very well that none of the people she was talking to were close enough at the time to even hear her. But she tells them when Joseph heard her scream, he got up and fled out of the house, leaving his coat behind. 
• Well, of course when Potiphar returns home, she tells him the same story, and also of course emphasizing that it was the slave who he had brought into the house had done this. Again, pointing a finger of blame in Potiphar’s direction. 
• And we see how Potiphar reacts to this report in verses 19 and 20, which read…19 As soon as his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, “This is the way your servant treated me,” his anger was kindled. 20 And Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison. 
• So, Potiphar of course doesn’t take the news well. It says his anger was kindled. The Hebrew literally means that he was furious, that he burned with anger. Now, of course, that is a legitimate response upon hearing that kind of news, to be furious. But notice that the text doesn’t say who he was furious at! And this ambiguity here causes many to believe Potiphar wasn’t angry at Joseph, but rather, at his wife. 
• Does he know something about his wife that we haven’t learned as readers here? Again, Potiphar is not an idiot. This is a high-ranking official who reported directly to Pharoah. Was he furious about losing an asset like Joseph, who was the best servant and manager that he had? Does he suspect his wife is lying? Did she have a history of this sort of thing? We don’t know for sure, but we can infer a couple of things here. 
• First, what does he do with Joseph? He puts him in prison. But here’s the thing…attempted rape was a capital offense. If this was true, Joseph would have been executed. Furthermore, if you were a slave found guilty of attempted rape of the wife of the captain of the guard, you’re definitely going to be executed, and possibly even tortured and then executed!  But that’s not what Potiphar does here. 
• Potiphar places Joseph in prison where the king’s prisoners were confined. So, this milder punishment suggests that Potiphar doesn’t believe his wife's accusations. He probably knows her character, and he certainly knew it better than we do. But Potiphar is in a tough position here. He can’t just dismiss his wife’s testimony without publicly humiliating her. And so, the action he takes against Joseph is as minimal as it can be and still retain his family’s honor. 
• You know, it sort of reminds me of the position Pilate was in. I believe both men knew that the accused standing before them were innocent. And yet, neither Pilate nor Potiphar had the courage to stand up and do the right thing. They placed their political and career and personal aspirations above truth. Pilate sentenced Jesus to crucifixion, Potiphar sends Joseph to prison. 
• And so, closing out the last three verses of this chapter, verses 21-23 read…21 But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. 22 And the keeper of the prison put Joseph in charge of all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. 23 The keeper of the prison paid no attention to anything that was in Joseph's charge, because the LORD was with him. And whatever he did, the LORD made it succeed.
• And so now we see Joseph cast into prison. Now his position is even lower than a slave, he’s a prisoner. But even here, God is with him, and he once again gains favor in the eyes of the keeper of the prison. And eventually, Joseph is once again given some authority, even in the prison, because whatever he did, God made it succeed.
• Wow, think about Joseph’s life so far. He was once the favorite of his father Jacob, even had a special one-of-a-kind coat. But he is betrayed by his brothers, stripped of his coat, tossed into a pit, to die, but eventually sold into slavery. He rises to a position of authority, in charge of everything for the high-ranking Potiphar, but it is then wrongly accused of attempted rape, which lands him in prison. But even here, even in prison God is with him.
• A couple of things to consider here. It’s important to notice that God doesn’t remove Joseph from suffering, but he remains with him through his suffering. If you don’t get anything else out of this chapter, make sure you take that insight away. It will only be after a substantial amount of time that God will provide a way out for Joseph. 
• But in the meantime, God is not uncaring. God is not oblivious to his suffering. And he is not oblivious to yours either. One of the reasons or excuses many people give for not believing in God is because of all the suffering they see in the world. 
• Well, I would point out that again, God is not uncaring. God doesn’t just sit back and let us suffer through it alone. In fact, he did just the opposite. God willfully chose to enter into his creation in the person of Jesus Christ, and endure suffering the same as you and I, and in fact, much, much worse. There has been no more torturous means of execution than crucifixion, invented by the Persians, but perfected by the Romans. 
• And Jesus willingly submitted to that level of suffering for you and I. And so, far from being disconnected from the suffering in the world, and although we can’t know all the reasons some evils are allowed to happen, we know that God is not distant and uncaring. He demonstrated that on Calvary. 
• And so, if you are like Joseph, finding yourself alone, in a sort of prison, suffering, and perhaps even suffering unjustly, understand and remember that God is not oblivious. God knows what you're going through. God knows very well the suffering and evil that is taking place in the world today. And remember that there is coming a day when all of that will end. We’re not alone in this. God is with us!