Genesis 39:10
in Genesis 39Although Potiphar’s wife spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be near her.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her.
KJV
And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her.
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This verse in Genesis 39
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThe young man is desired by his mistress but is not provoked to lust. He is asked and runs away. She who commanded in other matters, in this one thing coaxes and pleads. She loved him, or was it rather herself?
This site's exposition
spoke to Joseph day after day
on Genesis 39:10-12
The pressure runs day after day, and Joseph refuses her and keeps out of her way. One day the house is empty of servants, and she takes hold of his cloak. He leaves the cloak in her hand, escapes, and runs outside.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
For us to learn the surpassing virtue of the good man and the fact that not once or twice but many times he endured this pressure and resisted the invitation by ceaselessly counseling her, Scripture says, "Although she kept inviting him day after day, he did not yield to her." When she observed him performing his duties in the house, she fell upon the young man like a wild animal grinding its teeth and grabbed his clothing to lay hold of him. Let us not pass this passage idly by. Instead, let us consider how much pressure the good man endured. I mean, in my view at any rate, it was not so remarkable that the three children survived unharmed in the middle of the Babylonian furnace and sustained no harm from the fire as it was remarkable and unprecedented that this remarkable young man had his clothes torn from him by this frenzied and intemperate woman without yielding to her. Instead, Joseph left the clothes in her hands and fled the scene in that condition. You see, just as those three children on account of their virtue enjoyed grace from on high and were seen to prove superior to the fire, so this man too, after making whatever effort he could and giving evidence of his struggle for continence with great intensity, enjoyed abundant help from on high. He all at once prevailed, thanks to such cooperation from God's right hand, and slipped from the clutches of that lustful woman. Then one could see this remarkable man emerging, divested of his clothes but garbed in the vesture of chastity, as though escaping unharmed from some fiery furnace, not only not scorched by the flames but even more conspicuous and resplendent.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
The temptation he was assaulted with was very strong. Never was a more violent onset made upon the fort of chastity than this recorded here. (1.) The sin he was tempted to was uncleanness, which considering his youth, his beauty, his single state, and his plentiful living at the table of a ruler, was a sin which, one would think, might most easily beset him and betray him.
And it came to pass, that as she spake to Joseph day by day,....
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
TO LIE ‘ETZLA’ (BY HER). The meaning of this expression is as Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra interpreted it: “even to lie near her, each in their garment, or to be with her for general conversation.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
On the same day that she had first asked him to lay with her.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
13 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיְהִ֕י | vayhi | and it was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| כְּדַבְּרָ֥הּ | kedaberah | when spoke she | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| יוֹסֵ֖ף | yosef | Joseph | H3130 → | 213 times |
| י֣וֹם׀ | yom | day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| י֑וֹם | yom | day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| וְלֹא־ | velo'- | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| שָׁמַ֥ע | shama' | he listened | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| אֵלֶ֛יהָ | ʾeleiha | to her | H413 → | 5510 times |
| לִשְׁכַּ֥ב | lishkav | to lie | H7901 → | 212 times |
| אֶצְלָ֖הּ | ʾetzlah | beside her | H681 → | 61 times |
| לִהְי֥וֹת | lihyot | to be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| עִמָּֽהּ׃ | ʾimah | with her | H5973 → | 1050 times |
וַיְהִ֕יand it was
vayhiH1961 →3559 times
כְּדַבְּרָ֥הּwhen spoke she
kedaberahH1696 →1141 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
יוֹסֵ֖ףJoseph
yosefH3130 →213 times
י֣וֹם׀day
yomH3117 →2304 times
י֑וֹםday
yomH3117 →2304 times
וְלֹא־and not
velo'-H3808 →5168 times
שָׁמַ֥עhe listened
shama'H8085 →1159 times
אֵלֶ֛יהָto her
ʾeleihaH413 →5510 times
לִשְׁכַּ֥בto lie
lishkavH7901 →212 times
אֶצְלָ֖הּbeside her
ʾetzlahH681 →61 times
לִהְי֥וֹתto be
lihyotH1961 →3559 times
עִמָּֽהּ׃with her
ʾimahH5973 →1050 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Corinthians 15:33Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good character.”
it leads to
- Proverbs 13:20
He who walks with the wise will become wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.
- Matthew 24:4
Jesus answered, “See to it that no one deceives you.
- 1 Corinthians 5:6
Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven works through the whole batch of dough?
- Proverbs 9:6
Leave your folly behind, and you will live; walk in the way of understanding.”
- Ephesians 5:6
Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience.
- Proverbs 13:20
Through
2 Timothy 2:22Flee from youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, together with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
it leads to
- 1 Peter 2:11
Beloved, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from the desires of the flesh, which war against your soul.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Peter 3:11
He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it.
- 1 Peter 2:11
Through
1 Peter 2:11Beloved, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from the desires of the flesh, which war against your soul.
it leads to
- 1 John 2:15–17
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
- 1 John 2:15–17
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Genesis
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Caesarius of Arles, SERMON 90.2; John Calvin, Commentary on Genesis; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 62.19; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.