After these things, his master’s wife set her eyes on Joseph; and she said, “Lie with me.”
But he refused, and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, my master doesn’t know what is with me in the house, and he has put all that he has into my hand. No one is greater in this house than I am, and he has not kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”
As she spoke to Joseph day by day, he didn’t listen to her, to lie by her, or to be with her. About this time, he went into the house to do his work, and there were none of the men of the house inside. She caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me!” He left his garment in her hand, and ran outside.
When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and had run outside, she called to the men of her house, and spoke to them, saying, “Behold, he has brought a Hebrew in to us to mock us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried with a loud voice. When he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment by me, and ran outside.” She laid up his garment by her, until his master came home. She spoke to him according to these words, saying, “The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought to us, came in to me to mock me, and as I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment by me, and ran outside.”
When his master heard the words of his wife, which she spoke to him, saying, “This is what your servant did to me,” his wrath was kindled. Joseph’s master took him, and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were bound, and he was there in custody.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv7, 10, 11, 19, 20 7. Lie with me Moses only briefly touches upon…
7. Lie with me Moses only briefly touches upon the chief points, and the sum of the things he relates. For there is no doubt that this impure woman endeavored, by various arts, to allure the pious youth, and that she insinuated herself by indirect blandishments, before she broke forth to such a shameless kind of license. But Moses, omitting other things, shows that she had been pushed so far by base lust, as not to shrink from openly soliciting a connection with Joseph. Now as this filthiness is a signal proof that carnal lust acts from blind and furious impulses; so, in the person of Joseph, an admirable example of fidelity and continence is set before us. His fidelity and integrity appear in this, that he acknowledges himself to be the more strictly bound, the greater the power with which he is entrusted. Ingenuous and courageous men have this property, that the more is confided to them, the less they can bear to deceive: but it is a rare virtue for those who have the power of doing injury to cultivate honesty gratuitously. Wherefore Joseph is not undeservedly commended by Moses, for regarding the authority with which he was invested by his master, as a bridle to restrain him from transgressing the bounds of duty. Besides, he gives also a proof of his gratitude, in bringing forward the benefits received from his master, as a reason why he should not subject him to any disgrace. And truly hence arises at this day such confusion everywhere, that men are half brutal, because this sacred bond of mutual society is broken. All, indeed, confess, that if they have received any benefit from another, they are under obligation to him: one even reproaches another for his ingratitude; but there are few who sincerely follow the example of Joseph. Lest, however, he should seem to be restrained only by a regard to man, he also declares that the act would be offensive to God. And, indeed, nothing is more powerful to overcome temptation than the fear of God. But he designedly commends the generosity of his master, in order that the wicked woman may desist from her abandoned purpose. To the same point is the objection which he mentions, Neither hath he kept anything back from me but thee, because thou art his wife. Why does he say this, except that, by recalling the religious obligation of marriage, he may wound the corrupt mind of the woman, and may cure her of her insane passion? Therefore he not only strenuously strives to liberate himself from her wicked allurements; but, lest her lusts should prove indomitable, he proposes to her the best remedy. And we may know that the sanctity of marriage is here commended to us in the history of Joseph, whereby the Lord would declare himself to be the maintainer of matrimonial fidelity, so that none who violate another’s bed should escape his vengeance. For he is a surety between the man and his wife, and requires mutual chastity from each. Whence it follows that, besides the injury inflicted upon man, God himself is grievously wronged.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv7, 9, 14, 17, 20 In this word he declareth the sum whereunto all…
In this word he declareth the sum whereunto all her flatteries did tend.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv7–20 Gen 39:7 And it came to pass after these…
Gen 39:7 And it came to pass after these things, that his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me.
Ver. 7. After these things.] After he had been ten or eleven years in that house. So long he was safe: yet at length set upon. Learn we always to stand upon our guard; to do, as it is reported of the bird Onocrotalus, that she is so well practised to expect the hawk to grapple with her, that even, when she shutteth her eyes, she sleepeth with her beak exalted, as if she would contend with her adversary. {a} A man is to expect, if he live out his days, to be urged to all sins, to the breach of every branch of the ten commandments, and to be put to it in respect of every article of our creed.
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His master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph.] She looked and lusted. {b} {See Trapp on "Gen 34:2"}
And she said, Lie with me.] An impudent harlotry, that could so barely and basely solicit. Such a frontless propudium was that in the Pro 7:13; Pro 7:18. Such were those insatiate empresses, Messalina, wife to Claudius; and Barbara, wife to Sigismund, emperor of Germany, faemina immensae libidinis et procacitatis inverecundae, quae saepius viros peteret quam peteretur. Vitam omnem censuit inanem, quae non coitu, luxu, ac libidine contereretur. {c} And such were those brazen faced courtezans that Franciscus Junius, that learned man, met with; and for their sakes abhorred the company of all women ever after, as himself recordeth in his own life.
{a} The Divine Cosmographer, p. 94.
{b} Non dicit Moses, "Vidit"; "Aspexit," &c. Hic fuit aspectus impudicus. - Pareus.
{c} Pareus, in Medul. Hist. Profanae, p. 786. Haec stultas vocabat virgines pro Christi nomine passas, quod voluptatum gaudia non gustassent.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv7, 10, 11, 12, 14, 17, 18, 20 cast her eyes upon Joseph, in a lascivious and…
She
cast her eyes upon Joseph, in a lascivious and unchaste manner. See Job 31:1; Mat 5:28; 2Pe 2:14.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On vv7, 13, 19 Here is, I. A most shameful instance of impudence…
Here is, I. A most shameful instance of impudence and immodesty in Joseph's mistress, the shame and scandal of her sex, perfectly lost to all virtue and honour, and not to be mentioned, nor thought of, without the utmost indignation. It was well that she was an Egyptian; for we must have shared in the confusion if such folly had been found in Israel. Observe,
I. Her sin began in the eye: She cast her eyes upon Joseph (Gen 39:7), who was a goodly person, and well-favoured, Gen 39:6. Note, (1.) Remarkable beauty, either of men or women, often proves a dangerous snare both to themselves and others, which forbids pride in it and commands constant watchfulness against the temptation that attends it; favour is deceitful - deceiving. (2.) We have great need to make a covenant with our eyes (Job 31:1), lest the eye infect the heart. Joseph's mistress had a husband that ought to have been to her for a covering of the eyes from all others, Gen 20:16.
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2. She was daring and shameless in the sin. With an impudent face, and a harlot's forehead, she said, Lie with me, having already, by her wanton looks and unchaste desires, committed adultery with him in her heart. Note, Where the unclean spirit gets possession and dominion in a soul, it is as with the possessed of the devils (Luk 8:27, Luk 8:29), the clothes of modesty are thrown off and the bands and fetters of shame are broken in pieces. When lust has got head, it will stick at nothing, blush at nothing; decency, and reputation, and conscience, are all sacrificed to that Baal-peor. 3. She was urgent and violent in the temptation. Often she had been denied with the strongest reasons, and yet as often renewed her vile solicitations. She spoke to him day by day, Gen 39:10. Now this was, (1.) Great wickedness in her, and showed her heart fully set to do evil. (2.) A great temptation to Joseph. The hand of Satan, no doubt, was in it, who, when he found he could not overcome him with troubles and the frowns of the world (for in them he still held fast his integrity), assaulted him with soft and charming pleasures, which have ruined more than the former, and have slain their ten-thousands.
II. Here is a most illustrious instance of virtue and resolved chastity in Joseph, who, by the grace of God, was enabled to resist and overcome this temptation; and, all things considered, his escape was, for aught I know, as great an instance of the divine power as the deliverance of the three children out of the fiery furnace.
1. 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. (2.) The tempter was his mistress, a person of quality, whom it was his place to obey and his interest to oblige, whose favour would contribute more than any thing to his preferment, and by whose means he might arrive at the highest honours of the court. On the other hand, it was at his utmost peril if he slighted her, and made her his enemy. (3.) Opportunity makes a thief, makes an adulterer, and that favoured the temptation. The tempter was in the house with him; his business led him to be, without any suspicion, where she was; none of the family were within (Gen 39:11); there appeared no danger of its being ever discovered, or, if it should be suspected, his mistress would protect him. (4.) To all this was added importunity, frequent constant importunity, to such a degree that, at last, she laid violent hands on him.
2. His resistance of the temptation was very brave, and the victory truly honourable. The almighty grace of God enabled him to overcome this assault of the enemy,
(1.) By strength of reason; and wherever right reason may be heard, religion no doubt will carry the day. He argues from the respect he owed both to God and his master, Gen 39:8, Gen 39:9. [1.] He would not wrong his master, nor do such an irreparable injury to his honour. He considers, and urges, how kind his master had been to him, what a confidence he had reposed in him, in how many instances he had befriended him, for which he abhorred the thought of making such an ungrateful return. Note, We are bound in honour, as well as justice and gratitude, not in any thing to injure those that have a good opinion of us and place a trust in us, how secretly soever it may be done. See how he argues (Gen 39:9): "There is none greater in this house than I, therefore I will not do it." Note, Those that are great, instead of being proud of their greatness, should use it as an argument against sin. "Is none greater than I? Then I will scorn to do a wicked thing; it is below me to serve a base lust; I will not disparage myself so much." [2.] He would not offend his God. This is the chief argument with which he strengthens his aversion to the sin. How can I do this? not only, How shall I? or, How dare I? but, How can I? Id possumus, quod jure possumus - We can do that which we can do lawfully. It is good to shut out sin with the strongest bar, even that of an impossibility. He that is born of God cannot sin, Jo1 3:9. Three arguments Joseph urges upon himself. First, He considers who he was that was tempted. "I; others may perhaps take their liberty, but I cannot. I that am an Israelite in covenant with God, that profess religion, and relation to him: it is next to impossible for me to do so." Secondly, What the sin was to which he was tempted: This great wickedness. Others might look upon it as a small matter, a peccadillo, a trick of youth; but Joseph had another idea of it. In general, when at any time we are tempted to sin, we must consider the great wickedness there is in it, let sin appear sin (Rom 7:13), call it by its own name, and never go about to lessen it. Particularly let the sin of uncleanness always be looked upon as great wickedness, as an exceedingly sinful sin, that wars against the soul as much as any other. Thirdly, Against whom he was tempted to sin - against God; not only, "How shall I do it, and sin against my master, my mistress, myself, my own body and soul; but against God?" Note, Gracious souls look upon this as the worst thing in sin that it is against God, against his nature and his dominion, against his love and his design. Those that love God do for this reason hate sin.
(2.) By stedfastness of resolution. The grace of God enabled him to overcome the temptation by avoiding the tempter. [1.] He hearkened not to her, so much as to be with her, Gen 39:10. Note, Those that would be kept from harm must keep themselves out of harm's way. Avoid it, pass not by it. Nay, [2.] When she laid hold of him, he left his garment in her hand, Gen 39:12. He would not stay so much as to parley with the temptation, but flew out from it with the utmost abhorrence; he left his garment, as one escaping for his life. Note, It is better to lose a good coat than a good conscience.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv7–20 And it came to pass after these things,.... After…
And it came to pass after these things,.... After he was the overseer of his house; in which office, after he had been some time, so it was
that his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; he being a handsome young man, caught her eye, and that her heart, and led her on to lust after him, and frequently fed her eyes with amorous glances at him:
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and at length being fired with lust, and having an opportunity:
she said, to him, in a bold and impudent manner, in plain words, having given signs and hints, and dropped expressions tending thereto before, as it is probable:
lie with me; now directly, there being both opportunity and convenience, perhaps her chamber was near: this was a very great temptation to a young man in single life and living well, from his mistress, who had it greatly in her power to make him should he consent, or ruin him should he deny.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv9, 10, 12, 20 How can I sin against God - Not only…
How can I sin against God - Not only how shall I do it and sin against my master, my mistress, myself, my own body and soul, but against God? - Gracious souls look upon this as the worst thing in sin, that it is against God, against his nature and his dominion, against his love and his design. They that love God, for this reason hate sin.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv8, 9, 14, 20 Verse 8. My master wotteth not] Knoweth not, from…
Verse 8. My master wotteth not] Knoweth not, from the old Anglo-Saxon [A.S.], witan, to know; hence [A.S.], wit, intellect, understanding, wisdom, prudence.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv9, 10, 20 Gen 39:9. How can I do this great wickedness?…
Gen 39:9. How can I do this great wickedness? — How can I, to whom my master has shown so much kindness, when I was a poor, forlorn stranger from a foreign land, and was offered to him in the capacity of a slave; on whom he has conferred so many, and such great favours, keeping back from my enjoyment no part of his property but thee, because thou art his wife; — how can I be guilty of such ingratitude as thus to wound him in the tenderest part? How can I, in whom he has reposed such confidence, and to whom he has committed so great a trust as to make me steward and governor of all he has, thus shamefully deceive that confidence, and betray that trust? How can I be so unjust to him as to injure him, in a matter which of all others would give him the greatest pain, and rob him of his greatest and most valuable treasure, the affections and honour of his wife, and his own honour involved therein? How can I be so unkind and cruel to thee, as to countenance and entangle thee in so much guilt and wickedness, laying thee open to the daily reproaches of thy own mind, making an eternal breach and separation between thee and thy husband, and rendering thy whole future life a scene of bitterness and distress? How can I expose thee to the displeasure and wrath of the righteous Lawgiver and just Judge of all the earth, who is the everlasting avenger of all such crimes? And how can I, who profess to be a worshipper and servant of Jehovah, the God of truth, justice, and holiness, do any wickedness, especially such great wickedness as that of committing adultery with the wife of my bountiful benefactor and kind master? How can I thus sin, not only against my master, my mistress, myself, my own body and soul, but against God? — Gracious souls look upon this as the worst thing in sin, that it is against God; against his nature and his dominion, against his love and his design. They that love God for this reason hate sin.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv7, 9, 10, 12, 16, 17, 19 Many days. About 10 years; as Joseph was 30,…
Many days. About 10 years; as Joseph was 30, three years after this. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv7, 9, 14, 20 his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph--Egyptian women…
his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph--Egyptian women were not kept in the same secluded manner as females are in most Oriental countries now. They were treated in a manner more worthy of a civilized people--in fact, enjoyed much freedom both at home and abroad. Hence Potiphar's wife had constant opportunity of meeting Joseph. But the ancient women of Egypt were very loose in their morals. Intrigues and intemperance were vices very prevalent among them, as the monuments too plainly attest [WILKINSON]. Potiphar's wife was probably not worse than many of the same rank, and her infamous advances made to Joseph arose from her superiority of station.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv7, 9, 11, 14, 20 7. Cast her eyes upon Joseph — Having briefly…
7. Cast her eyes upon Joseph — Having briefly but impressively explained how Joseph became exalted in the house of his Egyptian master, and now Potiphar trusted every thing to his management; also having, at the close of Gen_39:6, mentioned the great personal beauty of the Hebrew slave, the writer has prepared us to understand the power of the great temptation which came to Joseph. The licentiousness of Egyptian women is evidenced by numerous testimonies. The monuments, as well as ancient writers, show that they did not live the secluded life to which the women of other eastern nations were compelled. See Wilkinson, Ancient Egypt, vol. i, p. 144; vol. ii, p. 224. An Egyptian papyrus in the British Museum relates the story of two brothers, the wife of the elder of whom acts and speaks toward the younger almost in the same words that Potiphar’s wife used with Joseph. See Ebers, Egypten, p. 311.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv8, 9, 13, 14, 16, 20 7–20. The False Accusation
7–20. The False Accusation
8. knoweth not, &c.] Here, as in Gen_39:6, the marg., knoweth not with me what is, gives the meaning of the passage.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 16, 19, 20 And it came to pass after these things, Joseph…
CHAPTER 39:7-23
And it came to pass after these things, Joseph had by this time been nearly ten years in Potiphar"s house (vide Gen_41:46) that his master s wife cast her eyes (lasciviously) upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me. According to monumental evidence (Wilkinson"s "Ancient Egyptians," vol. 1. p. 392, ed. 1878; Hengstenbergs "Egypt and the Books of Moses," 1:25; Kalisch, p. 631) and historical testimony (Herod., 2:111), Egyptian females, even though married, were distinguished for licentiousness and immorality, and were not condemned to live in seclusion (Bohlen), but were allowed freely to mix in promiscuous society, which facts perfectly account for Joseph s temptation by his mistress.
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Vers. 7-23.
Joseph and the wife of Potiphar.
I THE GREAT TEMPTATION.
1. The time of it. Never perhaps had Joseph s prospects been brighter since he left his father"s house than towards the close of that decade of years which he spent in the Egyptian officer"s employ; and yet then it was that, like a thunderbolt shot from a clear sky, a fierce temptation burst upon him.
1. The occasion of it. This was the beauty of Joseph" s person. Things innocent and lovely in themselves may sometimes be a source of danger, and, if not guarded against, a cause of sin, to their possessors. In particular the good looks of men and women are often snares to others as well as fraught with peril to themselves, as the cases Of Sarah, (Gen_12:14) Rebekah, (Gen_26:10) and Dinah (Gen_34:2) testify. Hence beauty of the person should neither be too eagerly coveted nor too proudly worn by either sex, as-by each its charms in the other should be moderately admired, and its allurements earnestly resisted.
2. The form of it. The special trial to which the young man Joseph was now subjected partook of the character of an assault upon his chastity. It is, however, a mistake to suppose that a good man is always assaulted at the point where he is weakest. On the contrary, it is one of the devil"s blunders that, in directing his attacks against saints, he for the most part mistakenly selects the point where they are strongest. Joseph was permitted to be assailed by his lascivious mistress not because his own personal virtue was doubtful, but because in that direction he was best prepared to repel the fiercest onset of temptation.
3. The strength of it. There were elements in this assault upon Joseph"s virtue which were calculated to impart to it a vehemence that in ordinary circumstances, i.e. with persons of less robustness of moral principle than Joseph, must have proved overwhelming. These were
(1) The person by whom it was directed, viz., Joseph"s mistress, the wife of a high officer of state, whose smile might have turned the head and intoxicated the heart of a young man who was only her slave.
(2) The vehement importunity with which it was urged, his mistress speaking to him day by day, and even by act as well as word endeavoring to prevail.
(3) The convenient opportunity which was almost always presented, seeing that Joseph"s master was mostly absent, and the domestics often out of the way.
(4) The danger he might incur by offending one so high in rank as his master"s wife.
(5) The advantages he might expect to reap from complying with her pleasure.
II THE SPLENDID VICTORY.
1. The manner of Joseph"s refusal.
(1) Promptly, without the slightest hesitation or appearance of dallying with the tempting bait. Had Joseph hesitated, he might have been lost; had he trifled with the forbidden fruit, he might have plucked and ate.
(2) Firmly. There was no sound of wavering or indecision about the reply of Joseph. It was not the answer of a man who was only half-hearted in putting away from him a thing which he secretly desired. In Joseph"s "no" there was the clear, full-toned ring of a man who had made up his mind intelligently and finally.
(3) Kindly. Joseph behaved towards his mistress with as much tenderness as his moral indignation and disgust at her behavior would allow; his considerateness shining out conspicuously in this, that he studiously endeavored to be as much as possible out of the unhappy woman"s sight, in the hope, doubtless, that her unholy passion might abate.
(4) Bravely. Joseph was prepared to run any risk rather than accede to the base proposal of his mistress, as was proved by his fleeing from the house without his doublet, when the impudent woman sought by catching hold of him to secure compliance with her request.
2. The reason of Joseph"s refusal.
(1) The greatness of the trust reposed in him by his master. Potiphar had committed everything to his (Joseph"s) care; and how then could he repay with treachery so abominable a confidence so great?
(2) The extent of the power delegated to him. Potiphar had kept back nothing from him except his wife: how then, having privileges so extensive, should he covet the one thing forbidden?
(3) The sacredness of the relationship existing between his mistress and Potiphar. "Thou art his wife;" and by the covenant of marriage thou belongest to him only, and not to me.
(4) The heinousness of the sin of which he would be guilty. "How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?
III THE REMARKABLE REWARD.
1. The slander of his mistress. The disappointed strumpet, thirsting for revenge, resolves upon accomplishing the ruin of the fair youth of whom the moment before she affected to be enamored. But indeed all illicit passion, whether gratified or baulked, has a tendency sooner or later to become transformed into hate. Laying up the garment which Joseph had indiscreetly dropped in his haste, she makes use of it to trump up a charge against Joseph of having attempted a violation of her chastity. There is no length to which the fierce resentment of a wicked woman will not proceed against those who have incurred her hate. It will commonly go hard with her if out of a straw her infernal ingenuity cannot manufacture a rope wherewith to strangle her victim.
2. The wrath of his master Potiphar, as was natural, at first felt inclined to believe his wife and to suppose that Joseph had foully betrayed the trust reposed in his honor. In this, of course, he acted hastily, and therefore sinfully. Even from the nearest and the dearest reports affecting injuriously the characters of others should not be accepted without investigation. But that second thoughts prevailed with Potiphar, who, remembering the bad reputation of Egyptian ladies generally, and knowing something possibly of the slenderness of his own wife"s virtue, as well as recalling the previous high character of Joseph, began to doubt the truth of what was alleged against his favorite, and to think it more likely that his wife lied than that Joseph sinned, has been inferred from the circumstance that Joseph was not forthwith remitted to the executioner"s block, but only committed to the tower.
3. The mercy of his God. As before, Jehovah went with Joseph to the prison, and comforted him with gracious thoughts concerning his affliction, with speedy favor in the sight of his keeper, so that the severity of his confinement was considerably mitigated, and with ultimate promotion to a position of trust within the prison, the charge of all the criminals being committed to his care. And finally, the Lord made him prosperous and successful as before in all his undertakings.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv9, 13, 19 How can I do this great wickedness and sin…
Gen_39:9-12
How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?
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--
Josephs resistance
We are accustomed to admire the mere act of resistance to temptation, by whomsoever and howsoever offered. But there is a vast difference between the ways in which temptation is resisted. Some, knowing the thing desired of them to be essentially wrong, have recourse to cowardly shifts and evasions. They are unable to comply; thus much they will answer; but for this inability they will render all sorts of secondary and insufficient reasons, and keep back the right one. How very different from this weak and ineffectual course is the refusal of one who fearlessly states at once the right and master reason why he should not yield to temptation: How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? One of the lowest advantages of the brave and decided course is that such a person has the least trouble after all. His place is ascertained; his colours are shown. He is no waverer, and the crowd of busy mischief-makers cease from him and let him alone. The noble words of our text let us into the whole secret of endurance.
I. The answer of Joseph implies A SENSE OF DIRECT ACCOUNTABLENESS TO GOD. This sense of responsibility leads at once to a truer estimate of right and wrong. While we tarry on the level of the worlds maxims and habits, and try to decide our line of conduct, many a matter seems ambiguous and difficult to determine; but rise to the throne of God, and look down from thence, and all is clear. Oh for that second and better nature, sprung from the habit of seeing God in everything, which, when doubts, when questionings, when temptations arise, asks counsel at once of Him, runs into the strong tower of His name, and is safe.
II. This answer implies A SENSE OF SIN. Sin is a word of which the world knows not the meaning. Men must know what God is, or they cannot know what sin is. When Joseph spoke of sinning against God, he used this term of a positive and definite God, who had manifested Himself, and with whom he was in covenant. To sin against Him, to break His positive command, was to reject and despise his covenant God; to tread under foot His promises and His mercies.
III. This reply shows that TRUE COURAGE AND SEASONABLE BOLDNESS which ever characterize the genuine soldier of heaven. In every occupation of life, in all intercourse, in toil and in recreation, our Christian armour should be worn, and never be laid aside. The moment our allegiance is tested, the moment that the world requires what God forbids or forbids what God requires, we must stand to our arms, and admit no thought of a surrender. (Dean Alford.)
The temptation of Joseph
I. THE STRENGTH OF IT.
1. His youth.
2. The force of opportunity.
3. The prospect of advancement which his compliance would secure.
4. The repetition of the temptation (Gen_39:10).
II. His RESISTANCE OF IT.
1. He pleads the law of honour.
2. He pleads the law of chastity.
3. He pleads the law of piety.
III. HIS VICTORY OVER IT.
1. Obtained by flight.
2. Obtained through loss. (T. H. Leale.)
Tempted but triumphant
I. THE MAGNITUDE OF THE TEMPTATION.
1. It came on Joseph when he was dwelling among a nation of idolaters, away from the restraints of home and the influence of his father and grandfather, by which he had been accustomed to be regulated. If, therefore, his piety had been a mere conventional thing, he would certainly have yielded, as many others in like circumstances have done. Which of us has not known cases of youths who at home were reputable and well behaved, but who, when they have gone to another city or another land, where they were entirely unknown to those by whom they were surrounded, have run riot in iniquity, and excused themselves by quoting the debasing proverb that when we are in Rome we must do as they do at Rome? But Joseph was not a youth of that sort. His piety was not a matter of longitude and latitude. He believed in God, and sought to serve Him in all places and in all cases; and he did in Egypt precisely as he would have done, in like circumstances, in Canaan.
2. Again, this temptation which came upon him thus, when he was away from all external support, took him in two points of his nature at one and the same time. It appealed to appetite; and if Paul thought it needful to say to Timothy, who was a young man of rather ascetic habits, devoted to the ministry of the gospel, and surrounded by all wholesome influences, flee also youthful lusts, we may well believe that Joseph was not insensible to its force in that particular. But that was not its most seductive aspect, as I believe, to him. For the entering into this intrigue meant also for him the putting of Potiphar ultimately out of the way, and his own elevation, in an easy and speedy fashion, to his masters place. That must be clear to all acquainted with Eastern life.
II. Nor can we help remarking on THE GROUNDS WHEREON HE BASED HIS CONDUCT, for they show as really his fidelity to man as his loyalty to God. He could not be guilty of treachery against Potiphar, or of sin against God.
His own pleasure or elevation would be too dearly purchased by ingratitude to one who had placed such unlimited confidence in him, and no gratification could to him be lasting which dishonoured God.
III. LESSONS.
1. When we have unusual blessing we may look for severe temptation.
2. When temptation takes us, we must resist it with a strong and decided No, and carefully take ourselves out of its range. It is dangerous to drive restive horses near the edge of a precipice; it is dangerous to bring gunpowder near the fire; it is dangerous to come near an adders fang; and it is equally so with these fallen natures of ours to approach temptation. Therefore avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it and pass away. But the merely negative attitude will, after all, be weak, and so I stay here a moment longer to add that the best means of saying no to sin is to say yes with the whole heart to the Lord Jesus Christ. If you wish to dispel the darkness you will bring in a light; if you desire to kill weeds most effectively you will sow the ground with wholesome grass; and in like manner, if you would keep evil out of your hearts you must get the Lord Jesus Christ into them.
3. We should not be surprised to find that our adherence to the right is followed at first by great hardship. But when we find ourselves in such circumstances, what is to be done? Nothing, but wait Gods time and persevere in our integrity. We must not judge God for what we see of His providence on a small scale. We must take wide views of it, and when we do that we shall find that in the long run He brings forth mens righteousness as the light and their judgment as the noonday, so that the evil-doer is punished and the virtuous man rewarded. (William M. Taylor, D. D.)
Josephs temptation
I. Joseph DID WELL when he incurred his masters displeasure, and lost his honourable and responsible situation.
II. Josephs resistance of the temptation by which he was tried, is wonderfully instructive. HE REFUSED. He does not appear either to have parleyed with temptation, or conferred a moment with flesh and blood.
III. Observe further, it was not one single temptation which Joseph had to withstand. It is said of his tempter, SHE SPOKE UNTO HIM DAY BY DAY. But it was all in vain. That principle is eminently strong which can resist repeated and continual solicitation to transgress. As the constant dropping wears away the hard stone; so the firmest resolution is sometimes worn out before never-ending temptation. But almost in every instance, where this has been the case, there has been either undue self-confidence, or a want of due circumspection and watchfulness.
IV. Look, in the next place, at THE TEMPORAL CONSEQUENCES TO JOSEPH OF HIS UPRIGHT DEALING. His wicked tempter became his false accuser.
V. Look now, for a moment, at Joseph in prison. We are not told of any attempt that he made to justify himself, or to clear his character of the hark stain which so falsely had been cast upon it. HE COMMITTED HIMSELF TO HIM THAT JUDGETH RIGHTEOUSLY. (C. Overton.)
Josephs great victory
The nobleness of Joseph stands out to any one who has purity enough and heart-honesty enough to study the picture. Why not speak to Potiphar, as he had spoken to Jacob, when the sons of the bond-women tempted him? Because the man with whom God was, was a man of high honour and charity. Joseph would not rob the poor, passionate heathen woman of the last chance of regaining her own self-respect.
1. There are such monsters in society still. The origin of impurity is, indeed, much more frequently with men, but there are women who deliberately seek to compass the ruin of youths by assailing them with subtle and flattering temptations. Solomons picture of the strange woman is still true to fact. All classes of society have still their Cleopatras.
2. It is Gods Book that tells of Potiphars wife. Read the first seven chapters of Proverbs at a sitting, and seek out the words, not few, of the holy Saviour touching this thing. Those who are too nice to read such pages are apt to be very nasty within; there is no impurity in the exposure of sin, but there may be plenty of impurity with the affectation of avoiding the mention of it.
3. Gods greatest servants are, like Joseph those who have preserved their purity. (A. M. Symington, D. D.)
Lessons
1. Times of advance in the world may prove times of most dangerous assaults of temptation to saints.
2. Gods blessings at home and abroad prove occasions of sin unto naughty hearts.
3. Unclean hearts have their times to set their eyes on wicked works.
4. Treacherous lust may turn a wife from a husband to a servant.
5. Unclean hearts and eyes will easily make unclean tongues. (G. Hughes, B. D.)
Lessons
1. Grace kept to work refuseth with disdain the strongest temptations to uncleanness.
2. Gracious hearts are ready to return saving instruction for unclean suggestion to the tempter.
3. It is rational as well as Christian to all unclean tempters to consider reason.
4. Confidence anti-trust of lords in their servants should make them more faithful, and unwilling to injure them (Gen_39:8).
5. Power delegated to largest bounds should be improved to the greatest good of superiors.
6. Power despotical may be delegated to others, but marital, or husband power to none.
7. Conjugal covenant maketh the power of man and wife reciprocal.
8. Breach of marriage covenant by adultery is most grievous wickedness.
9. Treacherous adultery carrieth a special malignity against God, and is observed by Him.
10. True religion towards God makes men fear to sin, and provoke the eyes of His glory (Gen_39:9). (G. Hughes, B. D.)
Lessons
1. The times of mens exercise about their honest employments may prove their seasons of temptation to them.
2. Absence of witnesses and such as may hinder lust is a fair opportunity for it.
3. Providence ordereth both these together sometimes, to try His own, and discry wicked hearts (Gen_39:11).
4. Lustful hearts upon such occasions grow impudent to tempt by word and deed.
5. Whorish lust catcheth garments, holds bodies, and ensnares souls with its temptations.
6. Gracious souls rather loose their garments, then endanger their graces.
7. Grace flieth from temptation, when it cannot cease it and make it still.
8. Grace chooseth to be out of doors with innocency rather than in the house with sin (Gen_39:12). (G. Hughes, B. D.)
Joseph: the victory of conscience and faith over impulse and opportunity
I. THINE OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH MIGHT HAVE MADE IT EASY FOR HIM TO SUCCUMB TO THE TEMPTATION.
1. He was young.
2. He was away from home. Young men, you may escape the eye of an earthly parent, but you cannot escape the eye of God (Psa_139:7-12).
3. Joseph might have pleaded that the consequences of his sin would be favour and advancement, while the consequences of his resistance would be, in all likelihood, irretrievable disgrace.
II. CONSIDER THE WAY IN WHICH JOSEPH, INSTEAD OF YIELDING TO THE PRESSURE OF THESE CIRCUMSTANCES, MET AND OVERCAME THE TEMPTATION WHICH ASSAILED HIM. Did not allow his youth, or distance from home, or possible consequences, to blind him to the true nature of the proposal which was made to him. Did not beat about the bush and endeavour to sophisticate himself into the belief that wrong was right. Did not try to mitigate the evil by talking about sin, as if it were merely a folly, or a pardonable indiscretion. How then did he fortify himself against the enticement to evil?
1. By calling things by their right names. He had not learned to say that bitter was sweet, or darkness light. He had not so lived as to bedim or distort his spiritual vision. And so he blurted out the truth at once, and called the act to which he was invited, This great wickedness. There is no more mischievous maxim than that which finds expression in the saying of Burke: Vice itself lost half its evil by losing all its grossness. It is when Satan is transformed into an angel of light, that his power is most deadly. He who has learned to call the sin to which he is tempted This great wickedness, has already won half the battle.
2. By remembering that all wrong-doing is sin against God. It may be sin against self also, and sin against our fellows, but this it most assuredly is--sin against God. The faith which utters itself in these words was the source at once of the insight which enabled Joseph to perceive the true nature of the temptation, and of the strength in which he was able to overcome it. A man who has cultivated the habit of referring everything to God is not easily deceived by the appearance of things. He lives and walks in the light of truth. He is able to bring all things to the one test--is it or is it not pleasing to God? This, the one adequate motive of a true life. (J. R. Bailey.)
Sin avoided by considerations of God
The meaning, the force of this language lies almost entirely in the word, God. And O how many reasons, why we should not sin against Him, are wrapped up in this one word?
1. God, you may understand the good man as saying, is a Being of perfect, of infinite excellence. His works as well as His word, assure me that He is so.
2. God is my Creator. He is the former of my body, the Father of my spirit. As such He is my nearest relative. How then can I sin against Him?
3. God is my Preserver and Benefactor. He has watched over me and preserved me every moment since my existence commenced. He has shielded me from ten thousand evils and dangers. He has preserved me, while multitudes of my coevals have perished. He is preserving me at this moment.
4. God is my rightful Sovereign. As my Creator and Proprietor, He has the best of all possible titles to control me.
5. God is the providential, as well as moral Governor of the universe, and the sole Dispenser of all blessings, natural and spiritual. As such I am constantly dependent on Him for everything which I need. I am in His hands; as He has given, so He can take away, all that I possess.
6. God is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. As such He so loved our ruined race, that He gave His only begotten Son to die for its salvation. He gave Him to die for me, for my relatives, for my fellow-creatures. He has done and suffered more for us than any earthly friend would or could have done. Now if I consent to sin, I shall crucify afresh this Saviour; I shall dishonour and offend and grieve the Father who gave Him to die for me. And how can I do this? How can I requite Him evil for good? (E. Payson, D. D.)
The fight for social purity
Nothing thrills like a battle. Each man is a born fighter. The necessity of struggle is laid upon us, and therefore, our sympathies are rarely stretched to further tension than by the sight of contests, which are the types and prophecies of our own. Even the names of old fields of carnage and strife are still electric. Josephs fight for social purity is one of the best known of the decisive battles of the world. The grand out-leap of defiant refusal to do wrong of this young warrior has seized and held the imagination of mankind for ages. The sudden and complete moral recoil of this gallant knight of purity from the defiling touch of the depraved adulteress, who has been dogging his steps and laying her sensual bait day by day, has passed into the imperishable stores of the worlds moral force.
I. How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? At once we recognise the presence of the Holy God in this scene. He is its light and glory, its power and victory. God the Holy fills the entire field of vision, and Joseph is strengthened with might in the inner man by an all-pervading awe of Him. His heart throbs with a vehement solicitude not to offend God, not to violate His will, or in the slightest particular displease Him. That is the fire that burns with such scorching heat in these words. That is the flame that leaps up in his heart in cleansing force. That is the source of the mighty passion by which in a moment, and at one throw, he flings far behind him the corrupting bait of the temptress. It is not hatred of the woman, though that might have been excused. It is not anxiety for his own reputation first and foremost, though that is not without its influence. It is not even solicitude, before all things, to maintain his integrity in his trust as the steward of Potiphar, though that too operates with great and decisive energy; but it is the recognition of God. He cannot sin against Him. There is the impassable barrier! That Sacred Presence for ever block the way! This Authority ruling in and for righteousness utterly shuts out all possibility of yielding, and impels the tempted man, at lightning speed, from the neighbourhood of danger. Whatever, then, may be our final judgment as to the place of the fear of God, i.e., of the reverent dread of disobeying His word, in a pure, noble, and consecrated life, it cannot be denied that one main element in Josephs conquering power. It is not the whole of it, by any means; but it is one facet of the many-sided life; one source from whence he obtains his irresistible might; one auxiliary to his steadfast purity. Fellow soldiers, I cannot feel that fear of doing wrong, and dread of not doing all we ought, are obsolete as working forces in life! I know too much of the subtlety of evil, of the difficulty of working on the higher ranges of Christian service from motives absolutely pure and untainted by self-seeking and vanity, the ease with which the spirit slides into doubt and despair of God, and forgets the fulness of His promises and presence, of the possibilities of secret sins; and I have seen too much of those who profess and call themselves Christians, not to welcome with all my soul the Divine caution, Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall, by a shot from an unseen foe, by mistaking a traitor for an angel of light, by opening the gates of Mansoul to some of the Kings enemies, or by collapse of power through long and wearisome watchings with an ill-fed and ill-nourished spirit. Sublime men are only made by sublime motives; and of motives, Love is lord of all. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God is the first and great commandment, and the second comes a long way after it; but it does come, it must come, for love and fear are the positive and negative poles of the same electric bar, and are both forces convertible into aids to holiness. Love rules the home, and its sunshine is the life of all who dwell therein; but fear of marring the domestic peace, spoiling the domestic purity, or poisoning the domestic joy, is a temper that pervades and chastens, hallows and enlarges the household life. Our soldiers fight for the love of country; but how unspeakably they are goaded forward in the severity of battle by the dread of losing their countrys flag I In the finest types of married life, it is not till years of perfect communion and character-assimilating love have made husband and wife a complete unity, and blent soul with soul, and will with will, that all fear is gone--if indeed it ever is. Certainly, in the earlier stages it is a spur to that continual and anxious attention to aid, and not to hinder, in developing the one life, which finally becomes the gracious habit and beautiful form of the domestic ministry. Wherefore, we Christians, having received a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have the grace of thankfulness, whereby we may offer service well-pleasing to God with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire. Following after peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no man shall see the Lord: looking carefully lest there be any man that falleth short of the grace of God. It is not, then, too late in the worlds history to fall back on the element of fear of doing wickedness and sinning against God, as an available power in the recoil from evil. Too late! Assuredly not!
II. Notice, again, this passage gives evidence of a large access of energy to Josephs conscience from his PERFECT IDENTIFICATION OF GOD WITH HIS OWN PERSONAL PURITY. By faith, i.e., by an act of the moral imagination, he places himself instantly in the realized presence of God, and the temptation becomes appallingly hideous to him, simply because it is a solicitation to sin against his God. It is also a great wickedness against his kind and confiding master, a grave and irreparable wrong to himself, an unpardonable blow to the guilty woman, a crime against society; but it is first and foremost a sin against God. How then, he reasons, his soul melted into one stream of fiery logic, how then, can I do it? Impossible! Come what may of resistance--expulsion, imprisonment, death--all must be faced and borne rather than yield. God and Purity are one. I cannot detach myself from Him; I dare not, I will not; and in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, the battle is over, the victory won; and having taken fast hold of purity, and not let her go, she gives the light and cheer of the Divine presence in the prison, at length opens the dungeon gates, advances him to honour, and finally places this brave soldier of purity on the throne of national usefulness. Surely we may add a verse to the eleventh of Hebrews, and say, By faith Joseph, when he was tempted in the house of his master, resisted, not fearing the consequences of his act, for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.
III. Joseph differed from Jacob in that he had no Bethel visions, and from Abraham in that hearing the Divine voice, but he had the DIVINE FACTS OF LIFE AND IN THEM BE READ THE IDEAS AND WILL OF GOD. The oldest of all Bibles, the Bible of human experience was opened before him, and he read, marked, learnt, and inwardly digested its contents, and found it profitable for correction, for discipline, for reproof, and for instruction in righteousness, furnishing him with some real aid, for his good works. It is a bad use of the written Bible which blinds us to the teaching of home, hides us from the heavenly meanings of marriage, and closes against us the libraries of national movement and history. Our Scripture, brief as it is, has this peerless excellence, that it sets all our institutions, the Church, State, City, hamlet, marriage, and family life all in God. They are Divine; based on a Divine plan, intended to achieve Divine results. Every mans life is sacred, for there is a Divine idea to be fulfilled in it--the idea of purity, and self-control, of sweetness and strength, of character and service.
Underlying marriage there is a thought of God, and in all the offices of mutual love, in the reasons for forbearance and patience, in the occasions of suffering and sympathy, this life-union is tending to inspire self-suppression, develop tender affection, nourish purity, and put ease and grace into our human life. Joseph, accordingly, read in his office of steward, Gods prohibition of purity, saying, How then; seeing the place I fill, the duty I am bound to discharge, and the confidence reposed in me, how then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God! (J. Clifford D. D.)
How is sin the most formidable evil?
I. THAT TEMPTATIONS TO SIN, HOW ALLURING SOEVER OR TERRIFYING, ARE TO BE REJECTED WITH ABHORRENCE. There will be convincing proof of this by considering two things:
1. That sin, considered in itself, is the greatest evil. This will be evident by considering the general nature of it, as directly opposite to God the Supreme Good. The definition of sin expresses its essential evil: it is the transgression of the Divine law (1Jn_3:4); and consequently opposes the rights of Gods throne, and obscures the glory of His attributes that are exercised in the moral government of the world.
2. Sin, relatively to us, is the most pernicious and destructive evil. If we compare it with temporal evils, it preponderates all that men are liable to in the present world. Diseases in our bodies, disasters in our estates, disgrace in our reputation, are, in just esteem, far less evil than the evil of sin; for that corrupts and destroys our more excellent and immortal part: the vile body is of no account in comparison of the precious soul. Therefore the apostle enforces his exhortation: Dearly beloved brethren, I beseech you, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul (1Pe_2:11). The issue of this war is infinitely more woeful than of the most cruel against our bodies and goods, our liberties and lives: for our estates and freedom, if lost may be recovered; if the present life be lost for the cause of God, it shall be restored in greater lustre and perfection, but if the soul be lost, it is lost for ever.
This being a point of great usefulness, that I may be more instructive, I will consider the evils that are consequential to sin under these two heads:--
1. The evils that proceed immediately by emanation from it. And though some of them are not resented with feeling apprehensions by sinners, yet they are of a fearful nature. Sin has deprived man of the purity, nobility, and peace of his innocent state.
2. I will consider the evils consequent to sin as the penal effects of the sentence against sin, of Divine justice that decrees it, and Divine power that inflicts it. And in these the sinner is often an active instrument of his own misery.
(1). The fall of the angels is the first and most terrible punishment of sin.
(2) Consider the penal effects of sin with respect to man. They are comprehended in the sentence of death, the first and second death threatened to deter Adam from transgressing the law.
II. I SHALL NOW APPLY THIS DOCTRINE, BY REFLECTING THE LIGHT OF IT UPON OUR MINDS AND HEARTS.
1. This discovers how perverse and depraved the minds and wills of men are, to choose sin rather than affliction, and break the Divine law for the obtaining of temporal things.
2. From hence we may be instructed of the wonderful patience of God, who bears with a world of sinners, that are obnoxious His justice, and under His power every day.
3. The consideration of the evil of sin, so great in itself, and pernicious to us, heightens our obligations to the Divine mercy, in saving us from our sins, and an everlasting hell, the just punishment of them.
4. The consideration of the evil of sin, in itself and to us, should excite us with a holy circumspection to keep ourselves from being defiled with 2:5. The consideration of the evil of sin is a powerful motive to our solemn and speedy repentance. (W. Bates, D. D.)
Under temptation
I. HERE IS A GOOD MAN SEVERELY TEMPTED. Temptation suits itself to every age, to every state of mind, to every temperament.
1. There is temptation to intellectual unbelief.
2. There is temptation to flattery.
3. There is the temptation to sensual lust. In every young man there is a sharp conflict between conscience and the animal nature. The enchantress was decked in her best. Scarcely concealed among the roses was the foul serpent.
II. WE SEE A GOOD MAN INVINCIBLE.
1. The source of goodness is inexhaustible. The right principle and goodness Joseph had came from God, and God can give more. The Divine supply has never failed, just as the harvest-fields of earth have never given out.
2. A sense of Gods presence unmasks sin. Sin always wears some disguise, Naked sin is so ugly and repulsive that it would never succeed without gay and plausible masking. Gods presence is light, and shines through all disguise.
3. A sense of Gods presence makes us valiant. It had been Josephs habit to take God with him in every walk of life. This made him calm, contented, patient, strong. Our only safety is in God.
III. WE SEE A GOOD MAN BARELY MALIGNED. The spirit of wickedness has great vitality. Like Briareus, the fabled monster of the deep, it has fifty heads and a hundred arms. Foiled in one diabolical scheme, it instantly attempts another. The passion of this gay woman was as changeful as it was base. In a moment it passes into the blackest hatred, and plots the ruin of Joseph by lying and by slander. Men would wag their heads and say, Ah, theres something in it. He has a thousand adversaries. Only conscience and God and friendly angels are left: his good name has passed under eclipse.
IV. WE SEE A GOOD MAN SACRIFICING HIMSELF FOR OTHERS.
1. Silence is dignified. Self-defence is always more or less weakness. Let men learn not to be over hasty in their judgments. Appearances often deceive; silence is hoarded strength.
2. The effect of our conduct on others ought always to be considered. Had Joseph published abroad this womans guilt, it may have involved her in sudden death. If she had any heart left, the silence and endurance of Joseph must have touched it.
3. Self-sacrifice is a rare virtue.
V. WE SEE A GOOD MAN GRIEVOUSLY OPPRESSED. (J. Dickerson Davies, M. A.)
Josephs remonstrance
The first attack upon him is repelled with a modest but severe remonstrance, exactly suited to his situation. Let us examine it minutely. There are four things in it worthy of admiration.
1. He is silent with respect to the wickedness of the tempter, tie might have reproached her for the indelicacy, the infidelity, and the baseness of her proposal; but he confines himself to what respected his own obligation, and what would be his own sin. In the hour of temptation it is enough for us to look to ourselves. It is remarkable that all our Lords answers to the tempter, as recorded in the fourth chapter of Matthew, are in this way. He could have accused him of insolence, and outrage; but He barely refuses to follow his counsels, because thus and thus it was written.
2. He considers his obligation as rising in proportion to his high station: There is none greater in this house than I. Some young men would have drawn a contrary conclusion from the same premises, and on this ground have thought themselves entitled to take the greater liberties; but this is the true use to be made of power, and riches, and every kind of trust.
3. He considers it as heightened by the generosity and kindness of his master, who withheld nothing else from him. Eve reasoned at first on this principle (Gen_3:2), and had she kept to it, she had been safe. When we are tempted to covet what God has forbidden, it were well to think of the many things which He has not forbidden, but freely given us.
4. He rises from created to uncreated authority: It would not only be treachery to my master, but wickedness, great wickedness, and sin against God. In the hour of temptation it is of infinite importance what view we take of the evil to which we are tempted. If we suffer our thoughts to dwell on its agreeableness, as Eve did concerning the forbidden fruit, its sinfulness will insensibly diminish in our sight, a number of excuses will present themselves, and we shall inevitably be carried away by it; but if we keep our eye steadfastly on the holy will of God, and the strong obligations we are under to Him, that which would otherwise appear a little thing, will be accounted what it is, a great wickedness, and we shall revolt at the idea of sinning against Him. This is the armour of God wherewith we shall stand in the evil day. (A. Fuller.)
Josephs temptation
That the temptation was in any degree to the sensual side of his nature there is no evidence whatever. For all that the narrative says, Potiphars wife may not have been attractive in person. She may have been; and as she used persistently, day by day, every art and wile by which she could lure Joseph to her mind, in some of his moods and under such circumstances as she would study to arrange he may have felt even this element of the temptation. But it is too little observed, and especially by young men who have most need to observe it, that in such temptations it is not only what is sensual that needs to be guarded against, but also too much deeper-lying tendencies--the craving for loving recognition, and the desire to respond to the feminine love for admiration and devotion. The latter tendency may not seem dangerous, but I am sure that if an analysis could be made of the broken hearts and shame-crushed lives around us, it would be found that a large proportion of misery is due to a kind of uncontrolled and mistaken chivalry. Men of masculine make are prone to show their regard for women. This regard, when genuine and manly, will show itself in purity of sympathy and respectful attention. But when this regard is debased by a desire to please and ingratiate oneself, men are precipitated into the unseemly expression of a spurious manhood. The other craving--the craving for love--acts also in a somewhat latent way. It is this craving which drives men to seek to satisfy themselves with the expressions of love, as if thus they could secure love itself. They do not distinguish between the two; they do not recognise that what they most deeply desire is love, rather than the expression of it; and they awake to find that precisely in so far as they have accepted the expression without the sentiment, in so far have they put love itself beyond their reach. This temptation was, in Josephs case, aggravated by his being in a foreign country, unrestrained by the expectations of his own family, or by the eye of those he loved. He had, however, that which restrained him, and made the sin seem to him an impossible wickedness, the thought of which he could not, for a moment, entertain. To disregard the rights of his master seemed to Joseph a great wickedness and sin against God. The treachery of the sin strikes him; his native discernment of the true rights of every party in the case cannot, for a moment, be hoodwinked. He is not a man who can, even in the excitement of temptation, overlook the consequences his sin may have on others. Not unsteadied by the flattering solicitations of one so much above him in rank, nor sullied by the contagion of her vehement passion; neither afraid to incur the resentment of one who so regarded him, nor kindled to any impure desire by contact with her blazing lust; neither scrupling thoroughly to disappoint her in himself, nor to make her feel her own great guilt, he flung from him the strong inducements that seemed to net him round and entangle him as his garment did, and tore himself, shocked and grieved, from the beseeching hand of his temptress. (M. Dods, D. D.)
Josephs arguments against sin
Joseph abhorred such impiety, and with most good and godly arguments repelleth the temptation.
1. The first drawn from ingratitude and unfaithfulness. As if he should have said, being trusted as I am, and preferred in my masters house as I am, it were the greatest unfaithfulness, and the foulest ingratitude that might be, in this sort to requite my masters favours, and so great favours towards me. Therefore I may not do it; for I abhor to be unfaithful where I am trusted, or unthankful where I am regarded and done for. Here then is a servant of servants, if we think of our days, here is a jewel more worth than gold, and a pearl of price for a mans house; faithful and thankful, what wish we more.
2. His second argument is drawn from the marriage knot that ought to hold till death doth part. A married woman must have a married mind, that as her body by orderly course is appropriated unto one, so her mind must be also to the same, and to none other.
3. His third argument is drawn from the nature of the sin, it is a great wickedness to touch another mans wife; and as all wickedness should be abhorred. So great wickedness greatly abhorred.
4. His last argument is drawn from the love of God. Thus should I sin, saith he, against God, which how may I do? As if he should have said, I love God who hath ever loved me, and my love admitteth no such requital. Many and many are the sweet mercies that I have found at His hand, if I should tell all, and how then should I sin against Him? (Bp. Babington.)
Love and trust protecting against temptation
You all know what affection for and trust in a person have done in common life to produce prompt decision and persistent action. Every scholar remembers the instance of that true wife, Penelope, who for long years turned away suitors for her hand, and was ultimately rewarded by the return of Ulysses, who had manifested a constancy and affection that were equal to her own. Now, if in domestic life such effects are produced by these two principles, love and trust--which are not so much two as one working in two different ways--may we not believe that by the grace of the Holy Spirit, personal attachment to the Lord Jesus Christ and implicit trust in Him, will give us quickness of sight to see what He would have us to do, and firmness of purpose to do that with our might. Nothing is so clear-sighted as love. It is on the alert at the approach of the slightest danger; and if only we take care to continue in the love of Christ, that will keep us right, for it will reveal the tempter to us even under his most cunning disguise, and give us courage and firmness to withstand him. Nay, more, let us but have the love of Christ strong within us, and we shall not think that there is anything like a sacrifice or a hardship in saying no to sin, for we shall have no hankering after that which He disapproves. Our refusal to sin will be, then, only the outworking of our satisfaction with Him; the consequence of our delight in Him, and not the result of any outward compulsion. Here, young man, is the key to the whole position; fill the heart with Christ and when the tempter comes he will find it so preoccupied that there is no room in it for him and his seduction. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)
The true motive for well-doing
Not for what we can make by it, or for what it is worth, but for what it is, and for its relationship to God, let us do the right, and we may rest assured, however it may be now, that in the end we shall be on the winning side. We may have to go through a prison to the final issue, or we may need to step up to it from a cross, but we shall be on the winning side, for character is success--not position, not prosperity, not reputation--but character, and it is made and hardened and tempered in the fire of trial. Leave the reputation and success, then, to look after themselves, and be not disconcerted if they should both be for a time under a cloud; but look well to the character, for that is the main thing, and the life that secures that for Christ is always worth living. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)
The position and morals of Egyptian women
In the East females live in separate apartments, but the monuments prove that in Egypt they mingled freely in society, and were under no peculiar restraint. Egyptian parties are frequently depicted in the temples, and in some instances, says Wilkinson, we find both men and women sitting together, both strangers as well as members of the same family--a privilege not conceded to females among the Greeks, except with their relations. Nor do the monuments speak favourably of the morals of the Egyptian women. That they were not restricted, says the same writer, in the use of wine, and in the enjoyment of other luxuries, is evident from the frescoes which represent their feasts; and the painters, in illustrating this fact, have sometimes sacrificed their gallantry to a love of caricature. Some call their servants to support them as they sit, others with difficulty prevent themselves from falling on those behind them; a basin is brought too late by a reluctant servant, and the faded flower which is ready to drop from their heated hands, is intended to be characteristic of their own sensations. (Thornley Smith.)
Temptation resisted
She saw Joseph, she loved him, and said unto him, lie with me. Her eyes ensnared her heart, and she lost her modesty, as well as every other virtue. She must have been lost to all sense of shame, when she so barefacedly tempted Joseph to violate her chastity. Joseph was now in a dangerous situation. Few young men would have resisted the strong temptation which he was enabled to encounter. How easily did his brother Judah, in a more advanced period of life, fall before a temptation, which, in the comparison, was very small. We may say of Joseph, that there were few like him in all the earth. Sin spread out before him its strongest attractions-pleasure and profit. It drew up the most formidable terrors in battle-array, but none of all these things moved Joseph. He held fast his integrity, and would not let it go, for his heart was mightily fortified by the fear of God, and he was powerfully supported by that grace which is able to keep us from falling and to present us faultless before the presence of the Divine glory with exceeding joy. (G. Lawson, D. D)
Joseph, the model realizer of Gods presence
I. In the first place, when Joseph realized Gods presence he found in it COMPLY IN HIS LONELINESS. One of the best and holiest men that ever lived was Henry Martyn, the English missionary to Persia. In carrying on his work there, he had many long and lonely journeys to take. But how sweetly he realized Gods presence, as giving him company in his loneliness, is seen in these beautiful lines, which were found after his death, written on one of the blank leaves of the Bible that he carried with him wherever he went.
In desert woods, with Thee, my God,
Where human footsteps never trod,
How happy could I be!
Thou, my repose from care, my light
Amid the darkness of the night--
In solitude my company.
And how many of Gods dear children have realized His presence in just the same way! Here are some illustrations of this. This incident was told by one of our chaplains in the late war. I went into a tent connected with the general hospital one day, says he. There, on one of the beds, lay a beautiful drummer-boy, about sixteen years of age, burning up with fever.
Where is your home, my young friend? I asked. In Massachusetts, sir, was his reply. And do you not feel very lonely here, so far away from your father and mother, and all your friends, and so sick as you are? I never can forget, says the chaplain, the sweet smile that lighted up his deep blue eyes, and played over his fevered lips, as he said, in answer to my question, Oh, no, sir. How can I feel lonely when Jesus is with me? That dear boy was realizing Gods presence in just the way of which we are speaking; and he found company in it. There was an old Christian gentleman, who had been for many years a successful merchant. He was once very well off, and had been surrounded by a happy family. But he had failed in business, and was left very poor. His wife and children had all died. In poverty and loneliness he had to spend the closing years of his life. A Christian friend, who used to call and see him occasionally, was talking with him one day, and said, Well, I hope Jesus visits you sometimes. Visits me sometimes? said the old man, why, He lives with me at all times! And so, in realizing the presence of that blessed Saviour, he found company in his loneliness. And if we follow the model which Joseph sets before us, it will bring this blessing to us; and we shall find company in our loneliness.
II. In the second place, as he realized Gods presence, Joseph found--COMFORT IN TROUBLE. And we shall find the same, just so far as we follow the model he has left us. Few persons have had such great troubles to bear as Joseph had. And yet he bore them bravely and cheerfully. And the secret of it was, he felt that God was present with him all the time, and he found comfort in this thought. This gave Joseph comfort when nothing else could have done so. And if we follow the model which he left us, and learn to realize Gods presence, as he did, we shall find comfort under all our troubles, in the feeling that He is with us. Let us look at some examples of the way in which this comfort is found. A city missionary in London used often to visit a poor old widow. She lived in a garret alone by herself. All she had to live on was half-a-crown a week, allowed her from some charity. This was only a little over half a dollar of our money, and was barely enough to keep her alive. The missionary used to notice, standing on her windowsill, an old broken tea-pot, in which a strawberry-plant was growing. He felt interested in watching it, and seeing how it grew. One day he said to the old woman: I am glad to see how nicely your plant is growing. Youll soon have some berries ripening on it. I dont care about the fruit, she said. Its not that which leads me to watch over this little plant. But I am too poor to keep any living creature with me. And I love to have this little plant in my room. I know it can only live and grow by the power of God. And as I look at it, from day to day, and see it growing, it makes me feel that God is here with me, and I find great comfort in that thought.
III. In the third place, Joseph found STRENGTH FOR DUTY in realizing Gods presence. And if we follow the model he has set us we shall find the same. A brave sailor boy:--He was a cabin-boy on board an English man-of-war. He had a pious mother, and was trying to be a Christian; and the story shows how the sense he had of Gods presence strengthened him for duty under very trying circumstances, and made him eminently useful to his shipmates and to his country. The sailors called this boy Cloudy. The incident, to which I refer, took place in the midst of a terrible naval battle between the English and the Dutch. The flagship of the English fleet was commanded by the brave Admiral Narborough. His vessel had got separated somehow from the rest of his fleet, and was drawn in the thickest of the fight. Two of its masts had just been shot away, and had fallen with a fearful crash upon the deck. The Admiral saw that all would soon be lost unless he could bring up the rest of the ships to help him. He summoned a lot of his men upon the quarter-deck. He could not send a boat, but he asked if any of them would volunteer to swim through the fight, and take an order for the rest of the fleet to come at once to his help. A dozen men offered to go; and little Cloudy made the same offer. The Admiral smiled, when he looked at him, and said: Why, Cloudy, what can you do? I can swim, sir, as well as any of them. You cant spare these men from the guns, sir. It wont make much matter if I am killed. But Im sure that God will take care of me. Please, sir, let me go. Go, my brave lad, said the Admiral, and may God bless you! He thanked the Admiral, and running to the side of the ship, sprang over into the sea, and struck out bravely towards the ships, which he was to order up. The men cheered him, and then went back to their guns. The fight went on; but the Dutch were getting the best of it. The Admiral was feeling very sadly. He did not see how he could hold out much longer. He said to himself--I have never hauled down the flag of old England yet. Id rather die than do it now. But how can I help it? Just then he heard a firing to the right. Looking through the clouds of smoke that surrounded him, he saw that the brave boy had got through his long and dangerous swim. He had delivered the order entrusted to him; and the expected ships were coming, crowding down upon the enemy. This turned the tide of battle. The Dutch were soon beaten, and the flag of old England was not hauled down that day. In the evening the Admiral called his men on deck to thank them for their brave conduct. And then, turning to Cloudy, who was also present, he said: And I want especially to thank you, my brave lad, for your noble conduct. We owe this victory to you. I hope to live to see you have a flagship of your own, some day. And it turned out just so. That cabin-boy went on realizing Gods presence; and this gave him strength for duty, till he was knighted by the king, and known in the English navy as--Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovel. And if we follow the model that Joseph has left us, we shall find that realizing the presence of God will be sure to give us strength for duty.
IV. And then, when Joseph realized the presence of God, he found that it gave him--VICTORY OVER TEMPTATION. And if we follow the model he has left us, we shall find that it will do the same for us. The thought of Gods eye:--Emma Gray was a Sunday-school girl, who was trying to serve the Lord Jesus Christ, and to make herself useful. As she was going to school one day, during the week, she passed a little boy, whose hand was thrust through the railings of a gentlemans front garden, trying to steal some flowers. Oh, my little boy, said Emma kindly, do you think its right to take those flowers without asking leave? I only want two or three, said the boy, and nobody sees me. You are mistaken there, my boy. God is looking at you from yonder blue sky. He says we must not take what does not belong to us without leave. And if you do it He will see it, and it will grieve Him. Then, if Hes looking at me I wont do it, said the little fellow. And so, as he thought of Gods eye, or realized Gods presence, it gave him the victory over the temptation to steal those flowers. Spoiling his trade:--A mission Sunday-school was started in a very wicked part of London. A good many boys in that neighbourhood got their living by stealing. Some of these boys were persuaded to go to this school. One boy, who was a great thief, went there. After he had been going for some time, one of his companions asked him how he liked the school. I dont like it at all, said he. Why not? asked his friend. Because, you see, they are all the time talking about God seeing you, and the like o that; and it just makes a fellow feel afeard. It takes all the pluck out o me, I know. Many a time now, when I see a good chance to get a hankercher, or a nice purse of money, just as Im going to take it, I think of that great Eye looking at me. And then Im afeard and have to stop. So, you see, its spoiling my trade. And Ill either have to give up going to school, or else have to learn another trade and try and get my living in some other way. Here we see the true effect which must always follow from realizing Gods presence. We cannot go on doing what we know to be wrong when we feel that God is looking at us. (R. Newton, D. D.)
Safeguards against temptation
An old writer observes that it is the sublimity of wisdom to do those things living which are to be desired and chosen by dying persons. St. Bernard expresses the same thought, but in a different form, saying, Let every man in the first address of his actions, consider whether, if he were now to die, he might safely and prudently do such an act, and whether he would not be infinitely troubled should death surprise him in the present disposition; and then let him proceed accordingly. This advice, if taken, would no doubt insure resistance to temptation, for no man, unless he were enslaved to folly, would commit a sin in the face of approaching death. But a surer help to victory over the tempter than the thought of death, is the recollection, Thou God seest me! and the question of the spirited-minded Joseph, How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On vv7, 13, 19 Gen_39:9. Sin against God.] Joseph uses the common name…
CRITICAL NOTES.—
Gen_39:9. Sin against God.] Joseph uses the common name for God in addressing this Egyptian.—
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Gen_39:11. About this time.] Heb. At this day. The day on which the occurrence now related took place.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Gen_39:7-12
THE TEMPTATION OF JOSEPH
I. The strength of it. Joseph had been severely tried on the side of endurance of adversity, now he is tried by the more perilous temptation of sensuality. This was a most fierce temptation, when we consider—
1. His youth. Joseph was young and of beautiful form and countenance. In youth endowed with high health and vigour the sensual passions are violent and impetuous. The temptation to gratify them is strong.
2. The force of opportunity. Joseph’s beauty proved a snare to him. His master’s wife “cast her eyes” upon him. (Gen_39:7.) He had not to seek to draw her into temptation. She solicited him.
3. The prospect of advancement which his compliance would secure. “He saw this pleasure would advance him: he knew what it was to be a minion of one of the greatest ladies in Egypt: yet resolves to contemn.”—(Bp. Hall.)
4. The repetition of the temptation. It was renewed day by day. (Gen_39:10.) Many are able to withstand temptation in the first instance who yet fail to hold out to the end. Eve resisted the tempter at the first outset, but was overcome by the second. Samson refused at first to satisfy Delilah’s insidious questions, but was at last conquered by the tears and importunities of that fair woman. The assaults of temptation may prevail even over sturdy virtue by repeated blows.
II. His resistance of it. Mark the grounds upon which he refuses the base proposal. He says nothing about the wickedness of the tempter. He utters no word of reproach for her sensuality and faithlessness; but simply considers his own obligation—what he ought to do.
1. He pleads the law of honour. His master had reposed great trust in him, and he must not abuse that confidence. (Gen_39:8-9.)
2. He pleads the law of chastity. “How then can I do this great wickedness?” It was a moral wrong in itself, an invasion of the rights of another, a crime against society.
3. He pleads the law of piety. It was “a sin against God,” a direct violation of His commandment. He recognises a supreme authority over human conduct. It would be trespass against heaven to break through God’s distinct prohibition. He must be faithful to God as well as to man.
III. His victory over it.
1. It was obtained by flight. (Gen_39:12). He was firm in refusing, and yet he would not imperil his virtue by remaining in the neighbourhood of temptation. He would not expose his strength to too severe and to an unnecessary trial. Therefore he consulted his safety by taking to flight. Such flight is more honourable than the most heroic deeds. He who would avoid being vanquished by temptation must use his own prudence in taking the first way of escape. Divine aid is only for those who are willing to work in harmony with it.
2. It was obtained through loss. He retained a good conscience—the approval of God, but he lost his good name. His real character in the sight of God was preserved pure, but his reputation in the sight of men was gone. He would rather lie humbled in the dust, under the imputation of evil, than rise by sinful means. “How much had he rather leave his cloak than his virtue; and to suffer his mistress to spoil him of his liberty, rather than he should blemish her honour, or his master’s in her, or God’s in either of them?”—(Bp. Hall.)
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Gen_39:7. After these things. A man is to expect, if he live out his days, to be urged to all sins, to the breach of every branch of the ten commandments, and to be put to it in respect of every article of our creed.—(Trapp.)
The times of our advance in the world may prove the times of our greatest temptation.
Circe may enchant us, the cockatrice slay us with her sight. “Let her not take thee with her eyelids,” saith Solomon (Pro_6:25); as larks, while they gaze in a glass, are taken in a day-net.—(Trapp.)
All the spite of his brethren was not so great a cross to him as the inordinate affection of his mistress.—(Bp. Hall.)
Gen_39:8. Joseph, as an example of chastity, stands here in the brightest light when compared with the conduct of Judah in the previous chapter.—(Lange.)
He refused, though this wicked woman could easily have taken her revenge upon him for it.
To argue from bounty to duty is but right reason; but to argue, as most do, from God’s liberality to liberty in sin, is the devil’s logic. Joseph will not deal so basely with his master, though an Egyptian. To render good for evil is divine; good for good is human, but evil for good is devilish. The “goodness of God should lead us to repentance,” saith Paul. (Rom_2:4.) And this Peter picks out of Paul’s Epistles, as one of the choicest sentences, and urged it upon those to whom he wrote. (2Pe_3:15.)—(Trapp.)
Verse 9. He considers his obligation as heightened by the generosity and kindness of his master, who withheld nothing else from him. Eve reasoned at first on this principle (Gen_3:2.), and had she kept to it, she had been safe. When we are tempted to covet what God has forbidden, it were well to think of the many things which He has not forbidden, but freely given us.—(Fuller.)
Though the iron entered into Joseph’s soul, sin could not; because it was fraught with God’s fear. He had “set God at his right hand,” and “therefore he was not moved.” (Psa_16:8.) Satan knocked oft at that door, but there was none within to answer or open. He struck fire, but upon wet tinder. Joseph in Egypt, like a pearl in a puddle, keeps his virtue still, wherever he comes.—(Trapp.)
It will not only be treachery to my master on earth, but daring wickedness against my Master in heaven. God is our Maker and our Judge; and if honour required Joseph to be faithful to his master, much more did religion, which is a far stronger principle, oblige him to be faithful to his God; if gratitude bound him not to sin against the former, how much more strong ought that feeling be towards God?—(Bush.)
The fear of God is the keeper of all other virtues.
Gen_39:10. Joseph finds it necessary to shun her company. This showed—
1. His great sincerity: for if we throw ourselves in the way of temptation, or be not careful to shun it when occasions offer, in vain do we talk against sin.
2. Great wisdom: for though he had been kept hitherto, he was not sure that he should be so in future.
3. Great resolution and perseverance: for it is not every one who withstands a temptation in the first instance that holds out to the end. Job endured a series of trials and sinned not; yet afterwards spake things which he ought not.
4. Great grace. “Can a man go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?” No; if we voluntarily go into temptation, we shall assuredly be hurt, if not ruined by it; but when God by His providence leads us into it for the trial of our graces, we may hope to be preserved in it, and brought victorious out of it.—(Fuller.)
Gen_39:11-12. We are reminded here of Solomon’s description of an impudent woman. (Pro_7:13-23).
The Church “comes from the wilderness,” that is, through troubles and afflictions, leaning on her beloved. (Son_8:5); choosing rather to suffer than to sin. The good heart goes in a right line to God, and will not fetch a compass, but strikes through all troubles and hazards to get to Him. It will not break the hedge of any commandment, to avoid any piece of foul way.—(Trapp.)
This second time is Joseph stript of his garment; before, in the violence of envy, now of lust; before, of necessity, now of choice; before, to deceive his father, now his master; for, behold the pledge of his fidelity, which he left in those wicked hands, is made an evidence against him, of that which he refused to do; therefore did he leave his cloak, because he would not do that of which he is accused and condemned, because he left it. What safety is there against great adversaries, when even arguments of innocence are used to convince of evil? Lust yielded unto is a pleasant madness, but is desperate madness when it is opposed; no hatred burns so furiously as that which arises from the quenched coals of love.—(Bp. Hall.)
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v20 Gen 39:20 - Gen 39:23. - Gen 40:1 -…
Genesis
GOODNESS IN A DUNGEON
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Gen 39:20 - Gen 39:23. - Gen 40:1 - Gen 40:15.
Potiphar was ‘captain of the guard,’ or, as the title literally runs, chief of the executioners. In that capacity he had charge of the prison, which was connected with his house {Gen 40:3}. It is, therefore, quite intelligible that he should have put Joseph in confinement on his own authority, and the distinction drawn between such a prisoner and the ‘king’s prisoners,’ who were there by royal warrant or due process of law, is natural. Such high-handed treatment of a slave was a small matter, and it was merciful as well as arrogant, for death would have been the punishment of the crime of which Joseph was accused. Either Potiphar was singularly lenient, or, as is perhaps more probable, he did not quite believe his wife’s story, and thought it best to hush up a scandal. The transfer of Joseph from the house to the adjoining prison would be quietly managed, and then no more need be said about an ugly business.
So now we see him at the lowest ebb of his fortunes, flung down in a moment by a lie from the height to which he had slowly been climbing, having lost the confidence of his master, and earned the unslumbering hatred of a wicked woman. He had wrecked his career by his goodness. ‘What a fool!’ says the world. ‘How badly managed things are in this life,’ say doubters, ‘that virtue should not be paid by prosperity!’ But the end, even the nearer end in this life, will show whether he was a fool, and whether things are so badly arranged; and the lesson enforced by the picture of Joseph in his dungeon, and which young beginners in life have special need to learn, is that, come what will of it, right is right, and sin is sin, that consequences are never to deter from duty, and that it is better to have a clean conscience and be in prison than do wickedness and sit at a king’s table. A very threadbare lesson, but needing to be often repeated.
‘But the Lord was with Joseph.’ That is one of the eloquent ‘buts’ of Scripture. The prison is light when God is there, and chains do not chafe if He wraps His love round them. Many a prisoner for God since Joseph’s time has had his experience repeated, and received tenderer tokens from Him in a dungeon than ever before. Paul the prisoner, John in Patmos, Bunyan in Bedford jail, George Fox in Lancaster Castle, Rutherford in Aberdeen, and many more, have found the Lord with them, and showing them His kindness. We may all be sure that, if ever faithfulness to conscience involves us in difficulties, the faithfulness and the difficulties will combine to bring to us sweet and strong tokens of God’s approval and presence, the winning of which will make a prison a palace and a gate of heaven.
Joseph’s relations to jailer and fellow-prisoners are beautiful and instructive. The former is called ‘the keeper of the prison,’ and is evidently Potiphar’s deputy, in more immediate charge of the prison. Of course, the great man had an underling to do the work, and probably that underling was not chosen for sweetness of temper or facile leniency to his charges. But he fell under the charm of Joseph’s character-all the more readily, perhaps, because his occupation had not brought many good men to his knowledge. This jewel would flash all the more brightly for the dark background of criminals, and the jailer would wonder at a type of character so unlike what he was accustomed to. Eastern prisons to-day present a curious mixture of cruelty and companionship. The jailers are on intimate terms with prisoners, and yet are ready to torture them. There is no discipline, nor any rules, nor inspection. The jailer does as he likes. So it seems to have been in Egypt, and there would be nothing unnatural in making a prisoner jailer of the rest, and leaving everything in his hands. The ‘keeper of the prison’ was lazy, like most of us, and very glad to shift duties on to any capable shoulders. Such a thing would, of course, be impossible with us, but it is a bit of true local colouring here.
Joseph won hearts because God was with him, as the story is careful to point out. Our religion should recommend us, and therefore itself, to those who have to do with us. It is not enough that we should be severely righteous, as Joseph had been, or ready to meet trouble with stoical resignation, but we are to be gentle and lovable, gracious towards men, because we receive grace from God. We owe it to our Lord and to our fellows, and to ourselves, to be magnets to attract to Jesus, by showing how fair He can make a life. Joseph in prison found work to do, and he did not shirk it. He might have said to himself: ‘This is poor work for me, who had all Potiphar’s house to rule. Shall such a man as I come down to such small tasks as this?’ He might have sulked or desponded in idleness, but he took the kind of work that offered, and did his best by it. Many young people nowadays do nothing, because they think themselves above the small humdrum duties that lie near them. It would do some of us good to remember Joseph in the jail, and his cheerful discharge of what his hands found to do there.
Of course, work done ‘because the Lord was with him,’ in the consciousness of His presence, and in obedience to Him, went well. ‘The Lord made it to prosper,’ as He always will make such work.
‘When thou dost favour any action,
It runs, it flies.’
And even if, sometimes, work done in the fear of the Lord does not outwardly prosper, it does so in deepest truth, if it work in us the peaceable fruit of righteousness. We need to have a more Christian idea of what constitutes prosperity, and then we shall understand that there are no exceptions to the law that, if a man does his work by God and with God and for God, ‘that which he does, the Lord makes it to prosper.’
The help that Joseph gave by interpreting the two high officials’ dreams cannot be considered here in detail, but we note that the names of similar officers, evidently higher in rank than we should suppose, with our notions of bakers and butlers, are found in Egyptian documents, and that these two were ‘king’s prisoners,’ and put in charge of Potiphar, who alleviated their imprisonment by detailing Joseph as their attendant, thus showing that his feeling to the young Hebrew was friendly still. Dreams are the usual method of divine communication in Genesis, and belong to a certain stage in the process of revelation. The friend of God, who is in touch with Him, can interpret these. ‘The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him,’ and it is still true that they who live close by God have insight into His purposes. Joseph showed sympathy with the two dreamers, and his question, ‘Why look ye so sadly?’ unlocked their hearts. He was not so swallowed up in his own trouble as to be blind to the signs of another’s sorrow, or slow to try to comfort. Grief is apt to make us selfish, but it is meant to make us tender of heart and quick of hand to help our fellows in calamity. We win comfort for our own sorrows by trying to soothe those of others. Jesus stooped to suffer that He might succour them that suffer, and we are to tread in His steps.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv7, 13 Joseph Flees from Temptation
Joseph Flees from Temptation
v. 6. And Joseph was a goodly person, and well favored. He was a handsome young man, and well proportioned, well built.
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v. 7. And it came to pass after these things that his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me. With lustful persuasions, continued for some time, she tried to lead him to commit fornication.
v. 8. But he refused, and said unto his master’s wife, Behold, my master wotteth (knoweth)not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand;
v. 9. there is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back anything from me but thee, because thou art his wife; how, then, can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God? Joseph gave three reasons why he was obliged to be disobedient to his master’s wife: It would have been a disgraceful abuse of the confidence placed in him by his master; it would have been an outrage upon Potiphar’s rights as a husband; it-would have been adultery, a great crime in the sight of God. It is the thought of God, the fear of the Lord, the consciousness that nothing is hidden from His knowledge, that aids in fighting temptations of every kind.
v. 10. 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. He resolutely turned his face from the temptation, he arranged his work so that he was never alone with her, all of which meant a continual battle with his own flesh and blood.
v. 11. And it came to pass about this time that Joseph went in to the house to do his business, a day came when he came to the house to attend to his work; and there was none of the men of the house there within. It was probably by her arrangement that all the servants were absent at that time.
v. 12. And she caught him by his garment, she took a firm hold of his outer garment, saying, Lie with me; she wanted to take by force what she could not obtain by her lustful suggestions. And he left the garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out. He preferred flight with the loss of his dress and of his good name to the loss of his chastity. So far as youthful lusts are concerned, there is only one way of dealing with them properly, namely, by fleeing from them, by fleeing fornication and every form of uncleanness. For it is here that no person dare to put too much confidence in himself.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv7, 10, 13, 16, 19 It came about after this that
It came about after this that
"And so." This phrase is used here to mark a new event. (See: Introduction of a New Event)
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Look
"Listen." Joseph uses this word to get Potiphar's wife's attention.
my master does not pay attention to what I do in the house
"my master has no concern about his household with me in charge." This can be written in positive form. AT: "my master trusts me with his household" (See: Double Negatives)
he has put everything that he owns under my care
When something is "put under someone's care," it means that the person is responsible for its care and safe-keeping. AT: "he has put me in charge of everything that belongs to him" (See: Metaphor)
No one is greater in this house than I am
Here the author speaks of authority as if it were greatness. AT: "I have more authority in this house than anyone else" (See: Metaphor)
He has not kept back anything from me but you
This can be stated in positive form. AT: "He has given me everything except you" (See: Litotes)
How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?
Joseph uses a question for emphasis. This can be written as a statement. AT: "I certainly cannot do such a wicked thing and sin against God." (See: Rhetorical Question)
translationWords
lust
had relations with
lord
evil
sin
God
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv14, 19 39:14 Though Potiphar’s wife was addressing slaves, she appealed…
39:14 Though Potiphar’s wife was addressing slaves, she appealed to them as fellow Egyptians (us) to enlist them as witnesses against the despised Hebrew (see 43:32) who had won Potiphar’s trust.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.