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.
Parallel Translations
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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.
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But he refused, and said unto his master’s wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand;
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But he refused, and said unto his master's wife: 'Behold, my master, having me, knoweth not what is in the house, and he hath put all that he hath into my hand;
Cross-references (13)
Passages linked to Genesis 39:8 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Proverbs 22:14 The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit. He who is under Yahweh’s wrath will fall into it.
- Proverbs 23:26-28 My son, give me your heart; and let your eyes keep in my ways. For a prostitute is a deep pit; and a wayward wife is a narrow well. Yes, she lies in wait like a robber, and increases the unfaithful among men.
- Proverbs 1:10 My son, if sinners entice you, don’t consent.
- Proverbs 7:5 that they may keep you from the strange woman, from the foreigner who flatters with her words.
- Proverbs 9:13-18 The foolish woman is loud, undisciplined, and knows nothing. She sits at the door of her house, on a seat in the high places of the city, to call to those who pass by, who go straight on their ways, “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here.” as for him who is void of understanding, she says to him, “Stolen water is sweet. Food eaten in secret is pleasant.” But he doesn’t know that the departed spirits are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol.
- Proverbs 2:10 For wisdom will enter into your heart. Knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.
- Proverbs 5:3-8 For the lips of an adulteress drip honey. Her mouth is smoother than oil, but in the end she is as bitter as wormwood, and as sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death. Her steps lead straight to Sheol. She gives no thought to the way of life. Her ways are crooked, and she doesn’t know it. Now therefore, my sons, listen to me. Don’t depart from the words of my mouth. Remove your way far from her. Don’t come near the door of her house,
- Proverbs 6:20-25 My son, keep your father’s commandment, and don’t forsake your mother’s teaching. Bind them continually on your heart. Tie them around your neck. When you walk, it will lead you. When you sleep, it will watch over you. When you awake, it will talk with you. For the commandment is a lamp, and the law is light. Reproofs of instruction are the way of life, to keep you from the immoral woman, from the flattery of the wayward wife’s tongue. Don’t lust after her beauty in your heart, neither let her captivate you with her eyelids.
- Proverbs 6:29 So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife. Whoever touches her will not be unpunished.
- Proverbs 6:32-33 He who commits adultery with a woman is void of understanding. He who does it destroys his own soul. He will get wounds and dishonor. His reproach will not be wiped away.
- Proverbs 7:25-27 Don’t let your heart turn to her ways. Don’t go astray in her paths, for she has thrown down many wounded. Yes, all her slain are a mighty army. Her house is the way to Sheol, going down to the rooms of death.
- Proverbs 18:24 A man of many companions may be ruined, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
- Proverbs 2:16-19 to deliver you from the strange woman, even from the foreigner who flatters with her words, who forsakes the friend of her youth, and forgets the covenant of her God; for her house leads down to death, her paths to the departed spirits. None who go to her return again, neither do they attain to the paths of life.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (5 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Gen 39:8 But he refused, and said unto his…
Gen 39:8 But he refused, and said unto his master’s wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what [is] with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand;
Ver. 8. But he refused.] So would but a few have done of his years (he was now about twenty-seven), and that might have committed this sweet sin, as they wickedly call it, with so much security and secrecy, &c. The fear of God is both a virtue, and a keeper of other virtues. It is the bond of perfections, as Paul saith of charity. It is the ribbon or string that ties together all those precious pearls, the graces, as Peter saith of humility. {a} It is, as Basil saith of the same grace, caeterarum virtutum θησαυροφυλακιον, the storehouse of other virtues; and, as Chrysostom, the mother, and root, and nurse, and foundation, and ligament of all good things in us. {b}
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Behold, my master wotteth not, &c.] Beneficium postulat officium. 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; evil for evil is brutish; but evil for good is devilish. "Should we again break thy commandments," saith holy Ezra, {Ezr 9:14} after so many mercies and deliverances? There is so much unthankfulness and disingenuity in such an entertainment of mercy, that heaven and earth, he thinks, would be ashamed of it. Every blessing is a binder, and each new deliverance a new tie to obedience. 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}
{a} εγκομβωσασθε. {1Pe 5:5}
{b} Mητηρ, και ριζα, και τραφος, και υπδθερις, και συνδερμδς των αγαθων. - Chrysost.
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.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain But he refused, and said unto his master's wife,....…
But he refused, and said unto his master's wife,.... Reasoning with her about the evil nature of the crime she tempted him to, which to commit would be ingratitude, as well as injury to his master, and a sin against God; by which it appears that Joseph was a partaker of the grace of God, and that this was in strong exercise at this time, by which he was preserved from the temptation he was beset with:
behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house; what goods or money are in it:
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and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand: such confidence did he repose in him, wherefore to do such an injury to him as to commit adultery with his wife, would be making a sad return, and acting a most ungrateful part for such favour shown him.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain 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.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 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 Vers. 8, 9. But he refused, may be that…
Vers. 8, 9. But he refused, may be that the absence of personal charms facilitated Joseph s resistance (Kalisch); but Joseph assigns a different reason for his noncompliance with her utterly immoral proposition and said unto his master"s wife, her unclean solicitation he returneth pure and wholesome words" (Hughes)Behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house (literally, knoweth not, along with me, what is in the house), and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand, (literally, and all that is to him he hath given to or placed in my hand); 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 (cf. Gen_20:6; 2Sa_12:13; Psa_51:4 for the estimate of this act taken by God and good men) against God? Elohim, since Jehovah would have been unintelligible to a heathen woman.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.