Genesis 39.11-18-Potiphar's Wife Falsely Accuses Joseph
Thursday November 30, 2006
Genesis: Genesis 39:11-18-Potiphar’s Wife Falsely Accuses Joseph
Lesson # 247
Please turn in your Bibles to Genesis 39:1.
This evening we will continue with our study of Genesis 39.
By way of review of this chapter, we have noted the following:
Genesis 39:1 briefly summarized Genesis 37:36, where an Egyptian officer, Potiphar, who was captain of Pharaoh’s bodyguard, purchased Joseph from the Ishmaelites.
Genesis 39:2-6 presented to us the record of God blessing the captain of Pharaoh’s bodyguard, Potiphar on account of Joseph.
Genesis 39:6b-7 gives us the account of Potiphar’s wife tempting Joseph to commit adultery with her.
Genesis 39:8-10 records Joseph withstanding the sexual advances of Potiphar’s wife.
This evening we will study Genesis 39:11-18, where we see Joseph again rejecting the sexual advances of Potiphar’s wife and in frustration she makes a false accusation against Joseph.
Genesis 39:1, “Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an Egyptian officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the bodyguard, bought him from the Ishmaelites, who had taken him down there.”
Genesis 39:2, “The LORD was with Joseph, so he became a successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian.”
Genesis 39:3, “Now his master saw that the LORD was with him and how the LORD caused all that he did to prosper in his hand.”
Genesis 39:4, “So Joseph found favor in his sight and became his personal servant; and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he owned he put in his charge.”
Genesis 39:5, “It came about that from the time he made him overseer in his house and over all that he owned, the LORD blessed the Egyptian's house on account of Joseph; thus the LORD'S blessing was upon all that he owned, in the house and in the field.”
Genesis 39:6a, “So he left everything he owned in Joseph's charge; and with him there he did not concern himself with anything except the food which he ate.”
Genesis 39:6b, “Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance.”
Genesis 39:7, “It came about after these events that his master's wife looked with desire at Joseph, and she said, ‘Lie with me.’”
Genesis 39:8, “But he refused and said to his master's wife, ‘Behold, with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has put all that he owns in my charge.’”
Genesis 39:9, “There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?”
Genesis 39:10, “As she spoke to Joseph day after day, he did not listen to her to lie beside her or be with her.”
Genesis 39:11, “Now it happened one day that he went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the household was there inside.”
The situation between Joseph and Potiphar’s wife reaches a climax when she attempts to actually physically grab him.
The phrase “he went into the house to do his work” is a necessary detail to excuse Joseph for being alone in the house with Potiphar’s wife.
Even though Joseph did all that he could to avoid Potiphar’s wife, he could not keep out of the house entirely since he had work to do in the house that was essential in fulfilling his job function.
The statement “none of the men of the household was there inside” indicates that there were no other men on the premises that could act as witnesses that Potiphar’s wife attacked Joseph and not the other way around.
Genesis 39:12, “She caught him by his garment, saying, ‘Lie with me!’ and he left his garment in her hand and fled, and went outside.”
The statement “she (Potiphar’s wife) caught him (Joseph) by his garment” indicates that Potiphar’s wife was frustrated that her verbal assaults had failed with Joseph and so in desperation she resorts to physical aggression.
“She caught him” is composed of the 3rd person feminine singular qal imperfect form of the verb taphas (cp^T*) (taw-fas), which means, “to seize, to take hold of by force” and the 3rd person masculine singular pronominal suffix that means, “him,” which refers to Joseph.
The verb taphas describes an act of violence, which is very unusual since normally a man rapes a woman by force with little dialogue and a woman seduces with her speech but Potiphar’s wife actually attempts to rape Joseph.
Nowhere in Scripture is there a woman like Potiphar’s wife who aggressively attempts to rape a man.
“Garment” is the noun beghedh (dg#B#) (behg-ed), which refers to a loose fitting garment like a cloak or a coat, which was removed upon entering one’s home.
The statement “lie with me” refers to sexual intercourse.
“Lie” is the verb shakhav (bk^v*) (shaw-kahv), which appears also in Genesis 39:7 and is used as a euphemism for sex and is never used for loving marital intercourse in Genesis but only for illicit or forced sex.
In Genesis 39:7 and 12, the verb shakhav indicates that Potiphar’s wife desired to have illicit sex with Joseph in the sense that she wanted to commit adultery with him.
Joseph flees from the house to avoid the grasp of Potiphar’s wife.
“Fled” is the verb nus (sWn) (noos), which means, “to flee swiftly and immediately from the presence of someone” and describes a spontaneous action and abrupt withdrawal from the presence of Potiphar’s wife by Joseph.
The phrase “went outside” means that once Joseph was outside of the house he assumed his normal way of walking and stopped running in order to not attract attention to himself.
Notice that in dealing with the aggressive sexual advances of Potiphar’s wife that Joseph does not stop to pray about the matter but takes immediate and drastic action to avoid her.
The Bible teaches that we are to flee immorality.
1 Corinthians 6:18, “Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body.”
1 Corinthians 6:19, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?”
1 Corinthians 6:20, “For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”
Genesis 39:13-14, “When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled outside, she called to the men of her household and said to them, ‘See, he has brought in a Hebrew to us to make sport of us; he came in to me to lie with me, and I screamed.’”
The picture we have given to us here in this passage is that the passionate desire of Potiphar’s wife suddenly turned into the rage of a woman scorned.
So Potiphar’s wife seizes Joseph, grabbing his outer garment.
Joseph pulls away from her, fleeing from her, thus leaving his outer garment or cloak in her hands, which was incriminating evidence unless she took immediate action and the initiative by accusing Joseph of attempting to rape her.
So Potiphar’s wife takes the initiative by calling to the men of her household in order to fabricate witnesses.
H.C. Leupold commenting on this passage, writes, “This was definitely a case of spurned love but different from all previous instances, for Joseph had left his coat behind and had fled out-of-doors. Now either servants might come and see the coat and raise incriminating questions or they might also have witnessed the hasty exit of Joseph. In either case Potiphar’s wife would stand under strong suspicion. To divert suspicion to Joseph she hastily goes on the offensive by raising an outcry, summoning the men of the household and making the protestation of an outraged innocence. When her passion put her in danger, its unholy flame burns against Joseph without any consideration of what might befall him” (Exposition of Genesis, Volume 2, page 999, Baker Book House).
Notice that Potiphar’s wife does “not” use her husband’s name when addressing the other servants but instead uses the pronoun “him” and by doing so reveals that there was a problem in their marriage and that she has contempt for him.
Also, notice that she identifies herself with her servants and their situation as indicated by her twice using the 1st person common plural pronominal suffix, which means, “us” and she does this so as to elicit sympathy on their part.
The expression “make sport of us” indicates that Potiphar’s wife is accusing Joseph of “insulting” or “making fun of” her and the entire household since the piel form of the verb tsachaq (qt^x*) (tsaw-khak) is used in the original Hebrew text and means, “to mock, to insult, make fun of.”
Potiphar’s wife identifies Joseph as the “Hebrew” which in the original Hebrew text says literally, “Hebrew man.”
“Hebrew” is the proper noun ‘ivri (yr!b+u!) (iv-ree), which first appears in Genesis 14:13 to describe Abraham as a legitimate and well-known descendant of Shem through Eber and was therefore, in the Messianic line, or the Promised Seed of Genesis 3:15.
Therefore, the term “Hebrew” denotes Joseph’s nationality in contrast with other nationalities in the land of Canaan (cf. Gen. 43:32; Ex. 1:15; 2:11; 21:2) and the Egyptians.
Potiphar’s wife uses the term “Hebrew” in order appeal to appeal to “xenophobia,” which is an “unreasonable fear or hatred of foreigners or strangers.”
She is attempting to incite in her Egyptian servants the racial bigotry that the Egyptians had towards the Israelites.
This racial bigotry that the Egyptians had towards the Israelites is illustrated in Genesis 43:32, which records that the Egyptians did not eat with the Hebrews since that was repulsive to them.
Just as she was disloyal to her husband by attempting to commit adultery with Joseph, so she is disloyal to Joseph before her servants.
Genesis 39:13-14, “When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled outside, she called to the men of her household and said to them, ‘See, he has brought in a Hebrew to us to make sport of us; he came in to me to lie with me, and I screamed.’”
Genesis 39:15, “When he heard that I raised my voice and screamed, he left his garment beside me and fled and went outside.”
Potiphar’s wife makes three statements accusing Joseph of attempted rape, all of which are lies: (1) Genesis 39:14: “he came in to me to lie with me, and I screamed” (2) Genesis 39:15: “When he heard that I raised my voice and screamed, he left his garment beside me and fled and went outside.”
Her first statement that Joseph attempted to have sex with her is a lie since she attempted to rape Joseph.
Her second statement that she supposedly screamed when Joseph allegedly attempted to rape her is a lie since she never once screamed.
Her claim that she screamed was a necessary fabrication in order to establish that the sex was against her will and evidence of her resistance to attempted rape (See Deuteronomy 22:22-27).
She could claim that she screamed since there was no one in the house at the time of her encounter with Joseph.
Her third statement that Joseph left his garment beside her when she screamed is a lie since she was left with Joseph’s garment as a result of Joseph fleeing her when she grabbed his garment.
The only truth in all of her statements is that Joseph fled outside, which was necessary just in case anyone might have seen Joseph leaving her room and walking normally.
Lies and bearing false witness as well as slander are an abomination to the Lord.
Proverbs 6:16-19, “There are six things which the LORD hates, yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that run rapidly to evil, a false witness who utters lies, and one who spreads strife among brothers.”
Her accusation against Joseph that he attempted to rape her is “slander,” which by way of definition refers to defamation, which is publishing or speaking maliciously or falsely anything that would injure or harm a person’s reputation and so slander is a malicious, false, and defamatory statement or report.
Potiphar’s wife slandered Joseph in that she gave her servants a malicious, false and defamatory report about Joseph.
She defamed Joseph’s character in that she spoke maliciously about their previous encounter so as to harm him and his reputation.
Needless to say, Joseph was defenseless on the basis of his position as a slave in the face of these accusations against him.
There is no record of any response on the part of those to whom she told this accusation, those who all were under the authority of Joseph.
Personally, I doubt that any of them believed her account since everyday they could see her giving him the eye, and that Joseph never had acted inappropriately toward her.
In fact, the only talk of the servants may have been about how Joseph avoided her and how some of them were compelled to ac¬company him into the house.
The response of the other slaves did not really matter, though, for they were no more inclined to report to Potiphar about his wife’s misconduct than was Joseph and neither were they willing to take Joseph’s side and deny the account of this woman when her husband returned.
Genesis 39:16, “So she left his garment beside her until his master came home.”
Genesis 39:16 says that Potiphar’s wife left Joseph’s coat beside her until “his master” came home and not “her husband” since it was in the capacity of a slave master that she is confronting her husband so as to put pressure on him to act.
Genesis 39:17-18, “Then she spoke to him with these words, ‘The Hebrew slave, whom you brought to us, came in to me to make sport of me; and as I raised my voice and screamed, he left his garment beside me and fled outside.”
In order to manipulate Potiphar to take action against Joseph, she places the blame on her husband since he gave a foreign slave such as Joseph authority and freedom in their home emboldening Joseph to try to disrobe in front of her as if she was the injured party and a faithful wife!
Notice that when speaking of Joseph to her servants Potiphar’s wife describes him as a “Hebrew man” whereas when speaking to Potiphar she calls Joseph “the Hebrew slave” in order to emphasize Joseph’s slave status.
Also, when speaking to her servants, she identifies with them by saying that Joseph was making sport of “us” whereas when speaking to her husband she uses the singular “me” in order to arouse her husband’s jealous instincts and sense of outrage.
Furthermore, it is quite interesting that when accusing Joseph before her husband, Potiphar’s wife does “not” use the exact same language as when she spoke to her servants.
In Genesis 39:14, Potiphar’s wife speaks to her servants and makes the accusation that “he (Joseph) came in to me to lie with me” but in Genesis 39:17 she says to her husband that Joseph “came in to me to make sport of me.”
In Genesis 39:14, when speaking to her servants, she uses the expression ba’ `elay lishkav `immi (aB* yl^a@ bK^v+l! yM!u!), “he came in to me to lie with me.”
In Genesis 39:17, when speaking to Potiphar, she uses the expression ba’ `elay (yl^a@-aB*), “he came in to me.”
In Genesis 39:14, when speaking to her servants, she uses the verb shakhav (bk^v*) (shaw-kahv), “lie,” which is never used for loving marital intercourse in Genesis but only for illicit or forced sex and in the context of Genesis 39:14 refers to rape.
However, in Genesis 39:17 when speaking to her husband she omits the word!
Therefore, we can see that when speaking to her servants, Potiphar’s wife accuses Joseph of rape as indicated by her use of the verb shakhav but when speaking to her husband, she does “not” accuse Joseph of rape as indicated by her omitting the verb shakhav.
Although the verb bo, “he came in” is used in Scripture at times as a euphemism for sexual intercourse, it is never used in Scripture with reference to illicit sex.
Also indicating that when speaking to her husband, Potiphar’s wife did “not” accuse Joseph of rape is that Genesis 39:19 does “not” say that Potiphar’s anger burned directly against Joseph, which we would expect but rather it says that he simply got angry.
Further indicating that Potiphar’s wife did “not” accuse Joseph of rape when speaking to her husband is that when Potiphar goes to punish Joseph, he gives him a light sentence by throwing him into prison rather than executing him, which would have been expected, especially from someone who was Pharaoh’s chief executioner.
It appears that when speaking to her husband, she is insinuating that Joseph simply disrobed as a preliminary to rape and this is indicated in Genesis 39:17 by her statement, “he left his garment beside me.”
Therefore, it appears that she secretly hoped that by having Joseph imprisoned, she might be able to finally break Joseph so that he would sleep with her.
The fact that she did not accuse Joseph of attempted rape when speaking to Potiphar but rather accuses him of disrobing in front of her reveals that she did not want Joseph killed because she hoped to break down his resistance so that he would have sex with her.
