^39:7Soon after these things, his master’s wife took notice of²¹ Joseph and said, “Have sex with me.”²²^39:8But he refused, saying²³ to his master’s wife, “Look, my master does not give any thought²⁴ to his household with me here,²⁵ and everything that he owns he has put into my care.²⁶^39:9There is no one greater in this household than I am. He has withheld nothing from me except you because you are his wife. So how could I do²⁷ such a great evil and sin against God?” ^39:10Even though she continued to speak²⁸ to Joseph day after day, he did not respond²⁹ to her invitation to have sex with her.³⁰

^39:11One day³¹ he went into the house to do his work when none of the household servants³² were there in the house. ^39:12She grabbed him by his outer garment, saying, “Have sex with me!” But he left his outer garment in her hand and ran³³ outside.³⁴^39:13When she saw that he had left his outer garment in her hand and had run outside, ^39:14she called for her household servants and said to them, “See, my husband brought³⁵ in a Hebrew man³⁶ to us to humiliate us.³⁷ He tried to have sex with me,³⁸ but I screamed loudly.³⁹^39:15When he heard me raise⁴⁰ my voice and scream, he left his outer garment beside me and ran outside.”

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Footnotes

21 Heb “she lifted up her eyes toward,” an expression that emphasizes her deliberate and careful scrutiny of him.
22 Heb “lie with me.” Here the expression “lie with” is a euphemism for sexual intercourse. The story of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife has long been connected with the wisdom warnings about the strange woman who tries to seduce the young man with her boldness and directness (see Prov 5–7, especially 7:6–27). This is part of the literary background of the story of Joseph that gives it a wisdom flavor. See G. von Rad, God at Work in Israel, 19–35; and G. W. Coats, “The Joseph Story and Ancient Wisdom: A Reappraisal,” 35 (1973): 285–97.
23 Heb “and he said.”
24 Heb “know.”
25 The word “here” has been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
26 Heb “hand.” This is a metonymy for being under the control or care of Joseph.
27 The nuance of potential imperfect fits this context.
28 The verse begins with the temporal indicator, followed by the infinitive construct with the preposition ךְּ (ké). This clause could therefore be taken as temporal.
29 Heb “listen to.”
30 Heb “to lie beside her to be with her.” Here the expression “to lie beside” is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.
31 Heb “and it was about this day.”
32 Heb “the men of the house.”
33 Heb “he fled and he went out.” The construction emphasizes the point that Joseph got out of there quickly.
34 For discussion of this episode, see A. M. Honeyman, “The Occasion of Joseph’s Temptation,” 2 (1952): 85–87.
35 The verb has no expressed subject, and so it could be treated as a passive (“a Hebrew man was brought in”; cf. ). But it is clear from the context that her husband brought Joseph into the household, so Potiphar is the apparent referent here. Thus the translation supplies “my husband” as the referent of the unspecified pronominal subject of the verb (cf. , ).
36 A Hebrew man. Potiphar’s wife raises the ethnic issue when talking to her servants about what their boss had done.
37 Heb “to make fun of us.” The verb translated “to humiliate us” here means to hold something up for ridicule, or to toy with something harmfully. Attempted rape would be such an activity, for it would hold the victim in contempt.
38 Heb “he came to me to lie with me.” Here the expression “lie with” is a euphemism for sexual intercourse.
39 Heb “and I cried out with a loud voice.”
40 Heb “that I raised.”