Genesis 39:13

Joseph's mistress, having tried in vain to make him a criminal, now endeavours to represent him as one; so to be revenged on him for his virtue. Now was her love turned into the utmost rage and malice, and she pretends she cannot endure the sight of him whom awhile ago she could not endure out of her sight. Chaste and holy love will continue, though slighted; but sinful love, like Amnon's to Tamar, is easily changed into sinful hatred. 1. She accused him to his fellow servants (Gen 39:13-15) and gave him a bad name among them. Probably they envied him his interest in their master's favour, and his authority in the house; and perhaps found themselves aggrieved sometimes by his fidelity, which prevented their purloining; and therefore they were glad to hear any thing that might tend to his disgrace, and, if there was room for it, incensed their mistress yet more against him. Observe, When she speaks of her husband, she does not call him her husband, or her lord, but only he; for she had forgotten the covenant of her God, that was between them. Thus the adulteress (Pro 7:19) calls her husband the good man. Note, Innocence itself cannot secure a man's reputation. Not every one that keeps a good conscience can keep a good name. 2. She accused him to his master, who had power in his hand to punish him, which his fellow servants had not, Gen 39:17, Gen 39:18. Observe, (1.) What an improbable story she tells, producing his garment as an evidence that he had offered violence to her, which was a plain indication that she had offered violence to him. Note, Those that have broken the bonds of modesty will never be held by the bonds of truth. No marvel that she who had impudence enough to say, Lie with me, had front enough to say, "He would have lien with me." Had the lie been told to conceal her own crime it would have been bad enough, yet, in some degree, excusable; but it was told to be revenged upon his virtue, a most malicious lie. And yet, (2.) She manages it so as to incense her husband against him, reflecting upon him for bringing this Hebrew servant among them, perhaps at first against her mind, because he was a Hebrew. Note, It is no new thing for the best of men to be falsely accused of the worst of crimes by those who themselves are the worst of criminals. As this matter was represented, one would have thought chaste Joseph a very bad man and his wanton mistress a virtuous woman; it is well that there is a day of discovery coming, in which all shall appear in their true characters. This was not the first time that Joseph's coat was made use of as a false witness concerning him; his father had been deceived by it before, now his master.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Gen 39:13 And it came to pass, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and was fled forth,

Ver. 13. And it came to pass, &c.] Incontinency is a breeder. It never goes alone, as some say the asp doth not, but hath many vices; impudency, subtlety, treacherous cruelty, &c., that come of it, and accompany it; crying out, and calling to one another, as they once did; "Now Moab to the spoil." {2Ki 3:23}

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.

Gen_39:13-18

See, he hath brought in an Hebrew unto us to mock us

The false charge against Joseph

I.

THE BOLDNESS OF IT.

II. THE MALIGNITY OF IT. The vengeance of disappointed passion.

III. THE ART AND CUNNING OF IT.

IV. THE LESSONS OF THIS HISTORY.

1. That impurity and falsehood are closely allied.

2. That Gods saints should be patient under false accusations.

3. That we should do the thing that is right in utter disregard of all evil consequences to ourselves. (T. H. Leale.)

Lessons

1. Disappointments of lust occasion it to rage, and turn it into madness.

2. Innocencys flight from sin may occasion its misery.

3. Sight of lust defeated by chastity stirs up the wicked to accuse the righteous (Gen_39:13). (G. Hughes, B. D.)

The delicate and problematical character of circumstantial proof

There are not a few cases, in which it is the only description of evidence which can at all be had; and sometimes it is of such a nature as to carry as full conviction to the mind as the most direct and satisfactory testimony. This was not, indeed, the case in the instance before us: for it would not be difficult to institute widely different processes of hypothetical argument on the simple fact of the mantle having been left in her possession. There are cases, however, in which it is almost irresistibly conclusive. And yet true it is that there have been instances in which sentence has been passed on the ground of circumstantial evidence such has, at the time, appeared clear beyond controversy, and has carried the fullest conviction to counsel, and jury, and judge--in which, notwithstanding, the innocence of the party condemned has subsequently been brought unexpectedly and strangely to light. All that can be said, therefore, is that while it is a species of proof which it is impossible to discard, and which it would be the height of absurdity to speak of discarding, yet it is one which ought to be investigated with the utmost caution and minuteness, and all delay possible afforded for subjecting it to the test of time--so long as there seems any likelihood of new circumstances coming to light, or of any conscience which fear may be holding in its bonds, and by this means sealing the lips, relenting and disclosing. And wherever there is room for the slightest doubt, the benefit of it should be given to the accused. (R. Wardlaw, D. D)

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The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

CRITICAL NOTES.—

Gen_39:14. An Hebrew.] “A Hebrew is still the only national designation proper to Joseph. (Gen_14:13.) Jacob’s descendants had not got beyond the family. The term Israelite was therefore not yet in use. The national name is designedly used as a term of reproach among the Egyptians.” (Gen_43:32.) (Murphy.)—

Gen_39:15. Left his garment with me.] “Not in her hand, which would have been suspicious.” (Murphy.)—

Gen_39:20. The prison.] Heb. House of roundness, or round-house. Called a “dungeon.” (Gen_41:14) A place where the king’s prisoners were bound. An added explanation.—

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Gen_39:13-18

THE FALSE CHARGE AGAINST JOSEPH

I. The boldness of it. With her consciousness of guilt, thus to set herself up as a model of immovable virtue, was a most daring boldness.

II. The malignity of it. The charge was preferred out of pure malignity. It was the vengeance of disappointed passion. She plots the destruction of a good man for no other reason but his incomparable virtues. No worse wickedness can be ascribed to the devil.

III. The art and cunning of it. She calls the servants and tells them her unblushing lie, so that they might be witnesses of the insult offered to her by this Hebrew. As the appearances were altogether against Joseph, they might consider themselves all but eye-witnesses of his guilt. She speaks to them in a contemptuous manner of her husband, throwing all the blame upon him; and she does not scruple even to impute the same to his face. “See, he hath brought in an Hebrew unto us to mock us.” “The Hebrew servant which thou hast brought unto us, came in unto me to mock me.” (Gen_39:14; Gen_39:17). She says nothing concerning the injury done to her husband, but charges him with being the cause of this attack upon her virtue. This would excite his wrath and put him upon the vindication of his honour. He would be ready to excuse her words spoken under the inspiration of the noble rage of offended virtue. Yet a discerning mind might perceive here that her cunning really overshot its mark. The fact that she speaks so disrespectfully of her husband reveals the estrangement of her heart from him, and also a design to annoy him by holding him up to the contempt of his servants.

IV. The lessons of this history.

1. That impurity and falsehood are closely allied. The devil, as he is an unclean spirit, so he is also a liar. This is the first example of gross calumniation recorded in Scripture, and it comes from an adulterous woman.

2. That God’s saints should be patient under false accusations. All things concerning the righteous, even their persecutions, are under the control of God; and in the long run, He will vindicate their honour. He will bring forth their righteousness as the light, and their judgment as the noonday, though it may have been long hidden under the clouds of calumny. God may seem to bring His people down to the very grave, and yet He will surely bring them up. The 37th Psalm teaches us how we are to consider this affliction of Joseph.

3. That we should do the thing that is right in utter disregard of all evil consequences to ourselves. By maintaining his integrity and purity, Joseph exposed himself to the imputation of being regarded as a monster of iniquity. In the cause of righteousness he had literally to bear sin. But he heeded not consequences. He only thought of obligation. He bore the reputation of a sinner, but his record was on high, his judgment with his God. What we have to avoid is the sin itself; against the lie there may be found a remedy.

SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES

Gen_39:13. The danger incurred by this was very obvious. Her resentment might improve it as the instrument of his destruction; or, if she endeavoured, for her own sake, to conceal it, an accident might probably discover it, and raise very dark suspicions against him. But convinced that sin was an infinitely worse evil than disgrace or death, he is determined to fly at all hazards.—(Bush.)

Gen_39:14-18. The disappointed passion of Potiphar’s wife had settled down into malice. There are two kinds of love: that love which ever increases, and that which, usurping the name of love, contains within itself the germ of its own destruction.—(Robertson).

The demon of lust is soon converted into that of rage and revenge. (2Sa_13:15.)

Doubtless he denied the fact, but he dare not accuse the offender. There is not only the praise of patience, but of times of wisdom, even in unjust sufferings. He knew that God would find time to clear his innocence, and to regard his chaste faithfulness.—(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.

13. his garment] This accident provided the only circumstantial piece of evidence for the charge brought against him.

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.

And it came to pass, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand,.... And so all hopes of succeeding in her addresses to him were over:

and he was fled forth; into the streets, or into some out house, where business was carried on by servants under him.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Vers. 13-15. And it came to pass, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand (a very indiscreet act on the part of Joseph, considering the possible use that might be made of it), and was fled forth, that she called unto the men of her house, and spake unto them, saying, See, he hath brought in (literally, one has brought in, the subject of the verb being indefinite) a Hebrew (literally, a man, a Hebrew) unto us to mock us (the verb qj from which comes Isaac, is here used in a bad sense; not the same as in; (Gen_26:8) he came in unto me to lie with me, and I cried with a loud voice: and it came to pass, when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me (literally, by my side), and fled, and got him out (or, went forth into the street, et supra).

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

When this daring assault upon Joseph's chastity had failed, on account of his faithfulness and fear of God, the adulterous woman reversed the whole affair, and charged him with an attack upon her modesty, in order that she might have her revenge upon him and avert suspicion from herself. She called her house-servants and said, "See, he (her husband, whom she does not think worth naming) has brought us a Hebrew man ("no epitheton ornans to Egyptian ears: Gen 43:32") to mock us (צחק to show his wantonness; us, the wife and servants, especially the female portion): he came in unto me to lie with me; and I cried with a loud voice...and he left his garment by me." She said אצלי "by my side," not "in my hand," as that would have shown the true state of the case. She then left the garment lying by her side till the return of Joseph's master, to whom she repeated her tale.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

Joseph Accused and Imprisoned

v. 13. And it came to pass, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and was fled forth,

v. 14. that she called unto the men of her house, and spake unto them, saying, See, he hath brought in an Hebrew unto us to mock us. The lust of Potiphar’s wife was changed to hatred. Since she did not succeed in having her will, she determined to have her revenge. Although her attack on Joseph had taken place in a part of the house which was open to all, and not in the intimacy of her own room, yet the fact that she had Joseph’s outer garment in her hand must serve as an accusation against him. For with well-simulated scorn she refers to her husband as having brought in this Hebrew, this outcast of a nomadic nation, for the purpose of exercising wanton mockery, not only against her, but against the virtue of all the women in the house. She accuses Joseph of behaving himself in a manner which would indeed have been legitimate in the case of a husband toward his wife, Gen 26:8, but which was nothing more than a pretended seduction in her case. He came in unto me to lie with me, and I cried with a loud voice;

v. 15. and it came to pass, when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me! and fled, and got him out. She told her lie so skillfully that she even took care to state that Joseph had left his garment "at her side" instead of "in her hand," for the latter expression might have betrayed her.

v. 16. And she laid up his garment by her until his lord came home.

v. 17. And she spake unto him according to these words, saying, The Hebrew servant which thou hast brought unto us came in unto me to mock me;

v. 18. and it came to pass, as I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled out. She could simulate outraged, innocent womanhood all the more easily since she knew that a slave could not testify for himself. In her boldness she almost reproaches Potiphar with having purposely endangered her chastity.

v. 19. And it came to pass, when his master heard the words of his wife which she spake unto him, saying, After this manner did thy servant to me; that his wrath was kindled. Whether he suspected the true state of affairs to some extent or not, there was only one course open to the angry husband.

v. 20. And Joseph’s master took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were bound; and he was there in the prison. The innocent young man was confined in the state prison, where the prisoners of the king, the criminals against the state, were kept. Thus many an innocent Christian has been obliged to suffer wrongfully, to be suspected and accused of crimes of various kind. In spite of all that, however, the believers place their trust in the mercy of God.

v. 21. But the Lord was with Joseph, and showed him mercy, and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. The hearts of men are in the hands of the Lord, and He can guide them like rivers of water. It was the mercy of the Lord which secured for Joseph the favor of the jailer, himself an officer under Potiphar.

v. 22. And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners that were in the prison; and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it. Although Joseph himself was a, prisoner, the jailer’s trust in him was so great that he gave him charge of all the prisoners and of all the work which the prisoners had to perform.

v. 23. The keeper of the prison looked not to anything that was under his hand, with regard to all things which were expected of him he placed implicit confidence in Joseph; because the Lord was with him, and that which he did, the Lord made it to prosper. With a clear conscience and the Lord’s favor on their side, the believers are able to endure not only false accusations, but even worse tribulations, the loss of liberty and of life.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

It came about ... that she called

"Then ... she called." The phrase "it came about" is used here to mark the next event in the story. (See: Introduction of a New Event)

had fled outside

"had quickly ran out of the house"

the men of her house

"the men who worked in her house"

See

"Look" or "Listen" or "Pay attention to what I am about to tell you."

He came in to me to sleep with me

Here Potiphar's wife is accusing Joseph of trying to seize her and sleep with her.

It came about when he heard me scream, that he

"When he heard me scream, he." The phrase "it came about" is used here to mark the next event in the story. (See: Introduction of a New Event)

translationWords

Potiphar

Hebrew

mock

had relations with

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.