POTIPHAR'S WIFE
During my study of Joseph
of “the coat of many colors” fame, I was intrigued with his relationship with Potiphar’s
wife. Skipping all the reasons why he
was there in charge of Potiphar’s house, I just want to zoom in on what
happened.
Potiphar was the chief of
the Egyptian King’s bodyguard, so he was pretty high up in society as you might
say, and so was his wife.
Egyptian sculptures and
paintings depict her wearing fine pleated linen with an ornamental girdle
around her waist and on her head was a head band set with jewels. She wore gold ankle bands with more gold on her
ears, neck and fingers. She had dark
purple lips and slanted eyebrows heavily lined with dark dye. You could say she was looking pretty good.
I would venture to say she
was probably pretty spoiled too and usually got what she wanted.
Do you secretly enjoy
harmless unspoken flirtation?
This study is about
personal integrity; no matter what the cost.
Joseph
- Joseph would have
been dressed for the position that he held, probably wearing sandals with
pointed upturned toes, fine linen outerwear with a colorful belt with a
portion hanging down. Being a
Hebrew he would have had black hair hanging down to his shoulders and a
clean shaven face; he was young, strong and handsome, .in short, he was
looking good too.
- He would move about
quietly with his work possessing a quality of integrity that was unknown
to Potiphar’s wife.
Gen 39:6 – He was good
looking
6 Now Joseph was well-built and handsome,
NIV
The House
- Based on the
construction of the time, the house would have had high walls and would
include a main room and an inter garden with trees set in brick tubs; and with
connecting quarters for the servants, stables, chariots, granary with
grain bins and a court yard; in short is was quite a large complex with
lots of activity to oversee.
The Story Begins
- Joseph had found
favor in the eyes of Potiphar and was put in charge of everything that he
had with the exception of what Potiphar ate. From that day forth, God blessed
Potiphar’s house and all his dealings because of Joseph.
- Joseph was aware of
the overt flirting that was taking place by Potiphar’s wife and kept a
safe distance from her, in fact he purposed not to go near her for she had
on many occasions “propositioned” him.
Gen 39:4-6 – Joseph caused
Potiphar to prosper
4 Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and
he entrusted to his care everything he owned.
5 From the time he put him in charge of his
household and of all that he owned, the LORD blessed the household of the
Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the LORD was on everything
Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field.
6 So he left in Joseph's care everything he had;
with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food
he ate. NIV
Gen 39:7-10 – How about a
“roll in bed with honey”
7 and after a while his master's wife took notice
of Joseph and said, "Come to bed with me!"
8 But he refused. "With me in charge,"
he told her, "my master does not concern himself with anything in the
house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care.
9 No one is greater in this house than I am. My
master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife.
How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?"
10 And though she spoke to Joseph day after day,
he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her. NIV
Then it happened
- Joseph certainly knew
the coming and going of Potiphar and his servants. Knowing fully he would be alone with
Potiphar’s wife, he went into the house.
She grabbed him by his cloak and tried to get him into her bed, but
he ran off leaving his cloak behind.
- She was angry and chagrinned
that he had refused her ovations and screamed for help to her servants and
the results were; he was thrown in jail. – The rest I will not cover here
as I just want to address the issue of Mrs. Potiphar and Joseph. – You can read it.
Gen 39:11-20 – No body
around - Gotcha
11 One day he went into the house to attend to his
duties, and none of the household servants was inside.
12 She caught him by his cloak and said, "Come
to bed with me!" But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out
of the house.
13 When she saw that he had left his cloak in her
hand and had run out of the house,
14 she called her household servants.
"Look," she said to them, "this Hebrew has been brought to us to
make sport of us! He came in here to sleep with me, but I screamed.
15 When he heard me scream for help, he left his
cloak beside me and ran out of the house."
16 She kept his cloak beside her until his master
came home.
17 Then she told him this story: "That Hebrew
slave you brought us came to me to make sport of me.
18 But as soon as I screamed for help, he left his
cloak beside me and ran out of the house."
19 When his master heard the story his wife told
him, saying, "This is how your slave treated me," he burned with
anger.
20 Joseph's master took him and put him in
prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined. NIV
My Position
- I spoke out at an
Adult Bible Study class that I felt like this was Joseph’s fault; because
as “The Big Kahuna” he certainly knew that no one would be in the house
when he went in.
- I felt like Joseph knew
Potiphar’s wife wanted to “Jump his Bones” and enjoyed the flirting
he received even though it was from a safe distance; it secretly made him
feel good.
- I went on to quote
Proverbs; “You can’t take fire to your chest without getting burned” and
that’s what happened. – He flirted
with SIN and got burnt.
Prov 6:27 – Flirt with fire and get burned
27 Can a man take fire in his bosom and his
clothes not be burned?
Josephus on Joseph
- I encourage you to get your own copy
of the book “Josephus – Antiquity
of the Jews”. Josephus was
born in 37AD, just 4 years after the crusifiction and resurrection of our
Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ. - LISTEN to his report on the
subject of Joseph.
- Josephus
the Jewish historian speaks
- When therefore, there was a public festival coming on, in which
it was the custom for women to come to the public solemnity, she
pretended to her husband that she was sick as contriving
an opportunity for solitude and leisure, that she might entreat Joseph
again;
- Which opportunity being obtained, she used
more kind words to him than before; and said that it had been good for him
to have yielded to her first solicitation; and to have given her no repulse,
both because of the reverence he ought to bear to her dignity she
solicited him; and because of the vehemence of her passion; but which she
was forced, though she were his mistress, to condescend beneath her
dignity; but that he may now, by taking more prudent advice, wipe off the
imputation of his former folly;
- For whether it were that he expected
the repetition of her solicitations she had now made, and that with
greater earnestness than before, for that she had pretended sickness on this very account, and had preferred
this conversation before the festival and its solemnity.
- She assured him that if he complied
with her affections, he might expect the enjoyment of the advantages
he already had; and if he were submissive to her, he would have still
greater advantages;
- BUT, that he must look
for revenge and hatred from her, in case he rejected her
desires; and preferred the reputation of chastity before his
mistress; for that he would gain nothing by such procedure, because she
would then become his accuser, and would falsely pretend to
her husband he had attempted her chastity; and that Potiphar would hearken
to her words rather than to his, let his be ever so agreeable to the
truth.
- Skipping
on down in this report we pick up with Joseph’s words
- When the woman had said thus, and even
with tears in her eyes, neither did pity dissuade Joseph
from his chastity, nor did fear compel him to a compliance with
her; but he opposed her solicitation, and did not yield to her threatening,
and was afraid to do an ill thing, and chose to undergo the sharpest
punishment rather that to enjoy his present advantages, by doing what
his own conscience knew would justly deserve that he should die for it.
- He also put in mind that she was a
married woman, and that she ought to cohabit with her husband only;
and desired her to suffer these considerations to have more weight with her
that the short pleasure of lustful dalliance which would bring her
to repentance afterwards, would cause troubles to her, and yet would not amend
what had been done amiss.
- Prejudged - Josephus’s report of this story makes my
heart hurt; that I had ever doubted Joseph’s intention and integrity whereby
in my own mind, I had substituted my own lack of integrity for
his. - So there we have it; she was
not even supposed to be in the house when Joseph arrived and he chose the
consequences of jail than to submit to SIN. – God help me.
In the multitude of counselors,
there is wisdom.
Prov 11:14
I am grateful for those that went before me providing concepts, ideas, historical information, and scripture verses. Because of them I can stand on their shoulders and see further than I otherwise ever could have.
All the Women of the Bible – Edith Deen
Antiquity of
the Jews
– Flavius Josephus
Apocrypha; The – Edgar J. Goodspeed
Arithmetic of God; The – Don Kistler
Armageddon-Appointment
with Destiny – Grant R. Jeffrey
Bible Almanac; The - Nelson
Bible Dictionary – Harper’s
Bible on the life
Hereafter; The – William Hendriksen
Can America
Countdown to Armageddon,
the 1980’s – Hal Lindsay
Escape from Armageddon – Thomas Reed
Exposition of Genesis – H.C.
Leupold
Final Battle
Final Dawn over Jerusalem
From Daniel to Doomsday – John Hagee
Guide to Survival – Salem
Illustrated Bible
Dictionary – Nelson’s
Illustrated Bible
Dictionary; The - Tyndale
In the beginning was the
End – Wim Malgo
Islam and the Bible – David Goldmann
Late Great Planet Earth; The – Hal Lindsey
Matthew Henry’s Commentary – Zondervan
New International Version Bible – NIV
New international Dictionary of the Bible; The – Douglas & Tenney
New Millennium; The – Pat Robertson
Noah’s Family Tree – Stewart Trott
Pictorial Encyclopedia of
the Bible; The - Zondervan
Revelation, the – verse by
verse – Oliver B. Green
Revelation of Jesus Christ;
The
– Walvoord
Revelation Seminar; The –
1975 - Hilton Sutton
Revelation Study; The -
1973 – Dr. Warren
Secrets of the Dead Sea Scrolls – Hugh J. Schonfield
Theomatics – Jerry Lucas
Today’s Dictionary of the
Bible – T. A. Gryant
Who’s Who in the Bible - Gardner
Wycliffe Bible Commentary,
the – Moody Press
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