Genesis 39:1-39:23

     Now Joseph was taken down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there.¹ The LORD was with Joseph,² and he became a successful man; he was in the house of his Egyptian master. His master saw that the LORD was with him,³ and that the LORD caused all that he did to prosper in his hands. So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him; he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had. From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the LORD blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; the blessing of the LORD was on all that he had, in house and field. So he left all that he had in Joseph's charge; and, with him there, he had no concern for anything but the food that he ate.
     Now Joseph was handsome and good-looking. And after a time his master's wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, "Lie with me."⁴
     But he refused and said to his master's wife, "Look, with me here, my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my hand. He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except yourself, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?"⁵ And although she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not consent to lie beside her or to be with her.⁶
     One day, however, when he went into the house to do his work, and while no one else was in the house, she caught hold of his garment, saying, "Lie with me!" But he left his garment in her hand, and fled⁷ and ran outside.⁸ When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled outside, she called out to the members of her household and said to them, "See, my husband has brought among us a Hebrew⁹ to insult us! He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice;¹⁰ and when he heard me raise my voice and cry out, he left his garment beside me, and fled outside." Then she kept his garment¹¹ by her until his master came home, and she told him the same story, saying, "The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought among us, came in to me to insult me; but as soon as I raised my voice and cried out, he left his garment beside me, and fled outside."¹²
     When his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, saying, "This is the way your servant treated me," he became enraged.¹³ And Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined; he remained there in prison.¹⁴ But the LORD was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love; he gave him favor in the sight of the chief jailer.¹⁵ The chief jailer committed to Joseph's care all the prisoners who were in the prison, and whatever was done there, he was the one who did it. The chief jailer paid no heed to anything that was in Joseph's care, because the LORD was with him; and whatever he did, the LORD made it prosper.

^[1] In the hands of Ishmaelites, then Egyptians - both traditional enemies of Israel. Earlier it had said in some places that the Midianites were the ones he had been sold to.
^[2] As the Lord had been with his father Israel, and his father Isaac, and his father Abraham.
^[3] The presence of the Lord with him is visible to others, in his actions and their outcomes.
^[4] The kind of direct command made by someone used to power.
^[5] He attaches his refusal both to his responsibilities to his master and to his responsibilities to God. He uses his refusal as an opportunity to explain his convictions to her. It also puts the decision out of his own hands - it is a choice he cannot even think about making.
^[6] Despite hearing his convictions, she continues to tempt him. And he tells no one else - either to protect his master, or to protect her, or because he knows that he would not be believed.
^[7] Falling into sin worries him more than being caught and accused.
^[8] Flees! It's cliche-ish to note that he "flees temptation", but the image is still striking here.
^[9] She plays the hatred of foreigners angle, as many still do.
^[10] Completely despicable behavior.
^[11] Striking to see the use of a garment as proof used as a deceiver here, as it had just been used by a victim in the previous story.
^[12] She lies to the same man that Joseph had gone out of his way to protect.
^[13] Not surprising, and it's hard to blame him here.
^[14] The price he pays for his obedience.
^[15] Though he was victimized by deception, he was blameless, and God grants him favor even in his trial.
^[16] As before, Joseph's favor before God is visibly seen by others.


Take-home: As with his ancestors before him, the Lord is with Joseph. Also like his ancestors and brother, Joseph is the victim of deception. But unlike them, Joseph does not practice deception himself, and in his honesty the Lord protects him, so that even through trials others can see God's favor with him. Joseph takes great lengths to practice righteous behavior even among the unrighteous.