1And Joseph had been brought down to Egypt. And an Egyptian man, Potiphar, an official of Pharaoh, chief of the guards, bought him from the hand of the Ishmaelites who had brought him down there.
2And YHWH was with Joseph, and he was a successful man, and he was in his Egyptian lord’s house.
3And his lord saw that YHWH was with him, and YHWH made everything he was doing successful in his hand.
4And Joseph found favor in his eyes, and he attended him, and he appointed him over his house and put everything he had in his hand.
5And it was from the time that he appointed him in his house and over all that he had that YHWH blessed the Egyptian’s house because of Joseph, and YHWH’s blessing was in everything that he had, in the house and in the field.
6And he left everything that he had in Joseph’s hand and did not know a thing about what he had except the bread that he was eating.
And Joseph had an attractive figure and was handsome.
7And it was after these things, and his lord’s wife raised her eyes to Joseph and said, “Lie with me.”
8And he refused, and he said to his lord’s wife, “Here, my lord doesn’t know what he has with me in the house, and he’s put everything that he has in my hand.
9No one is bigger than I am in this house, and he hasn’t held back a thing from me except you because you’re his wife, and how could I do this great wrong? And I would sin against God.”
10And it was, when she spoke to Joseph day after day, that he didn’t listen to her, to lie by her, to be with her.
11And it was on a day like this, and he came to the house to do his work, and not one of the people of the house was there in the house.
12And she grasped him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me!” And he left his garment in her hand and fled and went outside.
13And it was, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and run off outside,
14that she called to the people of her house and said to them, saying, “See, he brought us a Hebrew man to fool with us. He came to me, to lie with me, and I called in a loud voice.
39:14 to fool with us … to fool with me. She says “to fool with us” when she tells the household, but she says “to fool with me” when she tells her husband. Deceivers formulate their words carefully to persuade their particular audience.
15And it was when he heard that I raised my voice and called that he left his garment by me and fled and went outside.”
16And she laid his garment down by her until his lord came to his house.
17And she spoke things like these to him, saying, “The Hebrew slave, whom you brought us, came to me, to fool with me.
39:17. whom you brought us. She uses the same device that Adam had used when trying to exonerate himself in Eden when he said, “The woman, whom you placed with me …” It is an attempt to help one’s position by putting part of the blame on one’s judge. It works better for Potiphar’s wife, using it on a human authority, than it did for Adam, who tried to use it on God.
18And it was when I raised my voice and called that he left his garment by me and fled outside.”
19And it was, when his lord heard his wife’s words that she spoke to him, saying, “Your servant did things like these to me,” that his anger flared.
20And Joseph’s lord took him and put him in prison, a place where the king’s prisoners were kept.
And he was there in the prison,
21and YHWH was with Joseph and extended kindness to him and gave him favor in the eyes of the warden.
22And the warden put all the prisoners who were in the prison into Joseph’s hand, and he was doing all the things that they do there.
23The warden was not seeing anything in his hand because YHWH was with him, and YHWH would make whatever he did successful.
