Commentary - Genesis 39:6-18

Bird's-eye view

In this passage, we see the anatomy of a severe temptation and a righteous response. Joseph, having found favor and success in Potiphar's house, now faces a trial that comes not from his external circumstances, but from within the very household where he has been blessed. The Lord was with Joseph, and that blessing made him competent, successful, and as we see here, handsome. But the favor of God does not grant immunity from trial; it often makes one a target. Potiphar's wife becomes the instrument of a persistent and aggressive temptation. Joseph's refusal is a master class in biblical integrity. He does not appeal to pragmatism or fear of being caught, but rather to loyalty to his master and, most importantly, the reality that this act would be a "great evil and sin against God." When the temptation escalates to a physical assault, Joseph demonstrates the cardinal rule for dealing with sexual sin: he flees. The consequence of his righteousness is a false accusation, slander, and imprisonment. This is a critical point in the narrative, demonstrating that doing the right thing in a fallen world can lead to immediate suffering. But over all of it is the hidden hand of God's providence, moving Joseph toward the place where he will save his family and the world.

Outline

Context In Genesis

This episode is a pivotal moment in the life of Joseph and in the unfolding covenant purposes of God. After being sold into slavery by his brothers, Joseph's story could have ended in obscurity. But Genesis 39:2-6 shows that "the Lord was with Joseph," causing him to prosper. This prosperity sets the stage for the test of his character. This is not a random morality tale; it is a necessary crucible. Joseph's faithfulness here, leading to his unjust imprisonment, is the very path God uses to elevate him. In prison, he will interpret the dreams of the cupbearer and baker, which in turn leads him to stand before Pharaoh. Without the false accusation of Potiphar's wife, there is no prison. Without the prison, there is no encounter with the cupbearer. Without the cupbearer, there is no audience with Pharaoh. God's plan to save the family of Abraham from famine, and thus preserve the line of the Messiah, runs directly through this sordid accusation in an Egyptian bedroom. It is a profound illustration of what Joseph will later say to his brothers: "you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good" (Gen. 50:20).

Key Issues

Verse by Verse Commentary

Genesis 39:6b

Now Joseph was beautiful in form and beautiful in appearance.

The text makes a point of telling us this right before the temptation begins. This is not incidental information. Joseph's physical attractiveness, a gift from God, becomes the focal point of the trial. This is a common tactic of the enemy. He takes God's good gifts, whether it be beauty, intelligence, strength, or success, and seeks to make them the occasion for our fall. The blessing becomes the bait. We should not be surprised when our greatest strengths are connected to our greatest temptations.

Genesis 39:7-9

And it happened after these events that his master’s wife set her eyes on Joseph and said, "Lie with me." But he refused and said to his master’s wife, "Behold, with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in the house, and he has given all that he owns into my hand. There is no one greater in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?"

The temptation is not subtle. It is a direct, blunt command. Sin often dispenses with the pleasantries and simply demands submission. And Joseph's refusal is immediate and principled. He doesn't say, "I'm not attracted to you," or "We might get caught." His reasoning is a three-layered fortress. First, loyalty to Potiphar. He understands his delegated authority and will not betray the man who trusted him. This is basic horizontal integrity. Second, he acknowledges the clear boundary. Potiphar withheld one thing, his wife, and Joseph respects that boundary absolutely. But the bedrock, the granite foundation of his refusal, is the third reason. "How then could I do this great evil and sin against God?" Joseph understands that all sin is ultimately vertical. Adultery with Potiphar's wife would be a sin against Potiphar, but it would be a far greater sin against God Himself. This is the defining mark of a godly man. He sees sin not primarily through the lens of social consequence, but through the lens of his relationship with his Creator. David had to learn this after his sin, crying out in Psalm 51, "Against you, you only, have I sinned." Joseph already knows it.

Genesis 39:10

So it happened that as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he did not listen to her to lie beside her or be with her.

This was not a one-time proposition. This was a campaign. It was a daily siege. Temptation is persistent. The devil is not discouraged by an initial refusal. He will come back tomorrow, and the day after. Joseph's defense was equally persistent. And notice the detail: "he did not listen to her to lie beside her or be with her." He didn't just refuse the ultimate act; he refused the intermediate steps. He refused to linger, to entertain the conversation, to put himself in a compromised position. He understood that you cannot flirt with the fire and then act surprised when you get burned. He was starving the temptation of oxygen.

Genesis 39:11-12

Now it happened one day that he went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the household was there inside. Then she seized him by his garment, saying, "Lie with me!" And he left his garment in his hand and fled and went outside.

The enemy waits for the opportune moment. The stage is set: Joseph is doing his duty, he is isolated, and no one else is around. The temptation now moves from verbal to physical. She grabs him. All his principled refusals have led to this moment of crisis. And what does he do? He runs. He does not stay to argue. He does not try to overpower her. He flees. This is the biblical strategy for sexual temptation given in the New Testament: "Flee from sexual immorality" (1 Cor. 6:18). Joseph is the Old Testament poster boy for this principle. And notice that his flight came at a cost. He had to leave his outer garment behind. Righteousness will often require you to abandon something, whether it be a reputation, a job, or a piece of clothing. Joseph was willing to look foolish and lose his coat in order to keep his conscience clean.

Genesis 39:13-18

Now it happened, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled outside, that she called to the men of her household and spoke to them, saying, "See, he has brought in a Hebrew to us to laugh at us; he came in to me to lie with me, and I screamed..."

Here we see the venom of a sinner scorned. When sin cannot seduce, it slanders. She immediately flips the narrative, casting herself as the victim and Joseph as the aggressor. The garment that was evidence of his innocence becomes, in her lying hands, the evidence of his guilt. Her tactics are straight from the devil's playbook. She uses xenophobia, contemptuously referring to him as "a Hebrew," to poison the well with the other servants. She twists his faithful service into an act of mockery. She lies about screaming. She then repeats the whole sordid, fabricated tale to her husband, carefully crafting the story to provoke maximum rage. This is what the world does to the righteous. When you will not join them in their sin, they will accuse you of sins you did not commit. Joseph, the righteous one, is falsely accused and handed over to suffer. This is a profound foreshadowing of the Christ who was to come, who was perfectly righteous, and yet was slandered, falsely accused, and delivered over to punishment.

Application

The story of Joseph and Potiphar's wife is not in the Bible simply to provide a moral hero for our children's flannelgraph boards. It is here to instruct us in the gritty reality of sanctification. First, we must learn to see our sin as Joseph saw it: primarily as an offense against a holy God. Until our theology is straight on this point, our ethics will always be wobbly. Our motive for holiness must be God-centered, not man-centered.

Second, we must be prepared for the long haul. Temptation is rarely a single event; it is often a protracted siege. We must cultivate the daily habits of resistance, refusing to even "be with" the temptations we are fighting. This means setting hard boundaries with media, with relationships, and with the places we allow our minds to wander.

Third, we must have a plan for the moment of crisis. When temptation gets physical, or when the pressure becomes overwhelming, the plan is not to stand and fight. The plan is to flee. We must be willing to pay the price of fleeing, whether that means an awkward conversation, a lost promotion, or a damaged reputation. It is better to enter heaven having lost a coat than to be cast into hell with your wardrobe intact.

Finally, we must trust in the sovereign providence of God when our righteousness leads to suffering. Joseph did everything right and ended up in a dungeon. From a worldly perspective, his integrity was a failure. But from God's perspective, the dungeon was a necessary stop on the way to the throne. When you are slandered for your faith, when you are punished for your purity, do not despair. You are walking a well-worn path, the path your Savior walked before you, and your God is working all of it, even the malice of your accusers, for your ultimate good and for His glory.