Did Yosef Provoke Eshet Potifar

פשט

(ו) וַיַּעֲזֹ֣ב כָּל־אֲשֶׁר־לוֹ֮ בְּיַד־יוֹסֵף֒ וְלֹא־יָדַ֤ע אִתּוֹ֙ מְא֔וּמָה כִּ֥י אִם־הַלֶּ֖חֶם אֲשֶׁר־ה֣וּא אוֹכֵ֑ל וַיְהִ֣י יוֹסֵ֔ף יְפֵה־תֹ֖אַר וִיפֵ֥ה מַרְאֶֽה׃ (ז) וַיְהִ֗י אַחַר֙ הַדְּבָרִ֣ים הָאֵ֔לֶּה וַתִּשָּׂ֧א אֵֽשֶׁת־אֲדֹנָ֛יו אֶת־עֵינֶ֖יהָ אֶל־יוֹסֵ֑ף וַתֹּ֖אמֶר שִׁכְבָ֥ה עִמִּֽי׃ (ח) וַיְמָאֵ֓ן ׀ וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙ אֶל־אֵ֣שֶׁת אֲדֹנָ֔יו הֵ֣ן אֲדֹנִ֔י לֹא־יָדַ֥ע אִתִּ֖י מַה־בַּבָּ֑יִת וְכֹ֥ל אֲשֶׁר־יֶשׁ־ל֖וֹ נָתַ֥ן בְּיָדִֽי׃ (ט) אֵינֶ֨נּוּ גָד֜וֹל בַּבַּ֣יִת הַזֶּה֮ מִמֶּנִּי֒ וְלֹֽא־חָשַׂ֤ךְ מִמֶּ֙נִּי֙ מְא֔וּמָה כִּ֥י אִם־אוֹתָ֖ךְ בַּאֲשֶׁ֣ר אַתְּ־אִשְׁתּ֑וֹ וְאֵ֨יךְ אֶֽעֱשֶׂ֜ה הָרָעָ֤ה הַגְּדֹלָה֙ הַזֹּ֔את וְחָטָ֖אתִי לֵֽאלֹקִֽים׃ (י) וַיְהִ֕י כְּדַבְּרָ֥הּ אֶל־יוֹסֵ֖ף י֣וֹם ׀ י֑וֹם וְלֹא־שָׁמַ֥ע אֵלֶ֛יהָ לִשְׁכַּ֥ב אֶצְלָ֖הּ לִהְי֥וֹת עִמָּֽהּ׃ (יא) וַיְהִי֙ כְּהַיּ֣וֹם הַזֶּ֔ה וַיָּבֹ֥א הַבַּ֖יְתָה לַעֲשׂ֣וֹת מְלַאכְתּ֑וֹ וְאֵ֨ין אִ֜ישׁ מֵאַנְשֵׁ֥י הַבַּ֛יִת שָׁ֖ם בַּבָּֽיִת׃ (יב) וַתִּתְפְּשֵׂ֧הוּ בְּבִגְד֛וֹ לֵאמֹ֖ר שִׁכְבָ֣ה עִמִּ֑י וַיַּעֲזֹ֤ב בִּגְדוֹ֙ בְּיָדָ֔הּ וַיָּ֖נָס וַיֵּצֵ֥א הַחֽוּצָה׃ (יג) וַיְהִי֙ כִּרְאוֹתָ֔הּ כִּֽי־עָזַ֥ב בִּגְד֖וֹ בְּיָדָ֑הּ וַיָּ֖נָס הַחֽוּצָה׃ (יד) וַתִּקְרָ֞א לְאַנְשֵׁ֣י בֵיתָ֗הּ וַתֹּ֤אמֶר לָהֶם֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר רְא֗וּ הֵ֥בִיא לָ֛נוּ אִ֥ישׁ עִבְרִ֖י לְצַ֣חֶק בָּ֑נוּ בָּ֤א אֵלַי֙ לִשְׁכַּ֣ב עִמִּ֔י וָאֶקְרָ֖א בְּק֥וֹל גָּדֽוֹל׃ (טו) וַיְהִ֣י כְשָׁמְע֔וֹ כִּֽי־הֲרִימֹ֥תִי קוֹלִ֖י וָאֶקְרָ֑א וַיַּעֲזֹ֤ב בִּגְדוֹ֙ אֶצְלִ֔י וַיָּ֖נָס וַיֵּצֵ֥א הַחֽוּצָה׃

Genesis 39:6-15

(6) He left all that he had in Joseph’s hands and, with him there, he paid attention to nothing save the food that he ate. Now Joseph was well built and handsome. (7) After a time, his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph and said, “Lie with me.” (8) But he refused. He said to his master’s wife, “Look, with me here, my master gives no thought to anything in this house, and all that he owns he has placed in my hands. (9) He wields no more authority in this house than I, and he has withheld nothing from me except yourself, since you are his wife. How then could I do this most wicked thing, and sin before God?” (10) And much as she coaxed Joseph day after day, he did not yield to her request to lie beside her, to be with her. (11) One such day, he came into the house to do his work. None of the household being there inside, (12) she caught hold of him by his garment and said, “Lie with me!” But he left his garment in her hand and got away and fled outside. (13) When she saw that he had left it in her hand and had fled outside, (14) she called out to her servants and said to them, “Look, he had to bring us a Hebrew to dally with us! This one came to lie with me; but I screamed loud. (15) And when he heard me screaming at the top of my voice, he left his garment with me and got away and fled outside.”

Yosef's Job

רש"י על בראשית ל״ט:ו׳

(א) ולא ידע אתו מאומה. לֹא הָיָה נוֹתֵן לִבּוֹ לִכְלוּם: (ב) כי אם הלחם. הִיא אִשְׁתּוֹ, אֶלָּא שֶׁדִּבֵּר בְּלָשׁוֹן נְקִיָּה:

Rashi on Genesis 39:6

(1) AND HE KNEW NOT AUGHT HE HAD — he paid no attention to anything. (2) כי אם הלחם SAVE THE BREAD — this means his wife, but Scripture uses here a euphemism (Genesis Rabbah 86:6) (cf. Joseph’s own words in Genesis 39:9). (3) ויהי יוסף יפה תאר AND JOSEPH WAS OF BEAUTIFUL FORM — As soon as he saw that he was ruler (in the house) he began to eat and drink and curl his hair. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “Your father is mourning and you curl your hair! I will let a bear loose against you” (Midrash Tanchuma, Vayeshev 8). Immediately.

Yosef gains more time

ספורנו על בראשית ל״ט:ו׳

(א) ויעזב כל אשר לו בלי שיצטרך לכוין חשבון: (ב) ויהי יוסף יפה תאר ויפה מראה אחר שהפקיד אותו באופן זה על הפך שהיה מתחלה שהיה עובד בעבודה קשה כאמרו הסירותי מסבל שכמו כו':

Sforno on Genesis 39:6

(1) ויעזוב כל אשר לו, he left everything in Joseph’s hands without demanding an accounting from him. (2) ויהי יוסף יפה תואר ויפה מראה, after Potiphar had entrusted him with all these important tasks Joseph found time to make himself look handsome having no longer to perform demeaning physical labour assigned to most slaves. Psalms 81,7 extols the relief felt when one is freed from such burdensome tasks.

רש"י על בראשית ל״ט:ו׳

(ג) ויהי יוסף יפה תואר. כֵּיוָן שֶׁרָאָה עַצְמוֹ מוֹשֵׁל, הִתְחִיל אוֹכֵל וְשׁוֹתֶה וּמְסַלְסֵל בְּשַׂעֲרוֹ, אָמַר הַקָּבָּ"ה אָבִיךָ מִתְאַבֵּל וְאַתָּה מְסַלְסֵל בִּשְׂעָרְךָ, אֲנִי מְגָרֶה בְךָ אֶת הַדֹּב, מִיָּד:

Rashi on Genesis 39:6

Yosef Refuses Eshet Potiphar

ספורנו על בראשית ל״ט:ז׳

(א) ותשא אשת אדניו בשביל יופיו שאמר למעלה:

Sforno on Genesis 39:7

(1) ותשא אשת אדוניו, on account of his good looks described before.

שפתי חכמים, בראשית ל״ט:ו׳

(ג) אני מגרה בך הדוב מיד. מדכתיב לעיל (לז לג) חיה רעה אכלתהו והיינו דקאי על אשתו של פוטיפר כדפירש"י לעיל לכך קרי לה בלשון חיה. ומה שכינה אותה בשם דוב כי מה הדוב הזה אין לו מנוחה כי תמיד מנענע את עצמו כך אשת פוטיפרע לא היה לה מנוחה כי היתה מחזרת אחר יוסף להבעל לו:

Siftei Chakhamim, Genesis 39:6

(1) A reference to his wife. You might ask: Perhaps it was actual bread? The answer is: Rashi deduced this from what Yoseif said (v. 9), “He has not withheld anything from me other than you,” implying that Potiphar placed everything except his wife in Yoseif’s hand. Thus, “bread” must refer to his wife. (2) Once he perceived himself as a ruler. [Rashi knows this] because otherwise, why is it mentioned here? [Alternatively,] Rashi is answering the question: ויהי always refers to a new occurrence. But was not Yoseif well-built from birth, and assumedly good looking too? Rashi answers: “Once he perceived himself a ruler...” and this he did not do before. (Nachalas Yaakov) (3) I will provoke the bear against you. Immediately: Rashi calls her a beast because it is written (37:33), “An evil beast has devoured him,” referring to Potiphar’s wife, as Rashi explained there. And he calls her a bear because a bear has no rest; it is always moving. So too was Potiphar’s wife — she had no rest because of her pursuit of Yoseif to have relations with him.

רד"ק על בראשית ל״ט:ז׳

(א) ויהי אחר הדברים האלה, אחר זמן שהיה יוסף גדול ונכבד בבית המצרי ויושב לבטח הגיע אליו דבר אשת פוטיפרע והכל היה סבה לטובתו ולטובת אביו ואחיו, ואע"פ שהיה קשה מתחילה היה לטובה בסוף, וכן חטא המשקה וחלום פרעה הכל היה סבה מאת האל יתברך שעל ידי זה עלה יוסף לגדולה. ונכתב הספור הזה להודיע סבת הרברים, ואם יקרא לאדם שום מקרה יבטח באל. ונכתב ג"כ להודיע צדקתו של יוסף ושילמד אדם ממנו לכבוש את יצרו ולשמור אמונה למי שבוטח יהיה מי שיהיה ולא ישקר בו:

Radak on Genesis 39:7

(1) ויהי אחר הדברים האלה, after Joseph had been in the house of his Egyptian master for some time and had occupied the highest position in that household, feeling very secure, the invitation of a romantic relationship with Mrs. Potiphar brought tension into his life again. He had, of course, no way of knowing at the time that these developments had as its purpose that he would in due course rise to far higher prominence and that he would become the direct instrument of bringing his family to Egypt where they would reside in comfort and found a nation. Also the sin of the Chief butler and Chief baker respectively, as well as their being held in the same jail as Joseph and his becoming their valet, were all part of G’d’s design to further His plans without interfering with anyone’s free choice. We have to learn from this whole story that when a person suffers a setback in life, one that appears to him undeserved, he must remember how all these setbacks worked in Joseph’s favour at the time although he was not yet aware of it. We must therefore trust that G’d has our best interests at heart at all times, even though we cannot always appreciate this at the time when we are being tested. The incidents were narrated at this point to demonstrate Joseph’s righteousness when on his own without family support, after having in effect been cast out from his family.

העמק דבר על בראשית ל״ט:ח׳:א׳

(א) וימאן. העיד הכתוב שהוא בלי שום טעם מאן לעשות בעילתו בעילת זנות אלא שהוכרח לתת לאשת אדוניו טעמים כמוסים מזה :

Haamek Davar on Genesis 39:8:1

(1) But he refused. The verse testifies that he, without any reasoning, refused to turn his cohabitation into fornication, but that he was forced to give his master's wife ulterior reasons apart from this.

Yosef Avoiding Further Contact

רמב"ן על בראשית ל״ט:י׳

(א) וטעם לשכב אצלה כדברי רבי אברהם אפילו שישכב אצלה בסמוך היא בבגדה והוא בבגדו או להיות עמה לדבר שיחות כי לא מצאנו "אצלה" על המשגל רק עמה או אותה שכבה עמי אם שכוב ישכב איש אותה (ויקרא טו כד) והנשים תשכבנה (זכריה יד ב)

Ramban on Genesis 39:10

...

רש"י על בראשית ל״ט:י״א

(א) ויהי כהיום הזה. (ב) לעשות מלאכתו. רַב וּשְׁמוּאֵל, חַד אָמַר מְלַאכְתּוֹ מַמָּשׁ, וְחַד אָמַר לַעֲשׂוֹת צְרָכָיו עִמָּהּ, אֶלָּא שֶׁנִּרְאֵית לוֹ דְּמוּת דְּיוּקְנוֹ שֶׁל אָבִיו וכו' כִּדְאִיתָא בְּמַסֶּכֶת סוֹטָה (דף ל"ז):

Rashi on Genesis 39:11

(1) ויהי כהיום הזה AND IT CAME TO PASS ON A CERTAIN DAY — This means as much as “and it came to pass when a certain distinguished day arrived” — a day of merriment, a day of their sacred feast when they all went to the temple of their idols, — she said), “I shall find no day fitting to associate with Joseph as this day”. She therefore told her attendants I am sick and cannot go to the temple (Sotah 36b). (2) לעשות מלאכתו TO DO HIS WORK — Rab and Samuel differ as to what this means. One holds that it means, his actual house-work; the other that it means to associate with her, but a vision of his father’s face appeared to him and he resisted temptation and did not sin as is stated in Treatise Sotah 36b.

Rabbi David Silberberg - We read in Parashat Vayeshev of Yosef’s response to Potifar’s wife who attempted to lure him into an intimate adulterous relationship. Yosef explained to her that he could not betray his master, Potifar, in this fashion, and concludes, “How can I commit this great evil, and I will have sinned against God” (39:9).
A number of writers have noted that Yosef here speaks only of the sin that he would commit by sleeping with Potifar’s wife, without mentioning the fact that she, too, would obviously be committing an offense. Yosef asks, “How can I commit this great evil,” rather than, “How can we commit this great evil.” He observes how he would be betraying Potifar by sleeping with his wife, without noting that she would likewise be betraying him. The simplest explanation for this, it would seem, is that as the servant in the household Yosef knew he had to speak respectfully to Potifar’s wife and not question or criticize her decisions. It was certainly not his place to teach Potifar’s wife morality. Another possibility (suggested byRav Shlomo Amar) is that Yosef was, in fact, subtly hinting to Potifar’s wife that she was acting immorally. When he said, “There is no one greater in this home than me…so how can I commit this great evil,” he wanted Potifar’s wife to understand that her stature in the home exceeded his and she bore greater obligations to Potifar than he did. And thus this was Yosef’s way of trying to convince her to desist.