פרשת וישב תש"ג - יוסף

And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.

And his master saw that the LORD was with him, and that the LORD made all that he did to prosper in his hand.

כי ה‘ אתו THAT THE LORD WAS WITH HIM — the name of God was a familiar word in his mouth (Midrash Tanchuma, Vayeshev 8).

His master saw that Hashem was with him. He saw that he was more successful than was natural and recognized that it was due to the hand of Hashem.

And he left all that he had in Joseph’s hand; and, having him, he knew not aught save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was of beautiful form, and fair to look upon.

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).

Except for the bread he ate. He would not allow Yoseif to touch his bread because he was a Hebrew; see 43:32.

כי אם הלחם אשר הוא אוכל, he did not oversee any of the affairs of his household, not caring where everything originated until the food came on his table, when he proceeded to eat it. The word לחם is an inclusive term applying to any manner of food. It is used in the same sense in Daniel 5,1 עבד לחם רב, “he made a great banquet.” Also in Job 3,24 כי לפני לחמי אנחתי, “my groaning serves me as my food.”

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.

ותקרא לאנשי ביתה, in order to justify her conduct. However, when she saw that Joseph had stopped running after leaving the room where she had waylaid him, and the fact that the people in her house had no reason to question Joseph who was acting perfectly normally, she told those people that Joseph had fled from her room and walked outside, something which actually corresponded to the truth as far as the facts were concerned. (verse 15) However, when relating what had supposedly occurred to her husband who had not been an eye witness to any part of the incident, she described Joseph’s behaviour as a flight not only from her room but also outside of it. (verse 18) In order to make her version of events believable she had to lie so that Joseph would be perceived as having tried to escape from the other members of the household.

that she called unto the men of her house, and spoke unto them, saying: ‘See, he hath brought in a Hebrew unto us to mock us; he came in unto me to lie with me, and I cried with a loud voice.

ותקרא לאנשי ביתה, she called the members of her household, etc. She was well aware that her husband put great faith in Joseph's righteousness and might not believe her accusation against him. Therefore she called the members of her household asking them, i.e. לאמור to tell her husband what had happened (according to her version). The members of her household who were jealous of Joseph who had risen above them would be happy to testify against him, saying: "look what happened as a result of your bringing this Hebrew man into the house." When she said לצחק בנו, "to make sport of us," she used the word us deliberately to indicate that they had all suffered from Joseph's elevated status, especially since Joseph was an alien.