And she laid his garment by her until his lord came home.
Joseph has just torn himself away from his master's wife, and the cloak she grabbed is still in her hands. She keeps it and waits for Potiphar — turning proof of Joseph's escape into proof of a crime he never committed.
Commentators note that she told her story twice — first to the household servants, then to Potiphar. Each time the cloak lay there as proof no one could argue with.
She then saw an opportunity of getting revenge on Joseph because he would not join her in evil. She called out for other men, no doubt servants of the household. She told them Joseph had come in to rape her. She said she cried out, and he left without his garment. So from the very moment of the incident, she had a witness against Joseph that seemed conclusive. When Potiphar came home, she told him the same false story. Joseph's garment lay there as apparent proof of her evil accusation.
The same woman who wanted Joseph now wants him ruined. Commentators trace that turn to what lust always does, whether it gets what it wants or not.
Because he kept his eyes on the God no one can see, Joseph pushed back the temptation and came through it unstained. He quietly suffered under the false charge of the shameless woman who tried to seduce him. Clearly this young man did more than resist her pressure. He was also careful not to wound his master by proving the wife's guilty passion and her still guiltier revenge on an innocent man. For lust, whether satisfied or not, soon turns into hatred.
The tempter failed, so he changed tactics. Keeping a clear conscience now cost Joseph dearly.
The temptation came "day by day" (v. 10). The attacks grew more persistent until Joseph "flees" from the temptation and so defeats the devil. But having failed as the tempter, he now becomes the persecutor (vv. 13-18). The woman who had once cast her evil eyes on Joseph now testifies against him with a lying tongue. As an older writer said, "The bonds of truth will never hold those who have broken the bonds of modesty. It is nothing new for the worst of criminals to bring false charges of the worst crimes against the best of men." The result is that Joseph escapes from a bad woman and keeps a good conscience. But keeping a good conscience may cost a great deal. Joseph has to swap the comfort of Potiphar's house for the hardship of Pharaoh's prison.
Joseph had every fact on his side. He never used one of them.
We can easily imagine the difficulty the wife's treachery created for Joseph's master. On one side stood the proven, unquestionable trustworthiness of his slave. On the other stood his wife. A woman capable of such a proposition must long have shown her bad character in many ways, even if not in this one. That alone would make her word doubtful. Still, she was his wife. Whatever her bold, shameless, malicious fraud, we hear of no effort by Joseph to clear himself by exposing her wickedness.
Commentators read Joseph's ordeal as a picture of someone greater. He too moved from service to false charges to prison.
In all this Joseph is only a picture of One whose sufferings were far deeper, just as His glory is far greater. During His life on earth He too was among us as One who serves, for He could say, "Man acquired Me as bondman from My youth" (Zechariah 13:5). He too suffered under the false accusations of the wicked. Again He can say, "They laid to My charge things that I knew not" (Psalm 35:11). He too was led to prison and to death.
Two people were used against Joseph in these chapters. Commentators point to a third hand behind the scenes.
In Genesis 39 Satan uses Potiphar's wife, and in Genesis 40 he uses Pharaoh's chief cupbearer. He used the first to put Joseph into the dungeon. He used the second to keep him there, through ungrateful neglect. But it was all in vain. God was behind the scenes. His finger was guiding all the springs of the vast machine of circumstances. When the right time came, He brought out the man of His purpose and set his feet in a large room.
- Refusal. Joseph would not sin, so the woman wanted revenge. The garment he left behind became her proof.
- Reversal. A refused desire does not cool down. Commentators note that lust, satisfied or not, soon turns into hatred.
- Role change. The enemy failed as tempter, so he became persecutor. Joseph kept a clear conscience and lost his freedom.
- Restraint. With the facts on his side, Joseph never defended himself by exposing her — a shadow of the One of whom it was said, "They laid to My charge things that I knew not."
- Rule. Behind the lie and the prison, God was working the machinery of events toward the moment He would bring His man out.
And she spoke to him according to these words, saying, The Hebrew bondman that thou hast brought to us came in to me to mock me;
Potiphar's wife repeats to her husband the story she had already told the servants, and Joseph's cloak lies beside her as proof. She never names him — he is "the Hebrew servant, whom you have brought among us" — so her story blames Potiphar too.
Her accusation was not just her word against his. She had staged it in advance. First she told the household staff, then her husband. And she had the cloak to show.
She saw a chance to get revenge on Joseph because he would not join her in evil. She called out to other men, no doubt servants of the household, and told them Joseph had come in meaning to rape her. She said she cried out, and that he left without his garment. So from the very moment of the incident she had testimony against Joseph, and it seemed conclusive. When Potiphar came home she told him the same false story. Joseph's garment lay there as apparent proof of her evil accusation.
The woman who had pursued Joseph day after day now attacks him with her tongue. Decency had not held her back, and truth would not either.
The temptation came "day by day" (v. 10), and the attacks grew more persistent. Then Joseph "flees" from the temptation, and the devil is foiled. But having failed as the tempter, he now becomes the persecutor (vv. 13-18). The woman who had earlier cast her evil eyes on Joseph now bears witness against him with a lying tongue. As an old writer said, "Those who have broken the bonds of modesty will never be held by the bonds of truth. It is nothing new for the best of men to be falsely accused of the worst crimes by those who are themselves the worst of criminals."
Joseph had no way to answer the charge.
Of course Joseph was helpless to do anything. His word, the word of a slave, would mean nothing to Potiphar compared with the word of his wife.
Yet the punishment Potiphar chose is itself a clue. A slave guilty of this crime would not have lived.
The wicked woman's husband evidently did not really believe his wife's foul lie. It was perhaps only to save appearances that he made a show of punishing Joseph. If he really believed her story, it is hard to see why he did not have this Hebrew slave put to death at once. He probably knew her character well.
Joseph goes to prison for the one thing he did right. Peter wrote about that very situation.
By his steadfast refusal he enraged the woman. She invented a cunning story against him. Her husband believed it, and it landed Joseph in prison. But in Joseph's history we are going to see a striking example of what the Apostle Peter wrote in his First Epistle. Peter said, "But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God" (1 Peter 2:20). He was brought low for a moment, but only so that he might be lifted up at the right time.
Joseph suffers though he did no wrong, and that points forward to Christ. One writer also marks the limits of the picture.
Here we have the holy young man resisting the tempter, and bearing grief, suffering wrongfully. This is grace in the day of trial. Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow His steps… Joseph could be no real type of the atonement. But of Christ's suffering unjustly and in grace he was a blessed foreshadowing.
The record never clears Joseph's name. He comes out of prison with the charge still standing.
Nothing was said about the reason he was put in prison. So far as the record goes, he was never cleared of the charge that was falsely brought against him. He evidently left this in the hand of God, who knows how to care for His servant's reputation.
- Refusal. Joseph's "no" is what triggers the accusation — the lie exists only because he stood firm.
- Revenge. Rejected as tempter, the enemy turns persecutor. Whoever breaks the bonds of decency will not keep the bonds of truth.
- Rigged proof. The garment and the servants she had already called made the story look conclusive. A slave's word could not answer it.
- Reversal. God counts it a gracious thing when you suffer for doing good. Joseph is brought low for a moment, then lifted up at the right time.
- Reputation. No one ever clears his name — he leaves it with God, who knows how to care for His servant's reputation.
and it came to pass as I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled forth.
Potiphar's wife repeats to her husband the story she told the servants. Joseph's garment lies beside her as proof. Temptation has turned into slander. What happens to a man who keeps a clear conscience and loses everything for it?
Her account turns on one object: the clothing Joseph left behind as he ran. The sign of his escape becomes the sign of his guilt.
She then saw an opportunity of getting revenge on Joseph because he would not join her in evil. She called out for other men, no doubt servants of the household. She told them Joseph had come in to rape her. She said she cried out, and he left without his garment. So from the very time of the incident, she had testimony against Joseph that seemed conclusive. When Potiphar came home she told him the same false story. Joseph's garment lay there as apparent proof of her evil accusation.
When tempting failed, the attack changed shape. One commentator shows what that change cost Joseph.
But having failed as the tempter, the devil now becomes the persecutor (vv. 13-18). The woman who once cast her evil eyes on Joseph now testifies against him with a lying tongue. As an old writer said: "Those who have broken the bonds of modesty will never be held by the bonds of truth. It is nothing new for the best of men to be falsely accused of the worst crimes by those who are themselves the worst of criminals." The result is that Joseph escapes from a bad woman and keeps a good conscience. But keeping a good conscience may cost much. Joseph has to exchange the comfort of Potiphar's house for the hardships of Pharaoh's prison.
Joseph never answers the charge. An answer would have changed nothing.
Of course Joseph was helpless to do anything. His word, the word of a slave, would mean nothing to Potiphar compared with the word of his wife. He was understandably angry with Joseph. He removed him from his high position in Potiphar's house. He also put him in prison with others who were evidently mostly political prisoners of Pharaoh.
Commentators differ on whether Potiphar believed the story. One argues that the punishment itself gives him away:
The husband of this base woman evidently did not really believe his wife's foul lie. It was perhaps only to save appearances that he made a show of punishing Joseph. If he really believed her story, it is hard to see why he should not have had this Hebrew slave put to death at once. He probably knew her character quite well.
Joseph's name is never publicly cleared. One commentator shows where he left the matter.
Nothing was said about the reason for which he was put in prison. So far as the record goes, he was never cleared of the charge that was falsely brought against him. He evidently left this in the hand of God, who knows how to care for His servant's reputation.
The false report lands him in prison, but the prison is not the end of the story.
His steadfast refusal enraged the woman. She invented a cunning story against him. Her husband believed it, and it landed him in prison. But Joseph's history gives a striking illustration of what the apostle Peter wrote in his First Epistle: "But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God" (1 Peter 2:20). He was brought low for a moment, but only that he might be lifted up at the right time.
Joseph was accused of the sin he had refused to commit. One commentator sees more than Joseph here.
In all this Joseph is a picture of One whose sufferings were far deeper. He too suffered under the false accusations of the wicked, for He can say, "They laid to My charge things that I knew not" (Ps. 35:11). He too was led to prison and to death. In full measure He had to meet the base ingratitude of those who had received only good at His hands.
(Psalm 35:11 in the ESV reads, "Malicious witnesses rise up; they ask me of things that I do not know.")
- Refusal. Joseph would not join her in evil, and her revenge began there — the lie is the direct cost of saying no.
- Proof. The garment he left behind as he fled became her evidence. She turned the mark of his innocence into the case against him.
- Cost. He escaped a bad woman and kept a good conscience. That conscience traded the comfort of Potiphar's house for the hardship of Pharaoh's prison.
- Silence. A slave's word counted for nothing against his mistress. The record never clears him. He left his reputation with God.
- Reversal. The prison lasted a moment; the lifting up came at the right time. In his false accusation Joseph pictures Another, charged with things He knew nothing of.