Sold by his brothers into slavery in Egypt, Joseph has risen in the ranks during his service in the house of Potiphar, a royal courtier. Joseph has gained the implicit trust of his master and been given the run of the house. Only Potiphar’s wife is off limits for Joseph. While his conduct is unimpeachable, the mistress of the house has other things in mind. 

After a time, his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph and she said, ‘Lie with me’. But he refused, and 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. 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?’ (Genesis  39:7-9)

Rembrandt has chosen to illustrate two distinct moments in the Joseph and Potiphar’s wife narrative. In the etching, he portrays Joseph escaping the lecherous clutches of Potiphar’s wife. He forcefully pulls away from her grasp. The viewer is duly impressed that the innocent youth is capable of resisting temptation. The canvas painting captures the next scene in the drama when Mrs. Potiphar accuses Joseph of a crime he did not commit, venting her anger, frustration and desire for revenge.  

She kept his garment beside her, until his master came home. Then she told him the same story saying, ‘The Hebrew slave whom you brought into our house came to me to dally with me; but when I screamed at the top of my voice, he left his garment with me and fled outside.’ (Genesis 39:16-18)

In the painting Joseph is enveloped in numinous light. Rembrandt has captured Joseph’s expression of humility and innocence. The disgruntled wife of Potiphar points accusingly at Joseph’s cloak. Potiphar is positioned parallel to Joseph and listens to her malicious harangue with an apathetic glance.

When Joseph was taken down to Egypt, a certain Egyptian, Potiphar, a courtier of Pharaoh and his chief steward bought him from the Ishmaelites who had brought him there. (Genesis 39:1)

Professor Nahum Sarna comments that the national identity of Joseph’s master is repeated three times for emphasis because the sale of Joseph into Egyptian slavery sets the stage for the looming enslavement and subsequent redemption of Israel. The prophecy of Genesis 15:13 to Abraham is being fulfilled.

In addition to the saga of national destiny being played out through the agency of Joseph, his own ethical and religious development is monitored by the biblical text.

We initially encounter Joseph, age seventeen, lording his preferential status over his brothers. He flaunts his ornamental tunic and his bombastic dreams without restraint, engendering his brothers’ unbridled enmity. His pretentiousness and egocentricity incur such hostility that they conspire to kill him.

But reality dealt Joseph crushing blows. He found himself alone at the bottom of a pit, sold into slavery by nomadic traders. Just when he thought he had hit rock bottom, there was a remarkable turn of events. He was sold to Potiphar, the chief steward in Pharaoh’s court. With the aid of divine providence, Joseph rises through the ranks. During his advance his trying experiences lend him wisdom and perspective. By the time he is faced with the trial of Mrs. Potiphar’s advances, Joseph exhibits a newfound level of maturity, placing God at the center of his universe.

Finding himself alone with Potiphar’s wife, about to fall into the alluring clutches of sin, he withstands temptation and resolutely declares: ‘How then could I do this most wicked thing and sin before God?’

How was Joseph able to transcend his urges and forge this moral resoluteness? The Rabbis portray Joseph as acting not only as a moral agent, but with an appreciation of his potential role in the destiny of the Children of Israel. About to succumb, Joseph was halted in his tracks by the image of Jacob his father, mentor, his conscience, and alter ego. He saw his father’s face and heard his voice:

At that moment, he beheld his father’s countenance through the window: ‘Joseph, your brothers’ names will be inscribed on the stones of the Ephod. It is your choice: Will you be inscribed among them, or will your name be erased and you remembered as a companion of harlots?’ (Babylonian Talmud, Sotah 36b)

Though isolated in Egypt, Joseph was not alone. He was part of a great chain which began with his forefathers and was to continue with his descendants. His connection with his father’s heritage served as his moral anchor which neither temptation nor loneliness could destroy. His actions at that moment would not only reflect his familial values, they would build Joseph’s bridge to the future and determine his place in Jewish history. The impact of Joseph’s moral fortitude would place him honorably amidst the great tribes of Israel, engraved forever on the priestly mantle of holiness, the coat of arms of the Children of Israel.

1. Nahum Sarna, JPS Torah Commentary , Genesis 39:1, p 271.

2. The Babylonian Talmud is an interpretation and elaboration on the   Mishnah as carried on in the great academies of Babylon. The corpus is generally dated from the first half of the 3rd century through 499.