And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got out.
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Ambrose of Milan
AD 397
Further, she said to him, “Lie with me.” The first weapons of the adulteress are those of the eyes, the second those of words, but one who is not seduced by the eyes can resist the word. A defense is at hand when the passions are still free. And so it is written that “he refused.” Therefore Joseph first overcame her attack through a struggle in his heart and drove her back with the shield of his soul, so to speak; then he launched his word like a spear to force her retreat. “And he spoke to the wife of his master.” She is correctly called the wife of the master, and not the mistress of the house, for she could not extort what she wanted to obtain. For how was she the mistress? She did not have the power of one who rules; she did not observe the discipline of a mistress; she provided mere servants with enticements to lust. But Joseph was a master who did not take up the torches of that lover, did not feel the bonds of that seducer, was not terrified by any fear of death and preferred to...
When Joseph was accused by his master’s wife, he could be held by his clothing but was unable to be captivated in soul. He did not even tolerate her words for a long time, considering it a dangerous influence if he delayed any longer, lest through the hands of the adulteress the attractions of lust penetrate his soul. Therefore by removing his garments he shook off all accusation; leaving the clothes with which he was held he fled, robbed indeed but not naked, for he was covered still more with the clothing of purity. No one is naked except the man whom guilt has exposed. In earlier times too we have the fact that after Adam had disregarded God’s command by his transgression and contracted the debt of serious sin, he was naked; for this reason he himself said, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid.” Adam asserts he is naked because he has lost the adornment of divine protection; and he hid himself because he did not have the garment of faith, which...
Out. He could easily have wrested it from her. But he would not do any thing that might seem disrespectful, nor claim what her impure hands had touched. (Menochius)
