There is none greater in this house than I; neither has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?
Read Chapter 39
George Leo Haydock
AD 1849
His wife, and such things as could not be touched without sin; such as his daughter, if the woman, whom Joseph afterwards married, was the daughter of this man, chap. xli. 45.
My God, Elohim; which might also be understood of his lord and master. The sin against the latter would be resented by God, who is offended by every transgression. (Haydock)
Let us therefore make this our concern too, to have the Lord with us always so that what is done by us will be concluded successfully by him. You see, the person accorded this grace, even should he happen to find himself in the midst of troubles, will think nothing of them since the Lord of all, who creates and transforms everything, makes everything prosper for him and renders all difficulties easy. But how will we succeed in having the Lord with us and enjoying his guidance in everything? If we are vigilant and alert and imitate this young man’s selfcontrol, his other virtues and noble attitude, and if we see that it is so necessary for us to perform all our duties precisely so as never to be condemned by the Lord. We perform our duties to acknowledge that it is impossible to escape the notice of that unsleeping eye and that instead the sinner cannot but become liable to his punishments. Let us not place greater weight on respect for human beings than on God’s anger but rather recall...
What a grateful man! See how Joseph counts the blessings from his master so as to demonstrate the ingratitude she shows to her partner. “After all, I the servant,” he is saying, “the stranger, the captive, enjoyed such security at his hands that everything came under my control, and there is nothing that he has kept from my control except you; whereas I am personally in charge of everything, to you alone am I subordinate, and you in fact are beyond my authority.” Then, to deal her an opportune blow by reminding her of her husband’s favor and persuade her not to prove ungrateful to her partner, he said, “You in fact are beyond my authority ‘for the reason that you are his wife.’ So if you are really his wife, ‘how then could I do this wicked deed and commit sin in God’s eyes?’ ” You see, since she was looking for privacy and waiting for an opportunity in her anxiety to escape the notice of her husband and all the servants of the household, he said, “How could I manage to do this wicked ...
