Genesis 39:9 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Genesis 39:9
There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?
great (in any sense) · adjective, masculine singular absolute
house
בַּבַּ֣יִתba.Ba.yit
H1004
a house (in the greatest variation of applications · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
neither
וְלֹֽאve.lo'-
H3808
not (the simple or abs. negation) · conjunction + negative particle
back
חָשַׂ֤ךְcha.Sakh
H2820
to restrain or (reflex.) refrain · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
thing
מְא֔וּמָהme.'U.mah
H3972
properly · noun, common feminine singular absolute
because
בַּאֲשֶׁ֣רba.'a.Sher
H834
who · preposition + relative particle
thou
אַתְּ'at-
H859
thou and thee · personal pronoun, 2nd person feminine singular
wife
אִשְׁתּ֑וֹ'ish.To
H802
a woman · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
do
אֶֽעֱשֶׂ֜ה'e.'e.Seh
H6213
to do or make · verb, qal imperfect, 1st person common singular
great
הַגְּדֹלָה֙ha.ge.do.Lah
H1419
great (in any sense) · definite article + adjective, feminine singular absolute
wickedness
הָרָעָ֤הha.ra.'Ah
H7451
bad or (as noun) evil (natural or moral) · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
sin
וְחָטָ֖אתִיve.cha.Ta.ti
H2398
properly · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 1st person common singular
God
לֵֽאלֹהִֽיםLe.lo.Him
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · preposition + noun, common masculine plural absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
2 Samuel 12:13 And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not…
Genesis 20:6 And God said unto him in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning agai…
Genesis 42:18 And Joseph said unto them the third day, This do, and live; for I fear God:
Psalms 51:4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear wh…
Luke 12:48 But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him s…
Galatians 5:19-21 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
1 John 3:9 Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
Leviticus 6:2 If a soul sin, and commit a trespass against the LORD, and lie unto his neighbour in that which was delivered him to keep, or in fellowship,…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Genesis 39:7-12
Here is, I. A most shameful instance of impudence and immodesty in Joseph's mistress, the shame and scandal of her sex, perfectly lost to all virtue and honour, and not to be mentioned, nor thought of, without the utmost indignation. It was well that she was an Egyptian; for we must have shared in the confusion if such folly had been found in Israel. Observe,
I. Her sin began in the eye: She cast her eyes upon Joseph (Gen 39:7), who was a goodly person, and well-favoured, Gen 39:6. Note, (1.) Remarkable beauty, either of men or women, often proves a dangerous snare both to themselves and others, which forbids pride in it and commands constant watchfulness against the temptation that attends…
How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?--This remonstrance, when all inferior arguments had failed, embodied the true principle of moral purity--a principle always sufficient where it exists, and alone sufficient.
Adam Clarke on Genesis 39:9
How then - ואיך veeik, and how? Joseph gives two most powerful reasons for his noncompliance with the wishes of his mistress:
1. Gratitude to his master, to whom he owed all that he had.
2. His fear of God, in whose sight it would be a heinous offense, and who would not fail to punish him for it.
With the kindness of his master and the displeasure of God before his eyes, how could he be capable of committing an act of transgression, which would at once have distinguished him as the most ungrateful and the most worthless of men?
John Gill on Genesis 39:9
There is none greater in this house than I,.... Not any of the servants of the house, he was the chief of them, who had all the rest under him; or rather, "he himself is not greater (q) in this house than I"; that is, his master was not greater than he: he had a greater propriety in the house and the things of it, and he had the original power and authority in it, but had not a greater use of it; Joseph had authority over all the servants, and everything in the house at his command, and the free use of everything his master had, excepting what follows:
neither hath he kept back anything from me but thee, because thou art his wife; and is a reason not only why his master retained her for his…
The Church Fathers
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 self-control, 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 in every circumstance those words of Joseph, "How could I do this wicked deed and commit sin in God's eyes?" So when some temptation disturbs us, let us turn these words over in our mind, and every unholy desire will immediately be put to flight.
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 thing and commit sin in God's eyes?" I mean, what are you thinking of? Even if we succeed in escaping the notice of everyone, we will not be able to escape the notice of the unsleeping eye. That is the only one you need to fear, to be concerned and tremble about so as not to commit anything unlawful under his scrutiny.
Dictionary and topics
Joseph — Remover or increaser. (1.) The elder of the two sons of Jacob by Rachel (Gen. 30:23, 24), who, on the occasion of his birth, said, “God hath taken away [Heb. ‘asaph] my reproach.” “The Lord shall add…
Temptation — (1.) Trial; a being put to the test. Thus God “tempted [Gen. 22: 1; R.V., ‘did prove’] Abraham;” and afflictions are said to tempt, i.e., to try, men (James 1:2, 12; comp. Deut. 8:2), putting their…
Accusation, False · .Against Joseph by Potiphar’s wife — .Against Joseph by Potiphar’s wife
Chastity · .Joseph — .Joseph
Conscience · .Of Joseph, when Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce him — .Of Joseph, when Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce him
Continence · .Joseph — .Joseph
Decision · .JOSEPH — .JOSEPH
Egypt · History of Israel in: Joseph unjustly cast into prison — History of Israel in: Joseph unjustly cast into prison
Executioner · General references — General references
Fear, Godly · Exemplified: Joseph — Exemplified: Joseph
Integrity · .Joseph, in resisting Potiphar’s wife — .Joseph, in resisting Potiphar’s wife
Master · .Potiphar’s wife to Joseph — .Potiphar’s wife to Joseph
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Lie with me [145] Moses only briefly touches upon the chief points, and the sum of the things he relates. For there is no doubt that this impure woman endeavored, by various arts, to allure the pious youth, and that she insinuated herself by indirect blandishments, before she broke forth to such a shameless kind of license. But Moses, omitting other things, shows that she had been pushed so far by base lust, as not to shrink from openly soliciting a connection with Joseph. Now as this filthiness is a signal proof that carnal lust acts from blind and furious impulses; so, in the person of Joseph, an admirable example of fidelity and continence is set before us. His fidelity and integrity appe…
Joseph was handsome in form and feature; and Potiphar's wife set her eyes upon the handsome young man, and tried to persuade him to lie with her. But Joseph resisted the adulterous proposal, referring to the unlimited confidence which his master had placed in him. He (Potiphar) was not greater in that house than he, and had given everything over to him except her, because she was his wife. "How could he so abuse this confidence, as to do this great wickedness and sin against God!"
Tyndale Open Study Notes on Genesis 39:6-10
One of the major motifs of wisdom literature (see study note on 37:2–50:26) is to warn young people that immorality will lead them to disaster (cp. Prov 5–7). Joseph was able to resist temptation because he had godly wisdom—he was guided by the fear of the Lord (Prov 1:7; 9:10).
Rashi on Genesis 39:9
וחטאתי לאלהים AND SIN AGAINST GOD — The “Sons of Noah” (בני נח) were subject to the command which forbade immorality (Sanhedrin 56b).
