[021] Potiphar's Wife and Joseph- Activity Worksheets

Potiphar's Wife and Joseph - Activity Sheet

Potiphar puts him in charge of his household and entrusts everything into his care. From the time he puts him in charge, the Lord blesses the household. This is, of course, Potiphar’s household. The blessing is on everything Potiphar owns – his fields, his house, his possessions. The only thing Joseph is not in charge of is Potiphar’s food. Perhaps, Joseph was unaware of Egyptian rituals involving the preparation and serving of food. It is not likely that Potiphar was concerned about being poisoned. Everything else, however, is under Joseph’s purview. He has, undoubtedly, attained a very high stature. Is this plausible? Yes. Egypt has a slave-based culture, and some of those slaves rise to such a level of importance that they run everything. Joseph really is in charge. He is the one wheeling and dealing; he is the one brokering the accounts. That enables Potiphar to do whatever he needs to do. As an established man in

Then, Joseph is described as being well-built and handsome. These are the same Hebrew words attributed to Rachel in 29:17. No doubt, he has inherited her good looks. Such comments here introduce the next story. Joseph excels not only in proficiency, but also in attractiveness. Perhaps because of this, his master’s wife invites him to lie with her. Joseph immediately refuses because of his master’s trust.

It is noteworthy that this scene predates the Ten Commandments by about 400 years. Yet, there is a moral quality within Joseph. He doesn’t need the Ten Commandments to tell him that this would be wrong. Indeed, he says this would be a great wrong and a sin against God. And though Potiphar’s wife speaks to Joseph day after day, he refuses to lie with her or even be alone with her. From a textual standpoint, her words are brief. “Lie with me.” Joseph’s refusal, on the other hand, is extensive and expounds on his thinking.

One day, however, he goes into the house and all the servants are out – because Potiphar’s wife has planned it that way. She sets up this scenario on her own; Joseph has done nothing to encourage the situation. Alone together, she catches him by his cloak; but he manages to free himself and runs out of the house. It is not at all clear what article of clothing is left behind or what he is still wearing. As a slave, he might have only been wearing one garment.

After he flees, she is left holding the article of clothing. Exacting revenge for his rejection, she calls to her servants saying that the Hebrew has been brought into the house to make sport of them – in a sense blaming her husband for this misfortune. She is quite calculating in referring to him as a Hebrew, identifying him as an outsider. She, of course, insists that Joseph has initiated the encounter, that he has tried to force himself upon her. She continues her story by saying that she screamed “for her life.” That scares him off, and he leaves his garment near her – a slight change from having it in her hand.