Genesis 39:7-10

"And it came to pass after these things that his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me. But he refused, and said unto his master's wife, Behold, my master knoweth not what is with me in the house, and he hath put all that he hath into my hands: he is not greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back anything from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God? And it came to pass as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her."

What a temptation this presented to Joseph! The youthful passions of life were at full tide in him. He might have reasoned that it would be the means of his escape from slavery. He might have felt that the wrongs he had suffered entitled him to any revenge that was handy. The prospect of secrecy was evident. He was far from home, living in a culture that did not have the moral standards he believed in. It might also have occurred to him that his refusal would make his status worse. And, most importantly of all, it was a continual and persistent temptation that was renewed "day by day." As Bowie said:

"A decent man can be shocked by the bold suddenness of evil, and his conscience may recoil, but when the shock wears off, the suggestion seems not so strange. Then comes a new danger. Just as a steel bridge which can resist a heavy blow may be endangered by the successive shocks that come from the feet of marching men, a man's moral resistance may disintegrate beneath the impact of temptation that comes relentlessly on and on."[10]

Joseph met and withstood the severe challenge that confronted him. It could be that the challenge had been in progress for some time when Joseph verbally responded to it, as in this passage. A Jewish writer has stated that, "When someone tries to talk a man into sinning, the first thing he must do is to refuse without going into details; only after he refuses may he recite his reasons."[11] Whether or not Joseph knew of such a dictum, it would appear that such was the course he followed here.

And what were his reasons? They were:

1. It would have been an act of disloyalty to his master (Genesis 39:8).
   
2. His master had not wronged him.
   
3. It would have been a "wickedness against God," (Genesis 39:9).
   

Of these considerations, the far most important was (3). In a sense, adultery with Potiphar's wife could hardly have been a sin against her, nor even against Potiphar (who was possibly a eunuch), but it was against God. In fact, all sin is against God. Even the prodigal son in the parable finally recognized that he had "sinned against heaven," and in his father's sight (Luke 15:18). Here then is the primary reason for avoiding all sin.

Josephus reports this incident in far greater detail, giving the conversation that took place upon the occasion, indicating that Potiphar's wife not only promised absolute secrecy, but promised Joseph greater advancements than he had already enjoyed, and even threatening to become a witness accusing him of the very act he disdained to commit, if he refused.[12] There is another tale about this experience to the effect that when Joseph protested against sinning "against God," Potiphar's wife stripped herself, threw her garments over an Egyptian statue of a "god" that adorned the room, and said, "God will not be able to see it!"

The question as to why God permitted Joseph to confront such a test was answered by Friedman: "It was to see whether he was truly fit to become ruler of Egypt. By passing the test, he proved that he would be able to rule over the land of impurity and immorality without succumbing to its corrupting influence himself."[13]

"Or to be with her ..." Joseph did not only refuse the seductive wife's advances, but he also avoided being in her presence except when necessity demanded it. As to the occasion of the climax of the temptation, Josephus stated that it came about on a festival occasion that demanded her husband's presence with the other noblemen of the kingdom, and that Potiphar's wife pretended sickness as an excuse for staying at home.