Genesis 39:11-18

"And it came to pass about this time, that he went into the house to do his work; and there was none of the men of the house there within. And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment in her hand; and fled, and got him out. And it came to pass that when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and was fled forth, that she called unto the men of her house, and spake unto them, saying, See he hath brought in a Hebrew unto us to mock us: he came in unto me to lie with me, and I cried with a loud voice: and it came to pass that when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment by me, and fled, and got him out. And she laid up his garment by her, until his master came home. And she spake unto him according to these words, saying, The Hebrew servant, whom thou hast brought unto us, came in unto me to mock me; and it came to pass, as I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment by me and fled out."

Very little in this requires comment. Perhaps it is of interest to note that Potiphar's wife also used words to the servants that cast her husband in a poor light, introducing a racial slur, and alleging that Potiphar himself was to blame for the alleged situation in that he had imported a despised foreigner into their household. This would have been music to the ears of the other servants, for they no doubt were probably jealous of Joseph's rapid elevation to a position of authority above them. The diabolical cunning of her false charges is an amazing phenomenon. Right here is an emphatic denial of one of Satan's cleverest cliches, "Wherever there's smoke, there's bound to be fire!" Well, here, there was a lot of smoke, and no fire at all!

"And fled, and got him out ..." Willis' wise words on this are:

"Sometimes the only way to avoid sin is to flee from temptation. This is not cowardice but realistic acknowledgment of the power of sin, and also of one's need of God's help in time of trial and temptation."[14]

Through the device of her lying claim that she had lifted up her voice and cried out, Potiphar's wife brought herself under the protection of a custom, later incorporated into the divine law (Deuteronomy 22:24), that entitled her "to a claim of innocence by virtue of the outcry."[15]

Unger observed that, "Once again, Joseph's garment was again made to lie wickedly about him."[16] The first occasion was that of his brothers' dipping his splendid coat in goat's blood to prove Joseph's death to their father, and this, of course, is the second. The ultimate wickedness lay behind both events.