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Jubilees

About this book

Joseph in Potiphar’s House

Chapter 39

1 And Jacob lived in the land where his father had lived as a foreigner in the land of Canaan. These are the generations of Jacob. 2 And Joseph was seventeen years old when they took him down into the land of Egypt, and Potiphar, a eunuch of Pharaoh, the chief cook bought him. 3 And he set Joseph over all his house and the blessing of the Lord came upon the house of the Egyptian on account of Joseph, and the Lord prospered him in all that he did. 4 And the Egyptian committed everything into the hands of Joseph; for he saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord prospered him in all that he did.

Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife

5 And Joseph's appearance was handsome [and his appearance was very beautiful], and his master's wife looked up and saw Joseph, and she loved him and begged him to lie with her. 6 But he did not surrender his soul, and he remembered the Lord and the words which Jacob, his father, used to read from among the words of Abraham,⁠ that no man should commit adultery with a woman who has a husband; that for him the punishment of death has been ordained in the heavens before the Most High God,⁠ and the sin will be recorded against him in the eternal books continually before the Lord. 7 And Joseph remembered these words and refused to lie with her. 8 And she begged him for a year, but he refused and would not listen. 9 But she embraced him and held him tightly in the house in order to force him to lie with her, and closed the doors of the house and held him tightly; but he left his clothing in her hands and broke through the door and fled outside from her presence. 10 And the woman saw that he would not lie with her, and she slandered him in the presence of his master, saying 'Your Hebrew servant, whom you love, tried to force me so that he might lie with me; and when I cried out he fled and left his clothing in my hands when I held him, and he broke through the door.' 11 And the Egyptian saw the clothing of Joseph and the broken door, and heard the words of his wife, and threw Joseph into prison into the place where the prisoners were kept whom the king imprisoned.

Joseph in Prison

12 And he was there in the prison; and the Lord gave Joseph favor in the sight of the chief of the prison guards and compassion before him, for he saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper. 13 And he committed all things into his hands, and the chief of the prison guards knew of nothing that was with him, for Joseph did everything, and the Lord perfected it. And he remained there two years.

Joseph Interprets Two Dreams

14 And in those days Pharaoh, king of Egypt was angry against his two eunuchs, against the chief cupbearer, and against the chief baker, and he put them in custody in the house of the chief cook, in the prison where Joseph was kept. 15 And the chief of the prison guards appointed Joseph to serve them; and he served before them. 16 And they both dreamed a dream, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, and they told it to Joseph. 17 And as he interpreted to them so it happened to them, and Pharaoh restored the chief cupbearer to his office and he killed the (chief) baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them. 18 But the chief cupbearer forgot Joseph in the prison, although he had informed him what would happen to him, and did not remember to inform Pharaoh how Joseph had told him, for he forgot.

Texts in conversation

Compare Jubilees 39:6 and Testament of Joseph 3:2

Pseudepigrapha, Hebrew Bible Expansions · Pseudepigrapha, Testaments

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Summary

Jubilees and the Testament of Joseph add a detail not found in Genesis, that Joseph resisted his master’s wife by remembering his father Jacob’s teaching. Jubilees also describes this originally as Abraham’s teaching on adultery.

Passages

Jubilees 39:6

Pseudepigrapha, Hebrew Bible Expansions
5 And Joseph's appearance was handsome [and his appearance was very beautiful], and his master's wife looked up and saw Joseph, and she loved him and begged him to lie with her. 6 But he did not surrender his soul, and he remembered the Lord and the words which Jacob, his father, used to read from among the words of Abraham, that no man should commit adultery with a woman who has a husband; that for him the punishment of death has been ordained in the heavens before the Most High God, and the sin will be recorded against him in the eternal books continually before the Lord. 7 And Joseph remembered these words and refused to lie with her.
170–125 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Jubilees

Testament of Joseph 3:2

Pseudepigrapha, Testaments · Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs
1 How often did the Egyptian woman threaten me with death! How often did she give me over to punishment, then call me back and threaten me, and when I was unwilling to be with her, she said to me: ‘You will be lord over me, and all that is in my house, if you will give yourself to me, and you will be like our master.’ 2 But I remembered the words of my father, and going into my room, I wept and prayed to the Lord. 3 And I fasted in those seven years, and I seemed to the Egyptians like someone living in luxury, for those who fast for God’s sake gain a beautiful appearance.
100 BCE – 100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Testament of Joseph

References

... The book of Jubilees is not the only work that claims Joseph remembered his father in the time of temptation. Joseph tells his children in Testament of Joseph 3:3: “I, then, remembered the words of my father Jacob, / and going into my chamber I prayed to the Lord.” The writer of Joseph and Aseneth describes Joseph’s reaction to all the Egyptian women who propositioned him: Joseph said, “I will not sin before (the) Lord God of my father Israel nor in the face of my father Jacob.” And the face of his father Jacob, Joseph always had before his eyes, and he remembered his father’s commandments ...
James C. VanderKam, Jubilees 2: A Commentary on the Book of Jubilees Chapters 22-50 (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2018), 1010.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Jubilees 39:6 and Testament of Joseph 3:2

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