Genesis 39:13 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Genesis 39:13

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She finds herself holding an empty garment and Joseph gone. She has failed. She misread the man, and it is an affront to her pride that she cannot persuade him. She has persisted, and used all her weapons: flattery, the promise of reward, the adventure of a secret affair, and he has rejected all of this. Eventually her resentment at being refused becomes even stronger than her desire to have him, so that there comes a point where she switches from trying to persuade him, to taking her revenge on him. True love is strong, but lust turns to hatred so quickly (2 Samuel 13:15). It shows that what was really in view was self-gratification, which, when denied, wants to hit back. Who is this Hebrew slave? – the whole household knew where Joseph was from and who his God was. Now she is furious. Furthermore he has condemned her by his uncompromising refusal. He is righteous while she is wicked. He has dared to judge her by not joining her in this sin. For all this, she now hates him, where she thought she loved him before.Finding that she has the garment, she quickly makes a decision. What skill revenge has to concoct a lie. The turning point is come, and she has given up hope of obtaining what she wanted. His steadfastness is now clear to her, and if he is prepared to run from her, she is never going to break his resolve. There is cunning about her also, for she knows that the truth Joseph speaks will not be believed, while the lie she speaks will be believed. Who would a husband rather believe? For Potiphar, to believe Joseph would mean believing a terrible and unwelcome truth. He would rather convince himself otherwise. So she builds on pre-existing prejudices, and constructs a lie which is the height of hypocrisy. She has to wait for the master of the house to return, and rehearses what she is going to say until she has it word perfect. She manufactures a cry for help out of thin air, and has Joseph doing the very thing that she was intending to do, but she has forgotten how to blush.Hall comments, ‘what safety is there against great adversaries when even arguments of innocence are used to convince of evil? The woman is naturally believed for she speaks to a husband as the world testifies against us to their own kind.’

Application

False accusation is indeed hard to bear. There was nothing that Joseph could say to convince Potiphar of his innocence. How do we obtain peace of mind when we are falsely accused? The situation is made much worse if our own conscience accuses us in the matter or even in unrelated matters. A good conscience is a source of comfort, because integrity in lesser matters allows us to repulse the barb of false accusation in greater matters. Conversely, a bad conscience in small matters will be unable to defend us against more serious charges. If we have confessed our sins to God and obtained his pardon, we will have respite by remembering that God knows the true facts, and he will one day bring all things to light. We need to exercise patience and we can be confident that at the right time God will bring all things to light. In the meantime it is a pain that he must suffer, that the world has reason to believe that the falsely accused one is guilty, a hypocrite, a deceiver, and falsely claims to follow God. They are wrong, but even to have them believe such a thing causes the believer great discomfort. Although we must struggle to keep our consciences void of offence towards men and God, it is enough for our peace if they are void of offence towards God alone. The Lord is testing us. He has chosen a path for us that tests our faith. Is it enough that we know that he sees? An unbeliever in such a situation would far rather have the approval of men than of God. God’s approval is worth very little to him.

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Genesis 39:13 Commentary and Bible Study