Bible Strands
Genesis 39:12
She grabbed Joseph by his cloak and said, “Sleep with me!” But leaving his cloak in her hand, he escaped and ran outside.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Potiphar’s wife confronts Joseph alone in the house while all other servants are absent. She issues a direct sexual command, and he immediately abandons his garment to flee the room.
The words — The Hebrew verb תּוֹפֵשׂ (toseph) means “she seized,” describing her physical grasp of his outer garment. The verb עָזַב (azav) translates to “he left,” indicating Joseph deliberately abandoned the clothing to break her hold and escape.
The thread — This narrative of physical restraint and immediate flight aligns with the command to flee youthful passions in 2 Timothy 2:22 and the warnings against predatory seduction in Proverbs 5:8 and Proverbs 7:13.
Why it lands — The text establishes that physical withdrawal is the necessary first response when moral compromise is forced, requiring a reader to recognize and execute immediate separation from temptation.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- 2 Timothy 2:22 Flee from youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, together with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
- Proverbs 7:13 She seizes him and kisses him; she brazenly says to him:
- Proverbs 5:8 Keep your path far from her; do not go near the door of her house,
- Proverbs 6:5 Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler.
- Ecclesiastes 7:26 And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a net, and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is ensnared.
- 1 Peter 2:11 Beloved, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from the desires of the flesh, which war against your soul.
- Genesis 39:8 But he refused. “Look,” he said to his master’s wife, “with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in his house, and he has entrusted everything he owns to my care.
- Genesis 39:10 Although Potiphar’s wife spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be near her.
- Mark 14:51 One young man who had been following Jesus was wearing a linen cloth around his body. They caught hold of him,
- 1 Corinthians 15:33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good character.”