Genesis 39:7–12
Joseph refuses to betray his master's trust, and runs outside
Study it word by word7After these things, his lord’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.”
8But he refused and said to his lord’s wife, “Look, with me here my lord does not concern himself with what is in the house, and all that he has he has put in my hand.
9He is not greater in this house than I, and he has not withheld from me anything except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do this great evil and sin against Elohim?”
10Though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he did not listen to her, to lie beside her, to be with her.
11It happened one day that he went into the house to do his work, and none of the men of the house was there in the house.
12She caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand and fled and went outside.
In its context
5From the time that he appointed him in his house and over all that he had, YHWH blessed the house of the Egyptian because of Joseph; and the blessing of YHWH was on all that he had, in the house and in the field.
6He left all that he had in the hand of Joseph, and with him there he did not concern himself with anything except the bread that he ate. Now Joseph was well-built and handsome.
…
13When she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled outside,
14she called to the men of her household and spoke to them, saying, “See, he has brought us a Hebrew man to mock us. He came to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice.
Its words in the original
- יְהִיyehi· be, become, happen
Be, exist; also "become" or "happen". It is the verb of "there was", "it was" and "it came to pass".
- דְּבָרִיםdevarim· word, matter, thing
Word; what is said. Also "matter" or "thing": what is spoken about, an affair, an event.
- תִּשָּׂאtisa· lift, carry, bear
Lift up, carry, bear. "Bear sin" is to suffer its consequences; said of God, "taking away" sin is forgiving it. "Lift up the eyes" is to look.
- אֵשֶׁתeshet· woman, wife
Woman; with a possessive ("his woman"), wife. In Hebrew it is "ishah", which sounds like "ish", man.
- אֲדֹנָיadonay· lord, master
Lord: one who has authority over another (an owner, a husband, a superior). It is also a polite form, "my lord". Said of God, "the Lord".
- עֵינֶיene· eye
Eye. "In someone's eyes" means "in his opinion"; "find favor in the eyes of" is to please him. Also a spring of water.
- יוֹסֵףyosef· Joseph
Joseph, a name borne by several Israelites, above all the son of Jacob and Rachel, sold into Egypt, who became ruler there and saved his family; his sons Ephraim and Manasseh became tribes. The name means "may he add".
- תֹּאמֶרtomer· say
Say, speak. The most common verb for bringing in what someone says; sometimes "think" (say to oneself) or "command".
- שִׁכְבָshichva· lie down
Lie down: to sleep, or for sexual relations ("lie with"). "Lie down with one's fathers" is to die.
- יְמָאֵןyemaen· refuse
Refuse, be unwilling.
- יָדַעyada· know
Know. Not only having a fact: it is knowing by experience and closely; also recognize, care for, make known. So Hebrew also uses it for the intimate union of a man and his wife ("he knew his wife").
- בָּיִתbayit· house, household
House. Also the family that lives in it ("the house of Noah") and someone's descendants ("the house of David"); also a temple, "the house of God".
- נָתַןnatan· give, put, set
Give, in a very wide sense: hand over, put, place, grant, allow, make something be.
- יָדִyadi· hand, power
Hand. Figuratively, power or control ("into the hand of" = into the power of); also side, part, or share. Also a projecting piece, such as a tenon.
- גָדוֹלgadol· great
Great in size, number, age or importance; also "the elder" of two; "high priest" is "great priest".
- חָשַׂךְchasach· hold back
Hold back, restrain, keep from; spare.
- מְאוּמָהmeuma· anything
Something, anything; with "not", nothing.
- אֶעֱשֶׂהeese· do, make
Do, make, in the widest sense: build, produce, carry out, keep (a command), prepare.
- רָעָהraa· evil, bad, harm
Bad; evil. It includes what is morally wrong and also what does harm: misfortune, disaster, distress.
- חָטָאתִיchatati· sin
Sin: miss the mark of what God asks, do wrong. In another form of the verb, "purify" from sin; also bear the loss.
- אלֹהִיםlohim· Elohim, God, gods
The Hebrew word usually translated "God". This translation keeps "Elohim" when it speaks of the one true God, the Creator, the God of Israel. The word ends like a plural, but it does not mean several: for him the verb is singular ("Elohim created"); the plural form expresses greatness. The same word as a common noun names the "gods" of other peoples, and there it is a true plural, translated "gods". It is also used of mighty ones or judges.
- דַבְּרָdabra· speak
Speak, talk, say; also promise or command.
- יוֹםyom· day
Day: the hours of light, or a whole day from one evening to the next. Also an indefinite time or age ("in the day that...", "in those days").
- שָׁמַעshama· hear, listen, obey
Hear, listen. In the Bible listening truly includes paying heed; so it often means "obey". In the causative form, make heard, proclaim.
- אֶצְלָetsla· beside
Beside, next to.
- יָּבֹאyavo· come, go in, bring
Come, arrive, go in, enter. In the causative form, "bring" or "carry in". "Go in to" a woman is to have marital relations with her.
- מְלַאכְתּmelacht· work
Work: the task someone carries out and also what results from it; also property, goods.
- אִישׁish· man, husband, each
Man, male; with a possessive, husband. Also "each one", "anyone". It is "ish", distinct from "adam" (human being); it is used for the man in contrast with the woman ("ishah").
- תִּתְפְּשֵׂtitpse· seize, handle
Seize, take hold of, handle. Of an instrument, play it.
- בִגְדvigd· garment, clothing
Garment, clothing, cloth. (A word with the same letters means "treachery".)
- יַּעֲזֹבyaazov· leave, forsake
Leave, forsake, abandon; also let go, leave behind for someone.
- יָּנָסyanas· flee
Flee, escape; in the causative form, put to flight.
- יֵּצֵאyetse· go out, bring out
Go out, come out. In the causative form, "make go out", "bring out", "lead out", "produce".
- חוּצָchutsa· outside
Outside, outdoors; the street.