JOSEPH

MODULE 3: SESSION 10: Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife

Yoseph acts as both the forbidden tree and the human who must listen to God’s voice and pass the test. Biblical authors use keywords to evoke earlier stories while being dynamic in how they form the analogies. Potiphar’s wife, who seeks illicit sex for personal pleasure, is set in meaningful juxtaposition with Tamar, who engages in illicit sex to seek justice and preserve life in the previous chapter. Yoseph rightly discerns that sin against another human, an image of God, is sin against God himself. Repetition of “laugh,” Isaac’s name as a verb, in the account of Potiphar’s wife’s deception continues the pattern of linking Yoseph to the binding of Isaac.