Joseph's Trials in the House of the Egyptian Woman

Illustration of Joseph's Trials in the House of the Egyptian Woman
Era
Patriarchs
Date
Joseph's years as a slave in Egypt ○ Traditional
Reference
The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs 112:1-5

In the Testament of Joseph, Joseph tells his sons how Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, put him in charge of his house, and how Potiphar's wife, a woman of Memphis, pressed him to sleep with her. She threatened him with death, promised to make him master of all she had, and at first treated him as a son. Joseph says he fasted through those seven years, prayed, and gave his food to the poor and the sick.

She then tried other means. She offered to give up her idols, proposed to kill her husband, sent him food mixed with enchantments, and threatened to take her own life. At last she seized his clothes and he fled naked. She accused him falsely, and he was scourged and put in prison, where she still sent to him. Joseph says God proved him in ten temptations.

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Did You Know?

1

Joseph says he fasted during his seven years in the house, yet looked to his master like someone living in comfort.

2

The woman had no son at first, and Joseph says she bore a male child after he prayed for her.

3

She offered to abandon her idols and persuade her husband to do the same if Joseph would give in to her.

4

When she sent him enchanted food, Joseph saw a terrible man handing him a sword along with the dish.

5

Joseph warned her that if she killed herself, her husband's concubine Sethon would beat her children and erase her memory.

Key Passage

Joseph's Trials in the House of the Egyptian Woman

The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs 112:1-5

And thus Potiphar the chief cook of Pharaoh entrusted to me his house, and I struggled against a shameless woman, urging...

A1nd thus Potiphar the chief cook of Pharaoh entrusted to me his house, and I struggled against a shameless woman, urging me to transgress with her; but the God of Israel my father guarded me from the burning flame.

2 I was cast into prison, I was beaten, I was mocked; and the Lord granted me to find pity in the sight of the keeper of the prison. 3 For He will in no wise forsake them that fear Him, neither in darkness, nor in bonds, nor in tribulations, nor in necessities. 4 For not as man is God ashamed, nor as the son of man is He afraid, nor as one that is earth-born is He weak, or can He be thrust aside; but in all places is He at hand, and in divers ways doth He comfort, departing for a little to try the purpose of the soul. 5 In ten temptations He showed me approved, and in all of them I endured; for endurance is a mighty charm, and patience giveth many good things.

Read full chapter: The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs 112 →

Did You Know?

1

Joseph says he fasted during his seven years in the house, yet looked to his master like someone living in comfort.

2

The woman had no son at first, and Joseph says she bore a male child after he prayed for her.

3

She offered to abandon her idols and persuade her husband to do the same if Joseph would give in to her.

4

When she sent him enchanted food, Joseph saw a terrible man handing him a sword along with the dish.

5

Joseph warned her that if she killed herself, her husband's concubine Sethon would beat her children and erase her memory.

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