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Genesis 39

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1 And Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him of the hands of the Ishmeelites, which had brought him down thither.

2 And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.

3 And his master saw that the LORD was with him, and that the LORD made all that he did to prosper in his hand.

4 And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand.

5 And it came to pass from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the LORD blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; and the blessing of the LORD was upon all that he had in the house, and in the field.

6 And he left all that he had in Joseph's hand; and he knew not ought he had, save the bread which he did eat. And Joseph was a goodly person, and well favoured.

7 And it came to pass after these things, that his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me.

8 But he refused, and said unto his master's wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand;

9 There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?

10 And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her.

11 And it came to pass about this time, that Joseph went into the house to do his business; and there was none of the men of the house there within.

12 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.

13 And it came to pass, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and was fled forth,

14 That she called unto the men of her house, and spake unto them, saying, See, he hath brought in an Hebrew unto us to mock us; he came in unto me to lie with me, and I cried with a loud voice:

15 And it came to pass, when he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled, and got him out.

16 And she laid up his garment by her, until his lord came home.

17 And she spake unto him according to these words, saying, The Hebrew servant, which thou hast brought unto us, came in unto me to mock me:

18 And it came to pass, as I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled out.

19 And it came to pass, when his master heard the words of his wife, which she spake unto him, saying, After this manner did thy servant to me; that his wrath was kindled.

20 And Joseph's master took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king's prisoners were bound: and he was there in the prison.

21 But the LORD was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.

22 And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners that were in the prison; and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it.

23 The keeper of the prison looked not to any thing that was under his hand; because the LORD was with him, and that which he did, the LORD made it to prosper.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 4989

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4989. 'And said, Lie with me' means that it desired a joining together. This is clear from the meaning of 'lying with me' as a joining together, that is to say, of spiritual natural good, meant here by 'Joseph', and unspiritual natural truth, meant by 'his lord's wife'; but this would be an unlawful joining together. Joinings together of good and truth, and of truth and good, are described in the Word by means of marriages, see 2727-2759, 3132, 3665, 4434, 4837, and therefore unlawful joinings together are described by means of liaisons with prostitutes. Here therefore the joining of unspiritual natural truth to spiritual natural good is described by his lord's wife's wanting to lie with him. No joining together of these exists internally, only externally, where they appear to be joined together but in fact have no more than a mere association with each other. This also is the reason why it says that she took hold of him by his garment and that he left his garment in her hand; for in the internal sense 'a garment' means what is external, by means of which the two only appear to be joined, that is, they have no more than a mere association with each other, as will be seen below at verses 12-13.

[2] These meanings cannot be seen as long as the mind or thought concentrates solely on the historical details, for in that case there is no thought of anything else than Joseph, Potiphar's wife, and Joseph's flight after leaving behind his garment. But if the mind or thought were to concentrate on what is meant spiritually by 'Joseph', 'Potiphar's wife', and the 'garment', it would be seen that some spiritual but unlawful joining together was also meant here. When this is so, the mind or thought is able to concentrate on what is meant spiritually, provided the belief is present that the historical Word is Divine not by virtue of the mere historical narrative but by virtue of what is spiritual and Divine contained within it. If a person possessed such a belief he would know that its spiritual and Divine content was concerned with the goodness and truth present in the Church and in the Lord's kingdom, and in the highest sense with the Lord Himself. When a person enters the next life, which happens immediately after death, if he is one of those who are being raised up to heaven he will come to realize that he retains none of the historical details recorded in the Word. He knows nothing whatever about Joseph, nor anything about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but only about the spiritual and Divine realities which he has learned from the Word and made part of his own life. These therefore are the kinds of matters inwardly present in the Word, which are called its internal sense.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.