Joseph and Mrs Potiphar

 

Joseph and Mrs Potiphar
Quran 12:30 - And women in the city said, "The wife of al-'Azeez is seeking to seduce her slave boy; he has
impassioned her with love. Indeed, we see her [to be] in clear error."
Quran 12:31 - So when she heard of their scheming, she sent for them and prepared for them a banquet and gave
each one of them a knife and said [to Joseph], "Come out before them." And when they saw him, they greatly
admired him and cut their hands and said, "Perfect is Allah! This is not a man; this is none but a noble angel."
Quran 12:32 - She said, "That is the one about whom you blamed me. And I certainly sought to seduce him, but he
firmly refused; and if he will not do what I order him, he will surely be imprisoned and will be of those debased."

 

Midrash Tanchuma, Vayeshev 5.2
Our sages inform us that on one occasion Potiphar’s wife assembled a number of Egyptian women so that they might see
how very handsome Joseph was. But before she summoned Joseph she gave each of them an ethrog and a knife. When
they saw Joseph’s handsome countenance, they cut their hands. She said to them: “If this can happen to you, who see him
only once, how much more so does it happen to me, who must look at him constantly.” Each day she strove to entice him
with words, but he suppressed his evil inclination. Whence do we know this?
From what we read in the section: His master’s wife cast her eyes upon him (Gen. 39:7).
SOURCE: https://www.sefaria.org/Midrash_Tanchuma%2C_Vayeshev.5.2?lang=bi

 

Midrash Tanchuma is a midrash on the five books of the Torah, structured as sermons on the opening verses of each
paragraph in the Torah. Named for the talmudic sage Rabbi Tanchuma, who features prominently in the text, it is also
referred to as “Tanchuma-Yelammedenu” because of the prevalence of legal passages that start with the words
“yelamedenu rabeinu” (teach us, our Rabbi). The dating and composition history of the Tanchuma are matters of
scholarly debate. Composed: Talmudic Babylon/Italy/Israel (c.500 - c.800 CE)

 

Genesis 39:7 - “And it came to pass after these things, that his master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph;
and she said, Lie with me.”