What does Genesis 39:18 mean?
Potiphar's wife concludes her false accusation against Joseph (Genesis 39:7–17). She claims Joseph took off his cloak and attempted to rape her, so she screamed, and he ran away. Whether or not Potiphar then spoke to Joseph, or anyone else, we are not told. The following verse suggests that he did not, and that his reaction came only after hearing her words (Genesis 39:19).On one hand, this will be a difficult lie for Potiphar to see through. Joseph was likely seen running from the house without his cloak. The servants heard the scream and then heard the story—albeit a false one—straight from Potiphar's wife. A young, attractive, successful slave might well have let his position go to his head and attempted such a thing.
The expected response would be for Potiphar to have Joseph executed immediately, if not to kill the slave himself. On the other hand, Potiphar's wife has been extremely aggressive in her attempts at seduction. And Potiphar gave Joseph a restriction which otherwise would seem to go without saying: that the master's wife was off-limits. That, and Potiphar's relatively merciful punishment (Genesis 39:20), suggests he might not have fully trusted his wife's version of the story.
Genesis 39:1–18 describes Joseph's rise and fall as the slave of Potiphar, the captain of the guard in Egypt. He arrives in this situation after being sold by his own brothers (Genesis 37:26–28). The Lord continues to be with Joseph and to bless him. Potiphar promotes Joseph to the head manager of his household, even giving credit to the Joseph's God for all the success that follows. Potiphar's wife is also impressed with Joseph, but in a less honorable way. She persistently tempts him to sleep with her. When Joseph refuses, she unfairly frames the young Hebrew slave for attempted rape.
Joseph's arrival as a slave in Egypt is not the end of his story. The Lord continues to be with him and to bless him. Joseph rises to become the right-hand man of his master, Potiphar, the captain of the guard. Eventually, he is betrayed by a false accusation of rape by his master's scorned wife. Even then, Joseph finds the Lord is still with him, still blessing him, even in prison. Soon Joseph oversees every aspect of the prison, serving once again under God's faithful blessing.
