Guido Reni ( Italian, 1575 - 1642 ):
Joseph and Potiphar´s Wife / Joseph und Potiphars Frau.

Text: English / Deutsch

1.Mose 39, 1 - 23

Die Ismaeliter hatten Josef nach Ägypten gebracht. Sie verkauften ihn an den Ägypter Potifar, den Hofbeamten des Pharaos und Oberbefehlshaber der königlichen Leibwache.
Der Herr half Josef: Ihm glückte alles, was er unternahm. Er durfte im Haus arbeiten,
und Potifar sah, daß der Herr ihm Erfolg schenkte.
Deshalb bevorzugte er ihn vor allen anderen Sklaven und machte ihn zu seinem persönlichen Diener. Er setzte Josef zum Hausverwalter ein und vertraute ihm seinen ganzen Besitz an.
Von da an ließ der Herr bei Potifar alles besonders gut gelingen. Die Arbeiten im Haus waren erfolgreich, es gab eine gute Ernte, und die Viehherden vergrößerten sich.
Potifars Vertrauen wuchs: Er ließ Josef freie Hand und kümmerte sich selbst um nichts mehr, außer um seine eigenen Speisen. osef sah sehr gut aus.
Das bemerkte auch Potifars Frau. "Schlaf mit mir!" forderte sie ihn auf.
Aber Josef weigerte sich: "Mein Herr braucht sich im Haus um nichts zu kümmern - alles hat er mir anvertraut.
Ich habe genausoviel Macht wie er. Nur dich hat er mir vorenthalten, weil du seine Frau bist. Wie könnte ich da ein so großes Unrecht tun und gegen Gott sündigen?"
Potifars Frau ließ nicht locker. Jeden Tag redete sie auf Josef ein, er aber hörte nicht darauf und ließ sich nicht von ihr verführen.
Einmal kam Josef ins Haus, um wie gewöhnlich seine Arbeit zu tun. Von den Sklaven war gerade niemand anwesend.
Da packte sie ihn am Gewand. "Komm mit mir ins Bett!" drängte sie. Josef riß sich los, ließ sein Gewand in ihrer Hand und floh nach draußen
Potifars Frau schrie auf, rief nach ihren Dienern und zeigte ihnen Josefs Gewand. "Seht", rief sie, "mein Mann hat uns einen Hebräer ins Haus gebracht, der jetzt mit uns umspringt, wie er will! Er wollte mich vergewaltigen, aber ich habe laut geschrien.
Da lief er schnell davon, doch dieses Gewand hat er bei mir zurückgelassen!"
Sie behielt Josefs Gewand und wartete, bis ihr Mann nach Hause kam.
Ihm erzählte sie dieselbe Geschichte.
Als Potifar das hörte, geriet er in Zorn
und ließ Josef ins Staatsgefängnis werfen.
Aber der Herr war auf Josefs Seite und sorgte dafür, daß der Gefängnisverwalter ihm wohlgesinnt war.
Josef wurde zum Aufseher über die Gefangenen ernannt; er war nun verantwortlich für alles, was im Gefängnis geschah.
Der Verwalter brauchte sich um nichts mehr zu kümmern. Er vertraute Josef völlig, weil er sah, daß der Herr ihm half und ihm Erfolg schenkte.

Genesis 39, 1 - 23:

Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh's officials, the captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there.
The LORD was with Joseph and he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master.

When his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD gave him success in everything he did,

Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned.

From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the LORD blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the LORD was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field.

So he left in Joseph's care everything he had; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate. Now Joseph was well-built and handsome,

and after a while his master's wife took notice of Joseph and said, "Come to bed with me!"

But he refused. "With me in charge," he told her, "my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care.

No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?"

And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her.

One day he went into the house to attend to his duties, and none of the household servants was inside.

She caught him by his cloak and said, "Come to bed with me!" But he left his cloak in her hand and ran out of the house.

When she saw that he had left his cloak in her hand and had run out of the house,

she called her household servants. "Look," she said to them, "this Hebrew has been brought to us to make sport of us! He came in here to sleep with me, but I screamed.

When he heard me scream for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house."

She kept his cloak beside her until his master came home.

Then she told him this story: "That Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport of me.

But as soon as I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house."

When his master heard the story his wife told him, saying, "This is how your slave treated me," he burned with anger.

Joseph's master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined. But while Joseph was there in the prison,

the LORD was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden.

So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there.

The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph's care, because the LORD was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.