She grabbed Joseph by his cloak and said, “Sleep with me!” But leaving his cloak in her hand, he escaped and ran outside.
Parallel translations
- WEB She caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me!” He left his garment in her hand, and ran outside.
- KJV 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.
- NKJV that she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand, and fled and ran outside.
- NASB So she grabbed him by his garment, saying, “Sleep with me!” But he left his garment in her hand and fled, and went outside.
- NLT She came and grabbed him by his cloak, demanding, “Come on, sleep with me!” Joseph tore himself away, but he left his cloak in her hand as he ran from the house.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
When she seizes his garment demanding he lie with her, Joseph flees, leaving the garment behind.
Overview
Joseph chooses flight over compromise, refusing the sin even at the cost of his cloak and his reputation. His decisive escape echoes the biblical counsel to flee temptation (1 Corinthians 6:18; 2 Timothy 2:22). He would rather suffer loss than sin against God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- 2 Tim 2:22Flee from youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, together with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
- Prov 7:13–27She seizes him and kisses him; she brazenly says to him:
- 1 Pet 2:11Beloved, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from the desires of the flesh, which war against your soul.
- Prov 6:5Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler.
- Prov 5:8Keep your path far from her; do not go near the door of her house,
- Eccl 7:26And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a net, and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is ensnared.
- 1 Cor 15:33Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good character.”
- Gen 39:8But he refused. “Look,” he said to his master’s wife, “with me here, my master does not concern himself with anything in his house, and he has entrusted everything he owns to my care.
- Mark 14:51–52One young man who had been following Jesus was wearing a linen cloth around his body. They caught hold of him,
- Gen 39:10Although Potiphar’s wife spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be near her.
- Ezek 16:30–31How weak-willed is your heart, declares the Lord GOD, while you do all these things, the acts of a shameless prostitute!
- Prov 1:15my son, do not walk the road with them or set foot upon their path.
- 1 Sam 15:27As Samuel turned to go, Saul grabbed the hem of his robe, and it tore.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 39:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.