When Joseph was sold as a slave to the Ishmaelites, he kept silent out
of respect for his brethren, and did not tell his masters that he was a
son of Jacob, a great and powerful man. Even when he came to the
Midianites with the Ishmaelites, and the former asked after his
parentage, he still said he was a slave, only in order not to put his
brethren to shame. But the most distinguished of the Midianites rebuked
Joseph, saying, "Thou art no slave, thy appearance betrayeth thee," and
he threatened him with death unless he acknowledged the truth. Joseph,
however, was steadfast, he would not act treacherously toward his
brethren.
Arrived in Egypt, the owners of Joseph could come to no agreement
regarding him. Each desired to have sole and exclusive possession of
him. They therefore decided to leave him with a shopkeeper until they
should come back to Egypt again with their merchandise. And God let
Joseph find grace in the sight of the shopkeeper. All that he had, his
whole house, he put into Joseph's hand, and therefore the Lord blessed
him with much silver and gold, and Joseph remained with him for three
months and five days.
At that time there came from Memphis the wife of Potiphar, and she cast
her eyes upon Joseph, of whose comeliness of person she had heard from
the eunuchs. She told her husband how that a certain shopkeeper had
grown rich through a young Hebrew, and she added: "But it is said that
the youth was stolen away out of the land of Canaan. Go, therefore, and
sit in judgment upon his owner, and take the youth unto thy house, that
the God of the Hebrews may bless thee, for the grace of heaven rests
upon the youth."
Potiphar summoned the shopkeeper, and when he appeared before him, he
spoke harshly to him, saying: "What is this I hear? that thou stealest
souls from the land of Canaan, and dost carry on traffic with them?"
The shop-keeper protested his innocence, and he could not be made to
recede from his assertion, that a company of Ishmaelites had left
Joseph in his charge temporarily, until they should return. Potiphar
had him stripped naked and beaten, but he continued to reiterate the
same statement.
Then Potiphar summoned Joseph. The youth prostrated himself before this
chief of the eunuchs, for he was third in rank of the officers of
Pharaoh. And he addressed Joseph, and said, "Art thou a slave or a
free-born man?" and Joseph replied, "A slave." Potiphar continued to
question him, "Whose slave art thou?" Joseph: "I belong to the
Ishmaelites." Potiphar: "How wast thou made a slave?" Joseph: "They
bought me in the land of Canaan."
But Potiphar refused to give credence to what he said, and he had also
him stripped and beaten. The wife of Potiphar, standing by the door,
saw how Joseph was abused, and she sent word to her husband, "Thy
verdict is unjust, for thou punishest the free-born youth that was
stolen away from his place as though he were the one that had committed
a crime." As Joseph held firmly to what he had said, Potiphar ordered
him to prison, until his masters should return. In her sinful longing
for him, his wife wanted to have Joseph in her own house, and she
remonstrated with her husband in these words: "Wherefore dost thou keep
the captive, nobly-born slave a prisoner? Thou shouldst rather set him
at liberty and have him serve thee." He answered, "The law of the
Egyptians does not permit us to take what belongs to another before all
titles are made clear," and Joseph stayed in prison for twenty-four
days, until the return of the Ishmaelites to Egypt.
Meanwhile they had heard somewhere that Joseph was the son of Jacob,
and they therefore said to him: "Why didst thou pretend that thou wast
a slave? See, we have information that thou art the son of a powerful
man in Canaan, and thy father mourns for thee in sackcloth." Joseph was
on the point of divulging his secret, but he kept a check upon himself
for the sake of his brethren, and he repeated that he was a slave.
Nevertheless the Ishmaelites decided to sell him, that he be not found
in their hands, for they feared the revenge of Jacob, who, they knew,
was in high favor with the Lord and with men. The shopkeeper begged the
Ishmaelites to rescue him from the legal prosecution of Potiphar, and
clear him of the suspicion of man theft. The Ishmaelites in turn had a
conference with Joseph, and bade him testify before Potiphar that they
had bought him for money. He did so, and then the chief of the eunuchs
liberated him from prison, and dismissed all parties concerned.
With the permission of her husband, Potiphar's wife sent a eunuch to
the Ishmaelites, bidding him to buy Joseph, but he returned and
reported that they demanded an exorbitant price for the slave. She
dispatched a second eunuch, charging him to conclude the bargain, and
though they asked one mina of gold, or even two, he was not to be
sparing of money, he was to be sure to buy the slave and bring him to
her. The eunuch gave the Ishmaelites eighty pieces of gold for Joseph,
telling his mistress, however, that he had paid out a hundred pieces.
Joseph noticed the deception, but he kept silent, that the eunuch might
not be put to shame.[99]
Thus Joseph became the slave of the idolatrous priest Potiphar, or
Poti-phera, as he was sometimes called.[100] He had secured possession
of the handsome youth for a lewd purpose, but the angel Gabriel
mutilated him in such manner that he could not accomplish it.[101] His
master soon had occasion to notice that Joseph was as pious as he was
beautiful, for whenever he was occupied with his ministrations, he
would whisper a prayer: "O Lord of the world, Thou art my trust, Thou
art my protection. Let me find grace and favor in Thy sight and in the
sight of all that see me, and in the sight of my master Potiphar." When
Potiphar noticed the movement of his lips, he said to Joseph, "Dost
thou purpose to cast a spell upon me?" "Nay," replied the youth, "I am
beseeching God to let me find favor in thine eyes."
His prayer was heard. Potiphar convinced himself that God was with
Joseph. Sometimes he would make a test of Joseph's miraculous powers.
If he brought him a glass of hippocras, he would say, "I would rather
have wine mixed with absinthe," and straightway the spiced wine was
changed into bitter wine. Whatever he desired, he could be sure to get
from Joseph, and he saw clearly that God fulfilled the wishes of his
slave. Therefore he put all the keys of his house into his hand, and he
knew not aught that was with him,[102] keeping back nothing from Joseph
but his wife.[103] Seeing that the Shekinah rested upon him, Potiphar
treated Joseph not as a slave, but as a member of his family, for he
said, "This youth is not cut out for a slave's work, he is worthy of a
prince's place."[104] Accordingly, he provided instruction for him in
the arts, and ordered him to have better fare than the other
slaves.[105]
Joseph thanked God for his new and happy state. He prayed, "Blessed art
Thou, O Lord, that Thou hast caused me to forget my father's house."
What made his present fortunes so agreeable was that he was removed
from the envy and jealousy of his brethren. He said: "When I was in my
father's house, and he gave me something pretty, my brethren begrudged
me the present, and now, O Lord, I thank Thee that I live amid plenty."
Free from anxieties, he turned his attention to his external
appearance. He painted his eyes, dressed his hair, and aimed to be
elegant in his walk. But God spake to him, saying, "Thy father is
mourning in sackcloth and ashes, while thou dost eat, drink, and dress
thy hair. Therefore I will stir up thy mistress against thee, and thou
shalt be embarrassed."[106] Thus Joseph's secret wish was fulfilled,
that he might be permitted to prove his piety under temptation, as the
piety of his fathers had been tested.[107]