The Eunuch, His Wife, and Their Slave: Genesis 39 in Esoteric Tradition

This article examines the story of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife in Genesis 39 as part of a literary tradition in which texts with esoteric meanings were esteemed as high forms of narrative art meant to engage the audience in heuristic exercise. Like a riddle, the details of this account are carefully worded to allow the audience to wander astray from the correct interpretation. But solving this riddle allows us to view a major narrative development in the book of Genesis, a series of events and consequences that lead to Israel’s enslavement in Egypt. A deeper look at the story and its opaque elements, this article challenges the traditional interpretation of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife and demonstrates the importance of reevaluating stories in broad cultural canons, especially those that reinforce stereotypes about women, foreigners and other traditional non-hero types.

Keywords: Genesis 39, Potiphar’s Wife, Joseph, Unconscious Bias, Gender, False Accusation, Rape, Esoterica.