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מַשְׂגִּ֣יא לַ֭גּוֹיִם וַֽיְאַבְּדֵ֑ם שֹׁטֵ֥חַ לַ֝גּוֹיִ֗ם וַיַּנְחֵֽם׃
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Kedushat Levi
Genesis 39,17. “your servant has done to me unspeakable things.” According to Rashi the conversation described in the Torah here occurred while Potiphar and his wife were having marital relations. At first glance, this appears somewhat difficult to understand as in Genesis 41,45 when the Torah reports that Pharaoh gave Joseph as a wife the daughter of Potiphar, Rashi points out that Potiphar was impotent, as a penalty for having desired to use Joseph for homosexual practices, and that Ossnas was not his biological daughter. We must therefore assume that the attempted seduction of Joseph occurred earlier. If so, why did he become impotent only at a later stage?
Actually, the Almighty Who performs wonderful deeds completely unassisted, arranges events in such a way that the wicked will commit fatal errors, as we know from Job 12,23 משגיא לגויים ויאבדם, “He leads (wicked) nations astray and causes their destruction.” If G’d had made Potiphar impotent earlier, he could not have believed his wife when she described that Joseph had engaged in similar activities to the ones practiced by her husband during marital intercourse. In addition to this, the Torah testified that Potiphar was aware of and admired Joseph’s absolute loyalty and sincerity, as we know from 39,3 and 4. The Torah sometimes shows us how G’d, on occasion, lets a wicked person enjoy a degree of success even when they are in the process harming the righteous, so that the righteous has a chance to become stronger in his faith in G’d. When this happens the wicked interprets it as proof that G’d approves of what he has been doing, whereas in fact G’d is only preparing the downfall of the wicked. Ultimately, in retrospect, G’d will be seen as having misled the wicked, as per Job 12,23.
Actually, the Almighty Who performs wonderful deeds completely unassisted, arranges events in such a way that the wicked will commit fatal errors, as we know from Job 12,23 משגיא לגויים ויאבדם, “He leads (wicked) nations astray and causes their destruction.” If G’d had made Potiphar impotent earlier, he could not have believed his wife when she described that Joseph had engaged in similar activities to the ones practiced by her husband during marital intercourse. In addition to this, the Torah testified that Potiphar was aware of and admired Joseph’s absolute loyalty and sincerity, as we know from 39,3 and 4. The Torah sometimes shows us how G’d, on occasion, lets a wicked person enjoy a degree of success even when they are in the process harming the righteous, so that the righteous has a chance to become stronger in his faith in G’d. When this happens the wicked interprets it as proof that G’d approves of what he has been doing, whereas in fact G’d is only preparing the downfall of the wicked. Ultimately, in retrospect, G’d will be seen as having misled the wicked, as per Job 12,23.
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