Wife of Potiphar

Question

Shalom aleichem Rabbi Lauffer. Thank you for answering my last question. Rashi explains that Egyptian women were black and ugly. Why then, was it such a nisayon for Yosef to resist the seduction of Potiphar’s wife to sleep with him, to the point where his only recourse was to release his zerah by stuffing his fingers into the ground? Why was it such a nisayon to resist such an ugly woman? Do any of the meforshim address this? Thanks.

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Answers

  1. The Just Ask! - AskTheRabbi.org Team

    I am not familiar with any source that says that Eishes Potiphar was Egyptian. The only source that I know of mentions that Potiphar was suspicious that the Midianites who were selling Yosef had swarthy skin whilst Yosef had white skin. The Midrash relates (Bereshis Rabbah 86) that Poriphar demanded guarantees that the sale would be valid and no one would come to demand that Yosef be returned to his homeplace.

    Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team