Genesis 39:10

Summary

The verse describes a repeated action: the wife of Potiphar spoke to Joseph "day, day" (an idiom for "day after day"), and Joseph did not heed her, refusing to lie beside her or be with her.

Key words

• va-yeHi ("and it was", H1961) — narrative vav plus the qal verb "to be," the standard formula opening a new narrative unit ("and it happened that...").
• ke-dabbeRah ("when she spoke", H1696) — piel infinitive construct with the preposition ke ("when/as") and a 3rd feminine singular suffix ("her"); the piel stem often marks intensive or repeated speech, and the suffix identifies the wife as the one speaking.
• yom yom ("day, day", H3117) — the noun "day" repeated without a conjunction between the two occurrences in the Hebrew text as given; this doubling functions as an idiom meaning "day after day" or "daily."
• sha·Ma' ("he listened/heeded", H8085) — qal perfect, completed action, 3rd masculine singular; here negated by lo ("not", H3808), producing "he did not heed/listen."
• 'etz·Lah / 'im·mah ("beside her" / "with her", H0681 / H5973) — the first is a construct noun meaning proximity ("beside"), the second a preposition meaning accompaniment ("with"); both carry the 3rd feminine singular suffix "her," marking the two infinitives lishkav ("to lie") and lihyot ("to be") as their objects.

What the text says

The sentence opens with the narrative formula vayehi ("and it was"), followed by a temporal clause built on the infinitive ke-dabbeRah ("as/when she spoke"). The 3rd feminine singular suffix on this infinitive makes clear that the wife is the subject of the speaking, and Joseph, marked with the preposition 'el ("to"), is the addressee. The phrase yom yom ("day, day") repeats the noun without a connecting particle, an idiomatic doubling that indicates repetition over time ("day after day"), matching the habitual nature of the ke-clause.

The main clause follows with ve-lo shama' ("and he did not listen/heed"), using the qal perfect to state a completed, settled response. The verb shama' here governs two purpose infinitives: lishkav 'etzlah ("to lie beside her") and lihyot 'immah ("to be with her"). Both infinitives carry the 3rd feminine singular suffix "her," tying Joseph's refusal to two distinct but related actions — physical proximity ('etzlah) and shared presence ('immah) — rather than a single verb of accompaniment.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew names the wife as the subject of "speaking" (ke-dabberah, "when she spoke... to Joseph"). The LXX text as given reads ἐλάλει Ἰωσὴφ ("Joseph spoke"), which places Joseph as the grammatical subject of the speaking rather than as its recipient — a reversal of roles from the Hebrew clause structure. The Vulgate diverges further, rendering the passage descriptively as "with words of this kind, day after day, and the woman was troublesome to the young man" (mulier molesta erat adolescenti), adding an evaluative phrase ("was troublesome") not present as a discrete lexical item in the Hebrew, and shifting from a temporal clause to two independent statements.