Genesis 39:9

Summary

Joseph tells Potiphar's wife that no one in the household holds more authority than himself, that his master has withheld nothing from him except her, and that sleeping with her would constitute a "great evil" and a sin against God. The verse closes his refusal with a rhetorical question expressing the impossibility of the act.

Key words

• eiNennu gaDol (H0369 + H1419A) — a construct negative existential ("there is none...") combined with the adjective gaDol ("great"), producing "he is not greater," i.e., no one surpasses Joseph's rank in the house.
• chaSakh (H2820) — qal perfect, "he has withheld," a completed action describing Potiphar's consistent behavior of not restricting Joseph, up to the exception that follows.
• ki 'im (H3588B + H0518B) — a paired subordinating/conditional particle functioning as "except, but only," marking the one exclusion (Potiphar's wife) to what has otherwise been given to Joseph.
• ra'Ah / gedoLah (H7451I + H1419A) — feminine noun "evil" modified by the feminine adjective "great," both marked with the definite article and demonstrative Zot ("this"), emphasizing a specific, singular wrongdoing under consideration.
• chaTati (H2398) — qal perfect ("I have sinned/I would sin"), joined by the narrative vav (H9001) that chains it to the preceding rhetorical question, giving it a modal, future-oriented sense despite the perfect form.

What the text says

The verse opens with a comparative construction: eiNennu gaDol... miMenni ("he is not great... more than me"), where the negative existential ein plus suffix functions almost like an English "there is no one," and the preposition min (H4480A) establishes the comparison. This structure places Joseph's authority as equal to or above all others in the house except Potiphar himself, implied by context. The phrase ki 'im narrows the scope of what has been withheld to a single exception — Potiphar's wife — introduced by the direct object marker 'oTakh and reinforced by the relative clause ba'aSher 'at 'ishTo ("in that you are his wife").

The rhetorical question beginning with 'eikh ("how?") frames the refusal: doing "this great evil" is presented as something structurally impossible given the described loyalty. The final clause, ve-chaTati le'lohim, uses a perfect verb with narrative vav, syntactically continuing the sequence of the question rather than reporting a completed past sin — the perfect form here carries the force of "and [how could] I sin against God."

Differences between versions

The Hebrew le'lohim ("to/against God") has no possessive suffix, but the Vulgate renders it "in Deum meum" ("against my God"), adding a first-person possessive not present in the Hebrew text. The LXX renders "this great evil" (Hebrew ha-ra'ah ha-gedolah ha-zot) as τὸ ῥῆμα τὸ πονηρὸν τοῦτο ("this evil matter/word"), using ῥῆμα ("word, matter") rather than a direct equivalent for "evil" as a standalone noun, and drops the separate adjective "great" found in the Hebrew doubling of gaDol.