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The Wiles of Women/the Wiles of Men: Joseph and Potiphar's Wife in Ancient Near Eastern, Jewish, and Islamic Folklore

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The Wiles of Women, The Wiles of Men, Joseph and Potiphar's Wife in Ancient Near Eastern Jewish and Islamic Folklore by Shalom Goldman. One may be surprised to find a whole book written on a single event, in a single chapter 39 of Genesis, comprised of only 23 verses. But that's not the most of it, as this is the second such book written on that subject. The first was 'In Potiphar's House' by James Kugel. An even greater testament to the power of this story, and the Joseph story in general is Thomas Mann's Quartet of novels under the title of 'Joseph and His Brothers'.

If one were to select one over the other, I would say that is a very tough choice, but Goldman's book has a few advantages. The first is that it was written after Kugel's book, so it has the advantage of quoting from it. The second is its greater reference to Arabic sources, especially the Qur'an. And this predates the modern upsurge in interes therein, as the book was published in 1995.

Where Kugel limits himself largely to Jewish midrashic writings, Goldman scans a much broader field of writings which may have contributed to the writing of Joseph's encounter with Potipher's wife. He considers, for example the very similar Egyptian 'Story of Two Brothers', but notes how there are subtle differences, and another Egyptian story, 'The Romance of Sinuhe' is much closer (Note that 'The Romance of Sinuhe' was probably the basis for the 1954 film 'The Egyptian', whose hero was named Sinuhe.) He even goes so far as to draw a parallel with an episode in The Iliad regarding Bellerophone. I am always cautious when comparing Biblical stories and themes with Greek myth and literature, but Goldman is not implying influence, only the broad range of popularity for the story.

Rather, the contrast between the Hebrew and the Greek hero, between Achilles and Joseph, for example, is that one spurns the Gods and fails through hubris while the other benefits from his God's favor.

Like the text, the Bibliography is broad, bringing in both Jewish and Islamic sources. This is important, because it is truly amazing how a Jewish midrash story (appearing nowhere in the Hebrew Bible) crops up in the Qur'an. This is the story of how Potiphar's wife parades beautiful Joseph in front of her friends who (in modern terms) seem to be visiting for cocktails. They are so struck by his beauty that they cut themselves while slicing open fruit. One wonders how much Hebrew (or Aramaic) Mohammed read or read about as he was dictating the Qur'an.

The book is scholarly, yet very easy to read. It is the one to pick on the subject, unless your interest is limited to Jewish midrashic trends, where Kugel is your man.