Genesis 39:9-12 There is none greater in this house than I; neither has he kept back any thing from me but you, because you are his wife… In the East females live in separate apartments, but the monuments prove that in Egypt they mingled freely in society, and were under no peculiar restraint. Egyptian parties are frequently depicted in the temples, and "in some instances," says Wilkinson, "we find both men and women sitting together, both strangers as well as members of the same family — a privilege not conceded to females among the Greeks, except with their relations." Nor do the monuments speak favourably of the morals of the Egyptian women. "That they were not restricted," says the same writer, "in the use of wine, and in the enjoyment of other luxuries, is evident from the frescoes which represent their feasts; and the painters, in illustrating this fact, have sometimes sacrificed their gallantry to a love of caricature. Some call their servants to support them as they sit, others with difficulty prevent themselves from falling on those behind them; a basin is brought too late by a reluctant servant, and the faded flower which is ready to drop from their heated hands, is intended to be characteristic of their own sensations. (Thornley Smith.) Parallel Verses KJV: There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God? |
    |