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… An old writer observes that it is "the sublimity of wisdom to do those things living which are to be desired and chosen by dying persons." St. Bernard expresses the same thought, but in a different form, saying, "Let every man in the first address of his actions, consider whether, if he were now to die, he might safely and prudently do such an act, and whether he would not be infinitely troubled should death surprise him in the present disposition; and then let him proceed accordingly." This advice, if taken, would no doubt insure resistance to temptation, for no man, unless he were enslaved to folly, would commit a sin in the face of approaching death. But a surer help to victory over the tempter than the thought of death, is the recollection, "Thou God seest me!" and the question of the spirited-minded Joseph, "How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?" 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? |
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