And much as she [Potiphar's wife] coaxed Joseph day after day, he
did not yield to her request to lie beside her, to be with her. (Gen 39:10 |
1985 JPS Tanakh)
In Sotah 3b in the
Babylonian Talmud, we find some belief in eternal marriage in the interpretation
offered of Gen 39:10:
Rabbi Elazar says: The transgression is chained to him and accompanies him like
a dog, as it is stated concerning Joseph’s refusal to commit adultery with
the wife of Potiphar: “That he listened not to her, to lie by her, or to be
with her” (Genesis 39:10), which is understood to mean: If he would agree “to
lie by her” in this world, the result would be that he would have “to be with her” forever,
as the transgression would accompany him to the World-to-Come.
