Well, here’s a topic no male of our species every wants to discuss. But according to the original Hebrew language of Scripture, Potiphar was, in fact, a eunuch.
But Maybe Not THAT Kind of Eunuch…
According to the Jewish Encyclopedia (online), not all “eunuchs” are created equal:
The term “saris” is commonly used in the Old Testament of eunuchs; but occasionally it seems to stand in a more general sense for “court official,” and sometimes it designates a military officer (II Kings xxv. 19; comp. ib. xviii. 17; Jer. xxxix. 3, 13).
So, maybe when the Bible describes Joseph’s master, it really meant he was a soldier:
“Meanwhile, the Midianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard.” Genesis 37:36
Why Does It Matter?
Does it really matter if Potiphar was or wasn’t a eunuch–in the traditional sense of Miriam-Webster’s Dictionary two primary definitions of the word:
- a castrated man placed in charge of a harem or employed as a chamberlain in a palace
- a man or boy deprived of the testes or external genitals
I would guess it mattered very much to Potiphar–and likely to Potiphar’s Wife, a woman’s whose story I’ve spent eighteen months beating my head against a wall to get just right.
The Rabbis Have an Opinion:
Some rabbis believe Potiphar WAS castrated by the archangel, Gabriel, to protect Joseph from his master’s untoward advances. (Oh, yes, this article was really taken from rabbinic historical texts.)
Want to know why I went with the “court official” theory for Potiphar–and STILL found motivation for his wife to be extremely “unfulfilled” in their marriage?
Relax. It has nothing to do with castration but everything to do with how the Lord needed to work in MY heart. It might even have something to do with how our God wants to work in YOUR heart today!
P’s Wife: Mentally Ill Or Morally Bereft?
When I began brainstorming this story with a couple of friends in October 2019, we kicked around all sorts of reasons Zully might have betrayed the godly servant, Joseph. Her full name, Zuleika, can be found in the Quran and Legends of the Jews but, as in many of my novels, I offer a simpler nickname (Zully) for today’s readers.
But there was no simple motivation for her bizarre attack on the righteous Joseph! In what universe could I make this woman–the main character in this book–someone likable enough to stick with her for 400 pages yet awful enough to betray everyone’s favorite biblical good-guy?
Thus, the 472 rewrites. Okay, that’s an exaggeration. But it felt like 472 rewrites.
Could I make her mentally ill? Nope. None of my editors were feeling it for bipolar or schizophrenic Zully. In our hyper-sensitized culture, where a Facebook fight breaks out over burning your morning toast–I didn’t DARE touch a mentally ill heroine.
Morally deficient? Could I really let Zully sleep with other servants? Even if it happened “off-screen,” that felt too smutty for redemptive Christian fiction. We could make her morally deficient in other ways, of course–and would need to–but she still HAD TO BE LIKABLE!
Flawed But Likable
I’ve written hard-to-like characters before. Let’s face it, I was pretty hard on King Solomon in Love’s Sacred Song. Every time I’d go a little overboard on my harsh characterization of the king that God called, Jedadiah–beloved of Jehovah–my editor would simply type “Charlie Sheen” in the margin, and I knew I’d crossed the line into party boy descriptors. (It was 2011, during Mr. Sheen’s tough publicity years.)
And how frustrating was Gomer in Love in a Broken Vessel? The prophet, Hosea, was called to marry a prostitute and love her as God loved adulterous Israel. Sheesh! I just wanted to shake some sense into that character!
Creating likable characters out of biblical bad guys is like walking a tightrope while juggling eggs. You’re gonna break something–you just gotta decide when and how many the reader can stand. And the final victory MUST BE WORTH THE WAIT!
Pivotal Editing Decision
My line editor and I were less than a week away from the given deadline. We were less than halfway through the manuscript and knew we’d never make it at the current pace. She texted me and asked, “Can we talk?”
That’s never a good sign.
She started the conversation with lots of encouragement about how hard I’d worked and the fact that she knew I was tired and discouraged. “We can rush the rest of the manuscript and make deadline. We CAN do that.” I told her that was NOT an option. She and I had done six books together. That’s not the way we did things.
She asked if she could be completely honest. Oh no! “Please,” I said, shaking in my slippers.
“I don’t know who Zully is or what she really wants. Worst of all–I don’t even care.”
YIKES! That’s when the rubber met the road. We totally went back to the drawing board on Zully’s character arc. Who was this woman and what could make her betray Joseph so completely?
Zully’s Lesson For Me/Us
The key to unlocking Zully’s character–and making her both likable and relatable—was to make her desire for one thing greater than her moral compass. She became completely, unilaterally, absolutely obsessed with returning to her homeland–the island of Crete. (Don’t worry. This isn’t a spoiler.)
Her one, overblown, obsession totally skewed everything in her life. She allowed that obsession to blind her to God’s work around her. Everything in her life was seen through the filter of, “How will it help me get back home?” Anything that helped in that single quest was acceptable, no matter how morally bankrupt.
It was a very strong lesson for me–since I’d put my whole life on hold to write and rewrite this story again and again and again. Yes, God always teaches me the lessons my characters learn. Ugh! 💡
Zully’s Worth the Wait
It took an extra month to birth a plausible, likable, redemptive Zully–but she was worth the wait. I believe Potiphar’s Wife is someone you’ll feel deeply for, get angry with, cheer for, and (hopefully) learn a great deal from.
In my novel, Potiphar was NOT castrated by an archangel, nor did he make any advances toward Joseph. (Sheesh!) He’s a crusty old bachelor who never wanted a wife–yet finds himself smitten with a spicy princess from Crete. And both their hearts get broken–as happens with all worthy love stories.
It’s the picking up of those pieces that gives us the twisting and turning endings we love–and I wouldn’t DARE spoil that for you! 😆
Today’s Question:
- Is there an unfulfilled desire you’ve allowed to become an unhealthy filter over your thoughts, your perspective, and/or your outlook on life? What is it that you say, “If only…then I could…”? Ask the Lord how you can give your desires to Him and perhaps receive it back in a healthier dose with His fingerprints all over it.
Comments 12
Oh my goodness! I enjoyed reading this Mesu! I can’t wait to see if this book will be the one to get me back on course of really reading for pleasure. I have not done good with my focus since my husband passed away in August. I will be glad to read this one!
Author
I’m so glad you enjoyed the post, sweet friend, and the loss of concentration is TOTALLY NORMAL with the grief you’re experiencing. Both of my mamas went through the same thing. Took about a year before they could read a novel all the way through (especially mine–LOL). Give yourself grace, dear one. 😘
Oh man did I need to hear the very last bit of that post today. I’ve been looking into the Dinah/Potifer/Joseph’s wife connection for awhile. God does work in mysterious ways and once again He pointed out a spot I’d been letting cloud the glass. Thank you for being led by the Spirit and sharing knowledge with the rest of us who are also in this journey. Blessings!
Author
Hi Esther!
I’m so glad this little glimpse into my life-lessons while writing have also served your heart well. May the Lord continue to whisper His wisdom to your heart in various ways as you remain sensitive to His leading. Blessings on you as well, dear one!
I am been writing thesis on Thomas Mann’s Joseph and His Brothers and come across your amazing series of novels. A comparison of Mann’s work and yours might be profoundly rewarding!
Author
WOW!!! Thank you so much for mentioning this iconic work of literary fiction. I’d love to read it! Blessings on your thesis!
Hi Mesu, this is indeed a great writeup and I think it’s for me. I’m a year old in marriage and I found out my husband has been impotent since birth . I can say he’s a eunuch from birth. I’ve been sexually attracted to some male friends around me yet I can’t go the way of seducing them despite that i really feel lonely in the marriage yet my husband doesn’t want a divorce.
He’s hoping all will be fine from medical therapies. What do I do?
Author
I’ve replied privately in an email…
OH MY GOD !!!!!! i cannot even believe this !!!!! i stumbled across this write – up because i am studying / reading through Genesis and i use the wonderful enduringword app (which is Amazzing by the way!!!), and learned that Potiphar was possibly a eunuch -😳 i was trying to find out more about that because i was also trying to understand the wife, whom i didn’t know by name,(thanks Mesu☺️)and why she did what she did – was it because her husband was a eunuch?
It was important to me because I understand(@Shalom’s plight )I am speechless 😶 right now because i have been asking God for help and understanding-
my husband and i have been together 6yrs married 3 and i’m sooo frustrated and angry and resentful and i don’t want to -be but he seems unbothered by it and it seems heartless and unfair.
So happy i was lead here and i cannot wait to read your novel. Please Help
Author
Hi there. I’ll reply privately to your email address.
Hello Mesu,
I came across your book while searching to find out more about Potiphar of Egypt. My wife and I have been doing Torah Club-last year-a quick trip across the first five books of the Bible-in one year. Now, in year two, in this class we are currently taking is referred to jokingly as Torah on Steroids-same content, but a much deeper look. In the last lesson Potiphar was represented as a eunuch and I was thinking, yes that may have led to a lot of problems-especially if he was not when first married. (O by the way you get a promotion-but there is this one small item that goes with the job).
Since I can sleep no more, its 2 AM in the morning-been getting better from a bad cold and my sleep schedule is goofed up, I thought why not see if there is anything from a “Christian” perspective on that OT Bible story and your book came up on the all knowing Internet.
So I requested your book from our local library MEL system-and I look forward see what you wrote down.
My wife and I are huge readers-she works in a Library and my name is in a footnote of a book-reading is our go to relax spot. Well, thanks in advance for writing the book.
Sincerely,
Mike in MI
P.S. Torah Club has helped me to see the Jewishness of much of the bible. That really makes things more clear in my Christian walk. I just need to remember I am a Gentile….and not a Jew… and am not under all those regulations-such as keeping Sabbath. So glad. Those OT laws and ordinances had a purpose…but they should not be dragged into a Gentile Christians life. So, I continue to learn and grow in my walk with the Master at age 62. Blessings to you and your family.
Author
Hi Michael!
Thank you so much for your wonderful note! I only heard about Torah Club for the first time last summer and would love to join at some point–maybe when I’m not under contract for another book!
Yes, the same Hebrew word is used to describe Potiphar that was used in Isaiah’s prophecy against Hezekiah’s descendants when he showed his whole kingdom to Babylonian emissaries. As mentioned in http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/12316-potiphar, “The term “saris” is commonly used in the Old Testament of eunuchs; but occasionally it seems to stand in a more general sense for “court official,” and sometimes it designates a military officer (II Kings xxv. 19; comp. ib. xviii. 17; Jer. xxxix. 3, 13).”
I went with the interpretation that Potiphar was NOT a eunuch but rather an official of Pharaoh–or captain of the guard (as many Bible translations say)–because it simply doesn’t make logical sense to give a eunuch a wife. Right?
While writing Biblical “fiction,” I have to make some assumptions based more on common sense than on what is actually printed in God’s TRUTH. I never directly deny or change what God’s Word says. However, I use other passages throughout God’s Word to inform a specific passage so I can gain understanding from the “whole counsel of Scripture” before adding fiction to the story. For instance, I felt it made sense for Daniel to marry but his two friends (Shadrach and Abednego–who went by their Babylonian names) to have willingly become eunuchs because in Babylon it was an elite brotherhood to commit oneself to the king as a eunuch. I try to learn as much as I can about the specific era and culture in which our biblical characters lived (because that changes their lifestyles) and hope I’m listening well to the leading of the Holy Spirit! And GOOD FOR YOU to learn about the Jewishness of the Bible! We can’t fully understand our Christian roots until we gain more understanding of our JUDEO-Christian foundation.