[There is] none greater in this house than I
Not any of the servants of the house, he was the chief of them,
who had all the rest under him; or rather, "he himself is not
greater F17 in this house than I"; that is, his
master was not greater than he: he had a greater propriety in the
house and the things of it, and he had the original power and
authority in it, but had not a greater use of it; Joseph had
authority over all the servants, and everything in the house at
his command, and the free use of everything his master had,
excepting what follows: neither hath he kept back anything
from me but thee, because thou
[art] his wife;
and is a reason not only why his master retained her for his own
use, but why he should not touch her, and why she should not
solicit him to it: how then can I do this great wickedness
and sin against God?
the words are emphatic in the original, "this! this wickedness!
this great one!" adultery was reckoned a great sin among all
nations, and this, had Joseph committed it, would have been
greatly aggravated by the favours his master had conferred upon
him; and not only a sin against himself, his soul and body, and
against his master, but, above all, a sin against God, contrary
to his holy nature, revealed will, and righteous law; all which
prevailed upon Joseph to refuse the offer made him, which he
could not comply with, in honour or with a good conscience.