Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah
Ibn Ezra on Genesis 39:6/אבן עזרא על בראשית ל״ט:ו׳
אולא ידע אתו מאומה כי אם הלחם. י"א שהוא כנוי לשכיבת אשתו וזה רחוק, ועוד כי אדוני יוסף סריס היה, והנכון בעיני שכל אשר לו היה בידו חוץ מן הלחם שלא היה אפילו נוגע בו בעבור היותו עברי, כי הנה מפורש "כי לא יוכלו המצרים לאכול את העברים לחם" (בראשית מג לב) כי פוטיפר ידע שיוסף עברי הוא וכן אשתו אומרת ראו הביא לנו איש עברי (בראשית לט יד):
1HE KNEW NOT AUGHT SAVE THE BREAD WHICH HE DID EAT. Some say that the bread which he did eat is a euphemism for a conjugal relationship.1 However, this interpretation is far-fetched. Furthermore, Potiphar was a eunuch.2. I.E. interprets seris paroh (an officer of Pharaoh) as Pharaoh’s eunuch. If he was a eunuch then the bread which he did eat obviously cannot refer to sexual intercourse. I believe that what this verse says is that Potiphar put Joseph in charge of everything that he had except for his bread, which Joseph was not permitted even to touch because he was a Hebrew, as we see from the verse because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews; for that is an abomination unto the Egyptians (Gen. 43:32). Potiphar knew that Joseph was a Hebrew. Potiphar’s wife similarly said, See, he hath brought in a Hebrew unto us to mock us (v. 14).3
בויהי יוסף יפה תואר. כאמו:
2AND JOSEPH WAS OF BEAUTIFUL FORM. Like his mother.