Tanach · Acharonim on Tanach · Or HaChaim · Torah
Or HaChaim on Genesis 39:14/אור החיים על בראשית ל״ט:י״ד
אוַתִּקְרָא לְאַנְשֵׁי וְגוֹ׳. לְצַד שֶׁיָּדְעָה צֶדֶק יוֹסֵף בְּעֵינֵי אֲדוֹנוֹ וְלֹא יַאֲמִין לִדְבָרֶיהָ, לָזֶה נִתְכַּוְּנָה וַתִּקְרָא לָהֶם שֶׁהֵם יֹאמְרוּ בְּבוֹא אֲדוֹנֵי יוֹסֵף, וְהוּא אָמְרוֹ לֵאמֹר, וּבָעֲרָה בָּם אֵשׁ הַקִּנְאָה לְהָעִיד, וְהוּא אָמְרוֹ רְאוּ הֵבִיא לָנוּ וְגוֹ׳ לְצַחֶק בָּנוּ, שִׁתַּפְתָם בְּצָרָתָהּ כִּי גַם עֲלֵיהֶם גִּדְּלוֹ וְהוּא אִישׁ נָכְרִי.
1 ותקרא לאנשי ביתה, she called the members of her household, etc. She was well aware that her husband put great faith in Joseph's righteousness and might not believe her accusation against him. Therefore she called the members of her household asking them, i.e. לאמור to tell her husband what had happened (according to her version). The members of her household who were jealous of Joseph who had risen above them would be happy to testify against him, saying: "look what happened as a result of your bringing this Hebrew man into the house." When she said לצחק בנו, "to make sport of us," she used the word us deliberately to indicate that they had all suffered from Joseph's elevated status, especially since Joseph was an alien.
באוֹ יִרְצֶה בְּאָמְרוֹ רְאוּ כִּי יָעִידוּ עַל הַדְּבָרִים כִּי כֵּן רָאוּ, וְהוּא אָמְרוֹ ״לֵאמֹר רְאוּ״, גַּם נִתְחַכְּמָה לְהִתְרַעֵם נֶגֶד הַבַּעַל, שֶׁבָּזֶה אִם יָלִיץ טוֹבָה עָלָיו תֹּאמַר: ״אַף זוֹ מִן הַתּוֹכָחוֹת עָלֶיךָ תְּלוּנָּתִי״.
2It is also possible that when Mrs Potiphar said ראו, look! that she invited the members of the household to testify only to what they had seen; the Torah describes this as לאמור ראו, "say what you have seen." She included her husband in her accusation in the event he would find excuses for Joseph's alleged behaviour.