On Joseph
In Joseph
This homily was written by Eustathius of Antioch (fl. c. 320–337). It is a moral exhortation on the story of Joseph, focusing on his self-control in the house of his master.
Joseph sold to a eunuch, desired by his woman, keeps an unwritten law§1
Eustathius opens the homily by addressing Joseph directly, describing his sale to a eunuch and the desire of the master's woman for him.
1But you were sold to a man who was a eunuch, and you were honored for excelling in conduct. His woman fell in love with your beauty. A divine law had not, I suppose, already been written, saying, “You shall not commit adultery.” From where, then, were you setting out when you preserved an unwritten command of law? You feared your master—a man labeled in name and semblance as the husband of a licentious woman. For how could a eunuch take a woman in the bond of lawful marriage? No, she was clearly living with him and acting as the overseer of his house, and she seemed to guard only the name of guardianship.
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Joseph's pure conscience and natural law§2
Eustathius continues addressing Joseph directly, asking whether he kept his conscience pure toward his master and defended a natural law in himself, then contrasts this with the advice of Reuben and Judah.
2So were you managing to keep a pure conscience toward the one who had acquired you, not even willing to perform the deed so called by name, and choosing instead to defend the natural law in yourself? You were tested while practicing an extreme of self-control. Reuben and Judah gave the best advice—but it was different, for they were dealing with savage men.
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Simeon and Levi's taste for murder§3
Eustathius is contrasting Joseph's self-control with the violent habits of his brothers Simeon and Levi.
3For Simeon and Levi and their company had tasted murder in no small measure, and by now they had made a settled habit of the deed; they even longed to go creeping around the scent of blood.
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The boldness of Simeon and Levi in slaughtering the Shechemites§4
Eustathius is contrasting Joseph's self-control with the murderous boldness of his brothers Simeon and Levi, who slaughtered the Shechemites.
4They were such bold and reckless men that, like hunters on a scent, they slaughtered the Shechemites all alone, tribe by tribe (Genesis 34:25).
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