Although she spoke to Joseph day after day: spoke does not convey adequately what she was doing. Therefore it will often be necessary to make her actions clear by saying, for example, “Although she kept on asking,” “… continued to tempt,” “… insisted.”

He would not listen to her, to lie with her: this double statement may be rendered more directly by saying “he refused to go to bed with her” or “he would not have sex with her.”

Or to be with her is omitted in some ancient versions. Note Good News Translation. Most modern versions keep this phrase. Revised English Bible have “or be in her company.” A suggested model translation for verse 10 is “Although she insisted day after day that Joseph sleep with her or keep her company, he refused to pay any attention to her.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .