1. And what wonder? if the lusts of the soul, after participation with what is beautiful, are frustrated,
2. on this ground, therefore, the temperate Joseph is praised in that by reasoning, he subdued, on reflection, the indulgence of sense.
3. For, although young, and ripe for sexual intercourse, he abrogated by reasoning the stimulus of his passions.
4. And it is not merely the stimulus of sensual indulgence, but that of every desire, that reasoning is able to master.
5. For instance, the law says, You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor anything that belongs to your neighbor.