According to Taberî, this verse narrates Joseph and the woman running towards the door: Joseph fled from the woman's immoral request, and the woman tried to pull him back, tearing his garment from behind. This situation shows that Joseph was the one fleeing and the woman was the one making the demand. When they met the woman's husband (master, that is, her spouse) at the door, the woman, fearing her husband would accuse her of immorality, blamed Joseph and demanded that he be punished.

فقدته من دبر، يعني: شقته من خلف لا من قدام، لأن يوسف كان هو الهارب وكانت هي الطالبة

According to Zemahşerî, the phrase 'and they raced to the door' is explained through the style of omission (omission of the preposition and the verb being directly connected to the place); Joseph's garment tore during this race as he fled from the woman. The woman calling her husband 'my master' indicates that Joseph was not truly her master in a master-slave relationship, and that ownership was not valid. Zemahşerî further notes that the woman, when her husband saw that suspicious situation, devised a trick both to clear herself and to threaten Joseph, aiming to make him comply with her wishes.

لما اطلع منها زوجها على تلك الهيئة المريبة وهي مغتاظة على يوسف إذ لم يؤاتها جاءت بحيلة جمعت فيها غرضيها : وهما تبرئة ساحتها عند زوجها من الريبة والغضب على يوسف

According to this exegete, Joseph fled towards the door while the woman tried to catch him from behind; the two raced to reach the door, and the woman asked her husband for imprisonment or painful punishment for Joseph. However, the text indicates that the subtleties in the woman's statement stemmed from her intense love for Joseph; therefore she mentioned imprisonment before torment, and she used a general expression rather than stating a definitive judgment. The exegete also lists many signs of evidence (indications) showing Joseph's truthfulness, thereby demonstrating that the woman was guilty and Joseph was innocent.

وثانيها : أن حبها الشديد ليوسف حملها على رعاية دقيقتين في هذا الموضع وذلك لأنها بدأت بذكر السجن ، وأخرت ذكر العذاب ، لأن المحب لا يسعى في إيلام المحبوب

According to Kurtubî, this verse is an example of the Qur'an's miraculous conciseness; because many meanings such as Joseph's fleeing, Zulaykha's catching him, the tearing of the garment from behind, and the presence of a witness are gathered together in a brief statement. Furthermore, the text contains linguistic differences in words like 'raced', 'certainly', 'at all', and also includes legal reasoning based on analogy and custom regarding whether the garment was torn from the front or from behind; the ruling that Maliki jurists derived from this verse is an example of this.

وهذا من اختصار القرآن المعجز الذي يجتمع فيه المعاني وذلك أنه لما رأى برهان ربه هرب منها فتعاديا هي لترده إلى نفسها وهو ليهرب عنها

According to Ibn Kathir, these expressions describe the real situation during Joseph's (peace be upon him) accusation process: The woman threatened to have him beaten severely and painfully. In response, Joseph defended his rights, demonstrating that he was innocent of the betrayal accusation directed at him, and spoke as someone truthful and honest. The text also contains brief explanations regarding the meanings of the words 'immoral' and 'imprisoned'.

فعند ذلك انتصر يوسف عليه السلام بالحق وتبرأ مما رمته به من الخيانة

According to Beydâwî, Joseph fled from the woman and turned towards the door; the woman caught him from behind to prevent him from leaving and pulled his garment from behind, and in this way the garment was torn. When they encountered her husband at the door, the woman's statement was intended to embellish her lie that he fled from her, to clear herself in front of her husband, and to incite her husband against Joseph in order to take revenge on him.

وذلك أن يوسف فر منها ليخرج وأسرعت وراءه لتمنعه الخروج. وقدت قميصه من دبر اجتذبته من ورائه فانقد قميصه