The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he took care of them. They stayed in prison many days.
Parallel Translations
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The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he took care of them. They stayed in prison many days.
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And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he served them: and they continued a season in ward.
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And the captain of the guard charged Joseph to be with them, and he ministered unto them; and they continued a season in ward.
Cross-references (4)
Passages linked to Genesis 40:4 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Genesis 37:36 The Midianites sold him into Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, the captain of the guard.
- Genesis 39:1 Joseph was brought down to Egypt. Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, the captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him from the hand of the Ishmaelites that had brought him down there.
- Genesis 39:21-23 But Yahweh was with Joseph, and showed kindness to him, and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. The keeper of the prison committed to Joseph’s hand all the prisoners who were in the prison. Whatever they did there, he was responsible for it. The keeper of the prison didn’t look after anything that was under his hand, because Yahweh was with him; and that which he did, Yahweh made it prosper.
- Psalms 37:5 Commit your way to Yahweh. Trust also in him, and he will do this:
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (11 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Gen 40:4 And the captain of the guard charged…
Gen 40:4 And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he served them: and they continued a season in ward.
Ver. 4. And the captain of the guard, &c.] This was Potiphar probably: who by this time saw his own error, and Joseph’s innocency; yet kept him still in prison, perhaps to save his wife’s honesty. Truth is the daughter of Time; {a} it wil1 not always lie hid. Splendet cure obscuratur; vincit cum opprimitur, Hinc, ut Pacis templum in media urbe extruxerunt olim Romani, ita Veritatis statuam in suis urbibus olim coluerunt Aegyptii. {b}
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{a} The word Aληθεια is from α and ληθειν
{b} Caseus, in Ethic
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain A season, Heb. days, i.e. either many days, or…
A season, Heb. days, i.e. either many days, or a year, as that word sometimes signifies. See Gen 24:55.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with…
And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them,.... Committed them to his care and custody, he being very probably recommended to him by the keeper of the prison for his prudence and fidelity; and if it was Potiphar, he knew his character full well, and might be now reconciled unto him, as having had a more full and clear account of the affair between him and his wife from the keeper of the prison; and therefore though he might not think fit for his own and his wife's reputation to remove him from prison as yet, nevertheless might be inclined to do him what service he could, as well as honour, as this was, to have two such state prisoners committed to his care. Some render it, "he committed Joseph with them" (x); to be with them, as Jarchi interprets it; they were put together, not merely for the sake of company, but that Joseph might wait upon them, which might be beneficial as well as creditable, as it follows:
and he served them; he ministered unto them, and brought them every thing they wanted:
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and they continued a season in ward; or "days" (y); some certain days, many days, a year, as Jarchi and Ben Gersom interpret it, and which is sometimes the use of the word. The story of the butler and baker is told, partly to show the divine faculty of interpreting dreams Joseph was possessed of; and partly to observe the remarkable steps in Providence, though secret, towards his advancement in Pharaoh's court.
(x) "et commisit Josephum cum eis", Junius & Tremellius. (y) "per annum", Pagninus, Vatablus, Schmidt.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain The captain of the guard, which was Potiphar, charged…
The captain of the guard, which was Potiphar, charged Joseph with them - Which intimates that he began now to be reconciled to him.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 4. They continued a season] ימים yamim, literally…
Verse 4. They continued a season] ימים yamim, literally days; how long we cannot tell. But many suppose the word signifies a complete year; and as Pharaoh called them to an account on his birthday, Ge 40:20, Calmet supposes they had offended on the preceding birthday, and thus had been one whole year in prison.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Gen 40:4-5. The captain of the guard — Namely,…
Gen 40:4-5. The captain of the guard — Namely, Potiphar, Gen 37:36, who, probably being informed by his under-keeper of Joseph’s great care and faithfulness, began to have a better opinion of him, although for his own quiet and his wife’s reputation, he left him still in prison.
According to the interpretation of his dream — By Joseph. The dream and the interpretation answered each other.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain The captain of the guard charged Joseph with them--not…
The captain of the guard charged Joseph with them--not the keeper, though he was most favorably disposed; but Potiphar himself, who, it would seem, was by this time satisfied of the perfect innocence of the young Hebrew; though, probably, to prevent the exposure of his family, he deemed it prudent to detain him in confinement (see Psa 37:5).
They continued a season in ward--literally, "days," how long, is uncertain; but as they were called to account on the king's birthday, it has been supposed that their offense had been committed on the preceding anniversary [CALVIN].
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 4. Charged Joseph with them — Being royal officers,…
4. Charged Joseph with them — Being royal officers, it would be natural to charge a Hebrew slave to serve them, though he had charge of all the prison. Gen_39:22.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 4. charged Joseph with them] i.e. put them under…
4. charged Joseph with them] i.e. put them under the care of Joseph, who is to be in attendance on them, not as a fellow-prisoner, but as a servant in his master’s house. Compare the words of “the chief butler” in Gen_41:12 (also from E), “there was with us there a young man, an Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard.” This is different from the idea given in Gen_39:22, where he is a prisoner, and appointed by the “keeper of the prison” to look after the other prisoners.
a season] Lit. “days.”
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with…
And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them (literally, set Joseph with them, i.e. as a companion or servant; to wait upon them, since they were high officers of State, not to keep watch over them as criminals), and he served them (i.e. acted as their attendant): and they continued a season in ward (literally, and they were days, i.e. an indefinite period, in prison).
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 They remained in custody for some time
They remained in custody for some time
"They remained in prison for a long time"
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translationWords
dream
interpret
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.