Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Genesis 37:36
And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, [and] captain of the guard.
36. Midianites ] Heb. Medanites. This verse, from E, resumes the narrative from Gen 37:29-30.
Potiphar ] An Egyptian name, denoting “the gift of Ra,” the sun-god. It appears as “Potiphera,” Gen 41:45, Gen 46:20. LXX , Lat. Putiphar, reproducing the Egyptian Pedephr = “he whom the sun-god gives.”
officer ] Lit. “eunuch.” Probably a word used to denote an official about the court. Heb. saris, LXX , Lat. eunuchus. Some Assyriologists prefer the derivation from a ri = “he who is the head.” But there seems to be no sufficient reason to call in question the meaning which the word has in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Arabic. The class to which the saris belonged has always infested Oriental courts, and the name was therefore likely to acquire a general significance as “a court official.” Cf. 2Ki 18:17 (Rab-saris); Jer 39:3; Jer 39:13; Dan 1:3.
Pharaoh ] i.e. the king of Egypt. The title, but not the personal name, of the sovereign: see note on Gen 12:15.
captain of the guard ] Heb. chief of the executioners, and, as such, having charge of the prisoners (Gen 40:3-4, Gen 41:12). Cf. “captain of the guard,” 2Ki 25:8; Jer 39:9; Jer 41:10; Jer 43:6; Jer 52:12; Dan 2:14. Another very possible rendering is “chief of the butchers” (cf. Gen 40:2, “chief of the bakers”), the officer over the men who killed the animals for the food of the king’s house, and one of the principal officials in an ancient court. The Heb. word in the sing. is “cook” in 1Sa 9:23-24, i.e. the man who killed the animal for food and cooked it.
If so, the rendering of the LXX , “head cook,” “head of the kitchen department,” is nearer the truth than that of the Lat. magister militum.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 36. Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s] The word saris, translated officer, signifies a eunuch; and lest any person should imagine that because this Potiphar had a wife, therefore it is absurd to suppose him to have been a eunuch, let such persons know that it is not uncommon in the east for eunuchs to have wives, nay, some of them have even a harem or seraglio where they keep many women, though it does not appear that they have any progeny; and probably discontent on this ground might have contributed as much to the unfaithfulness of Potiphar’s wife, as that less principled motive through which it is commonly believed she acted.
Captain of the guard.] sar kattabbachim, chief of the butchers; a most appropriate name for the guards of an eastern despot. If a person offend one of the despotic eastern princes, the order to one of the life-guards is, Go and bring me his head; and this command is instantly obeyed, without judge, jury, or any form of law. Potiphar, we may therefore suppose, was captain of those guards whose business it was to take care of the royal person, and execute his sovereign will on all the objects of his displeasure. Reader, if thou hast the happiness to live under the British constitution, be thankful to God. Here, the will, the power, and utmost influence of the king, were he even so disposed, cannot deprive the meanest subject of his property, his liberty, or his life. All the solemn legal forms of justice must be consulted; the culprit, however accused, be heard by himself and his counsel; and in the end twelve honest, impartial men, chosen from among his fellows, shall decide on the validity of the evidence produced by the accuser. For the trial by jury, as well as for innumerable political blessings, may God make the inhabitants of Great Britain thankful!
1. WITH this chapter the history of Joseph commences, and sets before our eyes such a scene of wonders wrought by Divine Providence in such a variety of surprising instances, as cannot fail to confirm our faith in God, show the propriety of resignation to his will, and confidence in his dispensations, and prove that all things work together for good to them that love him. Joseph has often been considered as a type of Christ, and this subject in the hands of different persons has assumed a great variety of colouring. The following parallels appear the most probable; but I shall not pledge myself for the propriety of any of them: “Jesus Christ, prefigured by Joseph, the beloved of his father, and by him sent to visit his brethren, is the innocent person whom his brethren sold for a few pieces of silver, the bargain proposed by his brother Judah, (Greek Judas,) the very namesake of that disciple and brother (for so Christ vouchsafes to call him) who sold his Lord and Master; and who by this means became their Lord and Saviour; nay, the Saviour of strangers, and of the whole world; which had not happened but for this plot of destroying him, the act of rejecting, and exposing him to sale. In both examples we find the same fortune and the same innocence: Joseph in the prison between two criminals; Jesus on the cross between two thieves. Joseph foretells deliverance to one of his companions and death to the other, from the same omens: of the two thieves, one reviles Christ, and perishes in his crimes; the other believes, and is assured of a speedy entrance into paradise. Joseph requests the person that should be delivered to be mindful of him in his glory; the person saved by Jesus Christ entreats his deliverer to remember him when he came into his kingdom.” – See Pascal’s Thoughts. Parallels and coincidences of this kind should always be received cautiously, for where the Spirit of God has not marked a direct resemblance, and obviously referred to it as such in some other part of his word, it is bold, if not dangerous, to say “such and such things and persons are types of Christ.” We have instances sufficiently numerous, legitimately attested, without having recourse to those which are of dubious import and precarious application. See the observation on Clarke “Ge 40:23“.
2. Envy has been defined, “pain felt, and malignity conceived, at the sight of excellence or happiness in another.” Under this detestable passion did the brethren of Joseph labour; and had not God particularly interposed, it would have destroyed both its subjects and its object, Perhaps there is no vice which so directly filiates itself on Satan, as this does. In opposition to the assertion that we cannot envy that by which we profit, it may be safely replied that we may envy our neighbour’s wisdom, though he gives us good counsel; his riches, though he supplies our wants; and his greatness, though he employs it for our protection.
3. How ruinous are family distractions! A house divided against itself cannot stand. Parents should take good heed that their own conduct be not the first and most powerful cause of such dissensions, by exciting envy in some of their children through undue partiality to others; but it is in vain to speak to most parents on the subject; they will give way to foolish predilections, till, in the prevailing distractions of their families, they meet with the punishment of their imprudence, when regrets are vain, and the evil past remedy.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Whose office it was to apprehend and punish criminal persons. See Gen 40:3; Jer 39:9; Mar 6:27.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And the Midianites sold him into Egypt,…. Or Medanites, who sprung from Medan, a brother of Midian, and son of Keturah, Ge 24:2; and were distinct from the Midianites, though they dwelt near them, and were now in company with them, and with the Ishmaelites, and were all concerned in the buying and selling of Joseph, and therefore this is sometimes ascribed to the one, and sometimes to the other:
unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh; the word is sometimes used for an eunuch, but cannot design one here, since Potiphar had a wife, and some say a child; but he either was a chamberlain, or however some officer at court, besides what follows:
[and] captain of the guard; of Pharoah’s guard, his bodyguard; some render it, “of the slaughterers” h; meaning either cooks or butchers, of whom he was the chief; or rather executioners, he having the charge of prisoners, and the care of executing them, like our sheriffs. Joseph was a most eminent type of Christ, and there are so many things in this chapter which show an agreement between them that cannot be passed over. Joseph was the son of his father’s old age, Christ the son of the Ancient of days; Joseph was in a peculiar manner beloved by his father, Christ is the dear son of his Father’s love; Jacob made for Joseph a coat of many colours, God prepared a body in human nature for Christ, filled and adorned with the various gifts and graces of the Spirit without measure. Joseph was hated by his brethren, and they could not endure to think he should have the dominion over them. The Jews, of whom Christ was according to the flesh, hated him, and would not have him to reign over them; Joseph was sent by his father a long journey to visit his brethren, and know the welfare of them and their flocks, Christ was sent from heaven to earth to seek and save the lost sheep of the house of Israel; Joseph’s brethren, when they saw him come to them, conspired to take away his life, the Jews, who were Christ’s own, when he came to them, received him not, but said, this is the heir, let us kill him, and they consulted to take away his life; Joseph was stripped of his clothes, and sold for twenty pieces of silver at the motion of Judah, and Christ, by one of the same name, was sold for thirty pieces of silver, and was stripped of his clothes by the Roman soldiers; Joseph was delivered into the hands of foreigners, and Christ into the hands of the Gentiles; Joseph being reckoned as dead by his father, and yet alive, may be herein an emblem of Christ’s death, and his resurrection from the dead.
h Sept. “principi coquorum”, Cartwright; so Josephus, “principi lanionum”, Pagninus, Montanus, “capitalium rerum praefecto”, Tigurine version.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
But Joseph, while his father was mourning, was sold by the Midianites to Potiphar, the chief of Pharaoh’s trabantes, to be first of all brought low, according to the wonderful counsel of God, and then to be exalted as ruler in Egypt, before whom his brethren would bow down, and as the saviour of the house of Israel. The name Potiphar is a contraction of Poti Pherah (Gen 41:50); the lxx render both or (vid., Gen 41:50). (eunuch) is used here, as in 1Sa 8:15 and in most of the passages of the Old Testament, for courtier or chamberlain, without regard to the primary meaning, as Potiphar was married. “ Captain of the guard ” (lit., captain of the slaughterers, i.e., the executioners), commanding officer of the royal body-guard, who executed the capital sentences ordered by the king, as was also the case with the Chaldeans (2Ki 25:8; Jer 39:9; Jer 52:12. See my Commentary on the Books of Kings, vol. i. pp. 35, 36, Eng. Tr.).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
36. And the Midianites sold him into Egypt It was a sad spectacle, that Joseph should be thus driven from one hand to another. For it added no small indignity to his former suffering, that he is set to sale as a slave. The Lord, however, ceased not to care for him. He even suffered him to be transferred from hand to hand, in order that, at length, it might indeed appear, that he had come, by celestial guidance, to that very dominion which had been promised him in his dreams. Potiphar is called a eunuch, not because he was one really; but because, among the Orientals, it was usual to denote the satraps and princes of the court by that name. The Hebrews are not agreed respecting the dignity which Moses ascribes to him; for some explain it as the “chief of the slaughterers,” (136) whom the Greek interpreters follow. But I rather agree with others, who say that he was “the prefect of the soldiers;” not that he had the command of the whole army, but because he had the royal troops under his hand and authority: such are now the captains of the guard, if you join with it another office which the prefects of the prison exercise. For this may be gathered from Gen 39:1 (137)
(136) The term applies primarily to butchers, who slaughter animals for food; then to persons who slaughter animals for sacrifice; and then to executioners who put men to the slaughter under the authority of the monarch or the state. — Ed.
(137) See Gen 37:20 The words rendered “prefects of the prison,” are praefecti hospitii — and in the French, Prevosts de l’hostel — perhaps, prefects of the town-house, or town-hall, would have been more correct. The expression in the original, שר-הטבחים, sar-hatabachim, means the captain of the executioners; that is, of the king’s body guard, whose office it was to inflict capital punishments; as in the Turkish court at present. — See Gesenius’ Lexicon. — Ed
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(36) Midianites.Heb., Medanites. (See Note on Gen. 37:25.)
Potiphar.Three chief interpretations are given of this name The first explains it by two Coptic words, according to which it would signify father of the king. This would make it an official name equivalent to prime minister or vizier. Gesenius considers it to be the same name as Potipherah (Gen. 41:50), and explains it as meaning consecrated to Ra, that is, the sun-god. Thirdly, Canon Cook, in the Excursus on Egyptian Words, at the end of Vol. I. of The Speakers Commentary, argues with much cogency, that it means father of the palace. This again would be an official name.
An officer.Though this word literally in Hebrew signifies an eunuch, yet either, as seems probable from other places, it had come to mean any officer of the palace, or Potiphar was chief of the eunuchs, and therefore is himself numbered among them.
Captain of the guard.Heb., chief of the slaughterers, by which the LXX. understand the slaughterers of animals for food, and translate chief cook. The other versions understand by it the commander of the kings body-guard, whose business it would be to execute condemned criminals. A comparison with 2Ki. 25:8, where the same title is given to Nebuzar-adan, proves that this interpretation is correct.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
36. Potiphar “A eunuch of Pharaoh: this is the primary meaning, although the word came afterwards to mean officer in general, since the officers about the royal person were usually eunuchs .
Captain of the guard Rendered literally in the margin, ‘chief of the executioners, chief marshall,’ an appropriate title for the officer who executed the arbitrary and summary sentences of the Pharaohs.” Newhall.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Gen 37:36. An officer of Pharaoh’s Pharaoh, as we have before observed, was the common name of the kings of AEgypt. The person here mentioned is said to have been captain of the guards Sar-hatabachim, chief of the slaughter-men or executioners, or captain of the guards; for princes anciently used not to have any other executioners than their own guards. Thus we find, as late as the time of Herod the tetrarch, that he sent , speculatorem, one of his guard, to behead John the Baptist, Mar 6:27. (margin of our English Bibles), Gen 40:3. 2Ki 8:10-11; Dan 2:14.Herodotus, lib. ii. 164 tells us, that of all the seven classes into which the AEgyptians were divided, the most noble, next to the priests, was that of the soldiers, who were sometimes 400,000 in number. This class was subdivided into two, out of whom 1000 were chosen yearly to serve for the king’s guards, each in his turn. If this regulation was so old as the patriarchal age, the chief commander of these 1000 was, probably, the officer here designated as the captain of the guard. See Le Clerc.
REFLECTIONS.The sons of Jacob made a plausible story: there was little or no room for suspicion; while the coat they sent indulged their revenge and aggravated Jacob’s sorrow. A thousand dire imaginations now rush in, and tear his heart with greater violence than the beast could the limbs of his supposed devoured Joseph. His sons pretend to comfort him; but, inconsolable in his sorrows, his heart refuses consolation, and he resolves to go down mourning to his grave. Note; 1. Immoderate love is generally punished with immoderate grief. I never observe the doating affection of a parent, but I tremble for the idol child. 2. Obstinate sorrow is very sinful, as it reflects on God’s goodness. 3. Many of our bitterest griefs have no more reality for their foundation than Jacob’s. Joseph still lives, though a bondman in AEgypt, in the house of Potiphar; and, disagreeable as his lot is, he blesses God it is no worse. Note; It is good to remember how much worse it might have been with us, as a means to reconcile us to every trial.
In this whole chapter, we have in Joseph a type of the Beloved Son of God, sent of his Father, rejected of his brethren, and sold by another Judas.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
REFLECTIONS
Reader! there are many practical reflections for the suppression of anger in its first appearance; and many useful improvements for the discountenancing partiality to children, which may be gathered from this Chapter, and which under grace you will do well to regard. But I turn aside from every other consideration, as of less moment, in order to follow up the evident intention of the HOLY GHOST in this Chapter, to behold him, whom the Patriarch Joseph plainly shadowed out in several striking circumstances of his character.
And did not GOD the FATHER send his beloved Son from the realms of bliss into this our world, to see if it were well with us, and how we fared? But though he came full of love and mercy, yet when he came unto his own, his own received him not. Did they not conspire against him? nay, why do I say did they not, have we not all by sin and by rebellion conspired against him, sold him into the hands of the Gentiles, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain him? Was he not stripped of his raiment, cast into the pit, and his grave made with the wicked in his death, because he had done no violence, neither was there any deceit found in his mouth! Oh! thou Almighty Joseph of thy brethren! give me grace to see that though thou hast been despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and I have, (like those unnatural brethren), hid as it were my face from thee; yet by the sovereignty of thy grace help me to see, that thou wert sent by GOD the FATHER, to look after and provide for my everlasting welfare. Thou art sent indeed before thy people, and to save their lives by a great deliverance. Hail, thou dear Redeemer! henceforth may the language of my heart be, blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Gen 37:36 And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, [and] captain of the guard.
Ver. 36. And the Midianites. ] Little knew Joseph what God was in doing. Have patience, till he have brought both ends together.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Potiphar = consecrated to Ra: one of the gods of lower Egypt.
captain of the guard. Compare 2Ki 25:8, 2Ki 25:11, 2Ki 25:20 had charge of police, as well as military duties. The whole Chapter is the Figure of speech Parecbasis (App-6).
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
the Midianites: Gen 37:28, Gen 25:1, Gen 25:2, Gen 39:1
officer: Heb. eunuch, But the word signifies not only eunuchs, but also chamberlains, courtiers, and officers. Est 1:10, Isa 56:3
captain: Or, chief marshal, Heb. chief of the slaughtermen, or executioners, Gen 39:1-23, Gen 40:4, 2Ki 25:8, *marg.
Reciprocal: Gen 17:13 – bought Gen 37:25 – Ishmeelites Gen 41:10 – captain Gen 41:12 – servant Deu 33:16 – and upon the top 1Sa 8:15 – officers 2Ki 8:6 – officer Psa 105:17 – Joseph Jer 39:9 – captain of the guard Jer 52:12 – captain of the guard Dan 2:14 – captain of the king’s guard Act 28:16 – captain Rom 7:14 – sold
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
37:36 And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an {l} officer of Pharaoh’s, [and] captain of the guard.
(l) Or “eunuch”, which does not always signify a man that is gelded, but also someone that is in some high position.