Genesis 40:2

Gen 40:2 And Pharaoh was wroth against two [of] his officers, against the chief of the butlers, and against the chief of the bakers.

Ver. 2. And Pharaoh was wroth, &c.] That had been enough to have broke their hearts: as a frown from Augustus did Cornelius Gallus; and another from Queen Elizabeth did Lord Chancellor Hatton. {a}

“ Ut mala nulla feram, nisi nudam Caesaris iram

Nuda parum nobis Caesaris ira mali est? ”

saith Ovid. And again,

“ Omne trahit secum, Caesaris ira, malum. ”

{a} Carmd., Elis., fol. 406.

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.

Or, eunuchs, the word signifieth them, that were in high estate, or them that were gelded.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

2. his … officers] Lit. “his eunuchs”; see note on Gen_37:36.

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.

And Pharaoh was wroth against two of his officers,.... The same above mentioned:

against the chief of the butlers, and against the chief of the bakers; for as there were several butlers and bakers that belonged unto him, who were employed in providing wine and food for him, there was one of each who was over the rest; and as their business was to see that those under them did their work well, when they were faulty the principal officers were answerable for it: wherefore, if in this case they had not been guilty of anything criminal themselves personally, yet they might have neglected to look after those that were under them, and so were culpable, and drew upon them the wrath and resentment of their lord and sovereign.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

And, &c. Hebrew, "Pharao was enraged against two of his officers; against the chief of the butlers," &c. Mashkim. St. Jerome translates this word procurator domus, "steward of the house," chap. xv. 2. No slave was entrusted with these high offices in the courts of Egypt and of Persia.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

AGAINST TWO ‘SARISAV’ (OF HIS EUNUCHS). These two lords were both castrates, for as they also acted as the chiefs of the butlers and bakers in the women’s quarters in the royal apartments, the kings would customarily castrate them. Onkelos’ opinion though is that sarisim means lords and chiefs. Thus he says of Potiphar, who is called sris par’oh, “the officer of Pharaoh,” and in the present verse he similarly translates, “against his two officers.” And so did the Targum Yonathan translate: And they shall be ‘sarisim’ in the palace of the king of Babylon.

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

ויקצף, the Torah appears to have unnecessarily repeated the words על שר המשקים ועל שר האופים, seeing that they had both been mentioned already in the previous verse. What the Torah wanted us to know was that Pharaoh was not angry at the actual people who had committed a misdemeanour, but at their supervisors who had allowed such a thing to happen. Joseph attended to the needs of these supervisors as he had been assigned to attend to only the highest ranking prisoners.

Radak on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash” (CC BY 4.0); “Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology” (CC BY 4.0); and “R. David Kimhi on the first book of Psalms, Translated by R.G. Finch, London, 1919” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.