Genesis 40:3

Gen 40:3 And he put them in ward in the house of the captain of the guard, into the prison, the place where Joseph [was] bound.

Ver. 3. And he put them in ward, &c.] See the slippery estate of courtiers: today in favour, tomorrow in disgrace; as Haman; Sejanus, whom the same senators conducted to the prison, who had accompanied him to the senate. They which sacrificed unto him, as to their god, which kneeled down to adore him, now scoffed at him, seeing him dragged from the temple to the jail, from supreme honour to extreme ignominy. His greatest friends were most passionate against him, &c., they would not once look at him; as men look not after sundials, longer than the sun shines upon them. {a}

The place where Joseph was bound.] Here was a "wheel within a wheel," {Eze 1:16} a sweet providence; that these obnoxious officers should be sent to Joseph’s prison.

{a} Tacit.

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.

God worketh many wonderful means to deliver his.

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

Pharaoh put them in ward, &c.--Whatever was their crime, they were committed, until their case could be investigated, to the custody of the captain of the guard, that is, Potiphar, in an outer part of whose house the royal prison was situated.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 3. Where Joseph was bound.] The place in which Joseph was now confined; this is what is implied in being bound; for, without doubt, he had his personal liberty. As the butler and. the baker were state criminals they were put in the same prison with Joseph, which we learn from the preceding chapter, Ge 39:20, was the king's prison. All the officers in the employment of the ancient kings of Egypt were, according to Diodorus Siculus, taken from the most illustrious families of the priesthood in the country; no slave or common person being ever permitted to serve in the presence of the king. As these persons, therefore, were of the most noble families, it is natural to expect they would be put, when accused, into the state prison.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(3, 4) In the house of the captain of the guard.—That is, of Potiphar. As he is said to have charged Joseph with the care of these two high officials, he must, ere this, have become aware of his innocence. But as the wife in ancient times in Egypt was endowed with all the husband’s property, and was a formidable person, as we learn from many of the records now being translated and published, Potiphar may not have wished to offend her.

He served them.—Used only of light service. (See Note on Gen_39:4.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3. in ward] Cf. Gen_40:4; Gen_40:7. An old English expression; cf. Shakespeare, 2 Hen. VI, v. i.:

“I know, ere they will have me go to ward,

They’ll pawn their swords for my enfranchisement.”

He committed them for safe keeping, while the enquiry into the charges against them went on.

captain of the guard] See note on Gen_37:36.

the prison] = “the round house,” as in Gen_39:20. This clause seems to have been introduced, in order to harmonize the tradition of Joseph’s position in the house of the “captain of the guard” with the account of his imprisonment in Gen_39:20-23.

According to E, Pharaoh placed his two officials in confinement, but not in the prison, in the keeping of the “captain of the guard.”

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 he put them in ward in the house of the captain of the guard,.... Who is generally thought to be Potiphar, since this was the office he was in, Gen 39:1; unless he was dead, and there was another put into his room, or there were more than one in the same office:

into the prison, the place where Joseph was bound; that is, where he had been bound, and where he was still a prisoner, though not fettered and in that close confinement he had been in.

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

Commander. Putiphar. (Calmet) --- Prisoner, though his chains were struck off. (Menochius)

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).

The captain of the guard, to wit, Potiphar, Gen 37:36, who being informed by his underkeeper of Joseph’s great care and faithfulness, began to have a better opinion of him, though for his own quiet, and his wife’s reputation, he left him still in the prison.

Where Joseph was bound; was a prisoner, as that word is used, Isa 22:3; for Joseph being now made governor of the prisoners, was doubtless freed from his bonds: or had been bound, and that with irons in a cruel manner, Psa 105:18.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

3. Captain of the guard — Or, chief of the executioners, whose dwelling was within a part of the prison.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And he put them in ward (or in custody) in the house of the captain of the guard,i.e. Potiphar (vide Gen_37:36) into the prison, literally, house of enclosure (vide Gen_39:20) the place where Joseph was bound. The word rwsa; from rsa; to make fast by binding, seems to corroborate the Psalmist"s assertion (Psa_105:18) that Joseph had been laid in iron and his feet hurt with fetters; but this could only have been temporarily (vide vers. 4, 6).

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

מקום אשר יוסף אסור שם, the Torah had to write this so that we understand how these prisoners came to tell Joseph their dreams, the dreams which became instrumental in Joseph being released from prison, eventually. The word מקום here is in a construct mode to the word אשר. Hence we have only a sheva under the letter מ instead of the full vowel kametz. Similar constructions are found in Job 18,21 מקום לא ידע א-ל, “a place for people who did not know G’d. (no kametz under the מ in the word מקום. The same applies to Isaiah 8,6 ומשוש את רצין, where the word משוש does not have the vowel kametz under the letter מ as it is in a construct mode to רצין בן רמליהו.

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.