Genesis 40 Joseph attended the cupbearer and the chief baker

seekeroftruth

Well-Known Member
Genesis 40:1 Some time later, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their master, the king of Egypt. 2 Pharaoh was angry with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, 3 and put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the same prison where Joseph was confined. 4 The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he attended them.​

I was going to put my theory in here.... then I read the commentary in biblestudytools.com. My thoughts almost.

The cup-bearer, but overseer of the royal vineyards, as well as the cellars; having, probably, some hundreds of people under him.
baker--or cook, had the superintendence of every thing relating to the providing and preparing of meats for the royal table.
Both officers, especially the former, were, in ancient Egypt, always persons of great rank and importance; and from the confidential nature of their employment, as well as their access to the royal presence, they were generally the highest nobles or princes of the blood.

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.

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 Psalms 37:5 ).​

Now I do have to add this.... Potiphar probably knew Joseph was innocent from the very beginning. After all, he was the Captain of the Guard.... not a small task. He had to present himself in a certain way. If word got out that his wife was a liar; if word got out that his wife was loose; that would never do. It would not only tarnish his marriage, but, it would tarnish his position.

Joseph, on the other hand, had been the spoiled son of a rich man. His own brothers had thrown him into a cistern. Then they sold him into slavery, and then he accused of rape and thrown into prison because he wouldn't sleep with a tramp. Now Joseph was a slave.

Now the butler [cupbearer] and the chief baker were thrown in prison. According to the commentary, these were men of great importance. Potiphar had to assign them a slave. He chose Joseph.

:coffee:
 
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