Genesis 40:4

 Genesis 40:4

 And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he served them: and they continued a season in ward.

a. NASB 1995: The captain of the bodyguard put Joseph in charge of them, and he [fn]took care of them; and they were in confinement for [fn]some time.  [New American Standard Bible 1995 (NASB1995) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.]

b. NKJV:  And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he served them; so they were in custody for a while. [Scripture quotations marked "NKJV" are taken from the New King James Version®, Copyright© 1982, Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.]

c. Classic Amplified: And the captain of the guard put them in Joseph’s charge, and he served them; and they continued in custody for some time.  [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

d. Stone Edition Torah/Prophets/Writings: The Chamberlain of the Butchers appointed Joseph  to be with them, and he attended them and they remained in the ward for a period of days. [The Artscroll Series/Stone Edition, THE TANACH--STUDENT SIZE EDITION Copyright 1996, 1998 by Mesorah Publications, Ltd.]

e. ESV: The captain of the guard appointed Joseph to be with them, and he attended them. They continued for some time in custody.  [Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

f. Unless otherwise stated, all Greek and Hebrew definitions are from Blue Letter Bible

1. And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he served them: and they continued a season in ward.

a. [And the] captain [Strong: 8269 sar, sar; from H8323; a head person (of any rank or class):—captain (that had rule), chief (captain), general, governor, keeper, lord,(-task-)master, prince(-ipal), ruler, steward.]

b. [of the] guard [Strong: 2876 ṭabbâch, tab-bawkh'; from H2873; properly, a butcher; hence, a lifeguardsman (because he was acting as an executioner); also a cook (usually slaughtering the animal for food):—cook, guard.]

1). John MacArthur: Potiphar: he was a prominent court official, and a high ranking officer in Egypt, perhaps,captain of the royal bodyguard…His name, a most unusual grammatical form for that period, either meant, “the one whom the god Ra has given” or “the one who was placed on earth by Ra.” Making it a descriptive epithet more than a personal name.

2). John MacArthur: If this was Potiphar, captain of the guard, then joseph’s former master directed him to attend to the two royal servants remanded into his custody until sentence was passed. This prison was also called, “the house of the captain of the guard”(Genesis 40:3),  “his lord’s house” (Genesis 40:7), and “dungeon” (Genesis 40:15). Unless Joseph had been moved to another penal facility. 

c. charged [Strong: 6485 pâqad, paw-kad'; a primitive root; to visit (with friendly or hostile intent); by analogy, to oversee, muster, charge, care for, miss, deposit, etc.:—appoint, × at all, avenge, bestow, (appoint to have the, give a) charge, commit, count, deliver to keep, be empty, enjoin, go see, hurt, do judgment, lack, lay up, look, make, × by any means, miss, number, officer, (make) overseer, have (the) oversight, punish, reckon, (call to) remember(-brance), set (over), sum, × surely, visit, want.]

d. Joseph [Strong: 3130 Yôwçêph, yo-safe'; future of H3254; let him add (or perhaps simply active participle adding); Joseph, the name of seven Israelites:—Joseph.]

e. [with] them] [Strong: 854 ʼêth, ayth; probably from H579; properly, nearness (used only as a preposition or an adverb), near; hence, generally, with, by, at, among, etc.:—against, among, before, by, for, from, in(-to), (out) of, with. Often with another prepositional prefix.]

f. [and he] served [Strong: 8334 shârath, shaw-rath'; a primitive root; to attend as a menial or worshipper; figuratively, to contribute to:—minister (unto), (do) serve(-ant, -ice, -itor), wait on.]

g. them [Strong: 853 'eth ayth apparent contracted from 226 in the demonstrative sense of entity; properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely):--(as such unrepresented in English).]

h. [and they] continued [Strong: 1961 hâyâh, haw-yaw; a primitive root (compare H1933); to exist, i.e. be or become, come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary):—beacon, × altogether, be(-come), accomplished, committed, like), break, cause, come (to pass), do, faint, fall, follow, happen, × have, last, pertain, quit (one-) self, require, × use.]

i. [a] season [Strong: 3117 yôwm, yome; from an unused root meaning to be hot; a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb):—age, always, chronicals, continually(-ance), daily, ((birth-), each, to) day, (now a, two) days (agone), elder, × end, evening, (for) ever(-lasting, -more), × full, life, as (so) long as (... live), (even) now, old, outlived, perpetually, presently, remaineth, × required, season, × since, space, then, (process of) time, as at other times, in trouble, weather, (as) when, (a, the, within a) while (that), × whole ( age), (full) year(-ly), younger.]

j. [in] ward [Strong: 4929 mishmâr, mish-mawr'; from H8104; a guard (the man, the post or the prison); a deposit (figuratively); also (as observed) a usage (abstractly), or an example (concretely):—diligence, guard, office, prison, ward, watch.]