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 שׂראּהטבחים 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 σπεκουλατωρα, speculatorem, one of his guard, to behead John the Baptist, Mark 6:27. (margin of our English Bibles), Genesis 40:3. 2 Kings 8:10-11; Daniel 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.