Charged Joseph with them: the captain of the guard is responsible for the two detained officials, but he “appointed [gave the job to] Joseph” to be with them and to serve them. Some commentators make the point that this brought Joseph down from being a supervisor of all the prisoners to being a slave of these two officials of the king. One translation that makes this clear says “he made Joseph the slave of those two, to care for them.” This episode reveals the continuing conflict in young Joseph’s life, and how God is preparing the way to a greater resolution of his situation through these adverse circumstances.

They continued for some time in custody is literally “They were many days in custody.” We may translate, for example, “They had to stay there for some time” or “The king made them stay in the jailer’s house for a long time.”

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .