Genesis 40:2

Summary

Genesis 40:2 reports that Pharaoh became angry at two of his officials, specifically the chief cupbearer and the chief baker. The verse identifies these two officials by their court functions before the narrative continues.

Key words

• yiqtzof ("he was angry", H7107) — qal verb in narrative form (marked by the preceding va, H9001), indicating a sequential action: "and then he became angry."
• Par'oh ("Pharaoh", H6547H) — masculine singular title, functioning as the subject of the verb.
• sarisav ("his officials", H5631) — masculine plural noun in construct form ("officials of"), joined to the pronominal suffix -o ("his", H9023), yielding "his officials."
• sar ("chief of", H8269) — masculine singular noun in construct form, appearing twice (words 9 and 14), each time linking to a following noun to specify a particular office ("chief of the X").
• mashqim ("cupbearers", H4945A) — hiphil participle, masculine plural, meaning literally "those who cause to drink," used here as a title for the court role.

What the text says

The verse opens with a narrative vav (va, H9001) attached to the verb yiqtzof ("he was angry", H7107), a qal form that continues the sequence of the story: "and Pharaoh became angry." The subject Par'oh ("Pharaoh", H6547H) follows immediately. The object of Pharaoh's anger is introduced by the preposition 'al ("towards", H5921A), governing shenei sarisav ("two of his officials") — a construct phrase where shenei ("two of", H8147) is a dual cardinal number in construct with sarisav ("officials", H5631), the latter bearing the suffix "his."

The next two phrases specify who these two officials are, each introduced again by 'al ("towards", H5921A). The construct noun sar ("chief of", H8269) is used twice, each time forming a construct chain with a following plural noun: sar ha-mashqim ("chief of the cupbearers") and sar ha-'ofim ("chief of the bakers", H0644). The participle mashqim ("cupbearers", H4945A) is a hiphil form, literally describing agents who cause others to drink, while 'ofim ("bakers", H0644) is a plain plural noun. The repeated construct structure (sar + definite plural noun) mirrors the parallel structure of the two offices being named.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders sarisav ("his officials", H5631) as εὐνούχοις ("eunuchs"), a specific reading not explicit in the Hebrew noun itself, which simply denotes "officials." The Vulgate restructures the verse into a parenthetical clause ("nam alter pincernis præerat, alter pistoribus" — "for one was in charge of the cupbearers, the other of the bakers"), explaining the roles rather than following the Hebrew's repeated construct-chain format with sar.