My wife and I have been reading Genesis together. I translate the Greek, and she corrects me from the NIV.
In the above sentence, I wasn’t sure what “σπάδοντι” was just by looking at it. Perhaps I could have guessed if I had noticed that derives from σπάω (II. “pluck off”), and it means “eunuch.” The Hebrew means the same thing.
However, I was sure of ἀρχιμαγείρῳ: chief cook. (NIV: “captain of the guard”) And the LSJ gives chief cook as its primary meaning, referring to this verse (I don’t know if the supplement corrects this). However the LSJ also references Daniel 2:14, where the same Greek word is used for an official doing decidedly not food-related things. For this meaning the LSJ gives “title of a great officer in Oriental courts,” which seems more appropriate for both versus.
I think that I recall a μάγειρος from Menander’s Dyskolos, who seemed to be a butcher with an important sacrificial function. Is this usage related?
The Hebrew words mean literally “chief of slaughterers”, but the Hebrew word for “slaughterers” is used elsewhere to mean “bodyguards” (2 Kings 25, Jeremiah 39, and the Aramaic equivalent in Daniel 2). Apparently the word is used to mean “cook” in 1 Samuel 9. Check my cites, however.
I’m often surprised at how good the language notes in the 1611 King James are. The two notes for this verse:
officer – Hebr. Eunuch. But the word doeth signifie not only Eunuches, but also Chamberlaines, Cortiers, and Officers.
captaine of the guard – Heb. chiefe of the slaughter men, or executioners || Or, chiefe Marshall
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So it strikes me that ἀρχιμάγειρος may be a too literal translation by the Septuagint translators. Here is how Josephus refers to the officer in Daniel: Ἀριόχῃ τῷ τὴν ἐπὶ τῶν σωματοφυλάκων τοῦ βασιλέως
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The description of Potiphar as Eunuch and Lord High Executioner would make this a very good folk tale.