Genesis 37:36. The Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh’s, and captain of the guard.
Literally, “captain of the executioners.” He was responsible for the safekeeping of state prisoners, and for the execution of sentence upon them. In cases of treason he sometimes executed the sentence himself. He was the official guardian of the person of the king—the chief of his bodyguard.
The king of Babylon had a similar officer in his service. See 2 Kings 25:8; Jeremiah 39:13; Daniel 2:14. In the ruins of the hall of judgment of the palace at Khorsabad, Assyria, there is on the wall a representation of a naked man with limbs stretched out, and arms and ankles fastened to the floor or table, while a tall, bearded man is in the act of flaying him alive. This is supposed to be “the chief of the executioners” engaged at his horrid work; and some commentators interpret the expression “cut in pieces,” in Daniel 3:29, to refer to this act of flaying alive. See also Micah 3:3.