The Fallible · Synthetic · Study Bible
The Cupbearer and the Baker
Genesis 40:1–23 — The Cupbearer and the Baker. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.
1Some time later, the king’s cupbearer and baker offended their master, the king of Egypt.
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
way·hî ’a·ḥar had·də·ḇā·rîm hā·’êl·leh miṣ·ra·yim me·leḵ- maš·qêh wə·hā·’ō·p̄eh ḥā·ṭə·’ū la·’ă·ḏō·nê·hem lə·me·leḵ miṣ·rā·yim
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-it-came-to-pass, after these the-words, the-king-of-Egypt’s cupbearer and-the-baker sinned against-their-lord, against-the-king of-Egypt.”
Where the English smooths the original
the butler—not only the cup-bearer, but overseer of the royal vineyards, as well as the cellars; having, probably, some hundreds of people under him. baker—or cook, had the superintendence of every thing relating to the providing and preparing of meats for the royal table. Both officers, especially the former, were, in ancient Egypt, always persons of great rank and importance; and from the confidential nature of their employment, as well as their access to the royal presence, they were generally the highest nobles or princes of the blood.
on the tombs at Beni-hassan, which are anterior to the time of Joseph, on those at Thebes, and on the Pyramids, are representations of vines grown in every way, except that usual in Italy, festooned on trees; there is every process of the vintage, grapes in baskets, men trampling them in vats, various forms of presses for squeezing out the juice, jars for storing itEllicott answers the higher-critical claim that Egypt grew no vines; the monuments, he argues, refute it.
We should not have had this story of Pharaoh’s butler and baker recorded in Scripture, if it had not been serviceable to Joseph’s preferment. The world stands for the sake of the church, and is governed for its good.
committed some fault, at least were accused of one, which raised his displeasure at them. The Targum of Jonathan says, that they consulted to put poison into his drink and food; which, it is not improbable, considering their business and office, they might be charged with
2Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker,
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par·‘ōh way·yiq·ṣōp̄ ‘al šə·nê sā·rî·sāw ‘al śar ham·maš·qîm wə·‘al śar hā·’ō·w·p̄îm
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-was-wroth Pharaoh against two-of his-officers, against the-chief-of the-cupbearers and-against the-chief-of the-bakers.”
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an office once filled by Nehemiah in the Court of Persia ( Nehemiah 1:11 ), and Rabshakeh (Aramaic for "chief of the cupbearers") in the Court of Assyria ( 2 Kings 18:17 ) - and against the chief of the bakers . Oriental monarchs generally had a multitude of butlers and bakers, or cupbearers and Court purveyors, the chiefs in both departments being invested with high honor, and regarded with much trust
there was one of each who was over the rest; and as their business was to see that those under them did their work well, when they were faulty the principal officers were answerable for it: wherefore, if in this case they had not been guilty of anything criminal themselves personally, yet they might have neglected to look after those that were under them
his … officers ] Lit. “his eunuchs”
3and imprisoned them in the house of the captain of the guard, the same prison where Joseph was confined.
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way·yit·tên ’ō·ṯām bə·miš·mar bêṯ śar ha·ṭab·bå̄·ḥīm bêṯ has·sō·har ’el- mə·qō·wm ’ă·šer yō·w·sêp̄ ’ā·sūr šām
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-he-put them in-custody, in-the-house-of the-captain-of the-slaughterers, into the-house-of the-round-house, the-place where Joseph was-bound there.”
Where the English smooths the original
the place where {a} Joseph was bound. (a) God works in many wonderful ways to deliver his own.
Where Joseph was bound; was a prisoner, as that word is used, Isaiah 22:3 ; for Joseph being now made governor of the prisoners, was doubtless freed from his bonds: or had been bound, and that with irons in a cruel manner, Psalm 105:18 .
imprisoned in "the prison of the house of the captain of the trabantes, the prison where Joseph himself was confined;" the state-prison, according to Eastern custom, forming part of the same building as the dwelling-house of the chief of the executioners.
the prison ] = “the round house,” as in Genesis 39:20 . This clause seems to have been introduced, in order to harmonize the tradition of Joseph’s position in the house of the “captain of the guard” with the account of his imprisonment in Genesis 39:20-23 .Cambridge reads the verse through the documentary hypothesis; weigh the source-critical claim against the text.
4The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he became their personal attendant. After they had been in custody for some time,
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śar haṭ·ṭab·bā·ḥîm ’eṯ- way·yip̄·qōḏ ’it·tām yō·w·sêp̄ way·šā·reṯ ’ō·ṯām way·yih·yū bə·miš·mār yā·mîm
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-set the-captain-of the-slaughterers Joseph with-them, and-he-ministered-to them; and-they-were days in-custody.”
Where the English smooths the original
From a regard to the exalted position of these two prisoners, Potiphar ordered Joseph to wait upon them, not to keep watch over them; for את פּקד does not mean to appoint as guard, but to place by the side of a person.
Potiphar himself, who, it would seem, was by this time satisfied of the perfect innocence of the young Hebrew; though, probably, to prevent the exposure of his family, he deemed it prudent to detain him in confinement
The captain of the guard — Namely, Potiphar, Genesis 37:36 , who, probably being informed by his under-keeper of Joseph’s great care and faithfulness, began to have a better opinion of him, although for his own quiet and his wife’s reputation, he left him still in prison.
A season, Heb. days, i.e. either many days, or a year, as that word sometimes signifies.
5both of these men—the Egyptian king’s cupbearer and baker, who were being held in the prison—had a dream on the same night, and each dream had its own meaning.
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šə·nê·hem ’îš miṣ·ra·yim ’ă·šer lə·me·leḵ ham·maš·qeh wə·hā·’ō·p̄eh ’ă·šer ’ă·sū·rîm bə·ḇêṯ has·sō·har way·ya·ḥal·mū ḥă·lō·wm ḥă·lō·mōw ’e·ḥāḏ ’îš bə·lay·lāh ḥă·lō·mōw kə·p̄iṯ·rō·wn
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-they-dreamed a-dream, both-of-them, each-man his-dream in-one night, each-man according-to-the-interpretation of-his-dream — the-cupbearer and-the-baker who belonged-to-the-king of-Egypt, who were-bound in-the-house-of the-round-house.”
Where the English smooths the original
on the same night, these two prisoners had each a peculiar dream, "each one according to the interpretation of his dream;" i.e., each one had a dream corresponding to the interpretation which specially applied to him.
each man according to the interpretation of his dream ( i.e. each dream corresponded exactly, as the event proved, to the interpretation put on it by Joseph, which was a second remarkable circumstance, inasmuch as it showed the dreams to be no vain hallucinations of the mind, but Divinely-sent foreshadowings of the future fortunes of the dreamers)
every dream had his interpretation, as the thing afterward declared.
each man his dream in one night; which made it the more remarkable, and the more impressed their minds, concluding from hence there must be something of importance in their dreams
6When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were distraught.
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yō·w·sêp̄ way·yā·ḇō ’ă·lê·hem bab·bō·qer way·yar ’ō·ṯām wə·hin·nām zō·‘ă·p̄îm
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-came Joseph to-them in-the-morning, and-he-saw them, and-behold-they-were downcast.”
Where the English smooths the original
It was not so much the prison that made the butler and baker sad, as their dreams. God has more ways than one to sadden the spirits. Joseph had compassion towards them. Let us be concerned for the sadness of our brethren's countenances. It is often a relief to those that are in trouble to be noticed.
It was not the prison that made them sad; they were pretty well used to that, but the dream; God has more ways than one to sadden the spirits of those that are to be made sad.
Perplexed and terrified both, because they perceived the dream was extraordinary and sent from God; compare Genesis 41:8 Daniel 2:1 Matthew 27:19 ; and because they understood not the meaning of it.
There was a general belief in dreams, as a means of conveying supernatural information. In the case of these two officers, their anxiety as to their fate added to the desire to learn the meaning of the strange dreams which had so deeply impressed them.
7So he asked the officials of Pharaoh who were in custody with him in his master’s house, “Why are your faces so downcast today?”
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way·yiš·’al ’eṯ- sə·rî·sê p̄ar·‘ōh ’ă·šer ḇə·miš·mar ’it·tōw ’ă·ḏō·nāw lê·mōr bêṯ mad·dū·a‘ pə·nê·ḵem rā·‘îm hay·yō·wm
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-he-asked the-officers-of Pharaoh who were-with-him in-the-custody-of his-lord’s house, saying, Why are-your-faces evil today?”
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They were sad - anxious to know the meaning of these impressive dreams. "Why are your forces bad today?" Joseph keeps up his character of frank composure.Barnes' note (his text reads "forces" for "faces," preserved verbatim).
as they were officers, who had been in lucrative places, they lived well and merrily, and expected very probably they should be released in a short time, nothing appearing against them; but now there was a strange alteration in them, which was very visible to Joseph
look ye so sadly ] Lit. “are your faces bad,” cf. Nehemiah 2:2 .
8“We both had dreams,” they replied, “but there is no one to interpret them.” Then Joseph said to them, “Don’t interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.”
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ḥă·lō·wm ḥā·lam·nū way·yō·mə·rū ’ê·lāw ’ên ’ō·ṯōw ū·p̄ō·ṯêr yō·w·sêp̄ way·yō·mer ’ă·lê·hem hă·lō·w piṯ·rō·nîm lê·lō·hîm sap·pə·rū- nā lî
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-they-said to-him, A-dream we-dreamed, and-interpreter there-is-none of-it. And-said Joseph to-them, Do-not interpretations belong-to-God? Tell, I-pray, to-me.”
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Do not interpretations belong to God? — He means the God whom he worshipped, to the knowledge of whom he endeavours hereby to lead them. And if interpretations belong to God, he is a free agent, and may communicate the power to whom he pleases, therefore tell me your dreams.
In Egypt it was the business of men trained for the purpose, called in Genesis 41:8 , magicians and wise men, to interpret dreams, and to such the butler and baker could have no access from their prison. But Joseph denies that art and training can really avail, and claims that the interpretation belongs to God.
Joseph's request implies that the consciousness of his Divine calling to be a prophet had begun to dawn upon him, and that he was now speaking from an inward conviction, doubtless produced within his mind by Elohim, that he could unfold the true significance of the dreams.
Joseph claims that the interpretation of dreams is neither science nor magic. The man, to whom God reveals His secrets, alone can interpret them. He himself does not pretend to interpret. But, possibly, God may make use of His servant to make known His mind
9So the chief cupbearer told Joseph his dream: “In my dream there was a vine before me,
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śar- ham·maš·qîm ’eṯ- way·sap·pêr lə·yō·w·sêp̄ ḥă·lō·mōw way·yō·mer lōw ba·ḥă·lō·w·mî wə·hin·nêh- ḡe·p̄en lə·p̄ā·nāy
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-told the-chief-of the-cupbearers his-dream to-Joseph, and-said to-him, In-my-dream, and-behold a-vine before-me.”
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In my dream, behold, a vine was before me—The visionary scene described seems to represent the king as taking exercise and attended by his butler, who gave him a cooling draught.
He listened to what Joseph said, and paid a regard to it, and began to think he might be able to interpret his dream, and therefore was forward, and the first to tell him it at once; whereas the chief baker did not seem disposed to do it, until he observed the good interpretation given of the butler's dream
a vine ( gephen , from the unused root gaphan , to be bent, a twig, hence a plant which has twigs, especially a vine; cf. Judges 9:13 ; Isaiah 7:43; Isaiah 24:7) before me .
10and on the vine were three branches. As it budded, its blossoms opened and its clusters ripened into grapes.
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ū·ḇag·ge·p̄en šə·lō·šāh śā·rî·ḡim wə·hî ḵə·p̄ō·ra·ḥaṯ niṣ·ṣāh ‘ā·lə·ṯāh ’aš·kə·lō·ṯe·hā hiḇ·šî·lū ‘ă·nā·ḇîm
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-on-the-vine three branches; and-it as-budding, came-up its-blossom, ripened its-clusters into-grapes.”
Where the English smooths the original
The dream combines, as it were, in a moment the successive stages, by which the vine first budded and blossomed, then brought forth grapes, the grapes ripened, and their juice was transformed into wine. Things will happen in a dream which do not admit of a scientific explanation.
its clusters ripened into grapes. And Pharaoh's cup was in my hand; and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup, and gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand." In this dream the office and duty of the royal cup-bearer were represented in an unmistakeable manner
all which is agreeably to the order nature observes, from the first putting forth of the vine, to its producing ripe fruit; and which in this dream immediately followed one another
11Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, squeezed them into his cup, and placed the cup in his hand.”
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par·‘ōh wə·ḵō·ws bə·yā·ḏî wā·’eq·qaḥ ’eṯ- hā·‘ă·nā·ḇîm wā·’eś·ḥaṭ ’ō·ṯām ’el- par·‘ōh kō·ws wā·’et·tên ’eṯ- hak·kō·ws ‘al- par·‘ōh kap̄
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-Pharaoh’s cup in-my-hand; and-I-took the-grapes and-pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and-I-gave the-cup upon Pharaoh’s palm.”
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It is the Egyptian cup-bearer, who, using the idiom of his own country, speaks of placing the cup upon Pharaoh’s palm, the reason being that Egyptian cups had no stems, but were flat bowls or saucers, held in the very way which the cup-bearer describes.
the particular details must not be so forced as to lead to the conclusion, that the kings of ancient Egypt drank only the fresh juice of the grape, and not fermented wine as well. The cultivation of the vine, and the making and drinking of wine, among the Egyptians, are established beyond question by ancient testimony and the earliest monuments
The cupbearer did not squeeze grapes into his master’s cup in order to make wine. He squeezed, and at once the cup was full of wine. This is one of the fancies occurring in a dream. Dream-land is true to experience, and yet possesses, here and there, odd fantastic features.
12Joseph replied, “This is the interpretation: The three branches are three days.
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yō·w·sêp̄ way·yō·mer lōw zeh piṯ·rō·nōw šə·lō·šeṯ haś·śā·ri·ḡîm šə·lō·šeṯ yā·mîm hêm
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-said to-him Joseph, This is-its-interpretation: the-three branches, three days they-are.”
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the three branches are three days; signify three days, or, as Jarchi expresses it, are a sign of three days; which Joseph could know only by divine revelation; for there is no more likeness between branches and days, than between them and months or years, and bid as fair to signify one as the other, if the interpretation depended on similarity, or bare conjecture.
i.e. Signify three days. So that word is oft used, as Genesis 40:18 41:26,27 Da 2:38 4:22 Matthew 13:19 ,38 26:26,28 Lu 8:11 1 Corinthians 10:4 . And indeed there is no proper Hebrew word which answers to signify.
He was reassured by the spirit of God, that his interpretation was true.
13Within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore your position. You will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, just as you did when you were his cupbearer.
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bə·‘ō·wḏ šə·lō·šeṯ yā·mîm p̄ar·‘ōh ’eṯ- yiś·śā rō·še·ḵā wa·hă·šî·ḇə·ḵā ‘al- kan·ne·ḵā wə·nā·ṯa·tā par·‘ōh ḵō·ws- bə·yā·ḏōw kam·miš·pāṭ hā·ri·šō·wn ’ă·šer hā·yî·ṯā maš·qê·hū
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“In-yet three days Pharaoh will-lift-up your-head and-restore-you upon your-base; and-you-will-give Pharaoh’s cup into-his-hand, according-to-the-former-custom when you-were his-cupbearer.”
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Lift up thy head — Raise thee from thy state of dejection and sorrow, and advance thee to thy former dignity; for in this sense, the same phrase is used, 2 Kings 25:27 , and Psalm 110:7 .
The three branches were three days, in which time Pharaoh would restore him to his post again ("lift up his head," i.e., raise him from his degradation, send and fetch him from prison, 2 Kings 25:27 ).
Lift up thine head, i.e. advance thee to thy former dignity. So that phrase is used 2 Kings 25:27 Psalm 110:7 . Or, reckon thy head, i.e. thy name or thy person, to wit, among his servants, which is added, Genesis 40:20 .
14But when it goes well for you, please remember me and show me kindness by mentioning me to Pharaoh, that he might bring me out of this prison.
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kî ’im- ka·’ă·šer yî·ṭaḇ lāḵ nā zə·ḵar·ta·nî ’it·tə·ḵā wə·‘ā·śî·ṯā- ‘im·mā·ḏî ḥā·seḏ wə·hiz·kar·ta·nî ’el- par·‘ōh wə·hō·w·ṣê·ṯa·nî min- haz·zeh hab·ba·yiṯ
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“But if you-remember-me with-you when it-goes-well for-you, then-do, I-pray, with-me kindness (ḥesed), and-mention-me to Pharaoh, and-bring-me-out from this house.”
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and though Joseph knew by his own dreams that he should be raised from his low estate to a very high and advanced one, yet he thought proper, in a dependence on God, to make use of all lawful means for his deliverance; nor is he to be blamed, as if he sought help of man and not of God
He does not refuse the method of deliverance which he thought God had appointed.
Though he patiently endures his prison, yet he prudently useth all lawful means to get his freedom.
Joseph claims no reward for his interpretation beyond that of an act of kindness.
15For I was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing for which they should have put me in this dungeon.”
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kî- ḡun·nōḇ gun·naḇ·tî mê·’e·reṣ hā·‘iḇ·rîm wə·ḡam- pōh ‘ā·śî·ṯî lō- mə·’ū·māh kî- śā·mū ’ō·ṯî bab·bō·wr
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“For stolen, I-was-stolen from the-land-of the-Hebrews; and-also here I-have-done nothing that they-should-put me in-the-pit.”
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Joseph here speaks only generally, as his purpose was to arouse the sympathy of the Egyptian by making him know that he was free born, and reduced to slavery by fraud. It would have done harm rather than good to have said that his sale was owing to family feuds; and, moreover, noble-minded men do not willingly reveal that which is to the discredit of their relatives.
"Stolen, stolen was I." He assures him that he was not a criminal, and that his enslavement was an act of wrongful violence - a robbery by the strong hand. "From the land of the Hebrews;" a very remarkable expression, as it strongly favors the presumption that the Hebrews inhabited the country before Kenaan took possession of it.
In Joseph’s mouth the phrase is an anachronism, even if it means the whole region in which the Hebrew races of Israel, Ishmael, Moab, Ammon, and Edom, were establishing themselves.A source-critical claim; Pulpit and Gill argue the contrary (cf. Genesis 14:13; 39:14). Weigh it against the text.
16When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was favorable, he said to Joseph, “I too had a dream: There were three baskets of white bread on my head.
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śar- hā·’ō·p̄îm way·yar kî pā·ṯār ṭō·wḇ way·yō·mer ’el- yō·w·sêp̄ ’ă·nî ’ap̄- ba·ḥă·lō·w·mî wə·hin·nêh šə·lō·šāh sal·lê ḥō·rî ‘al- rō·šî
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-saw the-chief-of the-bakers that he-interpreted good, and-he-said to-Joseph, I-too in-my-dream — and-behold three baskets-of white-bread upon my-head.”
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In the opening words, "I too," the baker points to the resemblance between his dream and the cup-bearer's. The resemblance was not confined to the sameness of the numbers-three baskets of white bread, and three branches of the vine-but was also seen in the fact that his official duty at the court was represented in the dream.
Meaning not that it was right and just, though it was; but that it was agreeable and pleasing, and portended good in the event; and therefore hoped a like interpretation would be given of his dream, and this encouraged him to tell it, which perhaps otherwise he would not have done
The “bakemeats” were all preparations of pastry and confectionery, as throughout the Bible meat does not mean flesh, but food. (Comp. Luke 24:41 ; John 21:5 .) On my head. —The Egyptian men carried Burdens on their heads; the women on their shoulders (Herod. ii. 35).
That is made of white twigs, or as some read, baskets full of holes.
17In the top basket were all sorts of baked goods for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.”
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hā·‘el·yō·wn ū·ḇas·sal mik·kōl ’ō·p̄eh ma·’ă·ḵal par·‘ōh ma·‘ă·śêh wə·hā·‘ō·wp̄ ’ō·ḵêl ’ō·ṯām min- has·sal mê·‘al rō·šî
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-in-the-uppermost basket of-all-kinds-of food-for Pharaoh, the-work-of-a-baker; and-the-bird eating them out-of the-basket from-upon my-head.”
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All sorts of pastry, as tarts, pies, &c. Josephus (b) says, two of the baskets were full of bread, and the third had various sorts of food, such as is usually, prepared for kings
"On my head." It appears from the monuments of Egypt that it was the custom for men to carry articles on their heads. "All manner of baked meats" were also characteristic of a corn country.
The birds, darting down upon the food and carrying it off, doubtless seemed of evil augury; cf. the appearance of the birds in Genesis 15:11 . It was like a nightmare! The baker found himself powerless to frighten the birds away.
18Joseph replied, “This is the interpretation: The three baskets are three days.
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yō·w·sêp̄ way·yō·mer way·ya·‘an zeh piṯ·rō·nōw šə·lō·šeṯ has·sal·lîm šə·lō·šeṯ yā·mîm hêm
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-answered Joseph and-said, This is-its-interpretation: the-three baskets, three days they-are.”
Where the English smooths the original
And Joseph answered and said (with what reluctance and pathos may be imagined), This is the interpretation thereof (the exposition was supplied by God, and, however willing or anxious Joseph might be to soften its meaning to his auditor, he could not deviate a hair's-breadth from what he knew to be the mind of God)
He shows that the ministers of God should not conceal that, which God reveals to them.
It was not Joseph's fault that he brought the baker no better tidings. And thus ministers are but interpreters; they cannot make the thing otherwise than it is: if they deal faithfully, and their message prove unpleasing, it is not their fault.
19Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head and hang you on a tree. Then the birds will eat the flesh of your body.”
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Hebrew — tap a word ↓
bə·‘ō·wḏ šə·lō·šeṯ yā·mîm p̄ar·‘ōh ’eṯ- yiś·śā rō·šə·ḵā mê·‘ā·le·ḵā wə·ṯā·lāh ’ō·wṯ·ḵā ‘al- ‘êṣ hā·‘ō·wp̄ ’eṯ- wə·’ā·ḵal bə·śā·rə·ḵā mê·‘ā·le·ḵā
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“In-yet three days Pharaoh will-lift-up your-head from-upon-you, and-will-hang you on a-tree; and-the-bird will-eat your-flesh from-upon-you.”
Where the English smooths the original
From off thee. This clause is industriously added here to the former phrase, to show that it was now meant in another sense. He shall indeed lift up thy head, as well as the chief butler’s, but in another manner, not for time, but from thee, or so as to take away thy head or thy life (which eminently consists and appears in the head) from thee.
In Genesis 40:13 the lifting up of the butler’s head meant his elevation to his former rank. Here there is the significant addition “from off thee,” implying that he would be beheaded, and his body publicly exposed to ignominy.
The language of Joseph describes minutely one form of capital punishment that prevailed in Egypt; namely, that the criminal was decapitated and then his headless body gibbeted on a tree by the highway till it was gradually devoured by the ravenous birds.
“from off thee” shews that it means here “decapitation,” not (see note on Genesis 40:13 ) “he will release thee from imprisonment, in order to be executed.” For the word-play, which uses the same word in two senses, cf. Genesis 27:39 .
20On the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, he held a feast for all his officials, and in their presence he lifted up the heads of the chief cupbearer and the chief baker.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
way·hî haš·šə·lî·šî bay·yō·wm par·‘ōh yō·wm hul·le·ḏeṯ ’eṯ- way·ya·‘aś miš·teh lə·ḵāl ‘ă·ḇā·ḏāw bə·ṯō·wḵ ‘ă·ḇā·ḏāw way·yiś·śā ’eṯ- rōš śar ham·maš·qîm wə·’eṯ- rōš śar hā·’ō·p̄îm
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-it-came-to-pass on-the-third day, the-day-of Pharaoh’s-being-born, that-he-made a-feast for-all his-servants; and-he-lifted-up the-head-of the-chief-cupbearer and the-head-of the-chief-baker in-the-midst-of his-servants.”
Where the English smooths the original
Joseph's interpretation of the dreams came to pass on the very day fixed. On Pharaoh's birth-day, all his servants attended him, and then the cases of these two came to be looked into.
A birthday feast cannot be without a chief butler and a chief baker, and hence, the fate of these criminals must be promptly decided. "Lifted up the head;" a phrase of double meaning.
Proclamations of amnesty on royal birthdays have been universal. They can be illustrated from the royal proclamations preserved in Egyptian inscriptions. The title “Pharaoh” (= Egypt. Pr‘ô , “Great House”) is constantly used without a personal surname before the 22nd Dynasty
More probably the words are used to point out the exact fulfilment of Joseph’s interpretation of their dreams.
21Pharaoh restored the chief cupbearer to his position, so that he once again placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
way·yā·šeḇ ’eṯ- śar ham·maš·qîm ‘al- maš·qê·hū way·yit·tên hak·kō·ws ‘al- par·‘ōh kap̄
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“And-he-restored the-chief-of the-cupbearers to his-cupbearing, and-he-gave the-cup upon Pharaoh’s palm.”
Where the English smooths the original
and he gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand; ministered to him in his office the same day, according to his dream and the interpretation of it
And he restored the chief butler unto his butlership again; and he gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand (literally, Set the cup upon Pharaoh's psalm )The Pulpit text reads "psalm" — an old printer's slip for "palm"; preserved verbatim.
Pharaoh gave his servants a feast, and lifted up the heads of both the prisoners, but in very different ways. The cup-bearer was pardoned, and reinstated in his office; the baker, on the other hand, was executed.
Calmet has observed, that, as Joseph was a type of Christ, so these two officers of Pharaoh point out the two thieves between whom he was crucified; our Lord pardoning the one and condemning the other, as Joseph predicted the butler’s restoration to his office, and the baker’s execution.Benson reports Calmet's typology; offered as a reading to test, not asserted as the verse's plain sense.
22But Pharaoh hanged the chief baker, just as Joseph had described to them in his interpretation.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
wə·’êṯ tā·lāh śar hā·’ō·p̄îm ka·’ă·šer yō·w·sêp̄ pā·ṯar lā·hem
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“But the-chief-of the-bakers he-hanged, just-as Joseph had-interpreted to-them.”
Where the English smooths the original
as Joseph had interpreted to them; the events as to both answered to the interpretation Joseph had given of their several dreams.
Pharaoh gave his servants a feast, and lifted up the heads of both the prisoners, but in very different ways. The cup-bearer was pardoned, and reinstated in his office; the baker, on the other hand, was executed.
the issue happened to the butler and baker, as Joseph had foretold. Doubtless, he felt it painful to communicate such dismal tidings to the baker; but he could not help announcing what God had revealed to him; and it was for the honor of the true God that he should speak plainly.
23The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot all about him.
Berean Standard Bible · CC0
Hebrew — tap a word ↓
śar- ham·maš·qîm ’eṯ- wə·lō- zā·ḵar yō·w·sêp̄ way·yiš·kā·ḥê·hū
Literal — word-for-word from the original
“Yet the-chief-of the-cupbearers did-not-remember Joseph, and-he-forgot-him.”
Where the English smooths the original
The chief butler remembered not Joseph, but forgot him. Joseph had deserved well at his hands, yet he forgot him. We must not think it strange, if in this world we have hatred shown us for our love, and slights for our kindness. See how apt those who are themselves at ease are to forget others in distress. Joseph learned by his disappointment to trust in God only.
although reflecting no credit on the butler, it was wisely ordered in the providence of God that he should forget him. The divine purposes required that Joseph should obtain his deliverance in another way, and by other means.
a specimen this of the friendship of the world, and a true sample of the disappointment which they will meet with who rely on it!
These words are an artistic conclusion to this interesting section. The chief butler’s forgetfulness, in the enjoyment of his own good fortune, (1) is sadly natural; (2) increases our sympathy with Joseph; (3) heightens the expectation of the reader as to the manner of his deliverance.
The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.
AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.
The chapter opens the way Hebrew narrative always does — way·hî, “and it came to pass” — stitching itself directly onto Joseph’s imprisonment in chapter 39. Two of the highest officers in Egypt, śar ham·mašqîm and śar hā’ôp̄îm, the chief cupbearer and chief baker, have sinned (ḥāṭə’ū) against their lord. Benson catches the providential frame at once: “We should not have had this story… recorded in Scripture, if it had not been serviceable to Joseph’s preferment. The world stands for the sake of the church, and is governed for its good.” They are committed to the house of the captain of the guard — śar haṭṭab̄āḥîm, literally the captain of the slaughterers — the same household, Keil & Delitzsch note, where “Joseph himself was confined.” And there the providence shows its hand: Potiphar “ordered Joseph to wait upon them, not to keep watch over them” (K&D), for the verb pāqa&dbar; ’eṯ means “to place by the side of a person.” The slave who once kept Potiphar’s house now ministers (šāraṯ) to royal prisoners — the same verb of honorable service that elsewhere describes Joshua before Moses and the priests before the LORD.
“Each man his dream in one night” — Gill marks the marvel, “which made it the more remarkable.” The narrator insists each dream came kəp̄iṯrônô, “according to its interpretation,” using piṯrôn, a word found nowhere in the Hebrew Bible outside this Joseph cycle. Pulpit reads the same point: the dreams were “no vain hallucinations of the mind, but Divinely-sent foreshadowings.” When Joseph finds the two men zō‘ăp̄îm — troubled, Poole says, “because they perceived the dream was extraordinary and sent from God” — he does not seize the moment for himself. He asks. And to the prisoners’ lament that “there is no interpreter,” he answers with the theological center of the whole chapter: “Do not interpretations belong to God?” Ellicott sharpens it — in Egypt dream-reading was the trade of “magicians and wise men,” but “Joseph denies that art and training can really avail.” Cambridge presses it further: the gift is “neither science nor magic. The man, to whom God reveals His secrets, alone can interpret them.” Joseph claims no power; he points past himself to ’Elōhîm — the same confession Daniel will make before Babylon (Daniel 2:28).
The cupbearer tells his dream first — “forward, and the first to tell” (Gill) — a vine (ĝe&p̄en) with three tendrils (śārîĝim), budding, blossoming, and ripening all in a dream’s instant, “true to experience, and yet… odd fantastic features” (Cambridge). The imagery is the man’s own office: he presses the grapes — śāḥaṭ, a verb that occurs only here — and sets the cup “upon Pharaoh’s palm.” Ellicott’s eye for the undesigned detail is striking: Egyptian cups “had no stems, but were flat bowls or saucers, held in the very way which the cup-bearer describes.” Joseph reads it at once, “reassured by the spirit of God” (Geneva): three branches, three days, and restoration. Then comes the human cry of v. 14 — “remember me… and show me ḥesed” — which Geneva defends: Joseph “does not refuse the method of deliverance which he thought God had appointed.” Encouraged that the first reading was “good,” the baker tells his — three baskets, and the birds eating from the top one. Joseph answers in words built to match v. 13 exactly, then break it: “Pharaoh will lift up your head… from off you.” Poole catches the craft: “This clause is industriously added… to show that it was now meant in another sense.” The same idiom; the opposite fate. And Joseph, Henry insists, was no more than a faithful messenger: “ministers are but interpreters; they cannot make the thing otherwise than it is.”
“Joseph’s interpretation… came to pass on the very day fixed” (Henry). On Pharaoh’s birthday — yôm hul·le&dbar;eṯ, “the day of being born,” an occasion Cambridge ties to attested Egyptian birthday amnesties — the king “lifted up the head” of both, the one phrase resolving at last into life for the cupbearer and death for the baker, “in very different ways” (K&D). The fulfillment is exact, and that exactness is the point: “the exact accordance with the fulfilment was a miracle wrought by God” (K&D). Then the chapter’s last and bitterest word: “Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph… he forgot him.” The very verb of Joseph’s plea (zāḵar, v. 14) returns negated, and a second verb of forgetting is heaped on top. JFB find the providence even here: “it was wisely ordered… that he should forget him. The divine purposes required that Joseph should obtain his deliverance… by other means.” Barnes adds the consolation the chapter withholds: “there is One above who does not forget him.” The man who read God’s word truly is left, two more years, to be remembered by God alone.
Read under the rule that Scripture alone is the final authority, three things stand out from Genesis 40 — offered as a reading to be tested, not a verdict to be trusted. First, revelation belongs to God, not to technique. The hinge of the chapter is Joseph’s question, “Do not interpretations belong to God?” Against an Egypt full of professional dream-readers, the text locates true meaning not in trained craft but in the God who gives it — and gives it through a servant who claims nothing for himself. The pattern is not the magician but the prophet who points away from his own gift. Second, the Word, once given, is fixed, and faithfulness means delivering it whole. Joseph “could not deviate a hair’s-breadth from what he knew to be the mind of God” (Pulpit); Henry’s verdict is that “ministers are but interpreters; they cannot make the thing otherwise than it is.” The good news for the cupbearer and the death-sentence for the baker came from the same mouth, because both came from the same God. Third, providence runs underneath human failure. The cupbearer’s forgetting is real ingratitude — and it is also, JFB argue, the very means by which God reserves Joseph’s rise for His own timing. The believer is freed, as Henry says, to “trust in God only”: to use lawful means without leaning on them, because the One who remembers is faithful when men forget. Test all of this against the text; keep what the Word supports.
Joseph read every dream truly and was forgotten by every man — so that when he rose, all Egypt would know the rising was God’s.
AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.
The rare vocabulary of the prison dream — ḥālam/ḥălôm (“dream”), layil (“night”), and above all piṯrôn (“interpretation”) — resurfaces verbatim two years later when the cupbearer finally remembers Joseph and recounts the episode to Pharaoh. Piṯrôn occurs in only five verses in the whole Hebrew Bible, all in this Joseph cycle; its recurrence is the verbal hinge on which Joseph’s deliverance turns.
Genesis 40:5 · Genesis 41:11
basis: shared rare lexeme H6623 pithrôwn (in only 5 vv, all Genesis 40–41), plus H2492 châlam (25 vv), H2472 chălôwm (55 vv), H3915 layil (223 vv) — Verifier-computed
The cupbearer’s vine has three śārîĝim, “tendrils / branches” — a word so rare it appears in only three verses in all of Scripture. One of the other two is Joel’s lament that the invading nation has “stripped bare” the LORD’s vine and “made its branches white.” The shared pair ĝe&p̄en (“vine”) and śārîg (“tendril”) is a genuine verbal link in the language of vine and vintage.
Genesis 40:10 · Joel 1:7
basis: shared rare lexeme H8299 sârîyg (in only 3 vv) + H1612 gephen (in 53 vv) — Verifier-computed; a rare shared lexeme, not a quotation claim, but the rarity warrants the verbal tier
Joseph reads the cupbearer’s restoration as Pharaoh “lifting up his head” (nāśā’ rō’š). The identical idiom closes the books of Kings, where Evil-merodach “lifted up the head” of Jehoiachin and released him from prison — the same gesture of royal favor to a long-held captive. Benson, Poole, Keil & Delitzsch, and Cambridge all cite the parallel by name.
Genesis 40:13 · 2 Kings 25:27
basis: shared lexemes H7218 rôʼsh (547 vv) + H5375 nâsâʼ (612 vv) forming the idiom 'lift up the head'; common lexemes, so a shared idiomatic motif (release from prison with favor), not a rare-word quotation — Verifier-computed
The baker’s sentence — tālāh…‘êṣ, “hang…on a tree” — reuses the same verb-and-noun pair Deuteronomy legislates: a body “hanged on a tree” is under God’s curse and must not remain overnight. Keil & Delitzsch read the baker’s fate straight onto the statute: Joseph foretells that Pharaoh will “hang thee on the stake” — the body after execution — and K&D cites “Deuteronomy 21:22-23” on the spot; Pulpit cross-references the same law by name. The phrase becomes one of the deepest veins in Scripture, reaching to Galatians 3:13 (treated under “Christ in the Unit”). Honest downgrade: the draft tiered this “verbal,” but the Verifier classes it structural / thematic — tālāh stands in 27 verses, short of the rarity that lets piṯrôn (5) and sārîg (3) earn the verbal tier, and ‘êṣ is very common. This is the strongest structural link in the unit — a fixed legal-execution collocation — but not a rare-word quotation, so it is tiered down.
Genesis 40:19 · Deuteronomy 21:22 · Deuteronomy 21:23
basis: shared lexemes H8518 tâlâh (in 27 vv) + H6086 ʻêts (in 288 vv) forming the fixed phrase 'hang on a tree' — Verifier-computed as structural/thematic, NOT verbal: tâlâh at 27 vv is not rare enough for the verbal tier (cf. pithrôwn 5 vv, sârîyg 3 vv) and ʻêts is common. Downgraded from the draft's overclaim; remains the strongest structural link in the unit (a fixed idiom of legal execution), not a rare-lexeme quotation.
Joseph’s one request, zāḵar·ta·nî (“remember me,” v. 14), is answered by its own negation in v. 23 — the cupbearer “did not remember,” and a second verb, way·yiš·kā·ḥê·hū (“and he forgot him”), is heaped on top. Poole hears in that forgetting the gravest of biblical echoes: it is, he says, the same word used “as men in Scripture are oft said to forget God, when they do not remember him so as to love and obey him” (Psalm 106:13, 21). The thread then runs into chapter 41, where the same cluster of words (zāḵar, mašqeh, śar) returns as the cupbearer at last says, “I remember my faults this day.” The chapter’s tragic close is the seed of its resolution.
Genesis 40:14 · Genesis 40:23 · Genesis 41:9
basis: shared lexemes H2142 zâkar (223 vv), H4945 mashqeh (rare, 18 vv), H8269 sar (368 vv) between 40:23 and 41:9 — Verifier-computed; a verbal-motif link of remembering/forgetting, internal to the Joseph narrative
Joseph’s confession before Egypt — “Do not interpretations belong to God?” — is matched by Daniel before Babylon: “there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries.” Both Hebrews in a foreign court refuse the diviner’s role and ascribe all revelation to God; the verse-note voices on 40:8 draw the very parallel (Pulpit cites Daniel 2:11, 28, 47, and Joseph’s use of the general name ’Elōhîm before pagans mirrors Daniel’s). Because Daniel 2:28 stands in the book’s Aramaic section, the link cannot rest on a shared Hebrew lexeme at all; it is a purely argued thematic parallel. Honest flag: the Verifier returns no shared original-language lexeme — its own label is “flagged — verify source.” We keep the thread because the motif is real and commentator-attested, but the reader should know there is zero verbal basis: this rests on argued theology, not word-identity, and should be tested as such.
Genesis 40:8 · Daniel 2:28
basis: Verifier: 'no shared original-language lexeme found in the index — connection, if any, is thematic/structural and must be argued, not asserted.' Daniel 2:28 is in the Aramaic section, so no Hebrew-Hebrew lexical link is even possible. The parallel (an exiled Hebrew in a pagan court ascribing all dream-interpretation to God) is genuine and drawn by the historic commentators, but it is purely argued theology with no verbal/lexical foundation — flagged, per the Verifier, rather than asserted as a confirmed structural link.
AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.
Benson reports the old reading of Calmet: “as Joseph was a type of Christ, so these two officers of Pharaoh point out the two thieves between whom he was crucified; our Lord pardoning the one and condemning the other, as Joseph predicted the butler’s restoration… and the baker’s execution.” The figure is suggestive — one man lifted to life, one to death, by the word of the appointed interpreter — and it is offered as a reading to weigh against the text, not as the verse’s plain sense. Joseph, innocent and condemned, ministering to the guilty in their prison, has long been seen as a shadow of Christ among sinners.
Genesis 40:21 · Genesis 40:22 · Luke 23:39 · Luke 23:43
The baker is “hanged on a tree” (tālāh…‘êṣ), the very phrase Deuteronomy marks as the sign of one under God’s curse (21:22–23). Paul gathers that law to the cross: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us — for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’” (Galatians 3:13). The verbal road from Genesis 40 runs through Deuteronomy to Calvary. As a Hebrew-to-Greek link this cannot be a shared-lexeme “verbal” thread; it is a typological reading along the “tree” motif — ancient and widely held, and to be tested against Scripture.
Genesis 40:19 · Deuteronomy 21:23 · Galatians 3:13
The chapter ends in human forgetting; Barnes answers it with the gospel hope: “there is One above who does not forget him.” Matthew Henry presses the type explicitly — Joseph “had but foretold the chief butler’s enlargement, but Christ wrought out ours; he mediated with the King of Kings for us; yet we forget him.” The forgotten deliverer in the dungeon foreshadows the Mediator who is so often forgotten by the very people He saves, and who remembers His own to the end.
Genesis 40:23 · Luke 23:42 · Hebrews 7:25
The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.
Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:
The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). The named voices are quoted verbatim from public-domain commentaries, attributed in place: Charles Ellicott (Commentary for English Readers, 1878), Joseph Benson (Commentary on the Old and New Testaments, 1810s), Matthew Henry (Concise Commentary, 1706), Albert Barnes (Notes on the Bible, 1834), Jamieson–Fausset–Brown (1871), Matthew Poole (Annotations, 1685), John Gill (Exposition, 1746–63), the Geneva Study Bible marginalia (1599), the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (1880s), the Pulpit Commentary (Spence & Exell, 1880s), and Keil & Delitzsch (1860s). Spurgeon’s Treasury of David covers the Psalms, not Genesis, so he is rightly absent here. The Hebrew is the Masoretic tradition; transliterations, parsings, the literal renderings, and the “where the English smooths the Hebrew” notes are this tool’s own work (⚙) — check them against a lexicon (BDB, HALOT) and a grammar. Two honest cautions specific to this unit: (1) Several voices read Genesis 40 through the documentary hypothesis (Cambridge on vv. 3, 15 especially); those source-critical claims are quoted because they are part of the historic conversation, but they are claims to weigh, not settled facts — the Pulpit Commentary and Gill argue the contrary on “the land of the Hebrews,” and the FSSB leaves the dispute visible rather than smoothing it. (2) The Christ-readings here (Joseph and the two thieves; the gibbet and the cross) are typological — the “two thieves” figure is a patristic-and-later reading reported by Calmet, and the cross-Testament links to Galatians and the Gospels cannot rest on shared Hebrew lexemes; they are argued figures, marked as such, to be tested against the text. (3) On the cross-references: two threads carry a genuine verbal badge because they turn on rare shared lexemes — piṯrôn (“interpretation,” 5 verses, all Genesis 40–41) tying the prison-dreams to 41:11, and sārîg (“tendril,” 3 verses) tying the cupbearer’s vine to Joel 1:7. The “hanged on a tree” link to Deuteronomy 21:22–23 was downgraded in this pass from verbal to structural: the Verifier classes tālāh (27 verses) below the rare-word bar, so it is the strongest fixed-idiom structural thread, not a quotation. The Joseph–Daniel parallel (40:8 / Daniel 2:28) is flagged: the Verifier finds no shared original-language lexeme — Daniel 2 is Aramaic — so it rests on argued theology alone, kept for its value but marked “verify source.” “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)
✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)