Genesis 40:23 | 77
But while Jo seph was there in the pris on, 21 the Lord was with him; he showed him kind ness and grant ed him fa vor in the eyes of the pris on war den. 22 So the war den put Jo seph in charge of all those held in the pris on, and he was made re spon si ble for all that was done there. 23 The warden paid no at ten tion to any thing un der Jo seph’ s care, be cause the Lord was with Jo seph and gave him suc cess in what ev er he did.
The Cupbearer and the Baker
Some time lat er, the cup bear er and the
40 bak er of the king of Egypt of fend ed their mas ter, the king of Egypt. 2 Phar aoh was an gry with his two of fi cials, the chief cup bear er and the chief bak er, 3 and put them in cus to dy in the house of the cap tain of the guard, in the same pris on where Jo seph was con fined. 4 The cap tain of the guard as signed them to Jo seph, and he attend ed them.
Af ter they had been in cus to dy for some time,
5 each of the two men— the cup bear er and the bak er of the king of Egypt, who were be ing held in pris on— had a dream the same night, and each dream had a mean ing of its own.
6
When Jo seph came to them the next morn ing, he saw that they were de ject ed. 7 So he asked Pharaoh’ s of fi cials who were in cus to dy with him in his mas ter’ s house,“ Why do you look so sad to day?”
8
“ We both had dreams,” they an swered,“ but there is no one to in ter pret them.”
Then Jo seph said to them,“ Do not in ter pre tations be long to God? Tell me your dreams.”
9
So the chief cup bear er told Jo seph his dream. He said to him,“ In my dream I saw a vine in front of me, 10 and on the vine were three branch es. As soon as it bud ded, it blos somed, and its clus ters rip ened into grapes. 11 Phar aoh’ s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, squeezed them into Phar aoh’ s cup and put the cup in his hand.”
12
“ This is what it means,” Jo seph said to him.“ The three branch es are three days. 13 With in three days Phar aoh will lift up your head and re store you to your po si tion, and you will put Phar aoh’ s cup in his hand, just as you used to do when you were his cup bear er. 14 But when all goes well with you, re mem ber me and show me kind ness; mention me to Phar aoh and get me out of this pris on.
15
I was forc ibly car ried off from the land of the He brews, and even here I have done noth ing to de serve be ing put in a dun geon.”
16
When the chief bak er saw that Jo seph had given a fa vor able in ter pre ta tion, he said to Jo seph,“ I too had a dream: On my head were three bas kets of bread. a 17 In the top bas ket were all kinds of baked goods for Phar aoh, but the birds were eat ing them out of the bas ket on my head.”
18
“ This is what it means,” Jo seph said.“ The three bas kets are three days. 19 With in three days Pharaoh will lift off your head and im pale your body on a pole. And the birds will eat away your flesh.”
20
Now the third day was Phar aoh’ s birth day, and he gave a feast for all his of fi cials. He lift ed up the heads of the chief cup bear er and the chief bak er in the pres ence of his of fi cials: 21 He re stored the chief cup bear er to his po si tion, so that he once again put the cup into Phar aoh’ s hand— 22 but he im paled the chief bak er, just as Jo seph had said to them in his in ter pre ta tion.
23
The chief cup bear er, how ev er, did not remem ber Jo seph; he for got him.
a
16 Or three wicker baskets
40:1 – 23 While in prison, Joseph interprets dreams for two of Pharaoh’ s chief officials. Despite a seemingly bleak outlook for Joseph( see v. 23), his successful interpretations ultimately lead to an encounter with Pharaoh and a promotion( ch. 41). Joseph later interprets his circumstances in Egypt as God sovereignly arranging using particular circumstances to ensure the preservation of his people( see 50:20).
40:1 Some time later While the time frame is not specified here, later chronological references allow for a reconstruction. Two years elapse before Pharaoh has the dream that he calls upon Joseph to interpret( 41:1). Joseph is 30 years old when Pharaoh elevates him to high office( 41:46), which immediately follows his successful dream interpretation. As a result, Joseph was probably 28 years old when he entered prison. This means he served Potiphar for roughly 11 years( compare 37:2). cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt These men are the chief officials of their professions in Pharaoh’ s household( v. 2). 40:2 Pharaoh This word in Egyptian means“ great house.” In Egyptian records, this term is not used of Egypt’ s king until the fifteenth century BC and is not paired with the personal name of the king as a title until roughly the tenth century BC. This means that it is probably supplied here by a later writer or editor. chief cupbearer A palace official who served Pharaoh’ s wine and oversaw his drinking needs. Since this position offered regular opportunities to poison the king, the chief cupbearer had to be highly trustworthy. 40:13 lift up your head The Hebrew phrase used here is a common idiom for showing favor or pardoning someone( compare 2Ki 25:27; Jer 52:31). 40:19 will lift off your head Joseph repeats the imagery from v. 13, but with a negative connotation. Unlike the chief cupbearer, the chief baker is not restored or pardoned; he is literally lifted off the ground and impaled( v. 22). birds will eat away your flesh This would be especially horrible to an Egyptian. Egyptians at this point in history linked preservation of the body to their wellbeing in the afterlife. 40:22 impaled This could involve execution followed by the public hanging of a body from a large pole, or the execution itself being carried out by impalement. 40:23 chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph’ s request in v. 14 is forgotten, and he remains in prison. Yet the earlier mention of God’ s favor with Joseph hints that something good is looming on the horizon, despite the bleak outlook( 39:2).