Genesis

Chapter Forty

Preface

This chapter represents an intermediate stage in the development of Joseph, as he continues to face various trials from God for the purpose of spiritual growth and to fulfill God’s purpose for his life.  Joseph is set apart from all those who have preceded him.  He is discerning and wise (41:39), and his interpretations of dreams are true (41:13).  Whereas Abraham was a “prophet” (20:7), Joseph is a “wise” person (41:39).  Whereas Abraham saw the curse of future events “in a vision” (15:1), Joseph discerns the future in the mysterious dreams of others. 

One other note:  the saying, “No kind deed goes unpunished,” comes to mind as one reads this chapter.  Yet in time, God uses what appears to be a forgotten (good deed) event from Joseph’s viewpoint as the means of his deliverance from prison.

Genesis 40:1-4

It came to pass after these things that the butler [cupbearer] and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their lord, the king of Egypt.  And Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief butler and the chief baker.  So he put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the prison, the place where Joseph was confined.  And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he served them; so they were in custody for a while.

Although Joseph had been assigned to prison, he had risen to a position of prominence there.  The fact that He was put in custody in the house of the captain of the guard indicates that he was separated from the mainstream of prisoners and placed in an elevated position within the prison hierarchy.  The butler or cupbearer and the baker of the “king of Egypt” (Pharaoh) were important officers in the royal court.  The baker was in charge of making the Pharaoh’s food, and the cupbearer tasted all of his food and drink before giving it to him, in case any of it was contaminated or poisoned.  The specific offences of the butler and baker are never revealed, but they were serious enough to place them under “house arrest;” and, so much so in the case of the baker to have him beheaded.  The duration of their custody in the house of the captain of the guard cannot be determined from Scripture, but it was Joseph’s duty to attend to them.

Genesis 40:5-8

Then the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were confined in the prison, had a dream, both of them, each man's dream in one night and each man's dream with its own interpretation.  And Joseph came in to them in the morning and looked at them, and saw that they were sad.  So he asked Pharaoh's officers who were with him in the custody of his lord's house, saying, “Why do you look so sad today?” And they said to him, "We each have had a dream, and there is no interpreter of it." So Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell them to me, please.”

The Hebrew word for dream is chalom, and it simply means “to dream.”  The ancients understood a dream or a vision as “watching during sleep,” suggesting a special state of consciousness.  Often dreams were recognized as revelations from the gods, or from the Lord God Himself in the case of the Hebrews.  Many times these dreams and visions were encoded in symbolic language that needed interpretation.  Those who could interpret dreams possessed power in the ancient world.  Such was the case with Joseph.

But what is notable about Joseph is that he attributed any interpretation on his part to God.  He gave God the glory for whatever capability he possessed.  His statement that “interpretations belong to God” was a bold testimony.  When the subject of dreams came up, Joseph focused everyone’s attention on God.  Rather than using the situation to make himself look good, he turned it into a powerful witness for the Lord.  One secret of effective witnessing is to recognize opportunities to relate God to the other person’s experience.  But Joseph not only announced his faith, he then quickly acted upon it.  He had received such dreams as a young man and had understood their meaning (37:5-11), and his faith in God gave him the confidence that this would happen again.

Genesis 40:9-15

Then the chief butler told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, “Behold, in my dream a vine was before me, and in the vine were three branches; it was as though it budded, its blossoms shot forth, and its clusters brought forth ripe grapes.  Then Pharaoh's cup was in my hand; and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup, and placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand.” And Joseph said to him, ‘This is the interpretation of it: The three branches are three days.   Now within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your place, and you will put Pharaoh's cup in his hand according to the former manner, when you were his butler.  But remember me when it is well with you, and please show kindness to me; make mention of me to Pharaoh, and get me out of this house.   For indeed I was stolen away from the land of the Hebrews; and also I have done nothing here that they should put me into the dungeon.”

The expression “lift up your head” is capable of opposite meanings.  Here it means to restore the cupbearer to honor, whereas in verse 19 it means to execute the baker.  Even though Joseph was apparently pleased to assist the butler in understanding his dream, Joseph did make one request of him.  He asked only to be remembered by the baker when he was restored to honor, and he asked the baker to then put in a kind word to Pharaoh, to tell him that he had been falsely imprisoned. 

And this calls to mind that many years later Jesus Christ asked the same (to be remembered) of His disciples through the symbolism of the Lord’s Supper.  But as will be seen, the butler did not remember Joseph.  Today, many Christians fail to remember their Savior in both thought and deed. 

The word Hebrew (ibri) was first used in Genesis 14:13 to refer to Abram (Abraham).  His descendants derived from him were known by the ethnic designation of “Hebrews.”  After he settled in Canaan, he and his descendants who were of the covenant line became known to the Canaanites and Egyptians as “Hebrews.”

Genesis 40:16-19

When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said to Joseph, “I also was in my dream, and there were three white baskets on my head.  In the uppermost basket were all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh, and the birds ate them out of the basket on my head.” So Joseph answered and said, “This is the interpretation of it: The three baskets are three days.  Within three days Pharaoh will lift up [off] your head from you and hang you on a tree; and the birds will eat your flesh from you.”

Unfortunately for the baker, his dream portended dire consequences.  In three days the baker would be executed.

The pun in “lift off your head” is more evident in the Hebrew text (v. 13).  More literally, the words read, “Pharaoh will lift your head . . . from you.”  That is, the line begins exactly as in v. 13, but with a deadly zinger at the end!  It is not simply baked goods “the birds” will eat (v. 17), but the flesh of the baker.  That is, he will not be allowed even a proper burial; he will instead be hanged and then his body will be left for the vultures.  Clearly there was no point for Joseph to ask to be remembered by the baker.

(The Nelson Study Bible)

Genesis 40:20-23

Now it came to pass on the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, that he made a feast for all his servants; and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants.  Then he restored the chief butler to his butlership again, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh's hand.  But he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them.  Yet the chief butler did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.

And both interpretations of the dreams came to pass.  The butler was restored to honor and service to Pharaoh; the baker was put to death.  And as previously mentioned, the butler did not honor Joseph’s request to be remembered, at least not at first.  It would be two more years before he would recall the favor that Joseph did for him.  For the child of God it is well to remember that often God’s time-frame is different from that of His children.  Yet, always, God will deliver.  God did not forget Joseph!