Genesis 40:11

. And the chief butler told his dream to Joseph,.... 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, Genesis 40:16: and said unto him, in my dream, behold, a vine [was] before me; it appeared to him in his dream, as if a vine sprung up at once, and stood before him; which was very suitable to his office as a butler, wine being the fruit of the vine, which he provided for the king his master, and presented to him at table. Genesis 40:10 Ver. 10. And in the vine [were] three branches,.... Which shot out from the root or body of it: and it [was as] though it budded; the branches seemed to sprout out: [and] her blossoms shot forth; it knotted, and the flowers of the vine appeared, which blowing off, the tender grapes were seen: and the clusters thereof brought forth ripe grapes; 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, as it seemed according to the representation of things to the, mind of the butler, and which he perfectly remembered, it having made a strong impression upon him. Genesis 40:11 Ver. 11. And Pharaoh's cup [was] in his hand,....

40:1-19 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. Also learn to look into the causes of our own sorrow. Is there a good reason? Is there not comfort sufficient to balance it, whatever it is? Why art thou cast down, O my soul? Joseph was careful to ascribe the glory to God. The chief butler's dream foretold his advancement. The chief baker's dream his death. 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. Joseph does not reflect upon his brethren that sold him; nor does he reflect on the wrong done him by his mistress and his master, but mildly states his own innocence. When we are called on to clear ourselves, we should carefully avoid, as much as may be, speaking ill of others. Let us be content to prove ourselves innocent, and not upbraid others with their guilt.

And Pharaoh's cup was in his hand,.... So it seemed to him in his dream, as it often had been when in his office: and I took the grapes; from off the vine that was before him: and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup; which some think was the custom of those times, to take a bunch of grapes and squeeze them into a cup, especially when they would make trial of what sort of wine they would produce; for it can hardly be thought that this was usually done, or that it was customary to drink such new wine; but it is more probable that the grapes were first pressed into another vessel, and so made wine of, and then poured into Pharaoh's cup, or mixed in it, though this circumstance is omitted. Indeed Herodotus (a) relates of the Egyptian priests, that wine pressed out of the vine is given them: and I gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand; as he had used to do. (a) Euterpe sive, l. 2. c. 37.

(11) And pressed them. —Plutarch, Is. et Osir. § 6, says that before the time of Psammetichus the Egyptians did not drink wine, nor make libations of it to the gods. This statement has been abundantly disproved, and probably arose from the writer supposing that the custom of, possibly, one district was the universal rule. Nevertheless, the king’s drink here does not seem to have been fermented wine, but a sort of sherbet made of fresh grape-juice and water. It is a pleasant beverage, still much used in the East, but sometimes the grape juice is left till fermentation has just begun when it acquires a pleasant briskness, and is less cloying. Into Pharaoh’s hand.—Heb., I placed the cup upon Pharaoh’s palm. The word is used in Genesis 32:25 of the hollow of Jacob’s thigh (see Note there). Here it means the hollow produced by bending the fingers inwards. Now the Hebrews always spoke of placing the cup in a person’s hand (Ezekiel 23:31, and see Psalm 75:8; Jeremiah 51:7); and even here Joseph, though probably speaking the Egyptian language, nevertheless used the Hebrew idiom, saying, thou wilt give Pharaoh’s cup into his hand. 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.

11 . pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup ] 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. It is a feature in this dream that all the difficulties are successfully overcome; the chief butler, at the end of it, holds Pharaoh’s cup. Genesis 40:11

Ge 40:9-15. The Butler's Dream. 9-11. 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. On all occasions, the kings of ancient Egypt were required to practice temperance in the use of wine [Wilkinson]; but in this scene, it is a prepared beverage he is drinking, probably the sherbet of the present day. Everything was done in the king's presence—the cup was washed, the juice of the grapes pressed into it; and it was then handed to him—not grasped; but lightly resting on the tips of the fingers.

The chief butler now recites his dream. "Pressed them into Pharaoh's cup." The imagery of the dream is not intended to intimate that Pharaoh drank only the fresh juice of the grape. It only expresses by a natural figure the source of wine, and possibly the duty of the chief butler to understand and superintend the whole process of its formation. Egypt was not only a corn, but a vine country. The interpretation of this dream was very obvious and natural; yet not without a divine intimation could it be known that the "three branches were three days." Joseph, in the quiet confidence that his interpretation would prove correct, begs the chief butler to remember him and endeavor to procure his release. "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. "I have not done aught." Joseph pleads innocence, and claims liberation, not as an unmerited favor, but as a right. "The pit." The pit without water seems to have been the primitive place of confinement for culprits.

The cup-bearer gave this account: "In my dream, behold there was a vine before me, and on the vine three branches; and it was as though blossoming, it shot forth its blossom (נצּהּ either from the hapax l. נץ equals נצּה, or from נצּה with the fem. termination resolved into the 3 pers. suff.: Ewald, 257d), 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, though 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, notwithstanding the statement of Herodotus (2, 77) to the contrary (see Hengstenberg, Egypt and the Books of Moses, pp. 13ff.).

[Reformed Biblical] 1 Genesis 40:2 Genesis 40:3 ## The captain of the guard, to wit, Potiphar, Gen_37:36, who being informed by his underkeeper of Joseph’s great care and faithfulness, began to have a better opinion of him, though for his own quiet, and his wife’s reputation, he left him still in the prison. ## Where Joseph was bound; was a prisoner, as that word is used, Isa_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, Psa_105:18. Genesis 40:4 ## A season, Heb. days, i.e. either many days, or a year, as that word sometimes signifies. See Gen_24:55. Genesis 40:5 1718 i.e. Not a vain and idle dream, but one that had in it a signifi cation of future things, and needed interpretation; and the several dreams were proper and agreeable to the several events which befell them, and to the severa l interpretat ions which Jo seph put upon them: the dream and interpretation did fitly answer one to the other. Genesis 40:6 Perplexed and terrified both, because they perceived the dream was extraordinary and sent from God; compare Gen_41:8 Dan_2:1 Mat_27:19; and because they understood not the meaning of it. Genesis 40:8 ## There is no interpreter of it, to wit, with us, or to whom we can now resort; for otherwise there were many in Egypt of that profession, Gen_41:8. ## Do not interpretations belong to God? In vain do you expect su

[Bible] 40:13. After which Pharao will remember thy service, and will restore thee to thy former place: and thou shalt present him the cup according to thy office, as before thou was wont to do. 40:14. Only remember me when it shall be well with thee, and do me this kindness: to put Pharao in mind to take me out of this prison: 40:15. For I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews, and here without any fault was cast into the dungeon. 40:16. The chief baker seeing that he had wisely interpreted the dream, said: I also dreamed a dream, That I had three baskets of meal upon my head: 40:17. And that in one basket which was uppermost, I carried all meats that are made by the art of baking, and that the birds ate out of it. 40:18. Joseph answered: This is the interpretation of the dream: The three baskets, are yet three days: 40:19. After which Pharao will take thy head from thee, and hang thee on a cross, and the birds shall tear thy flesh. 40:20. The third day after this was the birthday of Pharao: and he made a great feast for his servants, and at the banquet remembered the chief butler, and the chief baker. 40:21. And he restored the one to his place, to present him the cup: 40:22. The other he hanged on a gibbet, that the truth of the interpreter might be shewn. 40:23. But the chief butler, when things prospered with him, forgot his interpreter. Genesis Chapter 41 Joseph interpreteth the two dreams of Pharao: he is made ruler over all Egypt. 41:1. After two years Pharao had a dream. He thought he stood by the river, 41:2. Out of which came up seven kine, very beautiful and fat: and they fed in marshy places. 41:3. Other seven also came up out of the river, ill-favoured, and lean fleshed: and they fed on the very bank of the river, in green places: 41:4. And they devoured them, whose bodies were very beautiful and well conditioned. So Pharao awoke. 41:5. He slept again, and dreamed another dream: Seven ears of corn came up upon one stalk full and fair: