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Genesis 40

KJV · Chapter 40/50

1And it came to pass after these things, that the butler of the king of Egypt and his baker had offended their lord the king of Egypt.

2And Pharaoh was wroth against two of his officers, against the chief of the butlers, and against the chief of the bakers.

3And he put them in ward in the house of the captain of the guard, into the prison, the place where Joseph was bound.

4And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them, and he served them: and they continued a season in ward.

5And they dreamed a dream both of them, each man his dream in one night, each man according to the interpretation of his dream, the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, which were bound in the prison.

6And Joseph came in unto them in the morning, and looked upon them, and, behold, they were sad.

7And he asked Pharaoh’s officers that were with him in the ward of his lord’s house, saying, Wherefore look ye so sadly to day?

8And they said unto him, We have dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter of it. And Joseph said unto them, Do not interpretations belong to God? tell me them, I pray you.

9And the chief butler told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, In my dream, behold, a vine was before me;

10And in the vine were three branches: and it was as though it budded, and her blossoms shot forth; and the clusters thereof brought forth ripe grapes:

11And Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand: and I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand.

12And Joseph said unto him, This is the interpretation of it: The three branches are three days:

13Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thine head, and restore thee unto thy place: and thou shalt deliver Pharaoh’s cup into his hand, after the former manner when thou wast his butler.

14But think on me when it shall be well with thee, and shew kindness, I pray thee, unto me, and make mention of me unto Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house:

15For indeed I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews: and here also have I done nothing that they should put me into the dungeon.

16When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said unto Joseph, I also was in my dream, and, behold, I had three white baskets on my head:

17And in the uppermost basket there was of all manner of bakemeats for Pharaoh; and the birds did eat them out of the basket upon my head.

18And Joseph answered and said, This is the interpretation thereof: The three baskets are three days:

19Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thy head from off thee, and shall hang thee on a tree; and the birds shall eat thy flesh from off thee.

20And it came to pass the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast unto all his servants: and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants.

21And he restored the chief butler unto his butlership again; and he gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand:

22But he hanged the chief baker: as Joseph had interpreted to them.

23Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgat him.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

In prison, Joseph correctly interprets the dreams of Pharaoh's chief cupbearer and chief baker, foretelling the restoration of one and the execution of the other; he asks to be remembered, but the cupbearer forgets him.

Explanation

This chapter shows Joseph using his gift of interpreting dreams while clearly attributing that ability to God, not to himself ('do not interpretations belong to God?', v. 8) — a humility that contrasts with his earlier immaturity in telling his own dreams to his brothers (chapter 37). His genuine concern for the well-being of the other prisoners, noticing their sadness and taking the time to listen to them, reveals a character that had matured through suffering. Joseph's humble and reasonable request to be remembered before Pharaoh, and the cupbearer's subsequent forgetfulness, adds yet another chapter of waiting and apparent disappointment to his already long journey of trials. This delay, however, sets the stage perfectly for the exact moment when God will use Joseph in the next chapter, showing that seasons of waiting often carry a purpose we cannot see at the time.

Fun facts

  • The practice of interpreting dreams was highly valued in ancient Egypt, with specialized priests devoted to that very function — which makes it all the more remarkable that Joseph, a Hebrew foreigner and prisoner, succeeded where traditional Egyptian methods would fail, as is seen in the following chapter.
  • The expression 'lift up the head,' used twice in this chapter (v. 13 and v. 19), carries opposite and deliberate meanings in Hebrew: for the cupbearer, it means restoration to office; for the baker, it is a euphemism for execution — a carefully crafted play on words in the original text.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Genesis 40:1The king’s cupbearer and baker commit some offense against Pharaoh — the text doesn’t detail what — and that’s what lands them in the same prison where Joseph is.
  2. Genesis 40:2Chief cupbearer and chief baker were positions of trust at court, not ordinary jobs — the chief cupbearer tasted and served the king’s drink, the baker took care of the bread, and both had to be extremely trustworthy since they had direct access to Pharaoh’s food, with a real risk of poison. That’s why the king’s fury when something goes wrong is so great.
  3. Genesis 40:3Both are imprisoned in the house of the captain of the guard, exactly where Joseph was already being held — the coincidence that will connect the two stories.
  4. Genesis 40:4The captain assigns Joseph to attend the two important prisoners, and they spend a good amount of time there together.
  5. Genesis 40:5On the same night, each has a different dream, each with its own meaning — the text already signals that the two dreams will need separate interpretations.
  6. Genesis 40:6Joseph visits them in the morning and notices, just from their expressions, that something is troubling them.
  7. Genesis 40:7Joseph asks directly why the two of them look so downcast that day.
  8. Genesis 40:8They explain that they had dreams but have no one to interpret them; Joseph answers that interpretation belongs to God, and asks them to tell the dreams anyway.
  9. Genesis 40:9The cupbearer speaks first: in his dream there was a vine with three branches sprouting right in front of him.
  10. Genesis 40:10The vine blossoms and the clusters ripen quickly, an accelerated growth that already hints at the short timeframe of the interpretation.
  11. Genesis 40:11In the dream, the cupbearer presses the grapes directly into Pharaoh’s cup and hands it to him — the scene reproduces exactly the role he had before being imprisoned.
  12. Genesis 40:12Joseph interprets: the three branches of the vine represent three days.
  13. Genesis 40:13“Thine head” here is part of an expression meaning to restore someone’s position and honor — Joseph is saying the cupbearer will be pardoned and reinstated in his post within three days. It’s a way of talking about restoration, not a physical action.
  14. Genesis 40:14Joseph takes the moment to ask a personal favor: that the cupbearer remember him and speak up for him before Pharaoh as soon as he can.
  15. Genesis 40:15Joseph explains his own situation to the cupbearer — he was taken by force from the land of the Hebrews and did nothing to deserve imprisonment, a direct appeal of innocence.
  16. Genesis 40:16Encouraged by seeing his colleague’s good interpretation, the baker tells his dream: three white baskets on his own head.
  17. Genesis 40:17In the top basket there was every kind of food prepared for Pharaoh, and the birds were eating it — a detail that already sounds darker than the cupbearer’s dream.
  18. Genesis 40:18Joseph interprets: the three baskets also represent three days, but the outcome will be quite different from the first.
  19. Genesis 40:19Joseph repeats the same expression from before about “thy head,” but now with a completely different, darker meaning: this time it announces that the baker will be executed and hanged. It’s a cruel play on words — the same phrase that was good news for the cupbearer becomes a death sentence for the baker.
  20. Genesis 40:20Pharaoh’s “birthday” is a celebration of the Egyptian king’s birth, a practice documented in ancient Egypt but not something common among the Hebrews of that time. It’s at this banquet that the king makes the two decisions Joseph had already foreseen when interpreting the dreams.
  21. Genesis 40:21As interpreted, the cupbearer is restored to his own post beside Pharaoh.
  22. Genesis 40:22The baker, however, is hanged — exactly as Joseph had interpreted.
  23. Genesis 40:23Despite Joseph’s request, the cupbearer simply forgets him the moment he’s free — a bitter ending that stretches out Joseph’s suffering in prison even longer.

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