Genesis 40

Ge 40:1-8.

TWO

STATE

PRISONERS.

1. 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.

3. Pharaoh put them in ward, &c.--Whatever was their crime, they

were committed, until their case could be investigated, to the custody

of the captain of the guard, that is, Potiphar, in an outer part of

whose house the royal prison was situated.

4. The captain of the guard charged Joseph with them--not the

keeper, though he was most favorably disposed; but 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 (see

Ps 37:5).

They continued a season in ward--literally, "days," how long, is

uncertain; but as they were called to account on the king's birthday,

it has been supposed that their offense had been committed on the

preceding anniversary [CALVIN].

5-8. they dreamed a dream--Joseph, influenced by the spirit of

true religion, could feel for others

(Ec 4:1;

Ro 12:15;

Php 2:4).

Observing them one day extremely depressed, he inquired the cause of

their melancholy; and being informed it was owing to a dream they had

respectively dreamed during the previous night, after piously directing

them to God

(Da 2:30;

Isa 26:10),

he volunteered to aid them, through the divine help, in discovering the

import of their vision. The influence of Providence must be seen in

the remarkable fact of both officers dreaming such dreams in one night.

He moves the spirits of men.

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.

12-15. Joseph said, . . . This is the

interpretation--Speaking as an inspired interpreter, he told the

butler that within three days he would be restored to all the honors

and privileges of his office; and while making that joyful

announcement, he earnestly bespoke the officer's influence for his own

liberation. Nothing has hitherto met us in the record indicative of

Joseph's feelings; but this earnest appeal reveals a sadness and

impatient longing for release, which not all his piety and faith in God

could dispel.

Ge 40:16-23.

THE

BAKER'S

DREAM.

16. I had three white baskets--The circumstances mentioned

exactly describe his duties, which, notwithstanding numerous

assistants, he performed with his own hands.

white--literally, "full of holes"; that is, wicker baskets. The

meats were carried to table upon the head in three baskets, one piled

upon the other; and in the uppermost, the bakemeats. And in crossing

the open courts, from the kitchen to the dining rooms, the removal of

the viands by a vulture, eagle, ibis, or other rapacious bird, was a

frequent occurrence in the palaces of Egypt, as it is an everyday

incident in the hot countries of the East still. The risk from these

carnivorous birds was the greater in the cities of Egypt, where being

held sacred, it was unlawful to destroy them; and they swarmed in such

numbers as to be a great annoyance to the people.

18, 19. Joseph answered and said, This is the

interpretation--The purport was that in three days his execution

should be ordered. 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

birds.

20-22. it came to pass the third day, which was Pharaoh's

birthday--This was a holiday season, celebrated at court with great

magnificence and honored by a free pardon to prisoners. Accordingly,

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.

23. yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph--This was human

nature. How prone are men to forget and neglect in prosperity, those

who have been their companions in adversity

(Am 6:6)!

But 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