Free Bible Commentary
“Genesis 40:1-8”
Categories: Genesis“Then it came about after these things, the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt offended their lord, the king of Egypt. Pharaoh was furious with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker. So he put them in confinement in the house of the captain of the bodyguard, in the jail, the same place where Joseph was imprisoned. The captain of the bodyguard put Joseph in charge of them, and he took care of them; and they were in confinement for some time. Then the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt, who were confined in jail, both had a dream the same night, each man with his own dream and each dream with its own interpretation. When Joseph came to them in the morning and observed them, behold, they were dejected. He asked Pharaoh’s officials who were with him in confinement in his master’s house, 'Why are your faces so sad today?' Then they said to him, 'We have had a dream and there is no one to interpret it.' Then Joseph said to them, 'Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell it to me, please.'”
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“Then it came about after these things...” (verse 1) “We may calculate that Joseph is now twenty-eight years old for we know in another two years, when he appears before Pharaoh, he is then thirty. Eleven years have elapsed since his sale into slavery; but we have no way of determining how many of those years he spent in the service of Potiphar and how many in prison.” (Nahum Sarna) “The cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt offended their lord, the king of Egypt.” These two men somehow “offended” the king of Egypt, but the precise infractions are not relevant to the story and therefore omitted by the author. Theirs were no minor offenses because the text tells us that “Pharaoh was furious with his two officials” (verse 2).
The Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary submits about the position of these two men the following: “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.
“So he put them in confinement in the house of the captain of the bodyguard, in the jail, the same place where Joseph was imprisoned.” (verse 3) “Potiphar was not only the captain of the guard, but his duties also included the administration of the special prison used for detaining the king's prisoners. The keeper of the prison is not named, but the keeper was Potiphar's deputy, and the compound or palace where this establishment lay also served as Potiphar's residence... Here is the explanation of how Potiphar was able to cast Joseph into prison without even an examining trial, and how things were said to be done by Potiphar, the captain of the guard, that were actually done by the deputy, who is nowhere named in the passage.” (James Burton Coffman)
“Then the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt, who were confined in jail, both had a dream the same night, each man with his own dream and each dream with its own interpretation.” (verse 5) It is not uncommon for people who go to bed in a troubled state of mind to be plagued by very disturbing dreams in their sleep. Since the Pharaoh was furious with these men, it is likely that they endured several nights of fitful sleep fraught with frightening fantasy. But these two dreams were distinctively disturbing and promised to be particularly portentous and the two prisoners desperately desired an interpretation.
“When Joseph came to them in the morning and observed them, behold, they were dejected.” (verse 6) Even after having been awake for a prolonged period of time, the cupbearer and the baker could not shake off the vexation and disquiet of the previous night's dreams. It must have only added to their state of agitation when the two men discovered that they had both been haunted by distressing dreams on the very same night. When Joseph came to tend to them that morning both men were completely despondent.
“We have had a dream and there is no one to interpret it.” (verse 8) Their despondency lie in the fact that they were both confined to prison where they had no access to a “magician” or “wise man” to interpret their dreams. “Then Joseph said to them, 'Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell it to me, please.'” (verse 9) Only the Lord God of heaven knows the true meaning in every hidden and mysterious thing. And since these were no ordinary dreams but had much deeper meaning buried beneath them, only the Lord who sees and knows all things could provide an adequate and accurate interpretation. This was the God that Joseph served and who had communicated with him through dreams in times past. Joseph felt pretty confident that the Lord would reveal the interpretations to him if the men would only tell him the details. “Joseph's own dreams caused his misfortunes. Now the dreams of others lead to his prosperity.” (Nahum Sarna)
Please read Genesis 40:9-15 for tomorrow.
Have a blessed day!
-Louie Taylor
