Genesis 40, Joseph in Prison

Joseph, accused of attempted rape, has been imprisoned.

Genesis 40: 1-8a, Joseph meets two men in prison
Some time later, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their master, the king of Egypt.  Pharaoh was angry with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, and put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the same prison where Joseph was confined.

The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he attended them. 

After they had been in custody for some time, each of the two men--the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were being held in prison--had a dream the same night, and each dream had a meaning of its own. When Joseph came to them the next morning, he saw that they were dejected. So he asked Pharaoh's officials who were in custody with him in his master's house, "Why are your faces so sad today?"

"We both had dreams," they answered, "but there is no one to interpret them." 

Two imprisoned officials report strange dreams to the young dreamer.

Genesis 40: 8b-15, Joseph interprets the cupbearer's dream
Then Joseph said to them, "Do not interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams."

So the chief cupbearer told Joseph his dream. He said to him, "In my dream I saw a vine in front of me, and on the vine were three branches. As soon as it budded, it blossomed, and its clusters ripened into grapes. Pharaoh's cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, squeezed them into Pharaoh's cup and put the cup in his hand."

"This is what it means," Joseph said to him. "The three branches are three days. Within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your position, and you will put Pharaoh's cup in his hand, just as you used to do when you were his cupbearer.

But when all goes well with you, remember me and show me kindness; mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison. For I was forcibly carried off from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing to deserve being put in a dungeon."

Joseph insists that dream interpretation is in the realm of God and demands to hear the dream.  He appears confident that God will provide him with the correct interpretation.  At the conclusion of his interpretation of the cupbearer's dream, he asks for help once the dream is fulfilled.

Alter points out the Hebrew word translated "dungeon" at the end of verse 15 is bore.  This word has not occurred previously in this chapter; it previously occurred in Genesis only in chapter 37 where it describes the pit into which his brothers confined him before selling him to the traders.  This is the second time Joseph has been in a pit.

Genesis 40: 16-19, Joseph interprets the chief baker's dream
When the chief baker saw that Joseph had given a favorable interpretation, he said to Joseph, "I too had a dream: On my head were three baskets of bread. In the top basket were all kinds of baked goods for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head."

"This is what it means," Joseph said. "The three baskets are three days. Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head and hang you on a tree. And the birds will eat away your flesh."

The second official hopes for a similar positive interpretation. His head too will be "lifted up."  But not in the same way.

NIV footnotes: "three baskets of bread" could be "three wicker baskets"; "hang you on a tree" could be "impale you on a pole".  Alter translates this passage as "impale you on a pole".

Genesis 40: 20-23, Dreams fulfilled
Now the third day was Pharaoh's birthday, and he gave a feast for all his officials. He lifted up the heads of the chief cupbearer and the chief baker in the presence of his officials: He restored the chief cupbearer to his position, so that he once again put the cup into Pharaoh's hand, but he hanged the chief baker, just as Joseph had said to them in his interpretation.

The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him.

The dreams are fulfilled. In the excitement of returning to power, the chief cupbearer forgets Joseph.

This story is remarkably told, with the two parallel dreams about the next three days and the fulfillment of those dreams. Despite the dramatic evidence of God's touch on Joseph, Joseph is immediately forgotten.