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Genesis Chapter 40 (BSB)

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Genesis 40 – Joseph Interprets the Butler and Baker's Dreams
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1 Some time later, the king’s cupbearer and baker offended their master, the king of Egypt.

2 Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker,

3 and imprisoned them in the house of the captain of the guard, the same prison where Joseph was confined.

4 The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he became their personal attendant. After they had been in custody for some time,

5 both of these men—the Egyptian king’s cupbearer and baker, who were being held in the prison—had a dream on the same night, and each dream had its own meaning.

6 When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were distraught.

7 So he asked the officials of Pharaoh who were in custody with him in his master’s house, “Why are your faces so downcast today?”

8 “We both had dreams,” they replied, “but there is no one to interpret them.” Then Joseph said to them, “Don’t interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.”

9 So the chief cupbearer told Joseph his dream: “In my dream there was a vine before me,

10 and on the vine were three branches. As it budded, its blossoms opened and its clusters ripened into grapes.

11 Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, squeezed them into his cup, and placed the cup in his hand.”

12 Joseph replied, “This is the interpretation: The three branches are three days.

13 Within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore your position. You will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, just as you did when you were his cupbearer.

14 But when it goes well for you, please remember me and show me kindness by mentioning me to Pharaoh, that he might bring me out of this prison.

15 For I was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing for which they should have put me in this dungeon.”

16 When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was favorable, he said to Joseph, “I too had a dream: There were three baskets of white bread on my head.

17 In the top basket were all sorts of baked goods for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.”

18 Joseph replied, “This is the interpretation: The three baskets are three days.

19 Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head and hang you on a tree. Then the birds will eat the flesh of your body.”

20 On the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, he held a feast for all his officials, and in their presence he lifted up the heads of the chief cupbearer and the chief baker.

21 Pharaoh restored the chief cupbearer to his position, so that he once again placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.

22 But Pharaoh hanged the chief baker, just as Joseph had described to them in his interpretation.

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Whose dreams does Joseph interpret in Genesis chapter 40?
In prison, Joseph interprets the dreams of Pharaoh's chief butler and chief baker, who were jailed with him: the butler's dream means he will be restored to his post in three days, and the baker's means he will be executed in three days — both come true exactly as Joseph said, but the butler forgets to mention Joseph to Pharaoh.
What did the butler's dream mean?
The three branches budding into ripe grapes that the butler pressed into Pharaoh's cup represented three days, after which Pharaoh would restore him to his former position as cupbearer (verses 9-13).
Why does Joseph credit God with interpreting dreams?
When the officers say no one can interpret their dreams, Joseph replies, 'Do not interpretations belong to God?' (verse 8), pointing away from his own skill — the same instinct to credit God expressed in Daniel 2:47.

Today's Verse

And straightway he called them: and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went after him.

Mark 1:20 | ASV

Verse Of The Day

Joseph correctly predicts that the butler will be restored within three days while the baker will be executed, asking only to be remembered once the butler is free again. Joseph's gift for reading dreams anticipates the same kind of divine insight later credited to Daniel in Daniel 2:47, though it takes two more years before Joseph's own release comes about in Genesis 41.