1 And it came to pass after these things, [that] the cup-bearer of the king of Egypt and the baker offended their lord the king of Egypt. 2 And Pharaoh was wroth with his two chamberlains — with the chief of the cup-bearers and with the chief of the bakers; 3 and he put them in custody into the house of the captain of the life-guard, into the tower-house, into the place where Joseph was imprisoned. 4 And the captain of the life-guard appointed Joseph to them, that he should attend on them. And they were [several] days in custody. 5 And they dreamed a dream, both of them in one night, each his dream, each according to the interpretation of his dream, the cup-bearer and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were imprisoned in the tower-house. 6 And Joseph came in to them in the morning, and looked on them, and behold, they were sad. 7 And he asked Pharaoh's chamberlains that were with him in custody in his lord's house, saying, Why are your faces [so] sad to-day? 8 And they said to him, We have dreamt a dream, and there is no interpreter of it. And Joseph said to them, [Do] not interpretations [belong] to God? tell me [your dreams], I pray you. 9 Then the chief of the cup-bearers told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, In my dream, behold, a vine was before me; 10 and in the vine were three branches; and it was as though it budded: its blossoms shot forth, its clusters ripened into grapes. 11 And Pharaoh's cup was in my hand; and I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup, and gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand. 12 And Joseph said to him, This is the interpretation of it: the three branches are three days. 13 In yet three days will Pharaoh lift up thy head and restore thee to thy place, and thou shalt deliver Pharaoh's cup into his hand, after the former manner when thou wast his cup-bearer. 14 Only bear a remembrance with thee of me when it goes well with thee, and deal kindly, I pray thee, with me, and make mention of me to Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house; 15 for indeed I was stolen out of the land of the Hebrews, and here also have I done nothing that they should put me into the dungeon. 16 And when the chief of the bakers saw that the interpretation was good, he said to Joseph, I also was in my dream, and behold, three baskets of white bread were on my head. 17 And in the uppermost basket there were all manner of victuals for Pharaoh that the baker makes, and the birds ate them out of the basket upon my head. 18 And Joseph answered and said, This is the interpretation of it: the three baskets are three days. 19 In yet three days will Pharaoh lift up thy head from off thee, and hang thee on a tree; and the birds will eat thy flesh from off thee. 20 And it came to pass the third day — Pharaoh's birthday — that he made a feast to all his bondmen. And he lifted up the head of the chief of the cup-bearers, and the head of the chief of the bakers among his bondmen. 21 And he restored the chief of the cup-bearers to his office of cup-bearer again; and he gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand. 22 And he hanged the chief of the bakers, as Joseph had interpreted to them. 23 But the chief of the cup-bearers did not remember Joseph, and forgot him.
Genesis 40 Darby Translation
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Joseph
Betrayed and enslaved, he rose to rule Egypt and saved his family from famine.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 37; 39–50
Cross references (22)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Genesis 40:13; Nehemiah 1:11–2:2; Esther 6:1; Genesis 39:20–23
- 2 Proverbs 16:14; Acts 12:20; Proverbs 19:12; 1 Chronicles 27:27; Proverbs 27:4
- 3 Genesis 39:20; Genesis 39:23
- 4 Psalm 37:5; Genesis 37:36; Genesis 39:1; Genesis 39:21–23
- 5 Genesis 41:11; Judges 7:13–14; Daniel 4:5; Esther 6:1; Genesis 12:1–7
- 6 Genesis 40:8; Daniel 2:1–3; Genesis 41:8; Daniel 7:28; Daniel 8:27
- 7 Nehemiah 2:2; 1 Samuel 1:8; 2 Samuel 13:4; Judges 18:24; Luke 24:17
- 8 Daniel 2:47; Genesis 41:15–16; Daniel 2:28; Amos 3:7; 1 Corinthians 12:10–11
- 9 Daniel 4:8; Judges 7:13–15; Genesis 37:5–10; Daniel 4:10–18; Daniel 2:31
- 11 Nehemiah 1:11–2:1; 1 Kings 10:5; 2 Chronicles 9:4; Leviticus 10:9; Proverbs 3:10
- 12 Judges 7:14; Genesis 41:12; Genesis 40:18; Genesis 41:25–26; Daniel 4:19–33
- 13 Psalm 3:3; Jeremiah 52:31; 2 Kings 25:27; Genesis 7:4; Genesis 40:19–22
- 14 Joshua 2:12; Luke 23:42; 1 Samuel 20:14–15; 1 Kings 2:7; 1 Samuel 25:31
- 15 Genesis 39:20; 1 Peter 3:17–18; John 15:25; Acts 25:10–11; Genesis 39:8–12
- 16 Genesis 40:1–2
- 17 Genesis 49:20
- 18 Genesis 40:12; 1 Corinthians 11:24; Genesis 41:26; 1 Corinthians 10:4
- 19 Genesis 40:22; Genesis 40:13; 2 Samuel 21:10; Proverbs 30:17; Ezekiel 39:4
- 20 Genesis 40:19; Matthew 14:6; Genesis 40:13; Mark 6:21; 2 Kings 25:27
- 21 Genesis 40:13; Nehemiah 2:1
- 22 Genesis 40:19; Daniel 2:30; Acts 5:30; Genesis 41:11–13; Genesis 40:8
- 23 Psalm 31:12; Job 19:14; Psalm 105:19; Amos 6:6
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
As, for instance, Adam says, "I have gotten a man through God," meaning to say the same as from God; and in another passage "Moses commanded...Israel through the word of the Lord," and, again, "Is not the interpretation through God?" Joseph, discoursing about dreams to the prisoners, instead of saying "from God" says plainly "through God." Inversely Paul uses the …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 8 (1895)