Genesis 40

Genesis 40:1

It all begins with God An EasyEnglish Bible Version and Commentary (2800 word vocabulary) on the Book of Genesis www.easyenglish.info Marie Wetherill and Keith Simons This commentary has been through Advanced Checking.

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Chapter 40 Joseph tells what some people’s dreams mean v1 Some time later, the *Egyptian king’s *butler and baker both did something wrong against their *lord, the king of Egypt. v2 *Pharaoh (the king) was angry with two of his officers. They were the chief *butler and the chief baker. v3 So *Pharaoh put them in prison. That is, the guards kept them in a house. The house belonged to the captain of the guard. That was the same prison that Joseph was in. v4 The captain of the guard told Joseph to look after the *butler and the baker. So Joseph served them. They were in prison for some time.

v5 One night, both the *butler and the baker dreamed. They had both served the king of Egypt. He had put them into that prison. Each man dreamed his own dream. And each dream had its own meaning.

v6 Joseph came to those men the next morning. He saw that they were unhappy. v7 So Joseph spoke to those officers of *Pharaoh. They were in prison with Joseph. They were in his master’s house. Joseph asked the men why they had sad faces that morning.

v8 The men answered him, ‘We have had dreams. But there is nobody that can tell their meaning to us.’

Then Joseph said to the men, ‘It is God who tells their meaning. He tells what dreams mean. Please tell your dreams to me.’

v9 So the chief *butler told his dream to Joseph. The *butler said, ‘In my dream I saw a *vine in front of me. v10 There were three branches on that *vine. Immediately when it had *buds, its flowers opened from them. Bunches (groups) of ripe *grapes grew. v11 I had *Pharaoh’s cup in my hand. I took the *grapes. And I squeezed them so that their juice went into *Pharaoh’s cup. And I gave the cup into *Pharaoh’s hand.’

v12 Then Joseph said to him, ‘This is what it means. The three branches mean three days. v13 In three days, *Pharaoh will lift up your head. He will give to you your job as *butler again. You will give to *Pharaoh his cup of wine. You will give it into his hand, exactly as you did before. v14 But please remember me. Please be kind. Tell *Pharaoh about me, when you are doing well. Please get me out of this house. v15 Actually, people stole me from the country where the *Hebrews live. And also I have done nothing wrong here. I should not be living in a prison.’

v16 The chief baker saw that the meaning of the dream was good. So he said to Joseph, ‘I too had a dream. I had three baskets of cakes on my head. v17 In the top basket, there were very many different kinds of foods. I had baked them for *Pharaoh. But the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.’

v18 Joseph answered, ‘This is what it means. The three baskets mean three days. v19 In three days, *Pharaoh will lift up your head. He will take your head from you. He will hang you on a tree. And the birds will eat your *flesh.’

v20 It was *Pharaoh’s birthday on the 3rd day. He made a *feast for all his servants. He lifted up both the chief *butler’s head and the chief baker’s head among his servants. v21 *Pharaoh gave the *butler’s job back to the *butler. So the *butler again placed the cup of wine into *Pharaoh’s hand. v22 *Pharaoh hanged the chief baker, however. It happened exactly as Joseph had said. He had said it when he had heard their dreams.

v23 However, the chief *butler did not remember Joseph. He forgot him.

Joseph was responsible for all the prisoners. So, Joseph was a skilled manager. But Joseph was also a holy man. And he knew that his relationship with God was very important. Even in prison, Joseph was still a *righteous man.

Two prisoners had strange dreams on the same night. They thought that their dreams had an important meaning. But they did not know the meaning. So, they were worried about the dreams.

Joseph told the prisoners that God knew the meaning of their dreams. Then God showed Joseph the meaning:

 The *butler’s dream meant that *Pharaoh would free the *butler. And *Pharaoh would reappoint the *butler to his old job. Joseph asked the *butler to tell *Pharaoh about his (Joseph’s) situation.

 The baker’s dream meant that the baker would soon die.

Three days later, these things happened as Joseph had said. But the *butler did not tell *Pharaoh about Joseph. It was not yet the right time for *Pharaoh to free Joseph. God had a plan for Joseph. But Joseph did not yet know about this plan. Notes on the verses Verse 1 *Pharaoh was the special name that all the kings of Egypt had.

Verses 2-4 These men worked for the king. So, they went to the special prison for the king’s prisoners. Joseph was responsible for the prisoners in that prison.

Verse 5 The *Egyptians believed that the gods sent dreams. They had many ‘wise men’. Those ‘wise men’ said what dreams meant. The two prisoners were unhappy. Each one believed that the gods had sent a message to him. They could not discover what the dreams meant.

Verses 6-7 Joseph really cared about the prisoners that he looked after. He even noticed that the men were anxious. He encouraged them to tell him why they were worried.

Verse 8 Joseph did not believe in their false gods. But he knew that the real God knows the solution to every problem.

Of course, most dreams have no special meaning. But sometimes God uses dreams to speak to people. Joseph had such dreams in the past (Genesis 37:5-9). And he could remember these dreams (Genesis 42:9). Perhaps he was hopeful about the future because of these dreams.

Verse 9-11 The chief *butler’s dream described the work that he used to do. He would make drinks for *Pharaoh. And then the *butler would give the drinks to *Pharaoh.

Verse 13 ‘Lift up your head’ means more than one thing. It can mean that the person does well. His head will not be down in shame any longer. He will show his face. He will not be sad. That was how the chief *butler would be.

Verses 14-15 Joseph asked the *butler to tell *Pharaoh about Joseph’s situation in prison. Joseph did not deserve to be in prison. Soon, the *butler would be free. And the *butler would be important again. So, the *butler would have the opportunity to speak to *Pharaoh about Joseph.

Verses 16-17 The baker’s dream also seemed to describe his work. But something was wrong. The birds were taking the bread that belonged to *Pharaoh.

Verse 18 Joseph was honest. He told the meaning of the dream, although the meaning was bad news. He did not pretend that the dream had a good meaning. He did not say that in order to please the baker.

Verse 19 ‘Lift up your head’ could also have another meaning. It could mean that someone would put very strong thick string round a person’s neck. Then someone would hang the person. That was what happened to the chief baker.

Verses 20-22 *Pharaoh was the king of Egypt. Kings often did special things to prisoners on the king’s birthday. It was a way for the king to show how important he was. *Pharaoh had the power of life and death over his people. He could order someone’s death. Or, he could make someone important.

*Pharaoh did whatever he wanted. But God knew what would happen.

Verse 23 Joseph remained in the prison. It was not yet God’s time for Joseph to be free.

© 2006, Wycliffe Associates (UK)

This publication is written in EasyEnglish Level B (2800 words).

May 2006

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