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1 And it came to pass after these things, that the butler of the king of Egypt and his baker offended their lord the king of Egypt.

2 And Pharaoh was furious against his two officers, against the chief of the butlers, and against the chief of the bakers.

3 And he put them into the ward of the captain of the guard, into the prison, the place where Joseph was bound.

4 And the captain of the guard gave Joseph authority over them, and he ministered to them; and they were in the prison for several months.

5 And they dreamed a dream both of them, each man his dream, in one night, each man according to the interpretation of his dream, the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were bound in the prison.

6 And Joseph came to them in the morning, and saw them, and, beheld they were sad.

7 And he asked Pharaoh’s officers that were with him in ward in his master’s house, saying, “Why do you look so sad today?”

8 And they said to him, “We had a dream, and there is no one that can interpret it.” And Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? tell it me, I pray you.”

9 And the chief butler told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, “In my dream, as I saw, a vine was before me;

10 and in the vine were three branches: and it was as though it budded, and its blossoms shot forth; and brought forth clusters there of ripe grapes;

11 and Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand; and I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand.”

12 And Joseph said unto him, “This is the interpretation of it: the three branches are three days;

13 within yet three days shall Pharaoh pardon you, and restore you to your office; and you shall give Pharaoh’s cup into his hand, in the former manner when you were his butler.

14 But remember me when it goes well with you, and show kindness, I pray you, to me, and make mention of me to Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house;

15 for in fact I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews; and here also have I done nothing that they should put me into the dungeon.”

16 When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said unto Joseph, “I also was in my dream, and, as I saw, three baskets of white bread were on my head;

17 and in the uppermost basket there was of all manner of baked food for Pharaoh; and the birds ate them out of the basket upon my head.

18 And Joseph answered and said, “This is the interpretation thereof: the three baskets are three days;

19 after those three days shall Pharaoh condemn you to death, and shall hang you on a tree; and the birds shall eat the flesh from your body.”

20 And it came to pass the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast unto all his servants; and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and the head of the chief baker among his servants.

21 And he restored the chief butler unto his butlership again; and he gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand;

22 but he hanged the chief baker, as Joseph had interpreted to them.

23 Yet the chief butler did not remember Joseph or mention him to the Pharaoh, but forgot him.

This story is oddly reminiscient of the New Testament story of Jesus on the cross with two thieves, one of which ended up ‘living’ and another who ended up ‘dying’.

Selected commentary.

h.אחר הדברים האלה AFTER THESE THINGS — Because this malignant woman made the righteous man (Joseph) a familiar topic of conversation with every one so that he was spoken about discreditably the Holy One, blessed be He, brought about the offences of these men in order that people should turn their attention to them and not to him (Genesis Rabbah 88:1), and also in order that relief should come to the righteous man by their agency (Genesis Rabbah 88:3).

h.חטאו HAD SINNED — in the case of the one, a fly was found in the goblet of aromatic wine, in the case of the other, a pebble was found in the loaves he baked (Genesis Rabbah 88:2).

h.והאפה AND THE BAKER of the king’s bread. The root (אפה) is only used of baking bread. old French pistor; English, kneader.

h.ויפקד שר הטבחים את יוסף AND THE OFFICER OF THE EXECUTIONERS APPOINTED JOSEPH — to be WITH THEM (i.e. supply the word להיות to complete the sense).

h.ויהיו ימים במשמר AND THEY WERE A YEAR IN WARD — ימים means twelve months (cf. Rashi on Genesis 24:55).

h.ויחלמו חלום שניהם means AND BOTH OF THEM DREAMED A DREAM — This is the real meaning (that שניהם is the subject of ויחלמו and is not to be connected with חלום). A Midrashic explanation is, taking חלום as construct case: each dreamed the dream of both of them — i.e. he dreamed his own dream and the interpretation of the other’s dream. This is what it means when it states (v. 16) “And the chief baker saw that he had interpreted well”). (Genesis Rabbah 88:4; Berakhot 55a).

h.איש כפתרון חלמו EACH MAN ACCORDING TO THE INTERPRETATION OF HIS DREAM — each dreamed a dream consistent with the interpretation which foretold the future that was to befall them.

h.זעפים means SAD. Similar are (1 Kings 20:43) “sullen and displeased (וזעף)”; (Micah 7:9) “I will bear the displeasure (זעף) of the Lord (the sadness which the Lord has imposed on me).’

h.שריגם BRANCHES — long branches called in old French. vitis.

h.והיא כפרחת means AND IT WAS AS THOUGH IT BUDDED — it seemed to me in my dream as though it budded, and after the bud its blossom sprang up — i.e. it began to flower; old French spanier — and after that the clusters brought forth ripe grapes. The Targum has והיא כד אפרחת אפיקת לבלבין “and it, when it budded, brought forth blossoms”, These words (ע״כ, abbreviation for עד כאן “till here”. The abbreviation is employed to show where a quotation ends.) are the translation of the word פרחת“” only. A נץ is larger than a פרח (i.e. נץ is a later stage of the bud), as it is written (Isaiah [18]:5) “and the blossom (נצה) becometh a ripening grape”, and it is written (Numbers [17]:23) “And it brought forth buds (פרח)” and afterwards it states “it brought forth (ציץ) blossoms”.

h.ואשחט translate it as the Targum AND I PRESSED — The word occurs frequently in the Mishna (but only here in the Bible).

h.שלשת ימים ARE THREE DAYS — They are a symbol to you of three days. There are many Midrashic explanations of these words (cf. Chullin 92a).

h.ישא פרעה את ראשך PHARAOH SHALL LIFT UP THY HEAD — The words נשא ראש denote to count (cf. Exodus 30:12). When he musters his other servants to wait upon him during the meal he will count you also among them.

h.כנך means THY POST and thy place.

h.כי אם זכרתני אתך means: You will be restored to your post and will have great influence (cf. Nehemia’s position as cupbearer at the Persian court), so that. (כי) if (אם) thou at all bear me in mind after it is well with thee as I have interpreted.

h.ועשית נא עמדי חסד THEN SHOW KINDNESS I PRAY THEE UNTO ME — The word נא is an expression of entreaty.

In our country there are many such baskets and sellers of fancy rolls — old French oublies — usually put them in these baskets.

h.יום הלדת את פרעה HIS (PHARAOH’S) BIRTHDAY. It is called (Avodah Zarah [10]a) “The birthday festival”. The causative passive form (הלדת) is used because the infant is born only by the assistance of others, for the midwife delivers the woman. On this account a midwife is called מילדת a Piel form “one who brings to birth”. This passive form occurs similarly (Ezekiel 16:4) “And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born (הולדת אתך)”. A similar passive form is used in (Leviticus 13:55) “after the plague (הכבס) is washed away”, because the washing is done by others).

h.‘וישא את ראש וגו means he counted them amongst his other servants — because he counted those who might serve him at his feast — and he remembered these amongst them. The phrase is similar to (Numbers 1.2) “שא את ראש” which signifies counting.

h.ולא זכר שר המשקים AND THE CHIEF OF THE BUTLERS DID NOT REMEMBER HIM on that day,

h.וישכחהו AND HE FORGOT HIM afterwards. Because Joseph had placed his trust in him that he should remember him he was doomed to remain in prison for two years. So it is said (Psalms 40:5) “Happy is the man who maketh the Lord his trust and turneth not to (רהבים) the arrogant” — i.e. doth not trust in the Egyptians who are called arrogant (Genesis Rabbah 89:3 cf. Isaiah 30:7).