Then the chief cup bearer spoke to Pharaoh, saying, “I remember my faults today. Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and put me in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, with the chief baker. We dreamed a dream in one night, he and I. Each man dreamed according to the interpretation of his dream. There was with us there a young man, a Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard, and we told him, and he interpreted to us our dreams. He interpreted to each man according to his dream. As he interpreted to us, so it was. He restored me to my office, and he hanged him.”
Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon. He shaved himself, changed his clothing, and came in to Pharaoh. Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I have dreamed a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. I have heard it said of you, that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.”
Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, “It isn’t in me. God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace.”
Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, “In my dream, behold, I stood on the brink of the river; and behold, there came up out of the river seven cattle, fat and sleek. They fed in the marsh grass; and behold, seven other cattle came up after them, poor and very ugly and thin, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for ugliness. The thin and ugly cattle ate up the first seven fat cattle; and when they had eaten them up, it couldn’t be known that they had eaten them, but they were still ugly, as at the beginning. So I awoke. I saw in my dream, and behold, seven heads of grain came up on one stalk, full and good; and behold, seven heads of grain, withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them. The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads of grain. I told it to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me.”
Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dream of Pharaoh is one. What God is about to do he has declared to Pharaoh. The seven good cattle are seven years; and the seven good heads of grain are seven years. The dream is one. The seven thin and ugly cattle that came up after them are seven years, and also the seven empty heads of grain blasted with the east wind; they will be seven years of famine. That is the thing which I have spoken to Pharaoh. God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do. Behold, seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt are coming. Seven years of famine will arise after them, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will consume the land, and the plenty will not be known in the land by reason of that famine which follows; for it will be very grievous. The dream was doubled to Pharaoh, because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.
“Now therefore let Pharaoh look for a discreet and wise man, and set him over the land of Egypt. Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint overseers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt’s produce in the seven plenteous years. Let them gather all the food of these good years that come, and store grain under the hand of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it. The food will be to supply the land against the seven years of famine, which will be in the land of Egypt; so that the land will not perish through the famine.”
The thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants. Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?” Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Because God has shown you all of this, there is no one so discreet and wise as you. You shall be over my house. All my people will be ruled according to your word. Only in the throne I will be greater than you.” Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Behold, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.” Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his hand, and put it on Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in robes of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck. He made him ride in the second chariot which he had. They cried before him, “Bow the knee!” He set him over all the land of Egypt. Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh. Without you, no man shall lift up his hand or his foot in all the land of Egypt.” Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphenath-Paneah. He gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On as a wife. Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.
Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt. In the seven plenteous years the earth produced abundantly. He gathered up all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities. He stored food in each city from the fields around that city. Joseph laid up grain as the sand of the sea, very much, until he stopped counting, for it was without number. To Joseph were born two sons before the year of famine came, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, bore to him. Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh, “For”, he said, “God has made me forget all my toil, and all my father’s house.” The name of the second, he called Ephraim: “For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”
The seven years of plenty, that were in the land of Egypt, came to an end. The seven years of famine began to come, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. When all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread, and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph. What he says to you, do.” The famine was over all the surface of the earth. Joseph opened all the store houses, and sold to the Egyptians. The famine was severe in the land of Egypt. All countries came into Egypt, to Joseph, to buy grain, because the famine was severe in all the earth.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv9, 14, 15, 16, 17, 32, 33, 35, 38, 40, 46, 50, 53, 55 9. Then spake the chief butler. Although the Lord…
9. Then spake the chief butler. Although the Lord took pity on Egypt, yet he did it not for the sake of the king, or of the country, but that Joseph might, at length, be brought out of prison; and further, that, in the time of famine, food might be supplied to the Church: for although the produce was stored with no design beyond that of providing for the kingdom of Egypt; yet God chiefly cared for his Church, which he esteemed more highly than ten worlds. Therefore the butler, who had resolved to be silent respecting Joseph, is constrained to speak for the liberation of the holy man. In saying, I do remember my faults this day, he is understood by some as confessing the fault of ingratitude, because he had not kept the promise he had given. But the meaning is different; for he could not speak concerning his imprisonment, without interposing a preface of this kind, through fear, lest suspicion should enter into the mind of the king, that his servant thought himself injured; or, should take offense, as if the butler had not been sensible of the benefit conferred upon him. We know how sensitive are the minds of kings; and the courtier had found this out by long experience: therefore he begins by acknowledging that he had been justly cast into prison. Whence it follows that he was indebted to the clemency of the king for restoration to his former state.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv9, 12, 14, 16, 19, 21, 25, 29, 31, 33, 38, 40, 42, 43, 45, 46, 47, 51, 54, 57 He confesseth his fault against the king before he…
He confesseth his fault against the king before he speak of Joseph.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 25, 26, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57 Gen 41:9 Then spake the chief butler unto Pharaoh,…
Gen 41:9 Then spake the chief butler unto Pharaoh, saying, I do remember my faults this day:
Ver. 9. I do remember my faults this day.] Oratio vere aulica, saith Pareus, - a right courtier’s speech. He so relates the history of his imprisonment, that he takes all the blame thereof to himself; gives Pharaoh the full commendation of his justice and clemency. As for Joseph, he mentions him to the king, lest, if any else should have done it before him, he should have been disgraced for his silence; but somewhat slenderly, and more for self-respects, than of any good affection to the innocent prisoner; whom he calls a young man, a bondman, and Hebrew; in whose behalf he neither adviseth, nor entreateth that he may be sent for. So very little is it that Joseph oweth to this patron! And such, for most part, are court commendations. There you have αναβολην και μεταβολην; as one said of old, delays and changes good store: every man seeking and serving his own aims and ends; but little minding the good of others, further than subservient to their own.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv9, 11, 13, 14, 16, 21, 25, 30, 34, 38, 39, 40, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 51, 52, 54, 55 Not against Joseph by ingratitude, but against the king;…
Not against Joseph by ingratitude, but against the king; by which expression he both acknowledgeth the king’s justice in imprisoning him, and his clemency in pardoning him.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On vv9, 17, 33, 46 Here is, 1. The recommending of Joseph to Pharaoh…
Here is, 1. The recommending of Joseph to Pharaoh for an interpreter. The chief butler did it more in compliment to Pharaoh, to oblige him, than in gratitude to Joseph, or in compassion for his case. He makes a fair confession (Gen 41:9): "I remember my faults this day, in forgetting Joseph." Note, It is best to remember our duty, and to do it in its time; but, if we have neglected that, it is next best to remember our faults, and repent of them, and do our duty at last; better late than never. Some think he means his faults against Pharaoh, for which he was imprisoned; and then he would insinuate that, though Pharaoh had forgiven him, he had not forgiven himself. The story he had to tell was, in short, That there was an obscure young man in the king's prison, who had very properly interpreted his dream, and the chief baker's (the event corresponding in each with the interpretation), and that he would recommend him to the king his master for an interpreter. Note, God's time for the enlargement of his people will appear at last to be the fittest time. If the chief butler had at first used his interest for Joseph's enlargement, and had obtained it, it is probable that upon his release he would have gone back to the land of the Hebrews again, which he spoke of so feelingly (Gen 40:15), and then he would neither have been so blessed himself, nor such a blessing to his family, as afterwards he proved. But staying two years longer, and coming out now upon this occasion, at last, to interpret the king's dreams, way was made for his very great preferment. Those that patiently wait for God shall be paid for their waiting, not only principal but interest, Lam 3:26. 2. The introducing of Joseph to Pharaoh. The king's business requires haste. Joseph is sent for out of the dungeon with all speed; Pharaoh's order discharged him both from his imprisonment and from his servitude, and made him a candidate for some of the highest trusts at court. The king can scarcely allow him time, but that decency required it, to shave himself, and to change his raiment, Gen 41:14. It is done with all possible expedition, and Joseph is brought in, perhaps almost as much surprised as Peter was, Act 12:9. So suddenly is his captivity brought back that he is as one that dreams, Psa 126:1. Pharaoh immediately, without enquiring who or whence he was, tells him his business, that he expected he should interpret his dream, Gen 41:15. To which, Joseph makes him a very modest decent reply, (Gen 41:16), in which, (1.) He gives honour to God. "It is not in me, God must give it." Note, Great gifts appear most graceful and illustrious when those that have them use them humbly, and take not the praise of them to themselves, but give it to God. To such God gives more grace. (2.) He shows respect to Pharaoh, and hearty good-will to him and his government, in supposing that the interpretation would be an answer of peace. Note, Those that consult God's oracles may expect an answer of peace. If Joseph be made the interpreter, hope the best.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv9–52 Then spake the chief butler unto Pharaoh,.... When the…
Then spake the chief butler unto Pharaoh,.... When the magicians and wise men could not interpret his dreams, he was in distress of mind on that account:
saying, I do remember my faults this day; which some interpret of his forgetfulness of Joseph and his afflictions, and of his ingratitude to him, and breach of promise in not making mention of him to Pharaoh before this time; but they seem rather to be faults he had committed against Pharaoh, and were the reason of his being wroth with him, as in Gen 41:10; and these were either real faults, which the king had pardoned, or however such as he had been charged with, and cleared from; and which he now in a courtly manner takes to himself, and owns them, that the king's goodness and clemency to him might appear, and lest he should seem to charge the king with injustice in casting him into prison; which circumstance he could not avoid relating in the story he was about to tell.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv9, 16, 29, 30, 44, 50, 54 I remember my faults this day - in forgetting…
I remember my faults this day - in forgetting Joseph. Some think he means his faults against Pharaoh, for which he was imprisoned, and then he would insinuate, that through Pharaoh had forgiven him, he had not forgiven himself. God's time for the enlargement of his people will appear, at last, to be the fittest time. If the chief butler had at first used his interest for Joseph's enlargement, and had obtained, it is probable, he would have gone back to the land of the Hebrews, and then he had neither been so blessed himself, nor such a blessing to his family. But staying two years longer, and coming out upon this occasion to interpret the king's dreams, way was made for his preferment. The king can scarce allow him time, but that decency required it, to shave himself, and to change his raiment, chap. xli, 14. It is done with all possible expedition, and Joseph is brought in perhaps almost as much surprised as Peter was, Acts xii, 9, so suddenly is his captivity brought back, that he is as one that dreams, Psalm lxxvi, 1. Pharaoh immediately, without enquiring who or whence he was tells him his business, that he expected he should interpret his dream.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv9, 14, 16, 18, 21, 25, 31, 33, 34, 35, 37, 38, 40, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 50, 54, 55, 56, 57 Verse 9. I do remember my faults] It is…
Verse 9. I do remember my faults] It is not possible he could have forgotten the circumstance to which he here alludes; it was too intimately connected with all that was dear to him, to permit him ever to forget it. But it was not convenient for him to remember this before; and probably he would not have remembered it now, had he not seen, that giving this information in such a case was likely to serve his own interest. We are justified in thinking evil of this man because of his scandalous neglect of a person who foretold the rescue of his life from imminent destruction, and who, being unjustly confined, prayed to have his case fairly represented to the king that justice might be done him; but this courtier, though then in the same circumstances himself, found it convenient to forget the poor, friendless Hebrew slave!
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv9, 13, 14, 16, 29, 30, 33, 34, 40, 42, 44, 46, 50, 54 Gen 41:9. I remember my faults this day —…
Gen 41:9. I remember my faults this day — In forgetting Joseph; or rather, he means his faults against Pharaoh, for which he was imprisoned; and thus he would insinuate, that, though Pharaoh had forgiven him, he had not forgiven himself. God’s time for the enlargement of his people will appear, at last, to be the fittest time. If the chief butler had at first used his interest for Joseph’s enlargement, and had obtained it, it is probable he would have gone back to the land of the Hebrews, and then he had neither been so blessed himself, nor such a blessing to his family. But staying two years longer, and coming out upon this occasion to interpret the king’s dreams, a way was made for his preferment.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv9, 12, 14, 16, 23, 30, 34, 38, 40, 42, 43, 44, 45, 47, 51, 52, 55, 57 My sin against your majesty, and my ingratitude towards…
My sin against your majesty, and my ingratitude towards Joseph. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv9, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 22, 23, 24, 25, 33, 34, 38, 40, 41, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 50, 53, 57 then spake the chief butler unto Pharaoh, saying, I…
then spake the chief butler unto Pharaoh, saying, I do remember my faults--This public acknowledgment of the merits of the young Hebrew would, tardy though it was, have reflected credit on the butler had it not been obviously made to ingratiate himself with his royal master. It is right to confess our faults against God, and against our fellow men when that confession is made in the spirit of godly sorrow and penitence. But this man was not much impressed with a sense of the fault he had committed against Joseph; he never thought of God, to whose goodness he was indebted for the prophetic announcement of his release, and in acknowledging his former fault against the king, he was practising the courtly art of pleasing his master.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv9, 14, 15, 16, 25, 32, 33, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 43, 45, 46, 51 JOSEPH INTERPRETS PHARAOH’S DREAMS, Gen_41:9-36.
JOSEPH INTERPRETS PHARAOH’S DREAMS, Gen_41:9-36.
9. My faults — The sins which caused his imprisonment. The recital of the king’s dreams, and the inability of all the wise men to interpret them, cause the butler to remember his offences, his imprisonment, his dream, and all connected with it.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv9, 12, 13, 14, 16, 23, 25, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 38, 39, 40, 42, 43, 45, 46, 48, 49, 51, 52, 54, 56, 57 9. I do remember] R.V. marg., will make mention…
9. I do remember] R.V. marg., will make mention of, gives the right meaning of the Heb. LXX ἀναμιμνήσκω, Lat. confiteor.
my faults] Lit. “my sins” (cf. Gen_40:1). He is not referring to his forgetfulness (Gen_40:23), but to his offences against Pharaoh.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv14, 18, 19, 23, 34, 38, 40, 42, 43, 45, 48, 51, 52, 54 (14) He shaved himself.—Herodotus (ii. 36) mentions that the…
(14) He shaved himself.—Herodotus (ii. 36) mentions that the Egyptians suffered their hair and beards to grow only when in mourning; whereas in Palestine the beard was regarded as a manly ornament. On Egyptian monuments only captives and men of low condition are represented with beards. In the prison, therefore, Joseph would leave his beard untrimmed, but when summoned into the king’s presence, he would shave it off. Abravanel notices that for each suffering of Joseph there was an exact recompense. It was for dreams that his brethren hated him, and by help of dreams he was exalted in Egypt. They stripped him of his many-coloured coat; the Egyptians clothed him in byssus. They cast him into a pit, and from the pit of the prison he was drawn forth by Pharaoh. They sold him into slavery; in Egypt he was made lord.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv9, 14, 15, 16, 17, 25, 26, 33, 37, 39, 40, 41, 44, 45, 46, 47, 49, 50, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56 Vers. 9-13. Then spake the chief butler unto Pharaoh,…
Vers. 9-13. Then spake the chief butler unto Pharaoh, saying, I do remember my faults this day: literally, my faults (sc. am) remembering today; but whether he understood by his faults his ingratitude to Joseph or his offense against Pharaoh commentators are not agreed, though the latter seems the more probablePharaoh was wroth with his servants, literally, broke out against them (vide Gen_40:2) and put me in ward in the captain of the guard"s house, literally, put me in custody of the house of the captain of the slaughterers (cf. Gen_40:3) both me and the chief baker: and we dreamed a dream in one night, I and he; we dreamed each man according to the interpretation of his dream. (vide Gen_40:5) And there was there with us a young man, a Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard (vide; Gen_37:36) and we told him (so. our dreams), and he interpreted to us our dreams (vide; Gen_40:12, Gen_40:13, Gen_40:18, Gen_40:19) to each man according to his dream he did interpret. And it came to pass, as he interpreted to us, so it was; me he (not Pharaoh, but Joseph) restored unto mine office, and him he hanged. (vide Gen_40:21, Gen_40:22)
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv9, 14, 17, 33, 37, 45, 46, 51, 53 I do remember my faults this day
Gen_41:9-13
I do remember my faults this day
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Pharaohs butler; or, The power of memory, association, and conscience
I.
THE POWER OF MEMORY. I do remember. Memory, a faculty of mind, wonderful, varies in its strength and exercise, accompanied by pains as well as pleasures. The effect depends upon the state of the soul, and on the character of the things remembered, whether good or evil, painful or pleasant (see Job_21:6; Psa_63:6; Psa_77:3; Psa_137:1; Eze_16:61, Eph_2:11; Luk_16:25; Rev_14:13.) Beware. Do some evil deed, commit some wrong against your neighbour or your God; and, try as you will, you cannot quite forget. Memory may slumber for a while, but will some day awake.
II. THE POWER OF ASSOCIATION. This day. Why then? For two years all had seemingly been forgotten. Now chord of association touched: Pharaohs dreams. This power is often appealed to in Scripture. Type, symbol, parable, all recognize, and receive much of their value from association. In the special case before us, behold the hand of God. The great designs of Providence are ripe for execution. Hence the butler is roused to action. It needs but a touch of association, and the long-forgotten promise is recalled. Josephs release immediately follows.
III. THE POWER OF CONSCIENCE. My faults. Mark the power conscience:
1. In exciting a sense of personal blameworthiness.
(1) Infidelity.
(2) Ingratitude.
2. In exciting a feeling of painful remorse.
(1)Shame.
(2)Regret.
(3)Atonement. (Homilist.)
Faults remembered
I. WE ARE ALL CHARGEABLE WITH FAULTS (Ecc_7:20; Rom_3:12; Psa_19:12; Psa_143:2; Jam_3:2; 1Jn_1:8; Rom_3:23). Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgot him. It was forgetfulness most inexcusable; it was ingratitude most unkind I But what are our faults? We have offended, not the king of Egypt, but the King of kings, the King of heaven, the Greatest and Best of all beings. We have forgotten, not the son of Jacob, but the Son of God, the Lord of life and glory.
II. WE ARE LIABLE TO FORGET OUR FAULTS.
1. The evidence of this. Men have convictions of sin, but they stifle them.
2. The causes of this.
(1) Ignorance of the true nature and malignity of sin.
(2) Partiality to self, strengthened by the deceitfulness of the heart.
(3) The hurry of business.
(4) Elevation in worldly circumstances.
III. Various circumstances are adapted to REMIND US OF OUR FAULTS.
1. Providential occurrences. Some of these regard ourselves, the affliction of our persons, or our immediate connections. Other providential occurrences regard the condition of those about us: they strike our observation. We witness sometimes She difficulties in which others are involved; we think of what occasioned such difficulties, and are reminded of similar causes in ourselves, which might have produced similar effects.
2. The ministry of Gods Word.
IV. When we are reminded of our faults we should be ready to confess 1Jn_1:8-9). What, then, have we to confess to God? What are the faults which this day we remember? We must go to Him with all our faults, with all our follies, and with all the iniquity of our sin.
V. Confession of faults should always be attended with REAL AMENDMENT. (T. Kidd.)
Pharaohs butler
There are some truths in this verse which I wish you to understand and remember. I shall name and illustrate five of these.
I. THE POWER OF INGRATITUDE. Josephs request to the butler, and the butlers reply. How easily he might have kept his promise I Have you been ungrateful to any one--parents, teachers, Jesus? If so, repent at once.
II. THE POWER OF MEMORY. As the bridge spans the river, so the butlers memory went back over two years. He saw Joseph in prison and his broken promise. How kind God has been in giving us such a wonderful faculty! Use it well in connection with pure objects, good books, and godly persons. You will then have always excellent and instructive companions.
III. THE POWER OF A SINGLE EVENT. What caused the butler to remember Joseph? The kings dream. How suggestive often are little things! A book, a portrait, a stone, a shoe.
IV. THE POWER OF CONSCIENCE. The butler began to think about his faults.
V. THE POWER OF INTERCESSION. The butler interceded with the king for Joseph. This led to Josephs freedom and exaltation. Do not forget this. Act upon it. The good which you may secure for others in this way. (Homiletic Review.)
Have you forgotten Him?
No single power or faculty of man escaped damage at the Fall: while the affections were polluted, the will was made perverse, the judgment was shifted from its proper balance, and the memory lost much of its power and more of its integrity. Our memories, like ourselves, have done the things which they ought not to have done, and have left undone the things which they ought to have done, and there is no health in them. Among other things, it is not always easy to recollect our faults We have special and particular reasons for not wishing to be too often reminded of them. If, however, the grace of God has entered into a man he will pray that he may remember his faults, and he will ask grace that if he should forget any excellences which he once supposed he had, he may not forget his defects, his sins, his infirmities, and his transgressions, but may have them constantly before him, that he may be humbled by them and led to seek pardon for them and help to overcome them.
I. We shall first call your attention to the BUTLERS FAULTS, for his faults are ours, only ours are on a larger scale: I do remember my faults this day. His particular fault was that he had forgotten Joseph; that, having promised to remember him when it should be well with him, he had altogether overlooked the circumstances which occurred in the prison, and had been enjoying himself, and leaving his friend to pine in obscurity.
1. Here, then, is the first fault--the butler had forgotten a friend. That is never a thing to be said in a mans praise. We ought to write the deeds of friendship as much as possible in marble; and that man is unworthy of esteem who can readily forget favours received. As I never shall forget when, at the foot of the Cross, I saw the interpretation of all my inward griefs; when I looked up and saw the flowing of my Saviours precious blood, and had the great riddle all unriddled. My brethren, what a discovery was that when we learned the secret that we were to be saved not by what we were or were to be, but saved by what Christ had done for us I Happy day I we see Jesus as the cluster crushed until the hearts blood flows, and can by faith go in unto the King, with Jesus Christs own precious blood and offer that, just as the butler stood before Pharaoh with the wine-cup in his hand, I bear a cup filled not with my blood, but His blood: not the blood from me as a cluster of the vine of earth, but the blood of Jesus as a cluster of heavens own vintage, pouring out its precious floods to make glad the heart of God and man.
2. Here lies our fault: that we have forgotten all this--not forgotten the fact, but forgotten to love Him who gave us that soul-comforting, heart-cheering interpretation.
3. We have not, however, quite done with the case of the butler and Joseph. The request which Joseph made of the butler was a very natural one. He said, Think of me when it is well with thee. He asked no hard, difficult, exacting favour, but simply, Think of me, and speak to Pharaoh. What the Saviour asks of us, His servants, is most natural and most simple, and quite as much for our good as it is for His glory. Among other things, He has said to all of you who love Him, This do in remembrance of Me.
4. I have stated the butlers case, but I shall want to pause a minute or two over this head just to go into the reason of his fault. Why was it that he did not recollect Joseph? There is always a reason for everything, if we do but try to find out. He must have been swayed by one of the three reasons.
(1) Perhaps the butler was naturally ungrateful. We do not know, but that may have been the case: he may have been a person who could receive unbounded favours without a due sense of obligation. I trust that is not our case in the fullest and most unmitigated sense, but I am afraid we must all plead guilty in a measure.
(2) Perhaps, however, worldly care choked the memory. The chief butler had a great deal to do: he had many under-servants, and, having to wait in a palace, much care was required. He who serves a despot like the king of Egypt must be very particular in his service. It is very possible that the butler was so busy with his work and his gains, and looking after his fellow-servants and all that, that he forgot poor Joseph. Is it not very possible that this may be the case with us? We forget the Lord Jesus to whom we are bound by such ties, because our business is so large, our family so numerous, our cares so pressing, our bills and bonds so urgent, and even because perhaps our gains are so large.
(3) I am half ashamed to have to say one thing more. I am afraid that the butler forgot Joseph out of pride; because he had grown such a great man, and Joseph was in prison. I do not suppose that this operates with many of you, but I have known it with some professed believers. When they were little in Israel, when they first professed to have found peace, oh how they acknowledged Jesus! But they got on in the world and prospered, and then they could not worship among those poor people who were good enough for them once--they now drive to a more fashionable place of worship, where the Lord Jesus is seldom heard of. They feel themselves bound to get into a higher class of society, as they call it, and the poor despised cause of Jesus is beneath them, forgetting, as they foolishly do, that the day will come when Christs cause shall be uppermost; when the world shall go down and the faithful followers of the Lord Jesus shall be peers and princes even in this world, and reign with Him; He being King of kings and Lord of lords, and they sitting upon His throne and sharing in His royal dignity. I hope none of you have forgotten Christ because of that.
II. The second point is this--WHAT CIRCUMSTANCES BROUGHT THE FAULT TO THE BUTLERS MIND? The same circumstances which surround us this morning
1. First, he met with a person in the same condition as that in which he once was. King Pharaoh had dreamed a dream, and wished for an interpretation. Joseph could interpret; and the butler remembered his fault. Brothers and sisters in Christ, there are those in the world who are in the same state of mind as you were once in. They once loved sin and hated God, and were strangers and aliens from the commonwealth of Israel; but in some of them there has been the mysterious working of the Holy Spirit, and they have dreamed a dream. They are awakened, although not yet enlightened. Salvation is a riddle to them at present, and they want the interpretation. Do you not remember how the gospel was blessed to you? Do you not desire to send it to others? If you cannot preach yourself, will you not help me in my life-work of training others to preach Jesus?
2. The next thing that recalled the butlers thought was this: he saw that many means had been used to interpret Pharaohs dream, but they had all failed. We read that Pharaoh sent for his wise men, but they could not interpret his dream. You are in a like case. Do not you feel a want, if you cannot go and preach yourselves, to help others to do so?
3. Then, again, if the butler could have known it, he had other motives for remembering Joseph. It was through Joseph that the whole land of Egypt was blessed. Joseph comes out of prison, and interprets the dream which God had given to the head of the state, and that interpretation preserved all Egypt, yea, and all other nations during seven years of dearth. Only Joseph could do it. Oh, brethren, you know that it is only Jesus who is the balm of Gilead, for the wounds of this poor dying world. You know that there is nothing which can bless our land, and all other lands, like the Cross of Jesus Christ.
4. Once more, surely the butler would have remembered Joseph had he known to what an exaltation Joseph would be brought. Think of the splendour which yet wilt surround our Lord Jesus I He shall come, beloved, He shall come in the chariots of salvation. The day draweth nigh when all things shall be put under Him. Kings shall yield their crowns to His superior sway, and whole sheaves of sceptres, plucked from tyrants hands, shall be gathered beneath His arm. You by testifying of Him are promoting the extension of His kingdom, and doing the best that in you lies to gather together the scattered who are to be the jewels of His crown.
III. In the last place, I have some few things to say by way of COMMENDATION OF THE BUTLERS REMEMBRANCE. It is a pity he forgot Joseph, but it is a great blessing that he did not always forget him. It is a sad thing that you and I should have done so little; it is a mercy that there is time left for us to do more.
1. I like the butlers remembrance, first of all, because it was very humbling to him.
2. I commend his remembrance for another thing, namely, that it was so personal. I do remember my faults this day. What capital memories we have for treasuring up other peoples faults, for once let us keep to ourselves. Let the confession begin with the minister. I do remember my faults this day.
3. The best part of it, perhaps, was the practical nature of the confession. The moment he remembered his fault, he redressed it as far as he could, Now, dear friends, if you recollect your fault to the Lord Jesus, may you have grace not to fall into it again! If you have not spoken for Him, speak to-day. If you have not given to His cause, give now I If you have not devoted yourselves as you ought to have done to the promotion of His kingdom, do it now. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Confession of sin difficult
Many years ago, a minister put up for the night with a man who was supposed to possess but little of what people call common sense. Just as he was about to retire for rest, the man said: Tell me, sir, what three words in the English language it is the most difficult to pronounce? I dont know that I can, was the reply. Well, said the man, Ill give you till to-morrow morning to answer me. The minister thought no more of the question till it was proposed to him again in the morning, when he carelessly said he had not thought of it. Then, said the man, I will tell you. They are--I am wrong.
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On v37 Gen_41:37-57, Gen_47:13-26
JOSEPHS ADMINISTRATION
Gen_41:37-57, Gen_47:13-26
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"He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his substance: To bind his princes at his pleasure; and teach his senators wisdom." Psa_105:21-22.
"MANY a monument consecrated to the memory of some nobleman gone to his long home, who during life had held high rank at the court of Pharaoh, is decorated with the simple but laudatory inscription, His ancestors were unknown people.'" -so we are told by our most accurate informant regarding Egyptian affairs. Indeed, the tales we read of adventurers in the East, and the histories which recount how some dynasties have been founded, are sufficient evidence that, in other countries besides Egypt, sudden elevation from the lowest to the highest rank is not so unusual as amongst ourselves. Historians have recently made out that in one period of the history of Egypt there are traces of a kind of Semitic mania, a strong leaning towards Syrian and Arabian customs, phrases, and persons. Such manias have occurred in most countries. There was a period in the history of Rome when everything that had a Greek flavour was admired; an Anglomania once affected a portion of the French population, and reciprocally, French manners and ideas have at times found a welcome among ourselves. It is also clear that for a time Lower Egypt was under the dominion of foreign rulers who were in race more nearly allied to Joseph than to the native population. But there is no need that so complicated a question as the exact date of this foreign domination be debated here, for there was that in Josephs bearing which would have commended him to any sagacious monarch. Not only did the court accept him as a messenger from God, but they could not fail to recognise substantial and serviceable human qualities alongside of what was mysterious in him. The ready apprehension with which he appreciated the magnitude of the danger, the clear-sighted promptitude with which he met it, the resource and quiet capacity with which he handled a matter involving the entire condition of Egypt, showed them that they were in the presence of a true statesman, No doubt the confidence with which he described the best method of dealing with the emergency was the confidence of one who was convinced he was speaking for God. This was the great distinction they perceived between Joseph and ordinary dream-interpreters. It was not guesswork with him. The same distinction is always apparent between revelation and speculation. Revelation speaks with authority; speculation gropes its way, and when wisest is most diffident. At the same time Pharaoh was perfectly right in his inference: "Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art." He believed that God had chosen him to deal with this matter because he was wise in heart, and he believed his wisdom would remain because God had chosen him.
At length, then, Joseph saw the fulfilment of his dreams within his reach. The coat of many colours with which his father had paid a tribute to the princely person and ways of the boy, was now replaced by the robe of state and the heavy gold necklace which marked him out as second to Pharaoh. Whatever nerve and self-command and humble dependence on God his varied experience had wrought in him were all needed when Pharaoh took his hand and placed his own ring on it, thus transferring all his authority to him, and when turning from the king he received the acclamations of the court and the people, bowed to by his old masters, and acknowledged the superior of all the dignitaries and potentates of Egypt. Only once besides, so far as the Egyptian inscriptions have yet been deciphered, does it appear that any subject was raised to be Regent or Viceroy with similar powers. Joseph is, as far as possible, naturalised as an Egyptian. He receives a name easier of pronunciation than his own, at least to Egyptian tongues-Zaphnath-Paaneah, which, however, was perhaps only an official title meaning "Governor of the district of the place of life," the name by which one of the Egyptian counties or states was known. The king crowned his liberality and completed the process of naturalisation by providing him with a wife, Asenath, the daughter of Potipherah, priest of On. This city was not far from Avaris or Haouar, where Josephs Pharaoh, Raapepi II, at this time resided. The worship of the sun-god, Ra, had its centre at On (or Heliopolis, as it was called by the Greeks), and the priests of On took precedence of all Egyptian priests, Joseph was thus connected with one of the most influential families in the land, and if he had any scruples about marrying into an idolatrous family, they were too insignificant to influence his conduct, or leave any trace in the narrative.
His attitude towards God and his own family was disclosed in the names which he gave to his children. In giving names which had a meaning at all, and not merely a taking sound, he showed that he understood, as well he might, that every human life has a significance and expresses some principle or fact. And in giving names which recorded his acknowledgment of Gods goodness, he showed that prosperity had as little influence as adversity to move him from his allegiance to the God of his fathers. His first son he called Manasseh, Making to forget, " for God," said he, "hath made me forget all my toil and all my fathers house"-not as if he were now so abundantly satisfied in Egypt that the thought of his fathers house was blotted from his mind, but only that in this child the keen longings he had felt for kindred and home were somewhat alleviated. He again found an object for his strong family affection. The void in his heart he had so long felt was filled by the little babe. A new home was begun around him. But this new affection would not weaken, though it would alter the character of, his love for his father and brethren. The birth of this child would really be a new tie to the land from which he had been stolen. For, however ready men are to spend their own life in foreign service, you see them wishing that their children should spend their days among the scenes with which their own childhood was familiar.
In the naming of his second son Ephraim he recognises that God had made him fruitful in the most unlikely way. He does not leave it to us to interpret his life, but records what he himself saw in it. It has been said: "To get at the truth of any history is good; but a mans own history-when he reads that truly, and knows what he is about and has been about, it is a Bible to him." And now that Joseph, from the height he had reached, could look back on the way by which he had been led to it, he cordially approved of all that God had done. There was no resentment, no murmuring. He would often find himself looking back and thinking, Had I found my brothers where I thought they were, had the pit not been on the caravan-road, had the merchants not come up so opportunely, had I not been sold at all or to some other master, had I not been imprisoned, or had I been put in another ward-had any one of the many slender links in the chain of my career been absent, bow different might my present state have been. How plainly I now see that all those sad mishaps that crushed my hopes and tortured my spirit were steps in the only conceivable path to my present position.
Many a man has added his signature to this acknowledgment of Josephs, and confessed a providence guiding his life and working out good for him through injuries and sorrows, as well as through honours, marriages, births. As in the heat of summer it is difficult to recall the sensation of winters bitter cold, so the fruitless and barren periods of a mans life are sometimes quite obliterated from his memory. God has it in His power to raise a man higher above the level of ordinary happiness than ever he has sunk below it: and as winter and spring-time, when the seed is sown, are stormy and bleak and gusty, so in human life seed-time is not bright as summer nor cheerful as autumn; and yet it is then, when all the earth lies bare and will yield us nothing, that the precious seed is sown: and when we confidently commit our labour or patience of today to God, the land of our affliction, now bare and desolate, will certainly wave for us, as it has waved for others, with rich produce whitened to the harvest.
There is no doubt then that Joseph had learned to recognise the providence of God as a most important factor in his life. And the man who does so gains for his character all the strength and resolution that come with a capacity for waiting. He saw, most legibly written on his own life, that God is never in a hurry. And for the resolute adherence to his seven-years policy such a belief was most necessary. Nothing, indeed, is said of opposition or incredulity on the part of the Egyptians. But was there ever a policy of such magnitude carried out in any country without opposition or without evilly-disposed persons using it as a weapon against its promoter? No doubt during these years he had need of all the personal determination as well as of all the official authority he possessed. And if, on the whole, remarkable success attended his efforts, we must ascribe this partly to the unchallengeable justice of his arrangements, and partly to the impression of commanding genius Joseph seems everywhere to have made. As with his father and brethren he was felt to be superior, as in Potiphars house he was quickly recognised, as in the prison no prison-garb or slave-brand could disguise him, as in the court his superiority was instinctively felt, so in his administration the people seem to have believed in him.
And if, on the whole and in general, Joseph was reckoned a wise and equitable ruler, and even adored as a kind of saviour of the world, it would be idle in us to canvass the wisdom of his administration. When we have not sufficient historical material to apprehend the full significance of any policy, it is safe to accept the judgment of men who not only knew the facts, but were themselves so deeply involved in them that they would certainly have felt and expressed discontent had there been ground for doing so. The policy of Joseph was simply to economise during the seven years of abundance to such an extent that provision might be made against the seven years of famine. He calculated that one-fifth of the produce of years so extraordinarily plenteous would serve for the seven scarce years. This fifth he seems to have bought in the kings name from the people, buying it, no doubt, at the cheap rates of abundant years. When the years of famine came, the people were referred to Joseph; and, till their money was gone, he sold corn to them, probably not at famine prices. Next he acquired their cattle, and finally, in exchange for food, they yielded to him both their lands and their persons. So that the result of the whole was, that the people who would otherwise have perished were preserved, and in return for this preservation they paid a tax or rent on their farm-lands to the amount of one-fifth of their produce. The people ceased to be proprietors of their own farms, but they were not slaves with no interest in the soil, but tenants sitting at easy rents-a fair enough exchange for being preserved in life. This kind of taxation is eminently fair in principle, securing, as it does, that the wealth of the king and government shall vary with the prosperity of the whole land. The chief difficulty that has always been experienced in working it, has arisen from the necessity of leaving a good deal of discretionary power in the hands of the collectors, who have generally been found not slow to abuse this power.
The only semblance of despotism in Josephs policy is found in the curious circumstance that he interfered with the peoples choice of residence, and shifted them from one end of the land to another. This may have been necessary not only as a kind of seal on the deed by which the lands were conveyed to the king, and as a significant sign to them that they were mere tenants, but also Joseph probably saw that for the interests of the country, if not of agricultural prosperity, this shifting had become necessary for the breaking up of illegal associations, nests of sedition, and sectional prejudices and enmities which were endangering the community. Modern experience supplies us with instances in which, by such a policy, a country might be regenerated and a seven years famine hailed as a blessing if, without famishing the people, it put them unconditionally into the hands of an able, bold, and beneficent ruler. And this was a policy which could be much better devised and executed by a foreigner than by a native.
Egypts indebtedness to Joseph was, in fact, two-fold. In the first place he succeeded in doing what many strong governments have failed to do: he enabled a large population to survive a long and severe famine. Even with all modern facilities for transport and for making the abundance of remote countries available for times of scarcity, it has not always been found possible to save our own fellow-subjects from starvation. In a prolonged famine which occurred in Egypt during the Middle Ages, the inhabitants, reduced to the unnatural habits which are the most painful feature of such times, not only ate their own dead, but kidnapped the living on the streets of Cairo and consumed them in secret. One of the most touching memorials of the famine with which Joseph had to deal is found in a sepulchral inscription in Arabia. A flood of rain laid bare a tomb in which lay a woman having on her person a profusion of jewels which represented a very large value. At her head stood a coffer filled with treasure, and a tablet with this inscription: "In Thy name, O God, the God of Himyar, I, Tayar, the daughter of Dzu Shefar, sent my steward to Joseph, and he delaying to return to me, I sent my handmaid with a measure of silver to bring me back a measure of flour; and not being able to procure it, I sent her with a measure of gold; and not being able to procure it, I sent her with a measure of pearls; and not being able to procure it, I commanded them to be ground; and finding no profit in them, I am shut up here." If this inscription is genuine-and there seems no reason to call it in question-it shows that there is no exaggeration in the statement of our narrator that the famine was very grievous in other lands as well as in Egypt. And, whether genuine or not, one cannot but admire the grim humour of the starving woman getting herself buried in the jewels which had suddenly dropped to less than the value of a loaf of bread.
But besides being indebted to Joseph for their preservation, the Egyptians owed to him an extension of their influence; for, as all the lands round about became dependent on Egypt for provision, they must have contracted a respect for the Egyptian administration. They must also have added greatly to Egypts wealth and during those years of constant traffic many commercial connections must have been formed which in future years would be of untold value to Egypt. But above all, the permanent alterations made by Joseph on their tenure of land, and on their places of abode, may have convinced the most sagacious of the Egyptians that it was well for them that their money had failed, and that they had been compelled to yield themselves unconditionally into the hands of this remarkable ruler. It is the mark of a competent statesman that he makes temporary distress the occasion for permanent benefit; and from the confidence Joseph won with the people, there seems every reason to believe that the permanent alterations he introduced were considered as beneficial as certainly they were bold.
And for our own spiritual uses it is this point which seems chiefly important. In Joseph is illustrated the principle that, in order to the attainment of certain blessings, unconditional submission to Gods delegate is required. If we miss this, we miss a large part of what his history exhibits, and it becomes a mere pretty story. The prominent idea in his dreams was that he was to be worshipped by his brethren. In his exaltation by Pharaoh, the absolute authority given to him is again conspicuous: "Without thee shall no man lift up hand or foot in all the land of Egypt."
And still the same autocracy appears in the fact that not one Egyptian who was helpful to him in this matter is mentioned; and no one has received such exclusive possession of a considerable part of Scripture, so personal and outstanding a place. All this leaves upon the mind the impression that Joseph becomes a benefactor, and in his degree a saviour, to men by becoming their absolute master. When this was hinted in his dreams at first his brothers fiercely resented it. But when they were put to the push by famine, both they and the Egyptians recognised that he was appointed by God to be their saviour, while at the same time they markedly and consciously submitted themselves to him. Men may always be expected to recognise that he who can save them alive in famine has a right to order the bounds of their habitation; and also that in the hands of one who, from disinterested motives, has saved them, they are likely to be quite as safe as in their own. And it we are all quite sure of this, that men of great political sagacity can regulate our affairs with tenfold the judgment and success that we ourselves could achieve, we cannot wonder that in matters still higher, and for which we are notoriously incompetent, there should be One into whose hands it is well to commit ourselves-One whose judgment is not warped by the prejudices which blind all mere natives of this world, but who, separate from sinners yet naturalised among us, can both detect and rectify everything in our condition which is less than perfect. If there are certainly many cases in which explanations are out of the question, and in which the governed, if they are wise, will yield themselves to a trusted authority, and leave it to time and results to justify his measures, any one, I think, who anxiously considers our spiritual condition must see that here too obedience is for us the greater part of wisdom, and that, after all speculation and efforts at sufficing investigation, we can still do no better than yield ourselves absolutely to Jesus Christ. He alone understands our whole position; He alone speaks with the authority that commands confidence, because it is felt to be the authority of the truth. We feel the present pressure of famine; we have discernment enough, some of us, to know we are in danger, but we cannot penetrate deeply either into the cause or the possible consequences of our present state. But Christ-if we may continue the figure-legislates with a breadth of administrative capacity which includes not only our present distress but our future condition, and, with the boldness of one who is master of the whole case, requires that we put ourselves wholly into His hand. He takes the responsibility of all the changes we make in obedience to Him, and proposes so to relieve us that the relief shall be permanent, and that the very emergency which has thrown us upon His help shall be the occasion of our transference not merely out of the present evil, but into the best possible form of human life.
From this chapter, then, in the history of Joseph, we may reasonably take occasion to remind ourselves, first, that in all things pertaining to God unconditional submission to Christ is necessarily required of us. Apart from Christ we cannot tell what are the necessary elements of a permanently happy state; nor, indeed, even whether there is any such state awaiting us. There is a great deal of truth in what is urged by unbelievers to the effect that spiritual matters are in great measure beyond our cognizance, and that many of our religious phrases are but, as it were, thrown out in the direction of a truth but do not perfectly represent it. No doubt we are in a provisional state, in which we are not in direct contact with the absolute truth, nor in a final attitude of mind towards it; and certain representations of things given in the Word of God may seem to us not to cover the whole truth. But this only compels the conclusion that for us Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. To probe existence to the bottom is plainly not in our power. To say precisely what God is, and how we are to carry ourselves towards Him, is possible only to him who has been with God and is God. To submit to the Spirit of Christ, and to live under those influences and views which formed His life, is the only method that promises deliverance from that moral condition which makes spiritual vision impossible.
We may remind ourselves, secondly, that this submission to Christ should be consistently adhered to in connection with those outward occurrences in our life which give us opportunity of enlarging our spiritual capacity. There can be little doubt that there would be presented to Joseph many a plan for the better administration of this whole matter, and many a petition from individuals craving exemption from the seemingly arbitrary and certainly painful and troublesome edict regulating change of residence. Many a man would think himself much wiser than the minister of Pharaoh in whom was the Spirit of God. When we act in a similar manner, and take upon us to specify with precision the changes we should like to see in our condition, and the methods by which these changes might best be accomplished, we commonly manifest our own incompetence. The changes which the strong hand of Providence enforces, the dislocation which our life suffers from some irresistible blow, the necessity laid upon us to begin life again and on apparently disadvantageous terms, are naturally resented; but these things being certainly the result of some unguardedness, improvidence, or weakness in our past state, are necessarily the means most appropriate for disclosing to us these elements of calamity and for securing our permanent welfare. We rebel against such perilous and sweeping revolutions as the basing of our life on a new foundation demands; we would disregard the appointments of Providence if we could; but both our voluntary consent to the authority of Christ and the impossibility of resisting His providential arrangements, prevent us from refusing to fall in with them, however needless and tyrannical they seem, and however little we perceive that they are intended to accomplish our permanent well-being. And it is in after years, when the pain of severance from old friends and habits is healed, and when the discomfort of adapting ourselves to a new kind of life is replaced by peaceful and docile resignation to new conditions, that we reach the clear perception that the changes we resented have in point of fact rendered harmless the seeds of fresh disaster, and rescued us from the results of long bad government. He who has most keenly felt the hardship of being diverted from his original course in life will in after life tell you that had he been allowed to hold his own land, and remain his own master in his old loved abode, he would have lapsed into a condition from which no worthy harvest could be expected. If a man only wishes that his own conceptions of prosperity be realised, then let him keep his land in his own hand and work his material irrespective of Gods demands; for certainly, if he yields himself to God, his own ideas of prosperity will not be realised. But if he suspects that God may have a more liberal conception of prosperity and may understand better than he what is eternally beneficial, let him commit himself and all his material of prosperity without doubting into Gods hand, and let him greedily obey all Gods precepts; for in neglecting one of these, he so far neglects and misses what God would have him enter into.
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On vv9, 17, 33, 37, 46, 53 Gen_41:14. He shaved himself and changed his raiment.] “The…
CRITICAL NOTES.—
Gen_41:14. He shaved himself and changed his raiment.] “The fact of Joseph having shaved himself is in striking accord with the Egyptian custom, which was to let the beard and hair grow in mourning only—otherwise most scrupulously shaving; whereas the Hebrews cultivated the hair and beard and shaved in token of mourning (see 2Sa_10:4-5; Isa_15:2; Jer_16:6; Jer_41:5; Amo_8:10), He changed his raiment, from the ordinary habit of the prison to that of ordinary life or even of festal rejoicing. The fact of his having it in his power to do so shews that he was not treated as ordinary prisoners are.” (See Gen_39:22-23.)—(Alford.)—
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Gen_41:16. God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.] Heb. “God will answer as to the peace (or welfare) of Pharaoh.” The meaning is, that God will give an answer such as shall prove to be for the welfare of Pharaoh.—
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Gen_41:9-16
JOSEPH SUMMONED INTO PHARAOH’S PRESENCE
Consider—
I. His long waiting for notice and deliverance. For two long and weary years was Joseph lingering in that prison. He had to endure that trial of hope deferred that maketh the heart sick. The purest and wisest man in the land was shut up in a prison for two of the best years of his life. This seems to us a sad waste of power. But the religious mind will see in it the wisdom of God.
1. In regard to the education of character. The delays of Providence (as they seem to us) are part of our spiritual education. All this time, Joseph was learning God’s lessons. We require the teaching, not only of precepts, but also of events and trials. Joseph had faults of character to correct, much to unlearn; notoriously the spirit of censoriousness and pride. And two years were not too short a time to get the lessons of life’s true wisdom by heart. The wisdom of God in this painful chapter of Joseph’s history is also seen—
2. In its adaptation to the circumstances of the individual. During these two years of Joseph’s hard trial, events were not ripe for his deliverance. Divine Providence is not obliged to use forcing processes to precipitate events. Had Joseph been released before, he might have returned to his father’s house, or re-entered the service of Potiphar; and then in the natural course of things, how could Israel and Egypt have been preserved! The wisdom of God is yet further seen—
3. In its elevation above all human infirmities. God is not in haste to bring His work to its appointed end. Providence works by, what appear to us to be, slow methods. Short-sighted man must seize upon every tempting opportunity, but infinite wisdom knows no such infirmity. God allows those slowly to ripen whom He destines for a great work. Illustrated by the history of John the Baptist, who spent a life-time in the wilderness to prepare him for a brief ministry of a few months; and also by God’s own Son, who did not begin to preach the Gospel of the kingdom till He was thirty years old.
II. The manifest hand of God in it. Without doubt we have here the agency of man, and results which may be traced to the natural course of events. The chief butler suddenly remembers how Joseph interpreted his dream, and also that of his fellow-prisoner; and how remarkably the interpretation had been fulfilled. He mentions this extraordinary person to Pharaoh, who naturally sends for Joseph as the very man he wanted in his great perplexity. But we cannot here fail to see the manifest hand of God at work. It was God who sent this dream to Pharaoh, and it must follow that the interpreter of it must be divinely instructed. It was wisely ordered that Joseph should be under no obligation to Pharaoh for his deliverance. It is for his own sake that Pharaoh sends for Joseph. The chief butler was suffered to forget his friend, the prophet of his deliverance, and was forced to remember him only by circumstances. To neither of them was Joseph indebted. Thus it was God’s design that the chosen family should be under obligations to none. Their calling was to impart blessings to mankind, and not to receive.
III. His piety throughout the interview.
1. His simplicity of character. He makes no long speech. He does not use the opportunity to glorify himself, or to plead for liberty and reward. His manner was dignified and respectful, yet marked by great openness and simplicity of character. Joseph is the same in the palace or in the prison.
2. His humility. He indulged in no spirit of boasting, though this compliment from the king would have tempted weaker men to be vain and proud. (Gen_41:15.) Joseph never forgot his character as a witness for God.
3. His calmness. He was conscious of God’s presence and of his own integrity, so he could afford to be calm before the rulers of this world.
4. His kindly consideration for others. Pharaoh might have reason for the worst fears when he heard of the interpretation of the baker’s dream. Though a king he was not exempt from the common evils of human nature; nor from death—the chief calamity. But Joseph hastens to remove all fear of an unfavourable interpretation from his mind, by assuring him that the future had in it nothing but what would make for the peace of Pharaoh. Thus Joseph combined faithfulness to God’s cause with kindness and consideration for man.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Gen_41:9. He ought, indeed, to have remembered his fault against Joseph and against God, whose goodness he concealed when he ought to have published it. But this fault seems to have made little or no impression on his mind. His former faults he acknowledged in deference to the king.—(Bush.)
A right courtier’s speech! He so relates the history of his imprisonment that he takes all the blame thereof to himself; gives Pharaoh the full commendation of his justice and clemency. (Trapp.)
There is a morbid feeling which delights in railing against human nature; but there is a wiser lesson to be gained from this story than merely speaking of the butler’s ungratefulness. Consider, first, the suspense in which he was respecting his trial, and then the onerous duties that he had to perform. Then remember, too, that what Joseph did for him after all was not so much, it was merely the interpretation of his dream. The lesson that we draw from this is: In this world we do too little and we expect too much. We bless a poor man by giving to him, and we expect that we have made him our debtor for life. You fancy that the world has forgotten you. Reason with yourselves. For this world from which you expect so much, what have you done? And if you find that you have done little and received much, what marvel is it that you receive no more? The only marvel is that we have received so much.—(Robertson.)
The memory of the chief butler. Forgetfulness of the small—a sharp remembrance in the service of the great.—(Lange).
Gen_41:10-13. He now recites the circumstances in which he became acquainted with Joseph, and his wonderful success in interpreting dreams. It is not so much to do Joseph a favour that he commends him as it is to raise himself in Pharaoh’s esteem.—(Jacobus.)
And he interpreted to us our dreams. And well you requited him! But better late than never, though a ready dispatch doubleth the benefit. Howbeit God had an overruling hand in it, for Joseph’s greatest good. He turneth the world’s ingratitude to the salvation of His servants.—(Trapp.)
Joseph as opposed to the Egyptian interpreters of dreams, Moses as opposed to the Egyptian sorcerers, Christ as opposed to the Scribes and Pharisees, Paul as opposed to heresies, etc., or, in other words, the contrast between Divine wisdom and the wisdom of this world—a contrast that pervades all history.—(Lange.)
Gen_41:14. The word of the Lord had sufficiently tried Joseph. The mystery of Providence concerning him was now to be cleared up.
It is said of Mephibosheth, 2Sa_19:24, that he had not washed his clothes, nor washed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, from the time that David left Jerusalem, because of Absolom, till he returned again in peace to his father’s house. By like signs Joseph expressed his humiliation under those afflictions which Divine Providence had laid upon him. But now, when called before the king, he laid aside his mourning apparel, that he might appear with decency and due respect in the royal presence. Doubtless when he exchanged his prison garments for such as are worn in king’s palaces, his heart rejoiced less in the change of his circumstances, than in the favour of God, who had “put off his sackcloth, and girded him with gladness, to the end that his glory might sing praise to the Lord.”—(Bush.)
Gen_41:15. Pharaoh desires to learn from Joseph. The highest in station must be ready to learn from the lowest. Wisdom is not to be despised because it has a humble dwelling in some obscure child of man.
A Christian is not to judge the gifts according to the person, but the persons according to the gifts.—(Cramer.)
Joseph had now an opportunity, which he did not suffer to pass unimproved, of shewing forth the superiority of his own God to the gods of Egypt, and of pouring contempt upon the boasted wisdom of the magicians.—(Bush.)
Gen_41:16. No man is fit to declare the counsels of God who is not deeply sensible of his own unfitness without receiving light and help from above.—(Bush.)
Observe the graceful way in which Joseph refers all to God. He says, “It is not in me: God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.” Observe also his calmness; this was produced by the consciousness of God’s presence. He was not there to consider what men would think of him; he felt that the gift was from God. It is only this feeling that can effectually crush the flutterings of vanity. “What hast thou,” says the Apostle, “that thou didst not receive?”—(Robertson.)
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
F. W. Grant 1903 · Public Domain On v50 Section 4. (Gen 41:50-57; Gen 42:1-38; Gen 43:1-34; Gen…
Section 4. (Gen 41:50-57; Gen 42:1-38; Gen 43:1-34; Gen 44:1-34; Gen 45:1-28; Gen 46:1-34; Gen 47:1-26.)
The Days of Famine.
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Now comes the time of famine; and when God’s judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world shall learn righteousness. Not in the plenteous times of Christianity will the world as a whole turn to God; and therefore come drought and famine from the same hand which, unknown, bestowed the blessing. The present dispensation closed by the removal of the Church to be with her Lord, the times of the Gentiles will close, as the Lord Himself predicts (Luk 21:25-27): "And there shall be signs in the sun and in the moon, and upon the earth distress of nations with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth; for the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: and then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud, with power and great glory."
Before He appears, and amid all the trial of a time such as the world has never seen, Israel will be preparing to recognize and receive her rejected Lord. And this is what we find typified in the chapters to which we have now come. The way in which it is expounded here shows surely the divine interest in their recovery, full of touching pathos as they are known to be.
The famine in all lands reaches Canaan also, and Joseph’s ten brethren come down to buy corn in Egypt. We are all familiar with what follows, and how their hearts and consciences are probed by one who knows and loves them well, but whom they know not. They obtain, indeed, a temporary supply for their necessities, but leave Simeon in prison, and are bidden not to appear again except they bring Benjamin with them. Famine again forces them to come down; and this time, Judah having undertaken for Benjamin with his father, they bring him also. They are feasted by Joseph, still unknown; are sent away with the cup in Benjamin’s sack; pursued, and brought back under the charge of theft; Benjamin is to remain as Joseph’s slave, but Judah, his heart fully reached, offers himself in his stead: then Joseph’s love bursts out; he makes himself known to them; they own their sin, are reconciled and comforted with his love.
In all this, it is plain how all turns upon Benjamin and their state toward him. This is made the test of their condition. The power for their deliverance lies in Joseph’s hand alone, however, and their exercises as to Benjamin all tend to awakening conscience and heart as to their sin against Joseph. The key of the typical interpretation is to be found in this: —
Joseph is Christ as we know Him, once rejected and suffering, now exalted: this is He whom Israel does not know. A Christ triumphant simply, and reigning upon the earth, is the Benjamin who is found among them, whether in the days of the Lord’s rejection or the latter days. The Conqueror they were prepared for; the Sufferer who must go before Him -not knowing their own deep need, -they have refused. Yet the two are really one, and for them the Conqueror cannot be till they receive the Sufferer: not the faith of a Sufferer merely, but the One who has been this. Power lies with Joseph, not with Benjamin.
But Joseph’s heart longs after Benjamin, -that is, Christ longs to display this character of power for them; but for this they must be brought to repentance, and He uses their ideal, prophetical Messiah to bring their hearts back to Himself the true one.
Amid the sorrows of the last days, this will be accomplished for them. He who, unknown, is seeking them will make them realize their Benjamin as Benoni -"the son of my sorrow," and that as the fruit of their own sin. (Gen 44:16.) Benjamin is taken from them: they have lost their part in Messiah as having rejected Him. All the depths of Judah’s heart are stirred; and in his agony for Benjamin, he is met and overwhelmed by the revelation of Joseph. They look upon Him whom they have pierced, and mourn for Him as one mourneth for his only son, and a fountain for sin and for uncleanness is opened to them. But this brings the whole nation into blessing under Christ.
After this, we read of the reduction of Egypt itself under the immediate authority of the throne. The people, bankrupt through the famine, receive back their lands from the bounty of the king, returning him one fifth of the produce as the token of their indebtedness to the grace from which they have received. It is thus that the world, under Christ, will find its place in true blessing before God. In the one fifth rendered, we are reminded once more of the Abrahamic 5, -the impotence of the creature and the omnipotence of God, -the one part a recognition of divine sovereignty. If we take it as two tenths, it may remind us of the double claim of God upon us -by creation and by redemption. This the world will acknowledge in the day to come.
F. W. Grant, The Numerical Bible (4th ed., 1903) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v38 Gen 41:38 - Gen 41:48.
Genesis
JOSEPH, THE PRIME MINISTER
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Gen 41:38 - Gen 41:48.
At seventeen years of age Joseph was sold for a slave; at thirty he was prime minister of Egypt {Gen. xxxvii, 2; xli. 46}. How long his prison life lasted is uncertain; but it was long enough for the promises contained in his early dreams to ‘try him’ {Pro 5:19} whether his faith would stand apparent disappointment and weary delay. Like all the Scripture narratives, this history of Joseph has little to say about feelings, and prefers facts. But we can read between the lines, and be tolerably sure that the thirteen years of trial were well endured, and that the inward life had grown so as to fit him for his advancement. We have here a full-length portrait of the prime minister, or vizier, which brings out three points-his elevation, his naturalisation, and his administration.
Joseph had not only interpreted Pharaoh’s dream, but had suggested a policy in preparation for the coming famine. He had recommended the appointment of ‘a wise and discreet man,’ with supreme authority over the land. Pharaoh first consulted ‘his servants,’ and, with their consent, possibly not very hearty, appointed the proposer of the plan as its carrier-out, quoting to him his own words, ‘wise and discreet.’
The sudden installing of an unknown prisoner in high office has often been thought hard to believe, and has been pointed to as proof of the legendary character of the story. But the ground on which Pharaoh put it goes far to explain it. He and his servants had come to believe that ‘God’ spoke through this man, that ‘the Spirit of God’ was in him. So here was a divinely sent messenger, whom it would be impiety and madness to reject. Observe that Pharaoh and Joseph both speak in this chapter of ‘God.’ There was a common ground of recognition of a divine Being on which they met. The local colour of the story indicates a period before the fuller revelation, which drew so broad a line of demarcation between Israel and the other nations.
Joseph’s sudden promotion is made the more intelligible by the probability which the study of Egyptian history has given, that the Pharaoh who made him his second in command was one of the Hyksos conquerors who dominated Egypt for a long period. They would have no prejudices against Joseph on account of his being a foreigner. A dynasty of alien conquerors has generally an open door for talent, and cares little who a man’s father is, or where he comes from, if he can do his work. And Joseph, by not being an Egyptian born, would be all the fitter an instrument for carrying out the policy which he had suggested.
His ceremonial investiture with the insignia of office is true to Egyptian manners. The signet ring, as the emblem of full authority; the chain, as a mark of dignity; the robe of ‘fine linen’ {or rather of cotton}, which was a priestly dress-all are illustrated by the monuments. The proclamation made before him as he rode in the second chariot has been very variously interpreted. It has been taken for a Hebraised Egyptian word, meaning ‘Cast thyself down’; and this interpretation was deemed the most probable, until Assyrian discovery brought to light ‘that abarakku is the Assyrian name of the grand vizier’ {Fr. Delitzsch, Hebrew Language Viewed in the Light of Assyrian Research, p. 26}. Sayce proposes another explanation, also from the cuneiform tablets: ‘There was a word abrik in the Sumerian language, which signified a seer, and was borrowed by the Semitic Babylonians under the varying forms of abrikku and abarakku. It is abrikku which we have in Genesis, and the title applied by the people to the "seer" Joseph proves to be the one we should most naturally expect.’ The Tel el-Amarna tablets show that the knowledge of cuneiform writing was common in Egypt {Sayce, Higher Criticism and the Monuments, p. 214}. This explanation is tempting, but it is perhaps scarcely probable that the proclamation should have been in any other language than Egyptian, or should have had reference to anything but Joseph’s new office. It was not as seer that he was to be obeyed, but as Pharaoh’s representative, even though he had become the latter because he had proved himself the former.
But in any case, the whole context is accurately and strongly Egyptian. Was there any point in the history of Israel, down to an impossibly late date, except the time of Moses, at which Jewish writers were so familiar with Egypt as to have been capable of producing so true a picture?
The lessons of this incident are plain. First stands out, clear and full, the witness it bears to God’s faithfulness, and to His sovereign sway over all events. What are all the persons concerned in the narrative but unconscious instruments of His? The fierce brothers, the unconcerned slave-dealers, Potiphar, his wife, the prisoners, Pharaoh, are so many links in a chain; but they are also men, and therefore free to act, and guilty if acting wrongly. Men execute God’s purposes, even when unconscious or rebellious, but are responsible, and often punished, for the acts which He uses to effect His designs.
Joseph’s thirteen years of trial, crowned with sudden prosperity, may read all of us, and especially young men and women, a lesson of patience. Many of us have to fight our way through analogous difficulties at the outset of our career; and we are apt to lose heart and get restive when success seems slow to come, and one hindrance after another blocks our road. But hindrances are helps. If one of Joseph’s misfortunes had been omitted, his good fortune would never have come. If his brethren had not hated him, if he had not been sold, if he had not been imprisoned, he would never have ruled Egypt. Not one thread in the tapestry could have been withdrawn without spoiling the pattern. We cannot afford to lose one of our sorrows or trials. There would be no summer unless winter had gone before. There is a bud or a fruit for every snowflake, and a bird’s song for every howl of the storm.
Plainly, too, does the story read the lesson of quiet doing of the work and accepting the circumstances of the moment. Joseph was being prepared for the administration of a kingdom by his oversight of Potiphar’s house and of the prison. His character was matured by his trials, as iron is consolidated by heavy hammers. To resist temptation, to do modestly and sedulously whatever work comes to our hands, to be content to look after a jail even though we have dreamed of sun and moon bowing down to us, is the best apprenticeship for whatever elevation circumstances-or, to speak more devoutly, God-intends for us. Young men thrown into city life far away from their homes, and whispered to by many seducing voices, have often to suffer for keeping themselves unspotted; but they are being strengthened by rough discipline, and will get such promotion, in due time, as is good for them. But outward success is not God’s best gift. It was better to be the Joseph who deserved his high place, than to have the place. The character which he had grown into was more than the trappings which Pharaoh put on him. And such a character is always the reward of such patience, faith, and self-control, whether chains and chariots are added or not.
Little need be said about the other points of the story. Joseph’s naturalisation as an Egyptian was complete. His name was changed, in token that he had completely become a subject of Pharaoh’s. The meaning of the formidable-looking polysyllable, which Egyptian lips found easier than ‘Joseph,’ is uncertain. ‘At present the origin of the first syllable is still doubtful, and though the latter part of the name is certainly the Egyptian n-ti-pa-ankh {"of the life"}, it is difficult to say in which of its different senses the expression pa-ankh {"the life"} is employed’ {Sayce, ut supra, p. 213}. The prevailing opinion of Egyptian experts is that it means ‘Support of life.’
The naturalising was completed by his marriage to Asenath {supposed to mean ‘One belonging to the goddess Neith’}, a daughter of a high officer of state, Poti-phera {meaning, like its shortened form, Potiphar, ‘The gift of Ra’ the sun-god}. Such an alliance placed him at once in the very innermost circle of Egyptian aristocracy. It may have been a bitter pill for the priest to swallow, to give his daughter to a man of yesterday, and an alien; but, just as probably, he too looked to Joseph with some kind of awe, and was not unwilling to wed Asenath to the first man in the empire, wherever he had started up from.
But should not Joseph’s religion have barred such a marriage? The narrator gives no judgment on the fact, and we have to form our own estimate. But it is not to be estimated as if it had occurred five or six centuries later. The family of Jacob was not so fenced off, nor was its treasure of revelation so complete, as afterwards. We may be fairly sure that Joseph felt no inconsistency between his ancestral faith, which had become his own in his trials, and this union. He was risking a great deal; that is certain. Whether the venture ended well or ill, we know not. Only we may be very sure that a marriage in which a common faith is not a strong bond of union lacks its highest sanctity, and is perilously apt to find that difference in religious convictions is a strong separator.
Joseph’s administration opens up questions as to Egyptian land tenure, and the like, which cannot be dealt with here. ‘In the earlier days of the monarchy the country was in the hands of great feudal lords; . . .the land belonged to them absolutely. . .. But after the convulsion caused by the Hyksos conquest and the war of independence, this older system of land tenure was completely changed. . .. The Pharaoh is the fountain head, not only of honour, but of property as well. . .. The people ceased to have any rights of their own’ {Sayce, ut supra, p. 216}.
We may note Joseph’s immediate entrance upon office and his characteristic energy in it. He ‘went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt.’ No grass grew under this man’s feet. He was ubiquitous, personally overseeing everything for seven long years. Wasteful consumption of the abundant crops had to be restrained, storehouses to be built, careful records of the contents to be made, after Egyptian fashion. The people, who could not look so far as seven years ahead, and wanted to enjoy, or make money out of, the good harvests, had to be looked after, and an army of officials to be kept in order. Dignity meant work for him. Like all true men, he thought more of his duty than of his honours. Depend on it, he did not wear his fine clothes or ride in the second chariot, when he was hurrying about the country at his task.
He had come ‘out of prison to reign,’ and, as we all find, if we are God’s servants, to reign means to serve, and the higher the place the harder the task. The long years of waiting had nourished powers which the seven years of busy toil tested. We must make ourselves, by God’s help, ready, in obscurity, and especially in youth, for whatever may be laid on us in after days. And if we understand what life here means, we shall be more covetous of spheres of diligent service than of places of shining dignity. Whatever our task, let us do it, as Joseph did his, with strenuous concentration, knowing, as he did, that the years in which it is possible are but few at the longest.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v45 Asenath, the Gentile bride espoused by Joseph the rejected…
Zaphnath-paaneah
Asenath, the Gentile bride espoused by Joseph the rejected one Joh 19:15 type of the Church, called out from the Gentiles to be the bride of Christ during the time of His rejection by His brethren, Israel.; Act 15:14; Eph 5:31; Eph 5:32. (See Scofield "Gen 37:2").
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Zaphnath-paaneah Coptic, revealer of secret things.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv9, 14, 25, 37, 46, 53 The Chief Butler Remembers Joseph
The Chief Butler Remembers Joseph
v. 9. Then spake the chief butler unto Pharaoh, saying, I do remember my faults this day, his offense against the king and its subsequent punishment were still strong in his memory. He did not belong to the class of the wise men of the kingdom, but, as a high officer, had the privilege of speaking to Pharaoh.
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v. 10. Pharaoh was wroth with his servants, and put me in ward in the captain of the, guard’s house, both me and the chief baker, Gen 40:2-3.
v. 11. And we dreamed a dream in one night, I and he; we dreamed each man according to the interpretation of his dream. There were significant incidents in either dream which were brought out in the interpretation and emphasized by the events that followed.
v. 12. And there was there with us a young man, an Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard, for it was Potiphar who had made the arrangement that Joseph was to be the attendant of the butler and the baker. And we told him, and he interpreted to us our dreams; to each man according to his dream he did interpret.
v. 13. And it came to pass, as he interpreted to us, so it was; me he, that is, Joseph, in his interpretation,restored unto mine office, and him he hanged. He indicates his belief that Joseph’s interpretation had shaped events. Thus the chief butler’s gratitude, although late, came at a time when it was of most value to Joseph.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv9, 12, 14, 17, 19, 22, 25, 27, 30, 33, 35, 37, 39, 42, 44, 46, 48, 50, 53, 55 chief cupbearer
chief cupbearer
The most important person who brings drinks to the king. See how you translated this in Genesis 40:2.
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Today I am thinking about my offenses
The word "Today" is used for emphasis. His "offenses" are that he should have told Pharaoh something much earlier but he did not. AT: "I just realized that I forgot to tell you something"
Pharaoh was angry
The cupbearer is referring to Pharaoh in third person. This is a common way for someone with less power to speak to someone with greater power. AT: "You, Pharaoh, were angry" (See: First, Second, or Third Person)
with his servants
Here "his" refers to Pharaoh. Here "servants" refers to the cupbearer and the chief baker. AT: "with us, your servants" (See: First, Second, or Third Person)
put me in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, the chief baker and me
"put the chief baker and me in the prison where the captain of the guard was in charge." Here "house" refers to the prison.
the captain of the guard
The soldier in charge of the royal guards. See how you translated this in Genesis 40:2-3.
the chief baker
The most important person who made food for the king. See how you translated this in Genesis 40:2-3.
We dreamed a dream the same night, he and I
"One night we both had dreams"
We dreamed
Here "We" refers to the chief cupbearer and the chief baker. (See: Exclusive and Inclusive "We")
We dreamed each man according to the interpretation of his dream
"Our dreams had different meanings"
translationWords
Pharaoh
anger
servant
house
dream
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv9, 14, 16, 17, 25, 32, 33, 37, 41, 42, 43, 45, 46, 47, 50, 53 41:9-13 The chief cup-bearer finally remembered Joseph and testified…
41:9-13 The chief cup-bearer finally remembered Joseph and testified that his interpretations were true.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.