Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Genesis 40:17
And in the uppermost basket [there was] of all manner of bakedmeats for Pharaoh; and the birds did eat them out of the basket upon my head.
17. bakemeats ] LXX , Lat. cibos qui fiunt arte pistoria: as we say, “all kinds of confectionery.” The bakemeats are only in the top basket. If the birds took them, he had nothing in the other baskets to bring to Pharaoh’s table.
the birds ] The birds, darting down upon the food and carrying it off, doubtless seemed of evil augury; cf. the appearance of the birds in Gen 15:11. It was like a nightmare! The baker found himself powerless to frighten the birds away. The great kites in Egypt, the bird scavengers of the land, are always wheeling in the air, ready to pounce down upon choice morsels, if they see the slightest chance of carrying them off.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And in the uppermost basket [there was] of all manner of bakemeats for Pharaoh,…. All sorts of pastry, as tarts, pies, c. Josephus b says, two of the baskets were full of bread, and the third had various sorts of food, such as is usually, prepared for kings:
and the birds did eat them out of the basket upon my head all the three baskets were upon his head, but this seems to be the uppermost, which the birds could more easily come at; though if the baskets were full of holes, they might through them peck the bread with their bills.
b Antiqu. l. 2. c. 5. sect. 3.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
17. Bakemeats Hebrews, food of Pharaoh, the work of a baker . Thus his dream, like the butler’s, ran into the imagery with which he was most familiar .
Birds did eat Herein was what might be called “the bad sign” in the dream . The butler himself took the grapes which he saw in his dream, (Gen 40:11,) but the birds eat of the bread on the head of the baker sign that they should eat his flesh. Gen 40:19.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Gen 40:17 And in the uppermost basket [there was] of all manner of bakemeats for Pharaoh; and the birds did eat them out of the basket upon my head.
Ver. 17. And the birds did eat them. ] He seeth not that he did anything, but suffereth only. He heareth therefore an unpleasing interpretation, saith Pareus.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
bakemeats: Heb. meat of Pharaoh, the work of a baker, or cook, Gen 49:20, 1Ch 12:20
Reciprocal: Gen 40:19 – and the birds