Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Genesis 40:12
And Joseph said unto him, This [is] the interpretation of it: The three branches [are] three days:
Verse 12. The three branches are three days] That is, The three branches signify three days; so, this IS my body, that is, this bread signifies or represents my body; this cup IS my blood, REPRESENTS my blood; a form of speech frequently used in the sacred writings, for the Hebrew has no proper word by which our terms signifies, represents, c., are expressed therefore it says such a thing IS, for represents, points out, &c. And because several of our ancestors would understand such words in their true, genuine, critical, and sole meaning, Queen Mary, Bishops Gardiner, Bonner, and the rest of that demoniacal crew, reduced them to ashes in Smithfield and elsewhere!
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
i.e. Signify
three days. So that word is oft used, as Gen 40:18; 41:26,27; Da 2:38; 4:22; Mat 13:19,38; 26:26,28; Lu 8:11; 1Co 10:4. And indeed there is no proper Hebrew word which answers to signify.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
12-15. Joseph said, . . . This isthe interpretationSpeaking as an inspired interpreter, he toldthe butler that within three days he would be restored to all thehonors and privileges of his office; and while making that joyfulannouncement, he earnestly bespoke the officer’s influence for hisown liberation. Nothing has hitherto met us in the record indicativeof Joseph’s feelings; but this earnest appeal reveals a sadness andimpatient longing for release, which not all his piety and faith inGod could dispel.
Ge40:16-23. THE BAKER’SDREAM.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And Joseph said unto him, this [is] the interpretation of it,…. Of the dream:
the three branches [are] three days; signify three days, or, as Jarchi expresses it, are a sign of three days; which Joseph could know only by divine revelation; for there is no more likeness between branches and days, than between them and months or years, and bid as fair to signify one as the other, if the interpretation depended on similarity, or bare conjecture.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Joseph then gave this interpretation: The three branches were three days, in which time Pharaoh would restore him to his post again (“lift up his head,” i.e., raise him from his degradation, send and fetch him from prison, 2Ki 25:27). And he added this request (Gen 40:14): “ Only think of me, as it goes well with thee, and show favour to me…for I was stolen (i.e., carried away secretly and by force; I did not abscond because of any crime) out of the land of the Hebrews (the land where the Ibrim live); and here also I have done nothing (committed no crime) for which they should put me into the hole.” : the cell, applied to a prison as a miserable hole, because often dry cess-pools were used as prisons.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
12. The three branches are three days. Joseph does not here offer what he thought to be probable, like some ambiguous conjecturer; but asserts, by the revelation of the Spirit, the meaning of the dream. For why does he say, that by the three branches, three days rather than years are signified, unless because the Spirit of God had suggested it? Joseph, therefore, proceeds, by a special impulse above nature, to expound the dream; and by immediately commending himself to the butler, as if he was already restored, shows how certain and indubitable was the truth of his interpretation: as if he had said, “Be convinced that what thou hast heard of me has come from God.” Where also he shows how honorably he thinks of the oracles of God, seeing that he pronounces concerning the future effect with as much confidence as if it had already taken place. But it may be deemed absurd, that Joseph asks for a reward of his prophecy. I answer, that he did not speak as one who would set the gift of God to sale: but it came into his mind, that a method of deliverance was now set before him by God, which it was not lawful for him to reject. Indeed, I do not doubt that a hope of better fortune had been divinely imparted to him. For God, who, even from his childhood, had twice promised him dominion, did not leave him, amidst so many straits, entirely destitute of all consolation. Now this opportunity of seeking deliverance was offered to him by none but God. Wherefore, it is not surprising that Joseph should thus make use of it. With respect to the expression, Lift up thine head; it signifies to raise any one from a low and contemptible condition, to one of some reputation. Therefore, “ Pharaoh will lift up thine head,” means, he will bring thee forth from the darkness of the prisons, or he will raise thee who art fallen, and restore thee to thy former rank. For I take the word to mean simply place or rank, and not basis (151)
(151) Pro loco et ordine simpliciter accipio, non autem pro basi The passage needs explanation. The word ראשך, rendered “thy head,” might be rendered “thy nail,” and some writers have supposed that it should be so translated in this place. The reason given for such a rendering arises from a supposed custom among eastern monarchs of having a large white tablet, on which the name of each officer of state was inscribed, and a nail was placed in a hole opposite the name. When the officer offended, the nail was removed from its place, that is, from its basis or foundation, and the man’s distinction and character were lost. — Junis in Poli Synopsin. — Ed
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
‘And Joseph said, “This is the interpretation of it. The three branches are three days. Within yet three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your office, and you will give Pharaoh’s cup into his hand in the same way as when you were his cupbearer. But remember me when it is well with you, and show me kindness and mention me to Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house. For indeed I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews, and here also I have done nothing that warrants them putting me into prison.”
Joseph gives the king’s cupbearer good news. He is to be restored to favour in three days time. And this gives Joseph himself hope. He knows how influential this great man is and he asks him to act to secure his relief. His suggestion that Pharaoh may be approached on the matter is possibly naive, but he may well have been right that the Chief Cupbearer himself was influential enough to be able to do it.
“Will lift up your head.” This simply means that he will be brought out of prison to face Pharaoh (the head of the chief baker is also lifted up (Gen 40:20). Then he is to be restored to his duties again.
“For I was stolen out of the land of the Hebrews.” It is somewhat naive to suggest that Joseph should have given a full explanation. It would certainly not help his case to suggest that his brothers had actually chosen to sell him, for that would imply some kind of guilt, and his statement was factually correct. He had not been sold legitimately, but dishonestly. His statement said all that needed to be said, and gave the right indication of innocence and misfortune.
“From the land of the Hebrews.” As we saw on Gen 39:17 Joseph was seen in Egypt as ‘a Habiru’, for he came from no identified people In the Amarna letters (two hundred years or so later) the king of Jerusalem refers to ‘the Habiru’ as enemies of his and of Pharaoh, clearly expecting Pharaoh to understand. Others in the same letters refer to the SA.GAZ who are the equivalent (see article, ” “). In both cases the idea they are trying to express is of a wild, unidentified people. Thus Canaan, being made up of a multiplicity of tribes and city states, was looked on in Egypt as a land full of many unidentified and lawless people, and was thus thought of as ‘the land of the Habiru’. There is no reason to doubt that his also applied earlier. Besides Potiphar may well have said to them that Joseph was ‘a Hebrew’. Thus Joseph uses the phrase they will understand.
“Here also I have done nothing –”. He adds to the plea that he is imprisoned unjustly.
So Joseph, having given this powerful man good news, hopes that it may contribute to his being freed.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Gen 40:12. The three branches are three days i.e.. Signify or represent three days. See Gen 40:18 ch. Gen 41:26-27.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Doth not this lead the pious heart to the remembrance of him, who ought to be endeared indeed to our remembrance?
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Gen 40:12 And Joseph said unto him, This [is] the interpretation of it: The three branches [are] three days:
Ver. 12. The three branches are three days. ] That is, They signify three days. So Gen 41:26 . “The seven kine are seven years.” So, “this is my body”: that is, This signifieth my body, saith Zuinglius, after Augustine and Ambrose. Or, This is the sign and figure of my body, saith Calvin, after Augustine and Tertullian; whatsoever Bellarmine and Hunnius a prate to the contrary. It is an ordinary metonymy, whereby the name of a thing signified is given to the sign, for the analogy that is between them, and for the certainty of signification. Homer and Virgil have the like. b As for those Christians that eat their God, let my soul be with the philosophers, rather than with them, saith Averroes, the learned Arabian. When it was objected to Nicolas Shetterden, martyr, by Archdeacon Harpsfield, that the words of Christ, when he said, Hoc est corpus meum, did change the substance, without any other interpretation, or spiritual meaning, he answered: Then like when Christ said, “This cup is my blood,” the substance of the cup was changed into his blood, without any other meaning; and so the cup was changed, and not the wine. Harpsfield hereupon was forced to confess that Christ’s testament was broken, and his institution changed from that he left it; but he said, they had power so to do. c
a Hun., De Sacram., cap. 14.
b Hom. (Iliad, iii. 280) victimas quibus faedera sanciebantur , i.e., faedera vocat. – Virgil, “fallere dextram” dixit, i.e., fidem et iusiurandum, quod datis dextris concipitur.
c Act. and Mon., fol 1515.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
are. Should be “they [are]”.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
This: Gen 40:18, Gen 41:12, Gen 41:25, Gen 41:26, Jdg 7:14, Dan 2:36-45, Dan 4:19-33
The three: Gen 41:26, Jdg 7:14, Mat 26:26, 1Co 10:4, Gal 4:25
Reciprocal: Gen 41:13 – me he restored
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
40:12 And Joseph said unto him, This {d} [is] the interpretation of it: The three branches [are] three days:
(d) He was reassured by the spirit of God, that his interpretation was true.