Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Genesis 40:23
Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgot him.
23. forgat him ] These words are an artistic conclusion to this interesting section. The chief butler’s forgetfulness, in the enjoyment of his own good fortune, (1) is sadly natural; (2) increases our sympathy with Joseph; (3) heightens the expectation of the reader as to the manner of his deliverance.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 23. Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph] Had he mentioned the circumstance to Pharaoh, there is no doubt that Joseph’s case would have been examined into, and he would in consequence have been restored to his liberty; but, owing to the ingratitude of the chief butler, he was left two years longer in prison,
MANY commentators have seen in every circumstance in the history of Joseph a parallel between him and our blessed Lord. So, “Joseph in prison represents Christ in the custody of the Jews; the chief butler and the chief baker represent the two thieves which were crucified with our Lord; and as one thief was pardoned, and the other left to perish, so the chief butler was restored to his office, and the chief baker hanged.” I believe GOD never designed such parallels; and I am astonished to find comparatively grave and judicious men trifling in this way, and forcing the features of truth into the most distorted anamorphosis, so that even her friends blush to acknowledge her. This is not a light matter; we should beware how we attribute designs to God that he never had, and employ the Holy Spirit in forming trifling and unimportant similitudes. Of plain, direct truth we shall find as much in the sacred writings as we can receive and comprehend; let us not therefore hew out unto ourselves broken cisterns that can hold no water. Interpretations of this kind only tend to render the sacred writings uncertain; to expose to ridicule all the solemn types and figures which it really contains; and to furnish pretexts to infidels and irreligious people to scoff at all spirituality, and lead them to reject the word of GOD entirely, as incapable of being interpreted on any fixed or rational plan. The mischief done by this system is really incalculable. See the observations on Clarke’s notes “Ge 37:36“.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
i.e. Neglected him and his desire; as men in Scripture are oft said to forget God, when they do not remember him so as to love and obey him, as Psa 106:13,21; Ho 2:13.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
23. yet did not the chief butlerremember JosephThis was human nature. How prone are men toforget and neglect in prosperity, those who have been theircompanions in adversity (Am 6:6)!But although reflecting no credit on the butler, it was wiselyordered in the providence of God that he should forget him. Thedivine purposes required that Joseph should obtain his deliverance inanother way, and by other means.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph,…. To speak of him to Pharaoh, neither on that day in which he was restored, nor for a long time after, even for the space of two years, as seems from the following chapter:
but forgot him; never more thought of him, of the favour he had done him in interpreting his dream; of the request he made to him, and of the promise which he had probably given him; which was an instance of great ingratitude, and is frequently the case and character of courtiers, who being in high places themselves, neglect others, their petitions to them, and their own promises to do all they can for them.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
But the former forgot Joseph in his prosperity, and did nothing to procure his liberation.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
23. Yet did not the chief butler remember. This was the most severe trial of Joseph’s patience, as we have before intimated. For since he had obtained an advocate who, without trouble, was able to extricate him from prison, especially as the opportunity of doing so had been granted to him by God, he felt a certain assurance of deliverance, and earnestly waited for it every hour. But when he had remained to the end of the second year in suspense, not only did this hope vanish, but greater despair than ever rested upon his mind. Therefore, we are all taught, in his person, that nothing is more improper, than to prescribe the time in which God shall help us; since he purposely, for a long season, keeps his own people in anxious suspense, that, by this very experiment, they may truly know what it is to trust in Him. Besides, in this manner he designed openly to claim for himself the glory of Joseph’s liberation. For, if liberty had been granted to him through the entreaty of the butler, it would have been generally believed that this benefit was from man and not from God. Moreover, when Moses says, that the butler was forgetful of Joseph, let it be so understood, that he did not dare to make any mention of him, lest he should be subjected to reproach, or should be troublesome to the king himself. For it is common with courtiers perfidiously to betray the innocent, and to deliver them to be slain, rather than to offend those of whom they themselves are afraid.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
Gen 40:23. Yet did not, &c. How easily doth men’s own prosperity make them forget either the deservings in miseries of others! The behaviour of the butler represents strongly the conduct of too many in prosperity. However, it must be observed that God would not deliver Joseph out of prison immediately by means of this officer; but was pleased to try him yet two years longer, to deliver him afterwards in a more wonderful manner, and raise him to a greater degree of power than he would probably have attained if he had been set at liberty before. This shews that God’s ways are not as our ways; that he does not always make use of those methods for the deliverance of his children which men judge most convenient; and if he be slow in coming to their assistance, it is because he will deliver them in a more signal manner.Ostervald.
REFLECTIONS.Precisely at the time predicted, the interpretation of the dreams is fulfilled. Pharaoh, on his birth-day, inquires into the faults of his former chief butler and baker; and, according to their deserts, the one is acquitted and restored, the other condemned and executed. Note; Great events lie often within a small compass of time. Who knoweth whether his life shall continue three days, nay, three hours? His preferment now so engages the butler, that Joseph in his prison is no more thought of. Great men too often have the art of forgetting their obligations and their promises; and if Joseph’s heart was buoyed up with the expectation of the butler’s doing something for him, the greater must be his disappointment. Note; They who depend on great men will frequently have cause to lament their neglects; but they who depend only on the Great God shall never be disappointed of their hope.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 52
INGRATITUDE OF PHARAOHS BUTLER
Gen 40:23. Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgat him.
IT was a wise and prudent choice which David made, Let me fall into the hands of God, and not into the hands of man. Man, when intent on evil, knows no bounds, except those which are prescribed by his ability to execute his wishes. He is easily incensed, but with difficulty appeased. The ties of blood and relationship are not sufficient to bind persons in amity with each other, when once any ground of discord arises between them. It might have been hoped that in such a family as Jacobs, love and harmony would prevail: but to such a degree had envy inflamed his whole family against their younger brother, that they conspired against his life, and only adopted the milder alternative of selling him for a slave, through a horror which they felt at the thought of shedding his blood. Nor will the most amiable conduct always ensure regard, or protect a person from the most cruel injuries. The holy, chaste, and conscientious deportment of Joseph should have exalted his character in the eyes of his mistress: but when she failed in her attempts to ensnare his virtue, her passionate desire after him was converted into rage; and she procured the imprisonment of him whom she had just before solicited to be her paramour. During his confinement, he had opportunities of shewing kindness to his fellow-prisoners. To two of them he interpreted their dreams, which proved to be prophetic intimations of their respective fates. Of Pharaohs chief butler, whose speedy restoration he foretold, he made a most reasonable request: he told him, that he had been stolen out of the land of the Hebrews; and that there existed no just cause for his imprisonment: and he entreated, that he would make known his case to Pharaoh, and intercede for his deliverance. In making this request, he never once criminated either his brethren who had sold him, or his mistress who had falsely accused him: he cast a veil of love over their faults, and sought for nothing but the liberty of which he had been unjustly deprived. Who would conceive that so reasonable a request, presented to one who had such opportunities of knowing his excellent character, to one too on whom he had conferred such great obligations, should fail? Lord, what is man? how base, how selfish, how ungrateful! Let us fix our attention upon this incident in the history of Joseph, and make some suitable reflections upon it
We observe then,
I.
That gratitude is but a feeble principle in the human mind
[Corrupt and sinful principles are, alas! too strong in the heart of man; but those which are more worthy of cultivation, are weak indeed. To what a degree are men actuated by prideambitioncovetousnessenvywrathrevenge!To what exertions will they not be stimulated by hope or fear! But the motions of gratitude are exceeding faint: in the general, they are scarcely perceptible: and though on some extraordinary occasions, like that of Israels deliverance at the Red Sea, the heart may glow with a sense of the mercies vouchsafed unto us, we soon forget them, even as the Israelites did, and return to our former coldness and indifference.]
II.
That its operations are rather weakened than promoted by prosperity
[Pharaohs butler, when restored to his masters service, thought no more of the friend whom he had left in prison. This is the general effect of prosperity, which steels the heart against the wants and miseries of others, and indisposes it for the exercise of sympathy and compassion. It is usually found too that the more we abound in temporal blessings, the more unmindful we are of Him who gave them. That is a true description of us all; Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked. On the other hand, adversity tends to bring us to consideration: when we have suffered bereavements of any kind, we begin to feel the value of the things we have lost; and to regret, that we were not more thankful for them while they were continued to us. The loss of a part of our blessings often renders us more thankful for those that remain: and it is no uncommon sight to behold a sick person more thankful for an hours sleep, or a small intermission of pain, or the services of his attendants, than he ever was for all the ease and sleep that he enjoyed, or the services that were rendered him, in the days of his health. We have a very striking instance of the different effects of prosperity and adversity in the history of Hezekiah. In his sickness he exclaimed, The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: but when restored to health, he forgat his Benefactor, and rendered not again according to the benefits that had been done unto him. In this, I say, he is an example of the ingratitude which obtains in the world at large; for we are told, that God left him to try him, and that he might know all that was in his heart.]
III.
That the want of it is hateful in proportion to the obligations conferred upon us
[We suppose that no man ever read attentively the words of our text without exclaiming (in thought at least, if not in words), What base ingratitude was this! Whether we consider his obligations to Joseph, who had been to him a messenger of such glad tidings, or his obligations to God, who had overruled the heart of Pharaoh to restore him to his place, he surely was bound to render that small service to his fellow-prisoner, and to interpose in behalf of oppressed innocence. And we cannot but feel a detestation of his character on account of his unfeeling and ungrateful conduct. Indeed it is thus that we are invariably affected towards all persons; and more especially those who have received favours at our hands. If we receive an injury or an insult, or are treated with neglect by persons whom we have greatly benefited, we fix immediately on their ingratitude, as the most aggravating circumstance of their guilt: it is that which pains us, and which makes them appear most odious in our eyes. And though this sentiment may be easily carried to excess, yet, if kept within due bounds, it forms a just criterion of the enormity of any offence that is committed against us. It was this which in Gods estimation so greatly aggravated the guilt of the Jewish nation; They forgat God who had done so great things for them [Note: Psa 106:7; Psa 106:13; Psa 106:21.]. And we shall do well to bear it in mind, as the means of awakening in our own minds a just sense of our condition before God: for ingratitude, above all things, subjects us to his displeasure [Note: Rom 1:21; 2Ti 3:2; Isa 1:3; Deu 28:45; Deu 28:47.].]
This subject may be fitly improved
1.
To fill us with shame and confusion before God
[If we think of our temporal mercies only, they call for incessant songs of praise and thanksgiving: but what do we owe to God for the gift of his dear Sonand of his Holy Spiritand of a preached Gospel?What do we owe to God if he has rendered his word in any measure effectual for the enlightening of our minds, and the quickening of our souls? What manner of persons then ought we to be? How should our hearts glow with love, and our mouths be filled with his praise! Let us prosecute these thoughts, and we shall soon blush and be confounded before God, and lie low before him in dust and ashes.]
2.
To keep us from putting our trust in man
[Many years had Joseph been confined in prison, and now he thought he should have an advocate at court, who would speedily liberate him from his confinement. But God would not let him owe his deliverance to an arm of flesh: yea, he left him two years longer in prison, that he might learn to put his trust in God only: and then he wrought his deliverance by his own arm. Till his time was come, the word of the Lord tried him. At last, God suggested to Pharaoh dreams, which no magicians could expound; and thus brought to the butlers recollection the oppressed youth who had interpreted his dreams, and who was the only person that could render similar service to the affrighted monarch. Now we also, like Joseph, are but too apt to lean on an arm of flesh, instead of looking simply to the Lord our God: but we shall always find in the issue, that the creature is only a broken reed, which will pierce the hand that leans upon it; and that none but God can render us any effectual assistance. Let us then trust in him only, and with all our heart, and then we shall never be confounded.]
3.
To make us admire and adore the Lord Jesus
[That blessed Saviour is not less mindful of us in his exalted state, than he was in the days of his flesh. Yea, though not at all indebted to us, though, on the contrary, he has all possible reason to abandon us for ever, yet is he mindful of us day and night; he makes intercession for us continually at the right hand of God; he considers this as the very end of his exaltation; and he improves every moment in protecting, comforting, and strengthening those who depend upon him. We challenge any one to say, When did the blessed Saviour forget him? We may have been ready to say indeed, He hath forsaken and forgotten us; but He can no more forget us than a woman can forget her sucking child. Let us then bless his name, and magnify it with thanksgiving. And let us from time to time offer to Him the petition of the dying thief, Lord, remember me now thou art in thy kingdom: and not all the glory and felicity of heaven shall divert his attention from us for a single moment.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Ecc 9:15 .
REFLECTIONS
Reader! mark this down in the memorandums of your life, that whether in a prison or a palace, the faithful have GOD for their portion. And what a sweet thought is it, that, as no walls can confine the souls of GOD’S people; so neither can bolts or bars shut the LORD out. If you are the LORD’S prisoner, this is preferable to being the world’s freeman. And when we recollect how precious the enjoyments some have found in those seasons, very evident it is that the Comforter is with them, and that to bless them. But even here in Joseph’s history, let me not lose sight of the LORD JESUS, who was taken from prison and from judgment, and who shall declare his generation? Blessed LORD! let me never forget the afflictions of my spiritual and almighty Joseph, nor the cause of them; but in all events of life as well prosperous as distressing, cease not to remember thee!
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Gen 40:23 Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forgat him.
Ver. 23. Yet did not the chief butler. ] Too many such butlers, that forget poor Joseph! What cares Nabal though David die at his door, so he may eat the fat and drink the sweet, &c.? The heathens’ picture of their graces, young and fresh, two looking towards you, and one from you, bids check to all ungrateful persons.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
but forgat him. Figure of speech Pleonasm. App-6. Used for great emphasis. Compare Amo 6:6.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
but forgat him: Job 19:14, Psa 31:12, Psa 105:19, Ecc 9:15, Ecc 9:16, Amo 6:6
Reciprocal: Gen 41:9 – I do remember Neh 1:11 – For I was Est 6:3 – There is nothing Heb 13:3 – them that
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Gen 40:23. But forgat him Being again possessed of the emoluments of his office, and enjoying the pleasures of the court, the kindness which Joseph had shown him in interpreting his dreams, as well as all the instruction and advice he had received from him respecting the true God and religion, vanished from his recollection: a specimen this of the friendship of the world, and a true sample of the disappointment which they will meet with who rely on it!