Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Genesis 40:5
And they dreamed a dream both of them, each man his dream in one night, each man according to the interpretation of his dream, the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, which [were] bound in the prison.
Gen 40:5
They dreamed a dream
The wise interpreter
I.
THE DREAMS.
II. THE INTERPRETATION. Notice how honestly Joseph tells the truth–gives his message faithfully–does not hide what God has given him to say.
III. THE FULFILMENT. It all came true. Joseph had the comfort of feeling that he had been taught of God, and that so God was caring for him. Lessons:
1. God knows all things.
2. God foreknows all things.
3. God wisely orders all things. (W. S. Smith, B. D.)
Importance attached in Egypt to dreams
Numerous inscriptions show the great importance attached by the Egyptians to dreams. In one, the Prince of Baehtan is recorded as having sent back to Egypt, in consequence of a dream, the god Chunsu, which the Pharaoh had sent him to cure his daughter. Another states how King Menephtah had a dream before a battle, in which the god Ptah placed himself before him, and forbade him to advance. An inscription discovered in the ruins of Napata, relates how the Pharaoh Miamum, in the year of his elevation to the throne of Egypt and Ethiopia, dreamed that he saw two serpents; one on his right hand and the other on his left. Awaking, he demanded that his wise men should come and interpret it on the moment, and this they did as follows: You possess the south, and the north will submit to you. The diadems of the two will shine on your head, and you will rule over all the land in its length and in its breadth. Dreams were regarded as sent by the god Thoth, and it was so great a matter to obtain them that recipes are still extant telling how they may be secured. It was natural, therefore, that the two disgraced officials should be greatly excited to find out the meaning of the supposed Divine communications that had been sent them. Cut off as they were by the prison walls from the priests who alone interpreted dreams, they would doubtless be only too glad to avail themselves of such irregular help as the presence of Joseph promised to afford. (C. Geikie, D. D.)
Divine influence over the mind in sleep
1. We all allow that God may and does influence the workings of our minds through the operation of the laws of suggestion or association while we are awake; for it is impossible to hold in any intelligible fashion the doctrine of the agency of the Holy Spirit unless we make such an admission. But if God can thus influence our minds when we are awake, it is equally easy for Him to do so while we are asleep, so that there is no antecedent impossibility against the view that He may speak to men in and through the visions of the night.
2. Again, the providence of God must take cognizance of our dreams as well as of our waking thoughts, and must be equally in and over both, otherwise it is not really universal. Hence there is nothing either absurd or unphilosophical or impious in supposing that God may avail Himself of the phenomena of dreams for the purpose of turning the mind to His truth, or leading it into some particular direction. How He does that it is impossible to say. Sleep is a mystery, and dreams are a mystery, and to them both we may apply the words of Hamlet, There are more things in heaven and earth than have been dreamed of in philosophy; while, whatever may be said of dreams in general, we are probably not wrong in believing that the visions here recorded were from the Lord. (W. M. Taylor, D. D.)
An interpreter
I. Two PICTURES WHICH NEEDED AN INTERPRETER, Dream pictures. Prison walls cant shut out the sights which come to men in sleep.
1. The picture which the butler saw.
2. The picture which the baker saw.
II. THE INTERPRETER AND HIS INTERPRETATIONS. If we want to know what a picture means, the best person to tell us is the man who painted it? Who had painted these dream pictures? Sometimes see a plate on which child has been rubbing paints; a quantity of colour smudges, blue, red, green, yellow, all mixed up together! Many dreams something like this, just a quantity of thought smudges. The butler thinks about grapes and cups; the baker about bread and confectionery; no wonder that in their dreams they should see pictures which remind them of such things. Once a great artist, Turner, got his grandchildren to rub their fingers about in the colours on his palette. When they had made a great mess he said, Now stop. And then from their smudges he painted a most beautiful picture. God sometimes does this with our thought-smudges. So here, with the butler and the baker; He took their confused thoughts and made clear pictures out of them. In the prison was a man who trusted God, and because he trusted God, therefore God trusted him. He understood what the dream pictures meant; God taught him to interpret them. Conclusion: Some people like to have dreams, but dreams are not much good if they have no meaning, or if we cant find out what the meaning is. God sometimes teaches men by dreams, but He has many other ways of teaching them; the world itself is a great picture-book full of meaning for those who can interpret it. Better to be an interpreter than a dreamer. If we can interpret, not dreams only but all nature will bring us messages from God. Can we be interpreters? Yes, if we are like Joseph, pure, simple, trusting God, trying to obey Him. Everything about us has a meaning if only we could understand. The seeds growing say to the interpreter, Dont be in a hurry; first the grain, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear. The wind says, Ye know not whence I come or whither I go, and Gods spirit is like me. The moon says, I am so bright and beautiful because I reflect the light of the sun; if you want to be bright and beautiful, you must reflect the glory of Christ. We need not mind dreams, good or bad; let us learn to trust and obey God, so that He may teach us to be good interpreters. (C. A. Goodhart, M. A.)
Pharaohs butler and baker advent types
The king of Egypts servants, it seems, have incurred his displeasure; they are in prison, bound, waiting for punishment, utterly in his power, quite helpless to atone for their sin, or appease his anger. Now here surely there is pictured for us in parable the state of man since the Fall. He has incurred the wrath of God; this world is his prison, and there is a still more fearful prospect of judgment and fiery indignation in the world to come; and nothing can be done, no man can atone for his own sins, nor for those of any one else; he has, indeed, bread to eat and raiment to put on, but he lives ever in the fear of death, for he has lost the favour of God, the great King. These prisoners dream each a dream in the dismal night of their imprisonment. They are filled with strange thoughts and fears which they cannot interpret; they desire above all things to know their fate, but none can tell them. Just so is man by nature; just like this were the thoughts and forebodings of the Greeks and Romans and other heathen nations, who had lost the knowledge of God, and yet were ever feeling after Him, if haply they might find Him; if, perhaps, they might learn what they were, whence they came, and whither they were going, As we read their writings we feel as if we could almost look into their faces, and see them bewildered and sad; for their life is to them but a dream, a riddle, a puzzle, and there is no interpreter of it for them. Now there is another person introduced. He is a servant like the others, in prison like them, yet invested with authority, endowed with Divine wisdom, able to tell them all that they so much desire to know. He has done no wrong, yet he is disgraced and punished; he suffers for anothers fault; he might have escaped and lived in honour, but he would not. Is not this the Christ? He entered the prison, that he might set the prisoners free. Yet not all; for now we must notice that there are two prisoners, with different dreams, and very different fates. So it is all through the Bible. One is taken, the other left; Abel and Cain, Jacob and Esau, David and Saul; down to Peter and Judas, and the two thieves crucified with our Lord. The first dreamer, the kings butler, or more correctly his cupbearer, dreams of his life; he sees a vine, it buds, it blossoms, till clusters of ripe grapes hang thick upon it. Pharaohs cup is in his hand, he plucks the grapes, he presses the juice into the cup, and humbly presents it to Pharaoh, who accepts it. This dream is a life, and what sort of a life? An active, faithful, watchful, dutiful life. The cup of the Great King is in our hand, to tell us what He expects of us, fruit, Rood fruit, sweet, ripe, mature fruit, fruit at the due season, when He comes to seek it, that He may drink the new wine with His chosen servants in His kingdom. Jesus, the better Joseph, came to tell glad tidings to those who thus diligently did the will of God, that their labour was not in vain, that their work should be accepted, that they should soon be brought out of prison, be freed from the bondage of this death, and after three days, that is the time of Christs resting in the grave, they should have a joyful resurrection, and so their high calling should be restored to them which Adams sin had lost them; and thus should they be evermore with the Lord. Thus did Christ tell men their dreams. This brings us to the second dreamer; he too dreams of his life; he is Pharaohs baker, and his duty is to provide baked meats for the king. But what does he do? He prepares baked meats indeed; but he puts them into Baskets with holes; for, as the margin tells us, this is the true force and meaning of the words. And he puts these baskets on his head; that is, in a place where he can neither see them nor protect them. The consequence is that the wild birds light upon the baskets, and devour the meats, and he does not notice them; or the meats drop through the holes, for he cannot see them; and so they are lost, and become an easy prey. The butler and baker both worked, the former acceptably, the latter in vain. And his punishment is noteworthy. The birds that devoured his work that should have satisfied his master, presently devour his flesh as he hangs dead upon a tree. May we not see his fault indicated by his punishment? For, Job says, They that plough iniquity and sow wickedness, reap the same. A mans sins are their own punishment; what he sows he reaps. These careless people work and labour and toil; they clutch fast that which they can gather for themselves, be it little or much; but the things of God are put into a basket with holes, out of sight, above their heads, and their eyes are toward the earth; and so they lose all; and when they come before the King, they will have nothing to present to Him. The birthday of our King is near; the birthday in humility and poverty, yet He will make a feast to all His servants, a spiritual feast, to which He bids all that are religiously and devoutly disposed; all His servants, not a few but all; the feast is provided for all; He expects all. And yet we must not think only of His birthday, but of the great second coming, when, like Pharaoh, He will reward and punish His servants according to their works. But, in the meantime, He sends a Joseph to us; He tells us our dreams, shows us ourselves, our life, and our end, in the mirror of the word of God, as St. James calls it. (F. C. Woodhouse, M. A.)
The dreams of the butler and the baker
Human society is a system of mutual interdependence. Very early men discovered that a division of labour was a common advantage. The king can no more do without the ploughman than the ploughman can do without the king.
I. HUMAN LIFE IS FULL OF MYSTERIES.
1. Where there is partial knowledge there must be mystery. A man must be a mystery to his dog. Civilized men are mysteries to barbarians. A field-marshal is a mystery to his valet. A locomotive engine is a mystery to a ploughboy. There are more mysteries within ourselves than we can solve in a lifetime. Mysteries without us need not therefore stagger us.
2. Temporary miscarriage of justice is a mystery. Clever intrigues of wickedness often succeed. A lie may bring large gain, while the candid statement of the truth may bring ill-fame and worldly ruin. Pharaohs chief butler and chief baker-men of rank and position in the Court–may have been both innocent. Or, one may have been innocent, and one guilty. Yet both are committed to the same prison. Is not this a mystery?
3. That human destiny is revealed in dreams is a mystery. If one cannot, with the most wakeful sagacity, foresee clearly his earthly fortune and destiny, it is a strange thing that it can be indicated in a dream. Yet God has sometimes revealed to men coming events in their dreams.
II. THE MYSTERIES OF LIFE REQUIRE AN INTERPRETER.
1. The office of interpreter is useful to mankind. That is a narrow and erroneous view of human life that regards mechanical labour as alone profitable. The man who examines into the forces and movements of the human soul is as great a benefactor of his race as he who searches into the arcana of material nature. The interpreter of lifes mysteries fulfils a noble task.
2. The power to interpret comes from large personal experience. Joseph was well aware that his course of life had been wholly shaped by his dreams.
3. The interpreter must be a man full of sympathy. Josephs manifold sufferings had developed in him intense sympathy with the unfortunate.
III. THE REVELATIONS OF THE INTERPRETER WILL BE BOTH PLEASANT AND PAINFUL.
1. The true interpreter must be the ally of truth. He has no personal end to serve. Because Jesus was essentially the truth, therefore He was the teacher, the interpreter, the wonder-worker, the life.
2. It is a joy to bring glad tidings. Nevertheless, he will rejoice in the butlers joy: it will be a delight to turn sadness into song in anothers heart.
3. The interpreter may be commissioned to carry sorrowful news. To do a man good service is a greater kindness than to give him pleasure. Joseph was the best earthly friend that chief baker ever had, though he announced, in three days thou wilt be hanged. Joseph obtained for that man three precious days of preparation for the great change. (J. Dickerson Davies, M. A.)
Joseph is again brought into connection with dreams
It is not surprising that three nights before Pharaohs birthday these functionaries of the court should have recalled in sleep such scenes as that day was wont to bring round, nor that they should vividly have seen the parts they themselves used to play in the festival. Neither is it surprising that they should have had very anxious thoughts regarding their own fate on a day which was chosen for deciding the fate of political or courtly offenders. But it is remarkable that they having dreamed these dreams Joseph should have been found willing to interpret them. One desires some evidence of Josephs attitude towards God during this period when Gods attitude towards him might seem doubtful, and especially one would like to know what Joseph, by this time, thought of his juvenile dreams, and whether in the prison his face wore the same beaming confidence in his own future which had smitten the hearts of his brothers with impatient envy of the dreamer. We seek some evidence, and here we find it. Josephs willingness to interpret the dreams of his fellow-prisoners proves that he still believed in his own, that among his other qualities he had this characteristic also of a steadfast and profound soul, that he reverenced as a man the dreams of his youth. Had he not done so, and had he not yet hoped that somehow God would bring truth out of them, he would surely have said: Dont you believe in dreams; they will only get you into difficulties. This casual conversation, then, With his fellow-prisoners was for Joseph one of those perilous moments when a man holds his fate in his hand, and yet does not know that he is specially on trial, but has for his guidance and safe-conduct through the hazard only the ordinary safeguards and lights by the aid of which he is framing his daily life. A man cannot be forewarned of trial, if the trial is to be a fair test of his habitual life. He must not be called to the lists by the heralds trumpet warning him to mind his seat and grasp his weapon; but must be suddenly set upon if his habit of steadiness and balance is to be tested, and the warrior-instinct to which the right weapon is ever at hand. As Joseph, going the round of his morning duty and spreading what might stir the appetite of these dainty courtiers, noted the gloom on their faces, had he not been of a nature to take upon himself the sorrows of others, he might have been glad to escape from their presence, fearful lost he should be infected by their depression, or should become an object on which they might vent their ill-humour. But he was girt with a healthy cheerfulness that could bear more than his own burden; and his pondering of his own experience made him sensitive to all that affected the destinies of other men. Thus Joseph, in becoming the interpreter of the dreams of other men, became the fulfiller of his own. Had he made light of the dreams of his fellow-prisoners because he had already made light of his own, he would, for aught we can see, have died in the dungeon. And, indeed, what hope is left for a man, and what deliverance is possible, when he makes light of his own most sacred experience, and doubts whether, after all, there was any Divine voice in that part of his life which once he felt to be full of significance? (M. Dods, D. D.)
The vine in Egypt
In Egypt, wine was used for medicinal purposes; it was employed in the offerings made to the deities; Osiris was popularly believed to be identical with the Greek Bacchus, and was represented to have been the first who found the vine and taught men its cultivation; wine was imported into Egypt from Greece and Phoenicia; it formed a part of the daily rations allowed to the soldiers of the kings guard; it was not even interdicted to the priests, except, perhaps, to those of Heliopolis, though but a limited quantity was permitted to them to ensure their constant efficiency for their sacred functions; and wine was plentifully served at banquets and other social meetings to both men and women; even if, as some believe, the frightful skeleton, usually exhibited to the guests, with the words, Eat and drink, for soon you will be like this, was a symbolical exhortation to temperance, it did not always produce the desired effect; but it is much more probable that it was intended to invite to a free and full enjoyment of the pleasures of the table, since inexorable death will not fail to pay its unwelcome visit. The vine occurred in Egypt in a great variety of species, of which that grown in the Thebaid was so agreeable and light that it was, without injury, given to invalids; the wine of Mareotis was most esteemed and plentiful, and possessed the advantage of keeping to a great age; while that of Tenia was renowned for its richness and aromatic fragrance. The vine flourishes in Egypt even in the water, like an aquatic plant; it is, therefore, not injured by the inundations of the Nile, which, moreover, never commence, in Lower Egypt, before the middle of August, when the vintage is, in most cases, almost entirely completed. Vineyards, very tastefully arranged, were either combined with, or contiguous to, orchards, furnished with tanks, and often with reservoirs, with summer-houses, and reception-rooms, with avenues of trees and grass-plots, and always with a building for the wine-press (Isa 5:1-2). The vineswere trained on trellis-work, supported by transverse rafters resting on pillars which were, in many instances, gaily caloured, and divided the vineyard into numerous avenues; many vines were allowed to grow as standing bushes, and, on account of their lowness, required no support; while others were formed into a number of beautiful bowers. At the season of the vintage, from the end of June, boys were engaged to frighten away the birds by a sling or the sound of the voice; in gathering the fruit, the precarious aid of trained monkeys was more curiously than profitably employed; and after the conclusion of the vintage, kids were allowed to browse upon the vines. The simplest mode of pressing the wine was by putting the grapes into a bag, and turning the latter by two poles in contrary directions, or, by some other contrivance based on the same principle, but more remarkable is the foot-press; the workmen trod the grapes with naked feet, supporting themselves by ropes suspended from the roof. We possess several beautiful representations of such wine-presses, remarkable for elaborateness and tastefulness. After some other liquid was probably added to the juice, it was clarified by sieving, and perhaps by the application of eggs. The dream of the chief butler describes in rapid but comprehensive outlines the different stages in the growth of the vine; how it produces buds and blossoms, forms clusters, and matures ripe grapes, which the butler then presses into the goblet (Gen 40:10). This completeness seems to be the principal object of the narrative; it may be that only in order to shorten the whole process, and to compress it within the narrow frame of a vision, the juice, after having just been pressed out with the hand, is stated to have been placed before the king; whereas, ,in reality, it might have been allowed to ferment the usual time, as it is represented in numerous frescoes; but it is as probable that sometimes temperate persons (as it was later ordained in the Koran) abstained from fermented wine on account of its more intoxicating power, and that, at some period, the priests who regulated the kings table, as they controlled all his public and private affairs, prescribed to him the use of the unfermented juice of the grape. (M. M. Kalisch, Ph. D.)
Think on me when it shall be well with thee
Josephs plea for remembrance
The first bit of humanity we have seen in Joseph: human nature is in this little plea. He would have been far too great a man for me if I had not seen this little touch of human nature coming out after all. I have wondered, as I have read along here, that he did not protest and resent, and vindicate himself, and otherwise come out as an injured man. He has been almost superhuman up to this point. Now the poor lad says, The chain is very heavy, this yoke makes me chafe. I cannot bear this any longer. And he tells the butler, who has had good luck before him, that he would like to be taken out of the dungeon. There are times when we want to find a god even in the butler; times when our theism is too great for us, and we want to get hold of a man–when our religion seems to us to be too aerial, afar off, and we would be glad to take hold of any staff that anybody could put into our poor trembling hands. This is natural, and I am not about to denounce Joseph, to reproach him, as though he had done some unnatural and unreasonable thing. I am glad of this revelation of his nature; it brings me near to him. Though God will not substitute himself by a butler, and will give him two more years imprisonment, yet God will make it up to him somehow. He shall not want consolation. It was very human to seek to make a half god of the butler to get out out of that galling bondage. We shall see, in the course of our reading, whether God be not mightier than all creatures, and cannot open a way to kingdoms and royalties, when we ourselves are striving only for some little, insignificant, and unworthy blessing. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Lessons
1. Sad and seduced souls may be brought to open their troubles to such as may truly answer them from God.
2. Things seen in dreams sent by God may signify matters of another nature. So the vine, &c. (Gen 40:10).
3. Actions are presented in some dreams by God to presage the like really to come (Gen 40:11).
4. Gods gift of interpretation of dreams is a sure oracle.
5. God alone determines the truth to every sign. Three branches, three days (Gen 40:12).
6. Under symbols God may infallibly teach restitution, and advancement to imprisoned creatures.
7. Gods prophets may declare that to others, which they cannot to themselves for good.
8. Restitution of evil-doers to favour must carry orderly ministration therein (Gen 40:13).
9. Gods goodness to sufferers by His prophets, requireth good to them. Remember me (Gen 40:14).
10. It is not unbeseeming Gods prophets to desire their own good.
11. It is reasonable to desire to be known to them who can help them.
12. Liberty is desirable by saints in their restraints.
13. It is just for Gods innocents to complain of wrongs.
14. It is equal for Gods afflicted ones to plead their own innocency.
15. It is fit for saints to desire freedom from dungeon calamities (Gen 40:15). (G. Hughes, B. D.)
Josephs request
He very naturally throws in a request on behalf of himself. There is no symptom of impatience in this; but patience itself may consist with the use of all lawful means to obtain deliverance. The terms in which this request are made are modest, and exceedingly impressive. He might have asked for a place under the chief butler, or some other post of honour or profit: but he requests only to be delivered from this house. He might have reminded him how much he owed to his sympathetic and kind treatment; but he left these things to speak for themselves. In pleading the exalted station in which the chief butler was about to be reinstated, he gently intimates the obligations which people in prosperous circumstances are under, to think of the poor and afflicted; and Christians may still farther improve the principle, not to be unmindful of such cases in their approaches to the King of kings. This plea may also direct us to make use of His name and interest, who is exalted at the right hand of the speak lies in the name of God. He professed to have his knowledge from above, and faithfully delivered to the two prisoners what he had received from the Lord.
2. But there was another reason why Joseph declared plainly what he had learned from God. He wished to have it known amongst the Egyptians that interpretations belonged to the God of the Hebrews, and that he alone could show things that were to come to pass. Joseph afterwards received the name of Zaphnath-paaneah, the revealer of secrets; but it was his desire to have it known that his God was the fountain of all his knowledge, and that confidence in any other God, or in any other way of coming to the knowledge of futurity, but by revelation from Him was vanity and the work of error. (G. Lawson, D. D.)
Lessons
1. God keeps time punctually in making good His word for good and evil unto creatures.
2. Mans day and Gods may meet together for fulfilling Gods will revealed.
3. The birthdays celebration is a heathenish practice and invention (Gen 40:20).
4. Such times worldly powers used to give out favours or frowns, to kill and keep alive.
5. Where God hath spoken of restitution to liberty and honour, there it is done (verse. 21).
6. Where God hath foretold of death and destruction, there it surely comes to pass (Gen 40:22).
7. Men restored to liberty and prosperity are apt to forget adverse conditions.
8. Carnal men usually prove unthankful for and unmindful of good done to them in misery.
9. God useth the forgetfulness of creatures to bring about His gracious end to His saints.
10. Unkindnesses from creatures are but to make His saints learn more patience toward God (Gen 40:23). (G. Hughes, B. D.)
Infamous ingratitude
We all reprobate the conduct of the chief butler. His memory will be held in detestation while the world lasts. The Word of God hath recorded his infamy, that other men may be warned to show proper returns of gratitude to their benefactors. We can indeed be under no apprehensions that the Book of God will transmit our character to future ages. The chief butler felt as little fear of that perpetual dishonour to which his memory was to be subjected by a book that should be read to the end of the world. But do we not know that there is another book of God, which contains the records of every individuals life–a book which shall be opened before the assembled world? What confusion will then cover the faces of those who are found to have been insensible to the favours done them, either by their fellow-men or by their Maker! The unthankful and the unholy are kindred characters (2Ti 3:1-17.). Those who are unthankful to benefactors of their own race are likewise unthankful to their Maker and Preserver. If they were duly sensible of the blessings conferred upon them by God, they would not be ungrateful to those whom He is pleased to employ as the instruments of His benefactions. If all men abhor those who return not good for good, when it is in the power of their hands to do it; if they are justly accounted no better than publicans or heathens, who love only them who love themselves, how black is our ingratitude if we are not penetrated with grateful love to Him, who not only pitied us in our low estate, but wrought redemption for us by a life of sorrow, and by an accursed death? (G. Lawson, D. D.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 5. Each man according to the interpretation] Not like dreams in general, the disordered workings of the mind, the consequence of disease or repletion; these were dreams that had an interpretation, that is, that were prophetic.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
1718
i.e. Not a vain and idle dream, but one that had in it a signification of future things, and needed interpretation; and the several dreams were proper and agreeable to the several events which befell them, and to the several interpretations which Joseph put upon them: the dream and interpretation did fitly answer one to the other.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
5-8. they dreamed a dreamJoseph,influenced by the spirit of true religion, could feel for others(Ecc 4:1; Rom 12:15;Phi 2:4). Observing them one dayextremely depressed, he inquired the cause of their melancholy; andbeing informed it was owing to a dream they had respectively dreamedduring the previous night, after piously directing them to God(Dan 2:30; Isa 26:10),he volunteered to aid them, through the divine help, in discoveringthe import of their vision. The influence of Providence must be seenin the remarkable fact of both officers dreaming such dreams in onenight. He moves the spirits of men.
Ge40:9-15. THE BUTLER’SDREAM.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And they dreamed a dream both of them,…. Not one and the same dream:
each man his dream in one night; which made it the more remarkable, and the more impressed their minds, concluding from hence there must be something of importance in their dreams:
each man according to the interpretation of his dream; they dreamed each what was suitable to his office and character, and which portended what should hereafter befall them, as the interpretation of them by Joseph afterwards, and the event showed; so that it was not a vain idle dream, but divine and certain:
the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, which [were] bound in the prison; this is added for explanation’s sake, showing who were the persons spoken of that dreamed the dreams.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
After some time (“days,” Gen 40:4, as in Gen 4:3), and on the same night, these two prisoners had each a peculiar dream, “ each one according to the interpretation of his dream; ” i.e., each one had a dream corresponding to the interpretation which specially applied to him. On account of these dreams, which seemed to them to have some bearing upon their fate, and, as the issue proved, were really true omens of it, Joseph found them the next morning looking anxious, and asked them the reason of the trouble which was depicted upon their countenances.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
5 And they dreamed a dream both of them, each man his dream in one night, each man according to the interpretation of his dream, the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, which were bound in the prison. 6 And Joseph came in unto them in the morning, and looked upon them, and, behold, they were sad. 7 And he asked Pharaoh’s officers that were with him in the ward of his lord’s house, saying, Wherefore look ye so sadly to day? 8 And they said unto him, We have dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter of it. And Joseph said unto them, Do not interpretations belong to God? tell me them, I pray you. 9 And the chief butler told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, In my dream, behold, a vine was before me; 10 And in the vine were three branches: and it was as though it budded, and her blossoms shot forth; and the clusters thereof brought forth ripe grapes: 11 And Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand: and I took the grapes, and pressed them into Pharaoh’s cup, and I gave the cup into Pharaoh’s hand. 12 And Joseph said unto him, This is the interpretation of it: The three branches are three days: 13 Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thine head, and restore thee unto thy place: and thou shalt deliver Pharaoh’s cup into his hand, after the former manner when thou wast his butler. 14 But think on me when it shall be well with thee, and show kindness, I pray thee, unto me, and make mention of me unto Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house: 15 For indeed I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews: and here also have I done nothing that they should put me into the dungeon. 16 When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was good, he said unto Joseph, I also was in my dream, and, behold, I had three white baskets on my head: 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. 18 And Joseph answered and said, This is the interpretation thereof: The three baskets are three days: 19 Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thy head from off thee, and shall hang thee on a tree; and the birds shall eat thy flesh from off thee.
Observe, I. The special providence of God, which filled the heads of these two prisoners with unusual dreams, such as made extraordinary impressions upon them, and carried with them evidences of a divine origin, both in one night. Note, God has immediate access to the spirits of men, which he can make serviceable to his own purposes whenever he pleases, quite beyond the intention of those concerned. To him all hearts are open, and anciently he spoke not only to his own people, but to others, in dreams, Job xxxiii. 15. Things to come were thus foretold, but very obscurely.
II. The impression which was made upon these prisoners by their dreams (v. 6): They were sad. It was not the prison that made them sad (they were pretty well used to that, and perhaps lived jovially there), but the dream. Note, God has more ways than one to sadden the spirits of those that are to be made sad. Those sinners that are hardy enough under outward troubles, and will not yield to them, yet God can find out a way to punish; he can take off their wheels, by wounding their spirits, and laying loads upon them.
III. Joseph’s great tenderness and compassion towards them. He enquired with concern, Wherefore look you so sadly to-day? v. 7. Joseph was their keeper, and in that office he was mild. Note, It becomes us to take cognizance of the sorrows even of those that are under our check. Joseph was their companion in tribulation, he was now a prisoner with them, and had been a dreamer too. Note, Communion in sufferings helps to work compassion towards those that do suffer. Let us learn hence, 1. To concern ourselves in the sorrows and troubles of others, and to enquire into the reason of the sadness of our brethren’s countenances; we should be often considering the tears of the oppressed, Eccl. iv. 1. It is some relief to those that are in trouble to be taken notice of. 2. To enquire into the causes of our own sorrow, “Wherefore do I look so sadly? Is there a reason? Is it a good reason? Is there not a reason for comfort sufficient to balance it, whatever it is? Why art thou cast down, O my soul?“
IV. The dreams themselves, and the interpretation of them. That which troubled these prisoners was that being confined they could not have recourse to the diviners of Egypt who pretended to interpret dreams: There is no interpreter here in the prison, v. 8. Note, There are interpreters which those that are in prison and sorrow should wish to have with them, to instruct them in the meaning and design of Providence (Elihu alludes to such, when he says, If there be an interpreter, one among a thousand, to show unto man his uprightness,Job 33:23; Job 33:24), interpreters to guide their consciences, not to satisfy their curiosity. Joseph hereupon directed them which way to look: Do not interpretations belong to God? He means the God whom he worshipped, to the knowledge of whom he endeavours hereby to lead them. Note, It is God’s prerogative to foretel things to come, Isa. xlvi. 10. He must therefore have the praise of all the gifts of foresight which men have, ordinary or extraordinary. Joseph premises a caveat against his own praise, and is careful to transmit the glory to God, as Daniel, ch. ii. 30. Joseph suggests, “If interpretations belong to God, he is a free agent, and may communicate the power to whom he pleases, and therefore tell me your dreams.” Now, 1. The chief butler’s dream was a happy presage of his enlargement, and re-advancement, within three days; and so Joseph explained it to him, Gen 40:12; Gen 40:13. Probably it had been usual with him to press the full-ripe grapes immediately into Pharaoh’s cup, the simplicity of that age not being acquainted with the modern arts of making the wine fine. Observe, Joseph foretold the chief butler’s deliverance, but he did not foresee his own. He had long before dreamt of his own honour, and the obeisance which his brethren should do to him, with the remembrance of which he must now support himself, without any new or fresh discoveries. The visions that are for the comfort of God’s saints are for a great while to come, and relate to things that are very far off, while the foresights of others, like this recorded there, look but three days before them. 2. The chief baker’s dream portended his ignominious death, Gen 40:18; Gen 40:19. The happy interpretation of the other’s dream encouraged him to relate his. Thus hypocrites, when they hear good things promised to good Christians, would put in for a share, though they have no part nor lot in the matter. It was not Joseph’s fault that he brought him no better tidings. Ministers are but interpreters, they cannot make the thing otherwise than it is; if therefore they deal faithfully, and their message prove unpleasing, it is not their fault. Bad dreams cannot expect a good interpretation.
V. The improvement Joseph made of this opportunity to get a friend at court, Gen 40:14; Gen 40:15. He modestly bespoke the favour of the chief butler, whose preferment he foretold: But think of me when it shall be well with thee. Though the respect paid to Joseph made the prison as easy to him as a prison could be, yet none can blame him for being desirous of liberty. See here, 1. What a modest representation he makes of his own case, v. 15. He does not reflect upon his brethren that sold him; he only says, I was stolen out of the land of the Hebrews, that is, unjustly sent thence, no matter where the fault was. Nor does he reflect on the wrong done him in this imprisonment by his mistress that was his prosecutrix, and his master that was his judge; but mildly avers his own innocence: Here have I done nothing that they should put me into the dungeon. Note, When we are called to vindicate ourselves we should carefully avoid, as much as may be, speaking ill of others. Let us be content to prove ourselves innocent, and not be fond of upbraiding others with their guilt. 2. What a modest request he makes to the chief butler: “Only, think of me. Pray do me a kindness, if it lie in your way.” And his particular petition is, Bring me out of this house. He does not say, “Bring me into Pharaoh’s house, get me a place at court.” No, he begs for enlargement, not preferment. Note, Providence sometimes designs the greatest honours for those that least covet or expect them.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Verses 5-15:
A short time after the chief butler and chief baker were imprisoned, they each had a remarkable and significant dream. The first thing of significance was that they both had a dream on the same night. The second thing was that the dreams were fulfilled in exactly the manner Joseph predicted. The third was that the number “three” figures prominently in each.
Prophetic events were at times revealed in dreams, even to people who did not recognize Jehovah Elohim as the true God. An example is that of Nebuchadnezzar (Da 4). Such prophecies as these related specifically to events involving God’s purpose regarding His children, either directly or indirectly.
Both officers were disturbed by reason of their dreams. They were unable to determine the meaning of the dreams. Joseph assured them that interpretation of dreams belongs to God, Elohim. He offered to unfold the meaning of the dreams, but only through the wisdom and power of God. This would demonstrate the superiority of Elohim over the gods of Egypt.
The butler told his dream first. Joseph interpreted it to mean that in three days, he would be restored to his former office, and once more serve the king in his capacity as chief cup-bearer.
Joseph then requested that when the chief butler was restored to his office, he would intercede on his behalf with Pharaoh. He told the butler that he was abducted from “the land of the Hebrews,” literally, “the land where the (brim live.” For at least two centuries, since Abraham’s visit to their land, the Egyptians were familiar with the term “Hebrew” (Ge 14:13). Use of this term by Potiphar’s wife (Ge 39:14, 17) shows that this was still a familiar term in Joseph’s day. Joseph asked that the butler plead his case before Pharaoh, in return for his favor in interpreting the dream. He was innocent of any charges which justified his continued imprisonment.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
5. And they dreamed a dream. What I have before alluded to respecting dreams must be recalled to memory; namely, that many frivolous things are presented to us, which pass away and are forgotten; (150) some, however, have the force and significance of prophecy. Of this kind were these two dreams, by which God made known the hidden result of a future matter. For unless the mark of a celestial oracle had been engraven upon then, the butler and the baker would not have been in such consternation of mind. I acknowledge, indeed, that men are sometimes vehemently agitated by vain and rashly conceived dreams; yet their terror and anxiety gradually subsides; but God had fixed an arrow in the minds of the butler and the baker, which would not suffer them to rest; and by this means, each was rendered more attentive to the interpretation of his dream. Moses, therefore, expressly declares that it was a presage of something certain.
(150) Calvin’s words are: “ Quae Transeunt per portam corneam.” — Vide Virgil. Aeneid. VI. In finem. This is an obviously mistaken allusion, arising probably from a lapse of memory in Calvin, or in the transcriber of his works. He should have said “ portam eburnam.” The ancient mythologists distinguished true dreams from false, by representing the former as passing through the “horny gate,” ( porta cornea,) the latter through the “ivory gate,” ( porta eburna.) — Ed.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
5. Each man according to the interpretation That is, each man’s dream, as the sequel shows, corresponded with its particular significance .
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And they dreamed a dream, both of them, each man his dream, in one night, each man a dream with its own interpretation, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt who were bound in prison.’
The scene is now set. Both officers have dreams on the same night, dreams which, we are informed, were significant for they had their own meaning. It would appear that they both discussed them in the morning and were deeply troubled by them, for they both knew that such dreams could be a portent of something serious and could have an important meaning. The interpretation of dreams was a ‘science’. Men studied and learned the techniques for interpreting them and much had been written on the subject. But because they were in prison they could not consult them.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Gen 40:5. According to the interpretation, &c. That is, each man dreamed a significative dream, according to the explanation which Joseph afterwards gave of it. Houbigant would render it, after the Samaritan, each man his dream, according to the interpretation of it, i.e.. each of whose dreams had its proper and particular interpretation. That they understood their dreams to be significative, to express something respecting themselves and their state, is evident from the sadness which Joseph discerned in their countenances, Gen 40:6 and from the cause which they assigned for that sadness, Gen 40:8. We have dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter of it; that is, the usual interpreters of dreams fail here, they cannot give us satisfaction; see note on Gen 40:8 ch. 41: or it may be, Here in the prison, we have it not in our power to consult those who are skilled in dreams, and who are divinely instructed to interpret them. It was a general opinion in the ancient pagan world, that dreams, or at least certain dreams, proceeded from the gods, and that particular persons were enabled by these gods to interpret them. Hence the large train of priests, prophets, diviners, &c. Bishop Warburton, who has treated largely on this subject in the third volume of his Divine Legation of Moses, observes, that, “the interpretation of dreams made a very considerable part of ancient pagan religion. The AEgyptian priests, the first interpreters of dreams, took their rules for this species of divination, from the symbolic learning in which they were so deeply read: a ground of interpretation which would give the strongest credit to the art, and equally satisfy the diviner and consulter; for by this time it was generally believed, that their gods had given them hieroglyphic writing; so that nothing was more natural than to imagine that these gods, who, in their opinions gave dreams likewise, had employed the same mode of expression in both revelations. This was probably the true original of the interpretation of those dreams called allegorical; that is, of dreams in general; for the wildness of an unbridled fancy will make all natural dreams to be of that kind. If this account of the original of this art stood in need of farther evidence, I might urge the rules of interpretation given from Artemidorus, and a great many more which might be given; all of them conformable to the symbolic hieroglyphics in Horapollo. As hieroglyphics were become sacred, by being made the cloudy vehicle of the AEgyptian theology, and as none but the priests preserved these sacred mysteries, the butler and baker might well be uneasy for want of an interpreter, as none could be gotten in the dreary abode where they were confined.”
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Observe how GOD works in his providences, and by what various means: Job 33:15-16 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Gen 40:5 And they dreamed a dream both of them, each man his dream in one night, each man according to the interpretation of his dream, the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, which [were] bound in the prison.
Ver. 5. And they dreamed, &c. ] Of dreams natural and supernatural. See Trapp on “ Gen 20:3 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
dreamed a dream. Figure of speech Polyptoton (App-6), i.e. had a significant or important dream.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
am 2287, bc 1717, Gen 40:8, Gen 12:1-7, Gen 20:3, Gen 37:5-10, Gen 41:1-7, Gen 41:11, Num 12:6, Jdg 7:13, Jdg 7:14, Est 6:1, Job 33:15-17, Dan 2:1-3, Dan 4:5, Dan 4:9, Dan 4:19, Dan 7:1 – Dan 8:27
Reciprocal: Gen 31:24 – dream Job 7:14 – thou scarest
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
40:5 And they dreamed a dream both of them, each man his dream in one night, {b} each man according to the interpretation of his dream, the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, which [were] bound in the prison.
(b) That is, every dream had his interpretation, as the thing afterward declared.