Pharaoh’s Officials
The Pharaoh's Officials
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Angering the Pharaoh
Some time later, the king of Egypt’s cupbearer and baker enraged their master, the king of Egypt. The pharaoh was so angry with his two officials that he placed his head cupbearer and head baker under guard in the prison overseen by the captain of the palace guard, the same prison where Joseph was kept. The captain of the palace guard appointed Joseph to serve as their attendant. They remained under guard a long time.
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Some time after Joseph’s imprisonment, two of the pharaoh’s officials angered the king. For some unnamed crime, likely involving the pharaoh’s food, the cupbearer and baker found themselves in prison. Because they committed an offense against the pharaoh, the palace guard arrested them and placed them in the prison for the pharaoh’s prisoners, the same prison that held Joseph.
The captain of the palace guard, in charge of protecting the pharaoh, oversaw this prison. Verse 7 confirms this was still Potiphar, Joseph’s master. Potiphar made sure to treat the cupbearer and baker as high-ranking court officials, not ordinary prisoners. After all, one or both might regain the pharaoh’s favor. So Potiphar appointed the trustworthy Joseph to attend to their needs. In this way, God used Potiphar’s job to bring Joseph in contact with the official who would instigate his rise to power.
This constituted a demotion for Joseph. Previously, the warden had given him authority over all the other prisoners.1 Now he reverted back to a slave serving the two newcomers.
The Cupbearer’s Dream
One night, the king of Egypt’s cupbearer and baker, who were confined in the prison, each had a dream. They dreamed two different dreams, each with its own meaning. When Joseph arrived in the morning, he noticed they looked troubled. He asked the pharaoh’s officials, who were under guard with him in the prison overseen by his master, “Why do you look so upset today?”
“We each had a dream,” they replied, “but no one here can tell us what they mean.”
“Doesn’t God know what they mean? Please tell me about them.”
So the head cupbearer told Joseph about his dream. “In my dream, I saw a vine with three branches. They budded, and then the buds immediately blossomed and produced clusters of ripe grapes. I had the pharaoh’s cup in my hand, so I squeezed the grapes into the cup and put it in his hand.”
“This is what it means,” Joseph said. “The three branches represent three days. Three days from now, the pharaoh will release you and restore you to your previous position. You will place the pharaoh’s cup in his hand just as you did before when you were his cupbearer.”
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The pharaoh’s officials remained in the prison with Joseph for a long time. Then one night, they both had a different dream. Like the rest of the ancient Near East, the Egyptians believed dreams contained messages from the gods. But they didn’t believe the gods interpreted dreams. Instead dream interpretation involved complicated science that required special training.2 The imprisoned officials didn’t have access to the professional dream interpreters they would normally hire.
When Joseph arrived to serve them, they explained the situation to him. Joseph knew God could explain the dreams to him without any special training. The cupbearer didn’t hesitate to accept Joseph’s offer. In his dream, he saw a vine with three bare branches. Right before his eyes, the branches budded, the buds blossomed, and clusters of grapes ripened. The cupbearer squeezed the juice from the grapes into the pharaoh’s cup and placed it in his hand. Given the incredible speed of the process, the grape juice probably fermented into wine right there in the cup!
As the fruitful imagery suggests, the cupbearer’s dream had a positive meaning. Only three days later, the pharaoh would free him from prison and restore him to his position. Just like in his dream, he would serve the pharaoh his wine once again.
Joseph’s Plea
“So remember me when you’re back in good standing. Please show me faithfulness by telling the pharaoh about me and getting me out of this place. I was truly stolen from the land of the Hebrews. And while here I’ve done nothing to deserve being put in this pit!”
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By interpreting the cupbearer’s dream, Joseph had done him a big favor. If the interpretation proved correct, the cupbearer would owe Joseph a favor in return. The cupbearer would soon be back in the presence of the pharaoh, the one man other than Potiphar who could free Joseph. So Joseph made his case for freedom.
Joseph started by asking the cupbearer to remember him and show him faithfulness after gaining his freedom. This refers to the debt owed for interpreting the dream, and possibly also for Joseph’s faithful service while the cupbearer and baker were in prison. In exchange, Joseph asked that the cupbearer simply tell the pharaoh about him. The Egyptians held dream interpreters in high esteem, so Joseph hoped his abilities could provide the key to his release.
The second part of Joseph’s plea revolved around his innocence. He had committed no crime deserving of either slavery or prison. He had been stolen from his people and forced to Egypt, where he was falsely accused. That his own brothers kidnapped and sold him wasn’t worth mentioning. But he compared the miserable conditions of the prison his master had unjustly thrown him in to the pit his brothers had unjustly thrown him in.3 Joseph just wanted out!
The Baker’s Dream
When the head baker realized the meaning was good, he told Joseph, “As for me, in my dream there were three baskets of bread on my head. In the top basket were all kinds of baked goods for the pharaoh. But the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.”
“This is what it means,” Joseph said. “The three baskets represent three days. Three days from now, the pharaoh will release your head from your body and hang you from a tree. And the birds will eat your flesh.”
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When the baker realized the cupbearer’s dream had a positive meaning, it gave him hope that his dream might be positive too. So he described it to Joseph.
Instead of seeing three grapevines, the baker carried three baskets of bread on his head. People in many cultures carry heavy loads on their heads, so the baker failed to see the significance of this part of his dream. And no positive meaning could come from a dream in which birds ate the pharaoh’s bread. In the cupbearer’s dream, he served the pharaoh his wine. In the baker’s dream, the pharaoh never received his bread.
Joseph had to break the news to the baker that his dream predicted his death in only three days. That the birds ate the bread on his head meant the pharaoh wouldn’t release him from prison. Instead, he would “release” the baker’s head from his body—a wordplay indicating execution by beheading. The baker’s body would then be hung from a tree (or wooden pole) and eaten by carrion birds instead of receiving an honorable burial.
Fulfillment
The third day was the pharaoh’s birthday, so he threw a feast for all his officials. He released the head cupbearer and head baker in the presence of his officials. Then he restored the head cupbearer to his position, placing the cup in the pharaoh’s hand. But he had the head baker hanged exactly according to Joseph’s interpretation.
But the head cupbearer didn’t remember Joseph. He forgot all about him.
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On the third day, the pharaoh threw a feast to celebrate his birthday. He invited all his officials, presumably including Potiphar. As part of the celebrations, he judged the cases of the cupbearer and baker. He pardoned the cupbearer and restored him to his post. Then he had the baker executed and his body hung for the birds to eat.
Everything happened exactly as Joseph predicted. Yet the cupbearer showed no gratitude toward his fellow prisoner. Once free, he forgot about Joseph and the debt he owed him. Though he served at the pharaoh’s side day after day, he said nothing about the young interpreter of dreams. Joseph remained trapped in the prison with no sign of release.
- Genesis 39:22.
- Walton et al., Bible Background Commentary, Genesis 40:5–18; Wenham, Genesis 16–50, 382.
- Genesis 37:23–24.