15 for I was really stolen from the land of the Hebrews; and here also have I done nothing that they have put me in the pit.'
and Joseph's lord taketh him, and putteth him unto the round-house, a place where the king's prisoners `are' bound; and he is there in the round-house.
And one who is escaping cometh and declareth to Abram the Hebrew, and he is dwelling among the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner, and they `are' Abram's allies.
And Judah saith unto his brethren, `What gain when we slay our brother, and have concealed his blood? Come, and we sell him to the Ishmaelites, and our hands are not on him, for he `is' our brother -- our flesh;' and his brethren hearken. And Midianite merchantmen pass by and they draw out and bring up Joseph out of the pit, and sell Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty silverlings, and they bring Joseph into Egypt.
and he refuseth, and saith unto his lord's wife, `Lo, my lord hath not known what `is' with me in the house, and all that he hath he hath given into my hand; none is greater in this house than I, and he hath not withheld from me anything, except thee, because thou `art' his wife; and how shall I do this great evil? -- then have I sinned against God.' And it cometh to pass at her speaking unto Joseph day `by' day, that he hath not hearkened unto her, to lie near her, to be with her; and it cometh to pass about this day, that he goeth into the house to do his work, and there is none of the men of the house there in the house, and she catcheth him by his garment, saying, `Lie with me;' and he leaveth his garment in her hand, and fleeth, and goeth without.
And there `is' with us a youth, a Hebrew, servant to the chief of the executioners, and we recount to him, and he interpreteth to us our dreams, `to' each according to his dream hath he interpreted,
`When a man is found stealing a person, of his brethren, of the sons of Israel, and hath tyrannized over him, and sold him, then hath that thief died, and thou hast put away the evil thing out of thy midst.
`And, my father, see, yea see the skirt of thine upper robe in my hand; for by cutting off the skirt of thy upper robe, and I have not slain thee, know and see that there is not in my hand evil and transgression, and I have not sinned against thee, and thou art hunting my soul to take it!
my God hath sent His messenger, and hath shut the lions' mouths, and they have not injured me: because that before Him purity hath been found in me; and also before thee, O king, injury I have not done.'
Jesus answered them, `Many good works did I shew you from my Father; because of which work of them do ye stone me?'
and neither in the temple did they find me reasoning with any one, or making a dissension of the multitude, nor in the synagogues, nor in the city; nor are they able to prove against me the things concerning which they now accuse me. `And I confess this to thee, that, according to the way that they call a sect, so serve I the God of the fathers, believing all things that in the law and the prophets have been written, having hope toward God, which they themselves also wait for, `that' there is about to be a rising again of the dead, both of righteous and unrighteous; and in this I do exercise myself, to have a conscience void of offence toward God and men always. `And after many years I came, about to do kind acts to my nation, and offerings, in which certain Jews from Asia did find me purified in the temple, not with multitude, nor with tumult, whom it behoveth to be present before thee, and to accuse, if they had anything against me, or let these same say if they found any unrighteousness in me in my standing before the sanhedrim, except concerning this one voice, in which I cried, standing among them -- Concerning a rising again of the dead I am judged to-day by you.'
and Paul said, `At the tribunal of Caesar I am standing, where it behoveth me to be judged; to Jews I did no unrighteousness, as thou dost also very well know; for if indeed I am unrighteous, and anything worthy of death have done, I deprecate not to die; and if there is none of the things of which these accuse me, no one is able to make a favour of me to them; to Caesar I appeal!'
for `it is' better doing good, if the will of God will it, to suffer, than doing evil; because also Christ once for sin did suffer -- righteous for unrighteous -- that he might lead us to God, having been put to death indeed, in the flesh, and having been made alive in the spirit,
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Genesis 40
Commentary on Genesis 40 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
The head cup-bearer and head baker had committed crimes against the king of Egypt, and were imprisoned in “ the prison of the house of the captain of the trabantes, the prison where Joseph himself was confined; ” the state-prison, according to Eastern custom, forming part of the same building as the dwelling-house of the chief of the executioners. From a regard to the exalted position of these two prisoners, Potiphar ordered Joseph to wait upon them, not to keep watch over them; for את פּקד does not mean to appoint as guard, but to place by the side of a person.
After some time (“days,” Genesis 40:4, as in Genesis 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.
On their replying that they had dreamed, and there was no one to interpret the dream, Joseph reminded them first of all that “interpretations are God's,” come from God, are His gift; at the same time he bade them tell him their dreams, from a consciousness, no doubt, that he was endowed with this divine gift.
The cup-bearer gave this account: “ In my dream, behold there was a vine before me, and on the vine three branches; and it was as though blossoming, it shot forth its blossom ( נצּהּ either from the hapax l. נץ = נצּה , or from נצּה with the fem. termination resolved into the 3 pers. suff.: Ewald , §257 d ), its clusters ripened into grapes. And Pharaoh's cup was in my hand; and I took the grapes and pressed them into Pharaoh's cup, and gave the cup into Pharaoh's hand .” In this dream the office and duty of the royal cup-bearer were represented in an unmistakeable manner, though the particular details must not be so forced as to lead to the conclusion, that the kings of ancient Egypt drank only the fresh juice of the grape, and not fermented wine as well. The cultivation of the vine, and the making and drinking of wine, among the Egyptians, are established beyond question by ancient testimony and the earliest monuments, notwithstanding the statement of Herodotus (2, 77) to the contrary (see Hengstenberg, Egypt and the Books of Moses , pp. 13ff.).
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, 2 Kings 25:27). And he added this request (Genesis 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 .” בּור : the cell, applied to a prison as a miserable hole, because often dry cess-pools were used as prisons.
Encouraged by this favourable interpretation, the chief baker also told his dream: “ I too,...in my dream: behold, baskets of white bread upon my head, and in the top basket all kinds of food for Pharaoh, pastry; and the birds ate it out of the basket from my head .” In this dream, the carrying of the baskets upon the head is thoroughly Egyptian; for, according to Herod . 2, 35, the men in Egypt carry burdens upon the head, the women upon the shoulders. And, according to the monuments, the variety of confectionary was very extensive (cf. Hengst . p. 27). In the opening words, “ I too, ” the baker points to the resemblance between his dream and the cup-bearer's. The resemblance was not confined to the sameness of the numbers-three baskets of white bread, and three branches of the vine-but was also seen in the fact that his official duty at the court was represented in the dream. But instead of Pharaoh taking the bread from his hand, the birds of heaven ate it out of the basket upon his head. And Joseph gave this interpretation: “ The three baskets signify three days: within that time Pharaoh will take away thy head from thee (“lift up thy head,” as in Genesis 40:13, but with מעליך “away from thee,” i.e., behead thee), and hang thee on the stake (thy body after execution; vid., Deuteronomy 21:22-23), and the birds will eat thy flesh from off thee .” However simple and close this interpretation of the two dreams may appear, the exact accordance with the fulfilment was a miracle wrought by God, and showed that as the dreams originated in the instigation of God, the interpretation was His inspiration also.
Joseph's interpretations were fulfilled three days afterwards, on the king's birth-day. הלּדת יום : the day of being born; the inf. Hoph . is construed as a passive with the accus . obj ., as in Genesis 4:18, etc. Pharaoh gave his servants a feast, and lifted up the heads of both the prisoners, but in very different ways. The cup-bearer was pardoned, and reinstated in his office; the baker, on the other hand, was executed.
But the former forgot Joseph in his prosperity, and did nothing to procure his liberation.