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The History of Joseph. (b. c. 1717.)
THE HISTORY OF JOSEPH. (B. C. 1717.) We should not have had this story of Pharaoh's butler and baker recorded in scripture if it had not been serviceable to Joseph's preferment. The world stands for the sake of the chur…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 40:1-23
Joseph in the round house at Heliopolis. I. THE PRISONERS AND THEIR ATTENDANT. 1. The prisoners. 2. Their attendant. In this new capacity Joseph behaved himself wisely and with discretion. With regard to his illustrious…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 40:1
And it came to pass (literally, and it was) after these things (literally, words, i.e. after the transactions just recorded), that the butler— מָשְׁקֶה, the hiph. part. of שָׁקָה, to drink, signifies one who causes to d…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 40:1-23
EXPOSITION
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 40:1-23
The inspired man. Joseph is already supreme in the narrow sphere of the prison: "all was committed to his hand." The narrow sphere prepares him for the wider. The spiritual supremacy has now to be revealed. "Do not inte…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 40:2
And Pharaoh was wroth—literally, broke forth (sc. into anger)—against two of his officers (vide Genesis 37:36) against the chief—sar: the word occurs in one of the oldest historical documents of ancient Egypt ('Inscript…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 40:3
And he put them in ward (or in custody) in the house of the captain of the guard,—i.e. Potiphar (vide Genesis 37:36)—into the prison,—literally, house of enclosure (vide Genesis 39:20)—the place where Joseph was bound.…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 40:4
And the captain of the guard charged Joseph with them (literally, set Joseph with them, i.e. as a companion or servant; to wait upon them, since they were high officers of State, not to keep watch over them as criminals…
Matthew Henry on Genesis 40:5-19
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…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 40:5
And they dreamed a dream both of them (on dreams cf. Genesis 20:3), each man his dream in one night (this was the first remarkable circumstance connected with these dreams—they both happened the same night), each man ac…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 40:8
The interpreter of God's message. We cannot but notice the importance often assigned in the Bible to dreams, as channels of revelation from God. The dreams of Jacob and of Pharaoh, and passages such as Deuteronomy 13:1…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 40:8
And they said unto him, We hays dreamed a dream, and there is no interpreter of it—literally, a dream have we dreamt, and interpreting it there is none. This must be noted as a third peculiarity connected with these dre…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 40:9-11
And the chief butler told his dream to Joseph, and said to him, In my dream, behold, a vine was before me—literally, in my dream (sc. I was), and behold a vine (gephen, from the unused root gaphan, to be bent, a twig, h…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 40:12-15
And Joseph (acting no doubt under a Divine impulse) said unto him, This is the interpretation of it (cf. Genesis 40:18; Genesis 41:12, Genesis 41:25; 7:14; Daniel 2:36; Daniel 4:19): The three branches (vide supra, Gene…
Matthew Henry on Genesis 40:20-23
Joseph's interpretation of the dreams came to pass on the very day fixed. On Pharaoh's birth-day, all his servants attended him, and then the cases of these two came to be looked into. We may all profitably take notice…
Matthew Henry on Genesis 40:20-23
Here is, 1. The verifying of Joseph's interpretation of the dreams, on the very day prefixed. The chief butler and baker were both advanced, one to his office, the other to the gallows, and both at the three days' end.…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 40:20
And it came to pass (literally, and it was, as Joseph had predicted) the third day (literally, in, or on, the third day), which was Pharaoh's birthday,—literally, the day of Pharaoh's being born, the inf. hophal being c…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 40:23
Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph (as Joseph had desired, and as he doubtless had promised), but forgot him—as Joseph might almost have expected (cf. Ecclesiastes 9:15, Ecclesiastes 9:16). HOMILETICS
Matthew Henry on Genesis 41:1-8
The means of Joseph's being freed from prison were Pharaoh's dreams, as here related. Now that God no longer speaks to us in that way, it is no matter how little we either heed dreams, or tell them. The telling of fooli…
Pharaoh's Portentous Dream. (b. c. 1715.)
PHARAOH'S PORTENTOUS DREAM. (B. C. 1715.) Observe, 1. The delay of Joseph's enlargement. It was not till the end of two full years (Genesis 41:1); so long he waited after he had entrusted the chief butler with his case…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 41:1-45
EXPOSITION
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 41:1
And it came to pass at the end of two full years (literally, two years of days, i.e. two complete years from the commencement of Joseph's incarceration, or more probably after the butler's liberation), that Pharaoh—on t…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 41:1-45
Joseph before Pharaoh, or from the prison to the throne. I. THE DREAMS OF THE MONARCH. 1. His midnight visions. Two full years have expired since the memorable birthday of Pharaoh which sent the baker to ignominious exe…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 41:1-57
The tried man is now made ready by long experience for his position of responsibility and honor. He is thirty years old. He can commence his public ministry for the people of God and the world. Pharaoh's dreams, the kin…